St. Mark 10:1-31: "1 Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again. 2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?' testing Him. 3 And He answered and said to them, 'What did Moses command you?' 4 They said, 'Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.' 5 And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God "made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh;" so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.' 10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.' 13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.' 16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them. 17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, 'Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?' 18 So Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not bear false witness," "Do not defraud," "Honor your father and your mother."' 20 And he answered and said to Him, 'Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.' 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.' 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!' 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, 'Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' 26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved?' 27 But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.' 28 Then Peter began to say to Him, 'See, we have left all and followed You.' 29 So Jesus answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.'"
With today's reading, our dear Lord leaves Galilee and enter into Judea. We are told that He crossed over the Jordan to get there. There is symbolism in the Evangelist St. Mark saying it this way, for he is relating that our Lord Jesus has entered the promised land by the same way that the Israelites entered the promised land, through the Jordan. In a sense our Lord has been in the wilderness ever since His Holy Baptism. For after His Holy Baptism, He entered into the desert to be tempted by the devil, and then resided in the land of Galilee, which was the first territory of Israel to be led into exile. So what the Evangelist St. Mark is getting at by introducing this pericope in this fashion, is that our Lord is drawing near to His crucifixion and death, that is, the completion of His work and life.
Just like the Israelites, who upon entering into the promised land went to battle with the Canaanites to take over their land. So too, does our Lord begin His sojourn in the promised land by battling the Pharisees, who ask Him about divorce to trick Him into saying something wrong. For this question has a slippery slope on both sides, for whether He was to say that it was lawful or unlawful for a man to divorce His wife, they could refute Him from the teachings of Moses. But He instead, seeing through their guise, asked them a question. He we see the Pharisees defeated, much like the Israelites defeated their enemies after they had crossed over Jordan into the promised land.
There is a marked difference here made between the Pharisees and the crowds. For the crowds gather about Him to hear Him, and He "as was accustomed" taught them. The crowds are willing listeners, the Pharisees are willing objectors. In their minds they believe that they are protecting the crowds, for they think that our dear Lord Jesus is a false prophet, and if they can show the crowds that He is wrong regarding certain laws of Moses, then they would stop following Him. However, the Pharisees having been defeated, the crowds believe in Him all the more.
There are three more significant parts to this pericope. One, the disciples ask our Lord Jesus in private about the matter of divorce. And unlike the response to the Pharisees, He gives them full understanding, so that they might be fully equipped. We see in this the difference with which our Lord taught those who believed on Him, and those who were just there to test Him. We also learn from our Lord that divorce is wrong. Those who are joined together, are joined together by God, and no man can put them asunder. What is interesting about this account from the Evangelist St. Mark, is that there is no mention of the supposed "out clause" of being able to divorce in cases of unfaithfulness, which, quite frankly, some people use as a crutch to get divorced. After driving their spouse to commit unfaithfulness through neglect or harsh treatment, they now have a clear conscience to divorce them. The problem with this scenario, is that it was their intent all along, they were just looking for an excuse to divorce someone they no longer want to be married too.
This is the point that our Lord Jesus is trying to make with the Pharisees, the ones who are always looking for a loophole in the Law. It is on account of the hardness of their heart that Moses grants them the right to divorce, not because it was our Lord God's will. God desires that those He has joined together remain together, even if there is unfaithfulness. Even in this case, the unfaithfulness should be repented of, and resolution should be sought between husband and wife. We can see an example of this in the Old Testament prophet Hosea, who is told by the Lord to take an unfaithful wife. The amazing thing about Hosea and his unfaithful wife, is that he remains faithful to her. Of course, this was done to show our Lord God's faithfulness to us, in the midst of our unfaithfulness to Him through sin and chasing after false gods.
This is also the case regarding the bill of divorcement that the Pharisees brought up. For among the Jews, no one was allowed to write Hebrew letters, except the scribes. Therefore, those who desired a bill of divorce had to go to the scribes to get one. And, it was only at the scribes approval that this bill would be released. There are two things about this. One, we Moses' intent to delay the divorce, so that the man would come to his sense, and remain with his wife. (No woman was allowed to ask for divorce). Second, the scribes had veto power over the man's will, so that they could say no to the request. In this process, we see the desire of Moses, and of God, that divorce was wrong, but because of the sinfulness of man, it was allowed to be a concession to the true Law. This "hardness of heart" refers to greater sins being committed if divorce was not allowed, for example, murder. Therefore, the bill of divorce would have been granted if the hatred of this man for his wife was so great, that he was probably going to create greater sins against his wife, if he was not allowed to divorce her.
The second significant thing in this pericope is the children who are brought to our Lord to be blessed by Him, and the disciples rebuking them. At this our Lord is greatly displeased. And from these words, we see the words of the baptismal rite of infants. "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God." We see in this the great faith of the crowds in our Lord Jesus, contrasted with the unbelief of the Pharisees. For the crowds clearly viewd our Lord as someone sent from God. The disciples, however, rebuke the crowds, in a sense they are acting like the Pharisees, and for this reason, our dear Lord Jesus is greatly displeased. He then tells us that the kingdom of God is such as these. What that means is that those who desire to hear and learn from the Gospel and the Word of God, must become like little children.
What are little children like? They receive instruction from their parents gladly and willingly, trusting them completely. They don't put up objections, they don't try to refute what their parents say. Now this could be sad if their parents are teaching them falsely. But our Lord Jesus instructs us in the truth. And the ministers that were sent by Him also preach the truth. Therefore, we should listen to them like a little child listens to his parents, trusting that what is being told them is the truth. Little children do not doubt their parents, if they are beaten or disciplined, they don't give up on their parents, if they are dressed in what the world considers old clothes, they don't care that they are not the most expensive clothes. Such should be our reaction to our Heavenly Father. We should not doubt Him, or leave Him if we suffer persecution and hatred from the world, nor should be desire to be rich and properous in this life, but learn to be content in what has been given to us. And this leads us to the rich man who comes to our Lord Jesus.
The next significant part of this pericope is the rich man who asks our dear Lord what he must do to inherit eternal life. This is his first problem, that he is wondering what "he" can do. Since, we are only saved through the work of God, that is, of the saving work of our Lord Jesus who suffered and died for us. But we see in the response of our Lord Jesus to the approach of the rich man, that this man did not have a right heart towards our Lord, for our Lord instructs him in his use of the phrase, "Good Teacher." That is to say, this man did not consider our Lord Jesus to be God, for only God can be called "Good." We can also see this in the man's question, for he desires to place his eternal life in his works.
Our Lord removes these props from him, for this man erroneously thinks they he has kept these from his youth. There are many today, and even church bodies who support this thinking, who think that they haven't sinned in years, because they have kept the outward tenets of the Law. Even if someone was able to not sin in deed and word, there is still one's thoughts. These thoughts come out of the heart, as we learned earlier in the Gospel of St. Mark. Our hearts are full of evil, and although this evil is suppressed and driven back by constant hearing of preaching, and receiving of the Sacraments, it will always remain there until our death. This is of course why it is important to be a part of a parish, for it there where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the Sacraments are instituted according to Christ's institution. And if these things don't happen in that parish, then one should find one that does. For no one can be a Christian by themselves, the Church is a community, and no one can be a community by themself. Even our Lord God is a community unto Himself, being three persons, in one God. And in this community of God, we are told again and again, that we are indeed sinners in need of God's grace.
And this is exactly what this rich man needs to hear. But first, our Lord Jesus removes the props of the works of the Law from underneath him, so that he cannot stand upon them, therefore, He tells Him in the end, to sell all that He has and give it to the poor, and follow Him. This makes the rich man very sad, for he had a lot of wealth. In this revelation, we see truly where this man's faith and trust were centered, in his possessions. Therefore, our Lord Jesus states that it is difficult for those who cling to their possessions to enter into eternal life. For their possessions are their god, and not the one True God.
After the disciples despair about who can be saved, and we along with them, our Lord Jesus offers to us, and the rich man hope. For although impossible for man to save himself. Our Lord Jesus, who is God, can save us. For all things are possible with God. And this doesn't mean whatever one wishes, but this is specifically referring to our salvation. Our salvation is won by God, the Lord Jesus, through His suffering, death, and burial. Through Him alone we have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. This is revealed to us by the camel, which goes through the eye of the needle. For this mystically is our Lord Jesus. He is the camel. On the cross His hands and His feet were nailed to the tree, the needle representing the nails in His hands and feet. And by the going through the eye of the needle is meant the entire suffering of His Passion. For it is in this difficulty of the camel going through the eye of the needle that we see a picture of our Lord's suffering and death on the cross. But having suffered the cross and shame, He won for us eternal life.
May God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
