For of such is the kingdom of God

 

 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.  The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him.  And he answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?"  They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.  But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.'  'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter.  So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.  And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

 

Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.  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.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  And he took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.

 

- Mark 10:1–16 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught (following upon His teaching in this reading), "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.  If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.  Salt is good, but if the salt loses flavor, how will you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."

 

  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.  The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him.  And he answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?"  They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.  But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.'  'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter.  So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.  And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."  The basis for the Pharisees' question is Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  My study Bible comments that, in contrast to the easy access to divorce under the Mosaic Law, and because of the misuse of divorce in His day, Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce (in St. Matthew's Gospel, He does so both in the Sermon on the Mount, and later in a setting similar to this one; see Matthew 5:31-32; Matthew 19:1-12).  He emphasizes the eternal nature of marriage.  Jesus quotes from Genesis 1:27; 2:24.  My study Bible comments also that God's condescension, or allowance for human weakness, does not override the original principle of monogamous marriage as revealed in Genesis 1 and 2.  With authority, He adds His own clear prohibition against divorce.  See also Malachi 2:15-16.

 

 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.  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.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  And he took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.  My study Bible cites Theophylact, who comments that the disciples rebuked the mothers for bringing little children to Christ both because their manner was "unruly" and because they thought children "diminished His dignity as Teacher and Master."  But Christ rejects this thinking, and even sets little children as an example of those who inherit the kingdom of God.  Therefore, in the tradition of the Orthodox, children are invited (even as an example to adults) to participate in the Kingdom through prayer, worship, baptism, chrismation, and Communion.  In Christ's context here, little children are the standard of faith by which adults receive the kingdom of God, and not the other way around.  Theophylact writes, "A little child is not arrogant, he does not despise anyone, he is innocent and guileless.  He does not inflate himself in the presence of important people, nor withdraw from those in sorrows.  Instead, he lives in complete simplicity."

 

 If we think about the sacrament of marriage as a holy institution (Holy Matrimony), then we begin to understand the perspective here.  What is holy is eternal, and that touches upon not simply our material lives, but our souls -- the deepest part of who we are as creatures of God.  It seems clear that we must see things from Christ's perspective and knowledge of the things that are eternal in order to understand what this union making "one flesh" really means, and what His teaching implies to us.  This eternal nature of marriage also extends to His illuminating statement in response to a question by the Sadducees regarding the life of resurrection, which we'll read later on in Mark's Gospel (Mark 12:18-27).  They test Jesus, posing a scenario of a woman married successively to seven brothers, and asking whose wife she is in the resurrection.  There Christ responds to describe this eternal life of the resurrection as one in which "they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."  From this illuminating glimpse of eternal life, it seems that we might infer that marriage itself extends to life even in this entirely different context and reality, and it gives a perspective on who we are in terms of the possibilities that God extends to us beyond our lives in this world.  Therefore we might consider the eternal quality conferred by holy sacrament as that which changes and transforms even the nature of human beings, making the seemingly impossible possible -- such as two becoming one flesh.  There is further commentary on divorce in my study Bible regarding it as a concession to our imperfect worldly life.  In St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus cites the possibility of divorce based on sexual immorality (Matthew 19:9).  My study Bible adds that the permissible reasons for divorce were expanded in the ancient Church to include threat to a spouse's or child's life and desertion, in all cases acknowledging the spiritual tragedy of such a situation.  Importantly, it shows us that like so many other things, marriage can be destroyed by sin.  The quality of the little children praised by Christ in today's reading adds a poignant note to our consideration of issues of divorce, especially its impact on children and their importance and precious value in God's sight.  It may be surprising to learn that the Pharisees actually viewed divorce more closely to Jesus' perspective than their counterparts did, due to the abuses of divorce for financial gain in their time.  But any way that we look at today's reading, this eternal sense of the preciousness of life and the soul, and our own possibilities for resurrection and salvation, add to a deep sense of the transcendent nature of relationships and the depth of love brought to us by Jesus Christ.  For He is the true icon of marriage in His role as Bridegroom wedded to His Church, and this is particularly true in the sacrifices He will undergo for union with all of us.  What He considered to be worthy of every sacrifice we should take as microcosm for how love and marriage work, how relationship in its deepest sense is worthy of the mutual sacrifices we are prepared to make for what is precious -- and perhaps even priceless.