Mark 10:1-12

Rachel Workman: 10 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.
² Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
³ “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
⁵ “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. ⁶ “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’^{[a] 7} ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,^{[b] 8} and the two will become one flesh.’^[c] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
¹⁰ When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. ¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. ¹² And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
Well I don't get to pick and choose the word of God that I like and don't like. I'm an adulterer. And I have a lot of other sins that can be put with that sin. I am divorced and I am remarried. So me and my husband are both adulterer's. This is where I'm so grateful for the blood of Christ. I really struggled with my decision to divorce. I knew what the word of God said. I knew it was a sin when I did it. There were two ways out of my marriage. Death or divorce. I considered both pretty carefully. Death would have been the easiest thing for me. But it wouldn't have been for my family. It would have been pretty selfish on my part. I fully accept that I sinned. We all sin and we all fall short of the glory of God. Jesus knew he had to suffer what he suffered. Not just for me but for all of us. If I spend the rest of my life being grateful it wouldn't be enough.

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John Burnett: Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

² Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

⁵ “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. ⁶ “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’^[a]7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,^[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh.’^[c] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰ When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this.¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. ¹² And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”  These are hard to words to hear but they are not here to condemn those who have had a divorce, they are here to show all of us how much we need Jesus as our Savior.  Pride and self-righteousness are the root causes of divorce and they are the opposite of what we are supposed to be doing as Christians.  Being humble and seeking the help of the Holy Spirit are what we are called to do.  Adultery is no different than any other sin, it should be very comforting to know that it is covered by Jesus Christ’s blood just like every sin we have or will commit when we have humble ourselves, repented of our sins, and put all of our trust in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  When we do this, we are justified in the eyes of the Father, imputed Christ’s righteousness, given the Holy Spirit to help us on our road of sanctification, and best of all, given the promise of eternal life in Heaven with our Savior.  That is why it is called amazing grace.  Have a great weekend.

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There is no reading Monday. Tuesday's reading for Mark 10:13-16

¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.