“Looking For Loopholes”
Text: Mark 10:2-16
10-6-2024
In the name of Him who kept God’s Law perfectly on our behalf, dear friends in Christ. It seems that every generation has wise guys who specialize in trying to trip up their opponents with trick questions. Truth be told, it’s a sign of desperation. They can’t defeat their opponent head-on with superior knowledge or ideas, so they resort to laying a verbal trap with the hopes of winning by embarrassing them. That’s what the Pharisees were up to in the Gospel Lesson when they asked Jesus, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" It sounds innocent enough, but it was a trick question. It would be like some wise guy asking me, “Pastor, do still go on romantic dates with other men?” If I say yes, we obviously have a problem. But if I say no, then it leaves the impression that I used to date men but don’t anymore. Either way, I can’t win. And by the way, in case you had any doubts, neither of these is true! Gayleen can vouch for me.
Well, the Pharisees thought they had Jesus in a similar no-win situation. You see, there were 2 schools of thought back then on divorce. The followers of Rabbi Hillel said that a man could divorce his wife for just about anything. Even trivial things like burning supper. The followers of Rabbi Shammai said divorce was only allowed if the wife did something shameful like commit adultery. So, their question was meant to force Jesus to either side with the group that was lax about divorce or the one that was strict about it. If He didn’t take either side, and said all divorce is forbidden, then they’d say He was out of line with the Law of Moses which allowed it.
Either way, He was sure to tick somebody off. And that was part of the devious trap. It wasn’t intended to just embarrass Jesus, but to also put His life in jeopardy. This incident took place in the jurisdiction of King Herod Antipas who had married his sister-in-law Herodias. She divorced her husband so that she could marry her latest flame. And you thought this stuff only happened in Hollywood. John the Baptist had condemned their actions, and his head got chopped off as a result. So, do you see the plot? If the Pharisees got lucky, Jesus would also condemn such a divorce and they hoped Herod would then arrest and execute, Jesus. No matter what He said, they were sure He was in a no-win situation.
An old story goes that the famous comedian W.C. Fields was reading the Bible one day. A friend walked in on him and was surprised. “Mr. Fields, I didn’t know you were a religious man!” He responded, “I’m not. I’m looking for loopholes!” Sadly, that’s what the Pharisees had done with God’s Law. But Jesus makes it clear that there are noloopholes in God’s Commandments. To trifle with God’s Law will put you in spiritual peril.
Do any of you remember the Roadrunner cartoon? In it, Wiley Coyote is constantly laying a trap for the Roadrunner. And invariably, the Roadrunner sidesteps his devious plan and old Wiley ends up in his own trap. Jesus let the Pharisees get caught in their own trap. "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" they asked. “What did Moses have to say about it?” Jesus responds. To the Jews the words of Moses were the ultimate authority. “He permitted a man to divorce his wife.” Jesus then let their ignorance show by taking them back to God’s original intent for marriage. In essence He says, “Yes, God allowed Moses to give you divorce as an option but only because of your sinful hearts. You took the beautiful gift of marriage and ruined it by your evil thoughts and actions. Marriage is supposed to be the lifelong union between a man and a woman. But you’ve destroyed that unity with your own sinful selfishness.”
Divorce was, in a sense, the lesser of two evils. God allowed for it to stem the tide of evil even though it was against His will. If one of the spouses committed adultery or deserted the marriage, God allowed for divorce. Better that, than to have hatred and resentment build up until it erupts in abuse or violence. Even so, divorce was to be the exception, not the rule. And a rare exception at that. Unfortunately, people had made it the rule, not the exception. Instead of investing their time and energy in working on keeping their marriages together, they were devoting themselves to finding ways to dissolve their marital unions. They were so busy looking for loopholes in the Law that they lost sight of God’s beautiful intention for their marriage. Isn’t it sad way how history repeats itself? Over the years, divorce laws in many western cultures have become so lax that people can end their marriage for the most trivial of reasons.
Listen closely, God hates all divorces. He says so in Malachi 2:16. He hates it because it destroys something precious that He has created. And yet, in order to keep our sinfulness in check, He allows for divorce. It’s like the 5th Commandment against killing someone. God hates all killing. He hates it because it destroys the precious gift of life. And yet, He allows soldiers, police, and the government to take a person’s life in order to stop evil from spreading. But those exceptions should never become the rule! We should never be comfortable with taking a human life even when it is done under the exceptions God gives. Likewise, we should never be comfortable with divorce even when it qualifies for the exceptions given.
Jesus was very blunt and to the point. In fact, He says something rather shocking. He says that if a man or a woman divorces their spouse and then remarries, they are committing adultery. That’s pretty strong language, but not if you remember the point that Jesus just made. He takes us back to the beginning where God brought Adam and Eve together in the first marriage. That was the only marriage on the planet that was ever perfect. It was holy and pure. Keep that in mind and tell me, what does the word “adulterate” mean? It’s when you take something pure and add something foreign to it. If you take pure gold and add cheaper metals, you adulterate it. It’s no longer pure. The precious metal has been degraded with something of lesser value. Likewise with marriage. When we change the purity of the permanent union of one man to one woman, that adulterates it. That’s why Jesus says divorce is equivalent to adultery.
But that’s not the only way we adulterate the purity of marriage. Oh, how creative we’ve become in trying to find loopholes in God’s Law about this perfect union of man and wife. What do you suppose Jesus would say about two men or two women claiming to join themselves in marriage? It’s adultery and a violation of the 6th Commandment because it destroys the purity of marriage. But wait a minute. What about a heterosexual couple living together without being married? It’s also adultery because it destroys the purity of marriage. Now, maybe some of you think you’re off the hook if neither of those two examples apply to you. Think again. Anytime a married person causes tension or conflict in their marriage because of selfishness or pride, then guess what? It’s adultery because it destroys the purity of marriage. Anytime a husband or wife treats their spouse with disrespect, it’s adultery because it does the same thing. And even those of you who are not married, if you don’t honor marriage as a precious gift from God, that too is adultery because it destroys the purity of marriage.
It’s no wonder that God hates divorce. I don’t care how much pretty make-up you paint on it, divorce is still ugly. It brings out the worst in people. And do you know who always ends up winning in a divorce? The lawyers. If kids are involved, they get hurt the worst. Families get torn apart. And no matter how friendly a divorced couple may agree to be, there are still hurt feelings and regret no matter how deep we bury it. No, I’ve never been divorced myself. But I’ve watched it happen all around me and even to people close to me. I’ve counseled with people before, after, and during a divorce and I can tell you, it’s never pleasant. So why do we do it? We do it because our sinful nature is constantly trying to find loopholes in God’s Law. And whenever we do that; whenever we circumvent God’s pure and Holy will; pain and suffering are sure to follow.
As Lutherans we don’t view marriage as a Sacrament like the Roman Catholic Church does. And yet, if we treated marriage as sacred, which God intended it to be, then divorce would become a byword. If marriage was treated as something pure and holy, instituted by God then the thought of adulterating it in any fashion would be unthinkable. But that’s what sin does. It adulterates and abuses the beautiful gifts of God. The only solution, then, is forgiveness. Forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Those of you who have been divorced, please listen to me closely. I do not condemn you, and neither does God. He can forgive all the sinful mistakes of the past which caused the disintegration of your marriage. With His forgiveness comes true healing. The same is true for the rest of us married people. If we confess our sins against our spouse to them and to God, forgiveness can repair the damage we’ve done. As forgiveness flows from God to us, it then flows from us to each other. And with that forgiveness, the purity of marriage is restored to what God intended it to be.
Let’s make sure that we don’t miss the main point of Jesus’ message. He used the discussion on divorce in order to condemn the practice of trying to find loopholes in any of God’s Law. Instead, He urges us to live in obedience to the Lord as His blessed children. According to the Bible, marriage is a reflection of the intimate union of Christ to the people He loves, that is the Christian Church. That union took place in your Baptism. And He wants our union to Him to remain pure and holy, without the adulterations of sin or trying skirt around His commands. Instead, Christ calls us to repent and receive His forgiveness daily which cleans up and restores our union with Him. And so, just as Jesus says about the marriage of a man and a woman, so also with our union to God, He says, “Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!