The teaching of Jesus on marriage( Mk 10:1-12) Gospel of Mark Series.

TEACHING OF JESUS ON MARRIAGE

THE BIBLE: GOSPEL OF MARK SERIES ICON

During 2019, each week, I will write a weekly post about the Gospel of Mark, as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. If you are following this series for the first time, you will find this series under Scripture- New Testament- Gospel of Mark. 

Click here to read the first post in the series. I have written this series in different years (2012, 2015, 2018) with some irregularity, but am determined to complete this series this year since I am more than half way through this Gospel.

My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark. I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season.  In today's post we explore chapter 10:1--12 which is called the teaching of Jesus on marriage.

TEACHING OF JESUS ON MARRIAGE.

Jesus is travelling again, this time in the towns of Judea and on the other side of the Jordan river. Crowds gather around Him again, and He teaches there.  Some Pharisees question HIm in a hostile manner about HIs attitude towards divorce.

''Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife"'?. they bluntly ask him.  Jesus replies that Moses allowed divorce of a wife only because of their hardness of heart, which means their lack  of understanding, rather than a lack of feeling. God's plan is for a man or woman to marry for life.  Jesus explains, and He quotes from the Book of Genesis (1:27, 2:24).

In this way Jesus, gives HIs disciples who follow His way clear ideal of marriage as life long commitment to each other.  Lifelong fidelity to each other in marriage by disciples becomes part of their response to faith to God's powerful action in the world.  Living as disciples trying like Jesus to walk his way as little ones before God's power can be the source of a fidelity to marriage that will last.

Although among the Gentiles divorce was generally allowed to both men and women, for the Jews at the time of Jesus, adultery was an injustice which a woman committed against her husband or a man committed against another man through that other other man's wife.

the injustice towards a woman was not considered.  For Jesus, divorce and remarriage among His disciples, by either a man or a woman, points to a lack of faith in God, an evil like the infidelity of adultery itself.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

In our journal and/or our discussion group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:

• Name the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus in this passage of scripture?

• Imagine that you are one of the disciples- What do you see and hear and feel. What can I learn from this?

• Imagine being Jesus telling the disciples and knowing that they did not understand- what would you have felt?  

• What is reading the Gospel passage with the eyes and ears of disciple mean to me?

• How does Jesus show Himself as the ‘’the way’’ to me om this passage?
  
  
  
• Consider how much my faith gives a special ‘taste’ to my day to day living as a Christian, that is, one who follows  Jesus as the Christ?

• What are the areas in my life I need to bring to Jesus? What questions do I want to ask Him?

• Am I willing to look into myself with honesty and ask how much do I grasp what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus in the light of this teaching? 

• Is my faith in the divine power of Christ, whom we follow, large enough to make us ready to follow the teachings of Jesus?

• In the light of this passage, how will you respond to Jesus as a true disciple?

• If a fellow parishioner had read this passage, what might he/she say about this passage?
  
  
• Think of a time I may have harmed the faith of others by what I did or failed to do?

• In the light of this Gospel passage what positive change will you adopt in your life and in your spiritual life.  How will you implement these changes?