The Vulnerable – Mark 10:2-16

A text – Mark 10:2-16

² Some, testing him, asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³ He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶ But from the beginning of 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 they are no longer two but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰ Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹ He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, ¹² and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

¹³ People were bringing children to him in order that he might touch them, and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

A reflection:

Jesus was being continually tested by scribes and Pharisees about what his position was on long-held Jewish laws and customs. He always knew what they were after and how to respond. But when we 21^st century people read this text, we are likely to balk at it, knowing at least a few examples in our own circles where divorce, though bad, was the lesser of two evils for the people involved.

Our Old Testament lesson this week brings us back to the second creation story in Genesis where God creates male and female in order to stop human loneliness and bring about contentment. We will look at that lesson on Wednesday.

Perhaps the simplest way to view this story is to see that Jesus is lifting up the vulnerable, the way he always does. In Jesus’s culture, children and women were considered mere property and without rights. Men could dismiss them for fairly trivial reasons. So Jesus wants women and children to be “stuck” to their husbands so they cannot be turned out into the streets. He does not want them to suffer but to be safe and secure. And not lonely. As God intended in creation.  Of course when a marriage itself makes the partners unsafe and insecure, we have to think again about this. If God wants the vulnerable protected, it is up to us to see that they are.

Now look at the end of the passage. Jesus says whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God the way they welcome and care for little children will never enter it. Looking out for the vulnerable is important enough that, if we don‘t do it, we risk our entry into life with God. Let us keep our eyes open for the vulnerable among our family and friends and lift them up. Jesus says this is holy work.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for loving humans enough to create us in community, in families. Help us to walk with those who are vulnerable, who are suffering. Help us be their companions and support. Help us to care for them because God loves them.  Amen.