Matthew 19:1-12
When Jesus had completed these teachings, he left Galilee and crossed the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. Great crowds followed him there, and he healed them. 3One day the Pharisees were badgering him: “Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”He answered, “Haven’t you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female? And because of this, a man leaves father and mother and is firmly bonded to his wife, becoming one flesh—no longer two bodies but one. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.”
They shot back in rebuttal, “If that’s so, why did Moses give instructions for divorce papers and divorce procedures?”
Jesus said, “Moses provided for divorce as a concession to your hard heartedness, but it is not part of God’s original plan. I’m holding you to the original plan, and holding you liable for adultery if you divorce your faithful wife and then marry someone else. I make an exception in cases where the spouse has committed adultery.”
Jesus’ disciples objected, “If those are the terms of marriage, we’re stuck. Why get married?”
But Jesus said, “Not everyone is mature enough to live a married life. It requires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn’t for everyone. Some, from birth seemingly, never give marriage a thought. Others never get asked—or accepted. And some decide not to get married for kingdom reasons. But if you’re capable of growing into the largeness of marriage, do it.”
March 10th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Woah - this last bit seems a bit harsh! “Others never get asked—or accepted.” So for all the single people I know - desperate to have children with their perfect partner (who they haven’t found yet) God might just be picking not to let them find anyone for some reason? Still, better to be single than married to the wrong person I suppose.
March 10th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Not sure where you get “God might be picking” from this Michael? Sounds more like people choosing to ask or not.
I don’t think that God takes someone who would love to be married and says “sorry not you”. Love has to be about people freely choosing.
March 10th, 2007 at 10:39 am
“Marriage isn’t for everyone”. Maybe I’m misreading it - was just trying to apply it to several single people I know who are desperate to marry and have children, but just can’t find the right person. Maybe I should just stick to my catch-all thought I apply to things i don’t understand, which is…
“God’s far smarter than me, so there are going to be things He does i’ll never understand.” (Often the ones i don’t like!)
March 12th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Sorry to bang on about this Michael, but again I don’t think this is mostly something God does, I think it’s mostly something people do.
That goes against a lot of my understadning growing up as a Christian, but I’m more and more conviced that while there are times when people seem to have been divinely brought into each others paths, on the whole marriage is about human choice which is what makes it real love.
So when someone is desperate to get married and doesn’t find the right person that’s terribly painful, but I really don’t think it’s because God decided to force them to be single.
Make any sense?