24.162 | Hardness Of Heart | Mark 10:1-12 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

Text: Mark 10:1-12 ESV
1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.
2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test 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 divorce and to send her away.”
5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.
6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,
8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.
9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter.
11 And 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.”
-Mark 10:1-12 ESV
HARDNESS OF HEART
The Pharisees question Jesus not because they want to know the truth but to test Him. They desire to trap and destroy Jesus. Here, they ask, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” Jesus answers with a question, “What did Moses command you?” They answered, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.”
The Pharisees were right that divorce was allowed by Moses. But, Jesus addressed the root cause why. He said, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
In Matthew's account on this topic, Jesus is more specific. He says, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so" (Mat 19:8). He then goes on to say that if a man divorces his wife for anything short of adultery and marries another, he commits adultery. It was permitted but not required or mandated. We see this when Mary is pregnant. Joseph, thinking she had slept with another, "being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly" (Mat 1:19).
The Mosaic law does not command divorce for any reason. The passage on divorce, Deut 24:1-4 is not that the Law commands divorce. Adulterous persons are to be put to death (Lev 20:10). Even then, however, God prefers reconciliation, as He showed it through Hosea wooing Gomer back. God’s heart for a broken marriage is always restoration, and divorce always comes as a result of sin, whether by one spouse or both.
Hardness of heart results in Moses’ permission of divorce. So, are there valid reasons for divorce beyond what the Bible specifically identifies? Perhaps. God allows us to make choices and live with the consequences. Without a doubt, issues related to a struggling marriage and divorce are complex and difficult. But, we must trust what God says and follow His Word. As we make wise and God-honoring decisions, may we uphold the truth of Hebrews 13:4: “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” And may we be careful to not go beyond what is written.
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