Mark 10:2-12 "Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, 'Is it lawful for a man to...'"

"Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?' He answered them, 'What did Moses command you?' They said, 'Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.' But Jesus said to them 'Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.' For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.' Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery'" (Mark 10:2-12).

Question:

I attend the First United Methodist church because the closest Unity church is 150 miles away. Our minister spoke on these verses yesterday. I would like the Unity perspective on these verses. Taken at face value, this group of verses is very upsetting. I believe there is a deeper meaning and cannot accept that I am outside God's grace since I am remarried and my previous husband is still alive. I left him when he shoved a gun down my throat and threatened to kill me and our 1 ½-year-old son. Three years later I married my current husband, and we spent our honeymoon on a Unity retreat with Dr. Paul Barrett, who is now deceased. I appreciate your taking time to help me understand these passages. Thank You!

Comment:

This is, indeed, a challenging passage in the context of Jesus' overall message of love and nonjudgment. There seem to be several different themes being expressed. First of all, Jesus is denying the absolute authority of the law as recorded in the name of Moses—the extensive legal code set down in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. That code allowed men to divorce their wives, but did not allow wives to divorce their husbands. Jesus notes that this law was formulated "because of your hardness of heart." In other words, it was a human misinterpretation of spiritual law. To align with spiritual law we must go back to Source. So we have a key distinction between marriage laws crafted by men and the creative Law of God.   The important distinction here, I think, is "what God has joined together, let no man put asunder." If a union is truly of God—if a commitment is wholeheartedly spiritual—then nothing we may do on the mortal plane can affect it. But clearly not every marriage is joined together by God. In your own case, the Power of God would never insist that you stay in a relationship that was dangerous and degrading—that diminished your sense of spiritual worth. It was clear at that time that the marriage was not a union “joined together” by divine love but a human marriage expressing fear and other shadow energies.   In taking authority away from manmade laws and restoring it to the creative, loving Power of God, I think Jesus is consistent in affirming that our own inner Oneness with God is the only source we can truly rely on as a guide to right action. If a relationship is ordained by God, then it cannot be undone by human conditions. If it is not ordained by God, then we must recognize that fact, and always put our spiritual purpose first. A fear-based relationship cannot serve us on the path of love and creativity that we are called to follow. And it may be, as in your case, that clinging to a fear-based relationship makes us unavailable to a loving relationship that will, indeed, be a blessing on our spiritual path.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed