Watch & listen to every sermon on your favorite podcast software:
Information about this sermon:
Preacher: Pastor David Ball
Scripture: Mark 10:2-16
In Mark 10, Jesus is confronted with a question concerning righteousness in marriage. As is usually the case, Jesus turned the question back into the form of a question to those who were seeking to test Him. In the dialogue that ensued, Jesus proclaimed God’s good intention for human sexuality, marriage, and children. Above all, Jesus exposed us as being hard-hearted and rebellious against God’s good intentions, turning rather to our own ideas of what is good and right. No one is righteous apart from the finished work of Jesus Christ, who died for the forgiveness of our sins and rose again to give us new life in Him. As followers of Christ, we are called to serve the Lord for His good purposes in joy, through grace, and always with hope in the Gospel.
Transcript
So the the time has has come for us to turn the the page on the Book of Joshua for those who haven’t been with us since April uh we’ve been marching through the the Book of Joshua and so I’ve been wrestling with what to do uh in this interim time between uh between before we enter to the new uh the new church and kind of begin a new series and a new life together we have kind of this little uh no man’s land that we’re in as we’re we’re waiting to to things to get finished up and for us to move move over and and and we can’t be 100% certain about how long that will be so what am I supposed to do as far as planning for a uh for a sermon or some kind of series and so I decided Well I guess we’ll just go back to the good old lectionary uh and now I know we have lots of people here probably either have forgotten what in the world that is or maybe you have no idea uh but in the the Anglican uh tradition one of the the options uh is to follow the lectionary readings the prescribed uh readings for the day in the in the church calendar uh and so most of the time I like to preach through Series so we get full context of the books that we’re looking at instead of just jumping all around but I I looked at the lectionary for this uh this rest of this month of uh of October and I could see that it was preaching through one one chapter of uh of Mark and so I thought well that would that works out perfectly we’ll we’ll preach through Mark 10 and I made that decision feeling really good about it that we’re good anglicans and we’re going to we’re going to preach through the lectionary uh and then I read the first
one I thought I’m not getting out of this one am I uh but it’s it it’s good it’s very good and the the the chapter itself uh all of Mark chap 10 it deals with some incredibly relevant and important topics for us to to wrestle with uh and that all do uh lead us to the throne of grace as hard as they are to deal with but but we’re dealing with topics of marriage topics of of children of money of power of influence of position Jesus is is diving into it all all the things that make up the really the foundational building blocks of society and so it couldn’t be more relevant uh Jesus in this in this chapter is teaching us what God’s true intention is uh for society what he intended what he meant it to be what was good and what was right and and so it’s timely it’s incredibly timely not just because it’s this election season where we’re facing a lot of these issues of what the culture and what society says and having to wrestle with what God has declared to be good and true and
right but also there’s just major cultural issues that we’re facing Beyond an election season far beyond an election season that I believe is only going to be won back and transformed by the hope of the gospel and of Christians lives being transformed by God’s grace in such a way that they’re living more into God’s intention of what’s good and right as the holy spirit moves and and convicts and transforms our hearts amen so through Mark 10 we’re going to see and look at how the gospel shapes our
culture and what role we’ve played in somewhat in getting to where we are now some of that is going to come out how we can be agents of change today in our society that’s certainly going to be to come out in this all the while finding through all of the challenges all the difficulties of of ourselves first and foremost there is joy and there’s Grace and there is hope in the finished work of Jesus Christ for us and so with that I want us to turn to to mark 2 vers or 10: 2 uh through 16 a and Jesus is talking about divorce listen this is not a fun topic right uh and I do recognize that this could be triggering uh it could be triggering and so uh I just ask you to stick with me stick with me in this as as we as we dive into what Jesus was facing what how he was speaking into God’s intention for for marriage because I promise it’s it’s there’s hope there’s hope this isn’t just condemning it’s exposing for sure it’s exposing all of us but it’s leading us to the hope of the gospel and we may have to walk through through the darkness of our own sin uh in order to find the light that’s waiting for us of the Gospel El of Jesus’s grace and mercy and his loving arms I had a a professor in seminary who talked about Grace as God’s one-way love affair with
Sinners and this is one of those texts as we walk through it we realize that yeah we are sinners and God still loves us and he redeems us and he makes us new even in the midst of our sin but let’s look through this uh this passage together in verse two we’re told the Pharisees came up and or in order to test Jesus they asked him a question so the Pharisees for those who uh who who may not be aware we haven’t talked about them in a while uh these were the religious experts right the religious experts in God’s law the laws of Moses and they’re deeply concerned uh with righteousness about how God’s people can live right in God’s eyes and according to God’s law and Jesus drove them
crazy I don’t I didn’t look up the exact statistics but I was just trying to kind of figure out and it’s probably 75% of the conflict that Jesus encounters uh in in the gospels it’s with the phes you ever heard that you know that 90% of all statistics are made up on the spot that that may be true but it’s overwhelming it is overwhelming that when Jesus has a conflict that the Pharisees are right there on the other side uh trying to come at him uh they were mad about him about working on the Sabbath remember he was healing on the Sabbath and that just irked them uh his disciples were were having were eating on the Sabbath they picked some corn that made them incredibly angry uh they were angry about Jesus dining with tax collectors and with Sinners and violating the breaking the rules of Purity they they they were all kinds of mad at Jesus all the time uh most of of the laws that they were concerned with were from the the mishna which is the the oral tradition that the the rabbis had put together as a buffer from God’s law to keep people from Ever even getting close to Breaking God’s law uh and so these were extra laws on top of laws just to just to keep from anyone possibly getting close to uh to breaking one uh and these were they were especially experts in this oral tradition uh but they were certainly uh experts in the law of Moses uh and and all of God’s law they came up to Jesus were told to test him meaning they were trying to trap him they were trying to prove him wrong they were trying to their best to discredit him they didn’t like that people were starting to listen to him people were starting to follow him plus he’s doing this healing stuff and that’s really gaining a following uh and so they’re trying to discredit him that’s why they came to him uh they came to Jesus not with really any question at all mind you they didn’t come with inquiring minds they didn’t come interested in really learning anything about life uh rather the question uh they already believe that they asked they already believe they had the answer to you know this is the know-it-alls in the class who ask the question they know the answer to right uh so they can just prove to everyone else how much they know and discredit you uh that that’s what that’s what’s going on here so they want to see if Jesus has got the right answers does Jesus have the right answers and so the question is is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife meaning is it permitted is it permitting according to God’s law according to the law of Moses for a man to release his wife from uh the the the marriage vow uh well why are they asking again they’re not looking for an an they’re right the answer they’re looking for a wrong answer right that’s all they’re listening for is what is Jesus going to say so we can use it against them they’re trying to prove Jesus wrong all they really wanted was a yes or a no so they could get up get go on their way uh they’re not looking for any kind of commentary they’re not inquiring they’re not they’re not coming in an honest way of uh engaging uh looking for further explanation and so this is what happens in verse three Jesus answered them what did Moses command you have you ever noticed that Jesus never answers a question directly ever and he always asks a question in response of the person asking the question right he’s not going to give the answer but he’s going to ask the question because he’s going to return it to what’s really the intention of the hearts of those who were coming to him he’s always going to turn it back around and so Jesus without answering them asked them what what what did Moses command you you you apparent you know you’re you’re the experts in the law uh you know you know all this stuff you’re coming at me with a with a question that you obviously are are just fishing for the right answer that you want so what did what did Moses uh command you and so in verse four they said Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away Moses permitted it is what they were what they were getting at he permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away it’s Deuteronomy 24: 1-4 uh more or less you know this is an accurate interpretation or at least a reciting of what the Deuteronomy 24 passage says uh it’s the answer they were not looking for the answer that they didn’t know that they needed they had never asked why Jesus gives them though the real answer to the question and the real answer to the question uh is in verse five and Jesus said to them because of your Hardness of Heart he wrote this commandment because of your Hardness of Heart Hardness of Heart the literal translation is because of your Rebellion Moses wrote this law because of your own Rebellion God gave the permission uh uh in the law for for divorce not as an act of righteousness the way that the the way that the Pharisees were trying to treat it uh but he had allowed it because of the people’s rebellious Hearts he made a provision well rebellious of what exactly rebellious of what the rebelliousness against God’s creative purpose for marriage the rebellion was the heart of of every man and woman against what God had declared to be good in creation and so in verse six Jesus goes on to to explain it but from the beginning of creation God made them male and female Jesus goes beyond the law right he goes back to the very beginning itself they’re content to stay at the law of Moses but Jesus saying no no no no no Authority goes back further the truth of God goes back further it goes back to the very beginning of all things you’ve got to go back to God’s creation to see his intention of his goodness for the order of humanity but from the beginning of creation God made them male and female and Jesus starts there now let’s stop there for a moment right uh let’s not take for granted this most basic of God’s intended purposes from the beginning God created the male and female God is Not uh gender is not therefore According To Jesus and according to uh the creation account of Genesis itself gender is not a human invention gender is not some random act of evolution uh gender is God’s design and intention for creation and it’s good male and female he created them friends we live in a culture that is so deeply deeply confused by this idea of gender deeply confused a generation has emerged that’s that’s bought into a completely different world view a completely different Paradigm of Truth than what God has declared to be good and right in creation we live in a with a generation that has come up thinking that gender is s self-determined and that our happiness and our well-being meaning what is good is all tied to our choice self-determining choice about what gender I want to be you know many of us this this hits really close to home we have family members we have loved ones we have we have friends who are struggling with this that are deeply lost in this and it’s heartbreaking but what why why is this becoming such an issue why because our nature is human beings as humans of the Fall as Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve is one of rebellion we have a sinful nature that that wants to Rebel that thinks that what’s good and right is is the opposite of what God says is good and right it’s our nature to question to doubt God’s goodness his int ention for creation and so in that way we shouldn’t be surprised at
all we shouldn’t be
surprised this is just the next evolution of human Rebellion the next manifestation of of human
Rebellion while we today are facing the basic question of human gender Mark 10 is primarily dealing dealing with an issue that that maybe in our culture came before the confusion over human gender it’s dealing primarily with divorce which is as Jesus taught it human Rebellion against God and His creative purposes the same as the gender confusion is it comes from the same root the same rebellious human heart one’s not worse than the other they’re both equally as rebellious and so verse seven tells us this therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast meaning cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh so there are no longer two going into verse eight so there are no longer two but one flesh what therefore God has joined together let no man separate friends Jesus in these two verses laid out God’s good intention for human marriage what he intended what he wants for us in God’s creative purpose there are no butts there’s no butts there no Provisions there there’s no permitting in any way that is contrary to what he’s declared as good all Provisions all per permissions even in God’s law as Jesus just told us they were given because of our Rebellion God wasn’t saying well this is okay this is right no he’s saying I made this provision because you could not handle it if I didn’t it would make things far worse for
you Deuteronomy 24 for a certificate of divorce if there was some indecency is the word that that was used if a man found some indecency in his wife and that term has been debated for thousands of years as to what that
means Jesus and other texts connects it to unfaithfulness to abandonment to abuse he he gives word to those things that they’re real and there’s times when divorce has to happen in the those things if it doesn’t make them right it doesn’t change God’s plan for creation it doesn’t make us righteous one way or another in choosing it or or having to choose it it’s still a consequence of our own rebellious
Hearts the point is that the permission is given not because it’s good but because of our sin and our Rebellion marriage is intended by God to be a picture to be an example a shining example to the world of God’s love for us it’s why Paul uses it in Ephesians to talk about Christ and the church right we’re the bride of Christ and he clings to us through better For Better or For Worse and richer and and poor and sickness and in health he never leaves us and he never forsakes us marriage is intended to be a picture of the Gospel to the world anything that we do to break the bond is a violation of God’s purpose it’s to say that that that we know better and the two shall become one flesh Jesus said meaning that that sex outside of the marriage bond is a violation it’s an act of rebellion equally so what God has joined together let no man separate God’s very clear
there there’s no there’s no getting out of
it and then in verses 10 to 20 Jesus raises the bar even higher because I know some of you right now are thinking this do have to do with me oh yeah before you you think that Matthew 527 Jesus said you have heard it said You shall not commit adultery but I I say that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his
heart no one’s free we are all in Rebellion against God we all fall short of the glory of God as we saw Paul decare there is no one righteous no not one we’re all
adulterers and our adultery is that we have rebelled against God and his good intention for creation the point is we’re not
free to bemoan or to criticize our culture today without first taking the log out of our own
eye why is there a generation that’s so confused about God’s good intention for creation why is there a generation that is so confused about gender and about marriage itself because for many all they’ve seen are broken marriages in a culture where divorces become almost the norm or the
expectation and so they’ they’ve grown up in broken homes or they’ve seen what marriage maybe can do or maybe they grew up in single parent homes and felt the weight of it or marriages of parents that that didn’t reflect God’s intended purposes in the first place maybe they they grew up in marriages that were were painful husbands who didn’t cherish their wives wives who didn’t have any respect for their husbands and vice versa by the way when Paul talks about that he’s not saying husbands uh uh when he says husbands love your wives and R wives respect your husbands he’s not he doesn’t mean uh that uh that wives aren’t supposed to love their husbands and that husbands aren’t supposed to respect their wives right to many the Next gener Generation many of the Next Generation have lived through deeply selfish and unhappy
marriages so while this next Generation struggles are the result of their own Rebellion just like ours are ours we’ve not been the shining example of God’s righteous good goodness for the Next Generation to follow have we that’s what Jesus had to say about marriage well how about children how about children because that’s the next section right in verses 13- 16 uh je Jesus makes it very clear how important children are the children were seen by the disciples as a bother as an inconvenience as a a nuisance weren’t they but Jesus rebukes them and calls them to come to him and then he raises the level of the example that all people uh should come to him whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it in God’s creative plan children are a blessing they’re to be cherished they’re to be protected they’re to be cared for they’re to be honored in that way they’re to be valued
and it’s painful that we live in a culture where children are still viewed just as the disciples viewed them on that day as an inconvenience and at times a b something that that gets in our way to what we really want to
be children are not a distraction from the more important work they are the most most important
work you know as we talk about this and next week we’re going to talk about it more but I pray that you will get aware of of this amendment that’s coming this proposition for and we’ll vote no because as you as you look at this uh at the way this amendment is written it’s deceitful it in in that sense it’s evil it’s not just clearly saying the truth about what it’s for in that case we could disagree and we could still do it with some level of Integrity but this amendment is intentionally deceitful and you’re going to hear more about it next next Sunday next Sunday so these are Jesus’s words concerning God’s intention for marriage and children and what Society is supposed to look like but his greater
point is that all are under reminding of God’s good intentions all of us everyone and that’s evil the evil of the human heart our own rebellion and so by all means work for God’s intended purpose get involved vote for God’s intended purposes you’ve been given that right we as Christians have to exercise it volunteer to help mothers and fathers who are struggling with the decision to choose life for their Unborn babies get involved in help and support and encourage we need Christians in the culture but through it all do not account it to your righteousness as the fa Pharisees were trying to do that way leads only to self-righteousness to Pride and to arrogance of thinking that we’re better than everyone else around us and that only further pushes the Next Generation into deeper and deeper Rebellion against God our hope is not in getting all the questions right Our Hope and our Joys are rooted in God’s grace alone what motivates us to move forward and to get involved and to help transform the culture is the hope we have in God’s grace that we are Justified that we are made righteous by the finished work of Jesus Christ for us alone on the cross Paul said we’re saved by grace through faith so that no man May
boast friends allow God’s grace to penetrate your life allow it to Bear the fruit of humility and love for other people allow it to govern your marriage and the way that you raise your children no bigger witness for the gospel in our culture than that
we change our culture by yes getting involved for voting uh for God’s intended purposes as best as we can but every day we transform the culture by the way we treat others around us with humility and Grace and love yes telling the truth always but always with the mindset of Paul who called himself the chief of sinners let us be agents of Hope let us be agents of Joy let us be agents of Grace in this culture that so desperately needs us that so desperately needs to see the goodness of God’s intended purposes that they might turn to him and find life and hope and joy for all eternity in Jesus Christ Our Lord amen
