God created marriage to be honored!

Although they do not approve, a parent may allow a child to stay up late and sleep late the next day even if it means missing an important event like a birthday party, performance or tournament. In such a case, the child made the choice to do something that kept them from participating in something else for which they had already RSVP’d, prepared or practiced. The child’s choice caused the disappointment felt by the friend, fellow performers or teammates, and depending on the situation and number of occurrences the connection with the person, performance or team may end.

God created marriage to be a lifelong connection. Marriage is a crucial part of God’s creation mentioned at the beginning of the Bible along with the foundational accounts of Creation, the Fall into Sin and first promise of Jesus our Savior. In Genesis 1, the first book of the Bible, God tells us that he created the universe in six days. Next in Genesis 2, God detailed his creation of man on that sixth day. God made Adam first and tasked him with naming all the animals. After all the animals had passed in front of him, he realized that he was alone. Then, we read in our Old Testament reading from Genesis 2,

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Now, if you have ever wondered how to picture this scene, you must understand that this was the equivalent of a wedding day where the groom sees the bride for the first time, and the groom realizes how blessed he is. As this moment hits Adam, we read the first ever recorded love song or poem,

23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

With these words, Adam was expressing his joy that he would not be the only human being. He was thrilled to see God’s creation of woman and also his creation of marriage as we read the next verse,

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

God made Adam and Eve for one another and united them in marriage for the blessings of companionship, complementary physical bodies that unite and children. After reading the first two chapters of Genesis, it is clear that God created marriage, and it was good.

God created marriage to be a lifelong connection, but some choose to break their commitment to this connection. This sad reality was used by the Pharisees in our Gospel reading to test Jesus as we read in Mark 10,

2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied. 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

The section of Scripture referenced here comes from Deuteronomy 24, where we read,

1 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, 2 and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

The point of these verses was not that God wants there to be divorce. Instead, these verses recognized that choices were being made that broke marriage commitments and certificates of divorce were being written to publicly acknowledge the end of marriages. When this happened flippantly, it was detestable and sinful because Israel was mocking marriage. You cannot treat marriage like purchasing a ticket at the Texas State Fair for one ride, then get off to ride another and then return to the first. Treating people like that is perverse, detestable, wrong, wicked and evil. Marriage, people, children, relationships, lives and joining bodies together is not to be mocked.

Jesus told the Pharisees that hard hearts were the reason Moses allowed these certificates of divorce to be written. In Mark 10, we read,

5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

The deeper issue with the Pharisees’ question was their own hard hearts against Jesus as the Savior. They had come to test Jesus actively trying to outsmart God, make themselves look superior, prove their righteousness and condemn Jesus. But Jesus would not be mocked. Instead, he showed their foolishness for not going back to the beginning, to the sixth day, to understand God’s creation of marriage and his desire for man and wife to remain together. The Pharisees’ rejection of Jesus meant their connection with God was broken, which left them committed to evil, sin, death and hell separated from the hope of eternal life in heaven.

A hard heart separates you from God. If you want to picture the image of a hard heart, then picture a skeleton because the word translated “hard” is from the Greek root “skeletos.” A dried-out, lifeless heart dead set on sinning against God and people was the reason a certificate of divorce was allowed. The certificate acknowledged that the commitment was broken and sought to prevent even more harm from being done. Jesus made this point clear with his disciples after he passed the Pharisees’ “test”, as we read in Mark 10,

10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

Jesus taught them the difference between committing adultery and writing a certificate of divorce; the actions of adultery are separate from acknowledging they have occurred by writing out a certificate. It’s like running a race and receiving a medal for how you placed, the actions come first, then the acknowledgment piece.

God did not create marriage to be broken. We cannot simply write a certificate of divorce and claim no sin was committed. We cannot mock God’s creation of marriage without mocking God. This is serious sin against God, plus it harms other people and yourself. Now, before we go further, it is good for us to be reminded that the Bible does tell us that marital unfaithfulness and desertion are valid reasons for divorce. The two are to be one flesh, but if one unites with another or one’s devotion dries up to the point of leaving, the certificate of divorce acknowledges that the two are no longer one.

When God created marriage for a man and a woman to become one flesh, he created this union to be so close that husband and wife care for one another as they care for their own body. Adultery, abandonment or abuse are as universally wrong as holding a hammer in one hand and then smashing your other hand with it. Our hands and the parts of our body are meant to work together and complement one another, not harm. Divorce hurts people, and the deeper danger in breaking your marriage commitment or seeking the blessings created only for marriage in deceitful or perverse ways is that you mock God. God is ultimately who you need to be united with forever and if you turn from him to sin, you will face his judgement for your hard heart and separation from him in hell.

Faithfulness to a repeat adulterer sounds foolish. We find it hard to believe when someone remains faithful to a repeat adulterer, but that’s what God does to us. Each time we sin, we hurt our relationship with God. And the full depth of our unfaithfulness is seen by God because he sees into our hearts and minds. Yet, we hear this description of the relationship between Jesus and us in our New Testament reading from Ephesians 5,

25 … Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Here again, we are to picture this as the equivalent of a wedding day where the groom sees the bride, but this time the groom has done everything to make his bride shine. When we look in the mirror of God’s law and see our stains, wrinkles and blemishes from all the times we were faithful to turning away from God, we image the end of the aisle deserted. Instead, Jesus is standing there waiting for us. Instead, Jesus saw all we needed to have life, connection and what is good, and he gave everything to give it to us. Jesus is the power behind our baptisms that washed us clean of sin, where his name was given to us making us his people, where we were connected to his sacrifice on the cross and glorious resurrection as we hear in Romans 6,

4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Christ connected us to himself and in so doing he gave us a new life. Christ’s marriage to the church is the guarantee of forgiveness, faithful love and a forever home in heaven.

When we honor marriage, we honor God. The words that are spoken at many weddings are found in our Gospel reading from Mark 10,

9 “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

There may be times when a hard heart causes divorce, but God would have us honor his creation of marriage. Through marriage, God planned to perpetuate humanity through children. Through marriage, God wanted us to have companionship in life and enjoy the union of the complementary male and female body. With marriage, he created the fundamental structure of society. And in marriage we see beyond God’s gift of life here in this world, but also eternal life as God pictures the church as the bride of Christ in Revelation 19,

9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”

When you are tempted to tear up your invitation to the wedding supper of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, turn to God’s word to see Christ’s commitment to you. And with the love of Christ in our hearts first, then he will fill us with love to do what we are called to do in our New Testament reading from Ephesians 5,

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord… 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

The commitment between a husband and wife is closely tied with the love a husband and wife have for Jesus.

When we break a commitment to someone, depending on the situation and number of occurrences our connection with the person may end. God designed marriage to be a lifelong commitment, but sometimes that connection is broken because our hearts are hard. The sins that lead to divorce hurt all involved, including God. When love for God is traded away for love of sin a person’s eternal salvation is at stake, but rather than separate from us, Christ loved the church, married her, made her holy and connected her to himself for eternal life. God created marriage to be honored. Amen.