Daily Devotion – September 28, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Mark 10:2-16
10:2 Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
10:3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”
10:4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.”
10:5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you.
10:6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
10:7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
10:8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
10:9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10:10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter.
10:11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her;
10:12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
10:13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them.
10:14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.
10:15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
10:16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
In this passage Jesus responds to tricky questions from the Pharisees about divorce, and he also deals with his disciples who are keeping children away from him. These two matters are related, even though they might not seem to be, because they reveal how those with power treat those who have no power and are not seen to be valuable.
Jesus is pretty conservative in his stance on divorce in this passage, but, as in all things, he is doing that in order to take the side of the person in the situation who has little or no power: the wife. Jesus wants to be certain divorce doesn’t happen on a whim, and that the woman’s well being is protected. Under Jewish law women had no power of their own, and if they were married, they had to obey the husband no matter what. Jesus is teaching both the Pharisees and later his disciples to be careful to serve the needs of the underserved and not enter into the breaking of covenants lightly.
When the disciples shoo away the children who have been brought for a blessing, Jesus turns the situation around and treats the children with high regard, not with the low regard his own disciples have shown. Jesus embodies the elevating and the serving of the lowly. His disciples are slow to learn this behavior from Jesus, so he demonstrates it again and again. The Kingdom of God belongs to the lowly! Don’t disregard them! Be aware of them. Be mindful of them. Treat them with respect and care.
If we are people who have power, how do we regard that power? As something to be used on our whims? Or as gift or energy to serve the lowly? If we have high status, how do we regard those of lower status? Do we treat high status people better than we treat low status people? This week I am going to think about my actions toward those in high status versus those in low status, and I am going to try to do something for someone who needs my help to get it done. I want to seek an opportunity to serve.
Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for loving the lowly and giving them a preferred place in your Kingdom. Give us eyes to see our attitudes that prevent our serving as you serve. Amen.
