PENTECOST 22

MARK 10:1-16

Jesus’ teaching about relationships within the household needs some context for our modern ears. In the ancient world the structures and roles of the household were understood as a microcosm of the larger society. The major voices of figures such as Aristotle proposed that ideal households were hierarchical, patriarchal and centred on male interests. Women, children, and slaves were subjected to patterns of domination which included rigid gender differentiation, hierarchy and privileging of male power and status. This is an important part of the context we need to keep in mind when approaching Jesus’ teaching in Mark 10, which, as Warren Carter writes, 

‘seeks to shape, in a society saturated by male domination and “power over” structures”, an alternative community that much more embodies “power for and with.”[1]

Within this context we can understand the query of the Pharisees centring around a male “power over” practice within the context of marriage and divorce (10:2). Divorce was a profoundly demeaning reality for women in a first century context which rendered them extremely vulnerable socially, politically and economically. Jesus’ strong teaching here can be understood in one sense as restraining male power that widely assumed the ease and right of a male to divorce a wife.

Jesus knew from Deuteronomy that male-initiated divorce was lawful with some prohibiting circumstances (Deut 24:1-13; 22:13-21). Jesus draws the conversation away from what is lawful and centres the discussion around what God always intended in marriage. Moses offered concessions for hard-heartedness thus permitting divorce. Jesus instead focuses the conversation on God’s original intention in Genesis whereby marriage results in “one flesh” – a whole new creation (Gen 1:27; 2:24). In Jesus’ teaching it is not the male who is the lord of marriage, but rather God. “Therefore,” Jesus teaches, “what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).

Inherent in this “one flesh” teaching is a view of marriage that sees it is a reflection of the covenant between God and humanity – a union marked by the kind of divine faithfulness that God has upheld with God’s people despite Israel’s own unfaithfulness (see Hos 14:4-7; Ezek 16:62-63; Mal 2:14). 

Jesus grounds the ultimate purpose of marriage in the character of God. Marriage here is not a legal arrangement but rather a deeply committed bond of faithfulness. [2]

Another important insight us that Jesus’ words rendered as “joined together” are more literally translated “yoked together.” Brownson (2013) explains that the image is of a dual yoke, as in pulling a wagon or plough:

‘The focus falls, therefore, on shared productive labour and service. The “one-flesh” union of marriage is not just about mutual satisfaction but about shared service and ministry: childbearing, mutual care, hospitality, and service to the wider community.’[3]

Finally, we have another scene in which the disciples seek to dismiss those bringing children to Jesus to be blessed (10:13-16). The disciple’s impulse to dismiss and disregard the least (10:13-16) reflects their desire for the kind of power and status reflective of the rulers who tyrannise with coercive/ dominating/ hierarchical forms of power (vv35-45). Jesus once again redefines power. He refuses to send the vulnerable and the powerless away and instead affirms that the kingdom belongs to the little children (which would have included children as well as slaves, women, the poor, and the sick) – another affront to the normal structure and nature of households shaped by “power over.”

Understanding Jesus’ teaching about marriage fits within a larger context in which Jesus reimagine and redeploys power in a world where the politics of domination are the norm. Jesus restrains male power. He locates marriage within a bond of loving faithfulness. He challenges rigid differentiation of roles and offers an image not of “power over” but rather of “power with” – a union in which partners work together alongside one another in mutual service. Jesus reminds his audience that marriage is ultimately located in the character of divine love and givenness - a kind of givenness and servanthood that ultimately draws the powerless and vulnerable into communities of belonging defined by divine faithfulness and blessing.

[1] Carter, W. Wisdom Commentary: Mark (2010), p.265

[2] The later traditions we find in Matthew 19 and 1 Cor 7:10-15 help us to recognise that the essential purpose of God needs to be met with pastoral discernment and sensitivity for the many difficult and complex situations people experience in marriage which include can include great hurt, brokenness and oppression.