“Is it lawful?” (Mk 10:2-16)
As can be seen from today's pericope, marriage issues inflamed minds also in Jesus' time. (And today!). Particularly topical was the issue of divorce.
There were various interpretations in the Jewish religion in this regard. Some considered divorce permissible even for a trivial reason, while others demanded an extremely important reason. We can find echoes of these discussions in today's fragment. The Pharisees (Greek: farisaioi) become Jesus' adversaries in this matter. Their presence in the Gospel according to St. Mark is significant (cf. Mark 2:16,18, 24; 3:6; 7:1,3,5; 8:11,15; 10: 2; 12:13). As we know from history, it was a religious group particularly fond of external observance of religious laws (cf. Mk 7:1 - 4). This led them to religious rigor and a maze of regulations to comply with. They were not very kind to Jesus, as the Evangelist points out throughout the Gospel. They seemed to be the sui generis of the agents of the elite ruling in Palestine, who ultimately stood behind the Savior's passion and death. Nevertheless, the Pharisees were an object of respect for the people, although in reality they had a false life. Jesus tolerated their presence, although he did not esteem them too much.
At the heart of the polemic is the expression " Is it lawful - it is permitted " – (Greek ει εξεστι -ei exesti). The question is: what kind of freedom is going on here; what do Jesus' opponents actually mean? The main word of this phrase is the Greek verb in the impersonal form εξεστι -exestin, which translates "it is possible, it is allowed, it is necessary". It appears six times in the Gospel of Mark (cf. Mk 2:24, 26; 3:4; 6:18; 10:2; 12:14). It is a religious-legal term that refers to the totality of laws related to various elements of religious life. It contains the idea of obligatory or non-obligatory regulations related to some area of life. In Mark 10: 2, the Pharisees refer to a positive understanding of the word and formally ask Jesus a question, demanding a substantive answer, which they receive, although probably not the one they expected.
The motive for their actions, however, was not the actual resolution of the moral and religious issue that botherd them, but the desire to discredit Jesus in the eyes of those around him, as well as to discourage them from continuing to follow the Master of Nazareth. The Evangelist expresses this with the strong word peiradzo - "to tempt." It appears for the first time in Mk 1:13 in the description of Jesus being tempted in the desert by the devil. Appearing in Mk 10: 2, the word makes people aware of the evil intentions of the Pharisees, as well as reminds who is the authentic and real antagonist of the activities of Jesus Christ.
Jesus' answer regarding divorce is unequivocal. Any softening is out of question. The marriage of a man and a woman is an essential link of God's strategy for mankind, and no human discussion will change that. Probably simpler, purely human, it would be to liberalize the issue of marriage and introduce real divorce in the Church. However, today's pericope clearly resembles the teaching of Jesus in this regard. Hence, following faithfully the teaching of the Son of God, one cannot introduce drastic changes. In human nature, however, there is this attempt to go beyond and extend the boundaries that apply to him. Also, moral. After all, we should remember about the caution resulting from today's pericope. To the question "is it allowed", Jesus answers unequivocally and without hesitation. No. You cannot. Divorce is meddling with God's powers and competences.
From all three synoptic Gospels it is clear and unequivocally clear that Jesus restored the original indissolubility of marriage and did not allow any divorce (cf. Mt 19: 6-9; Mk 10: 2-12; Lk 16:18; cf. 1 Cor 7:1-15)
Until Tomorrow
fr. george