The Pharisees challenged Jesus about what’s written
in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, asking him, if it is lawful for a man to divorce his
wife (Mark 10:2). While the Pharisees
tried to trap Jesus with a “yes-or-no” question, knowing their vicious intent,
he never answered their question with neither “yes” nor “no”. Rather, Jesus responded this way: What did
Moses command you?(Mark 10:3). Then, the Pharisees answered, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of
dismissal and to divorce her” (Mark 10:4), and this is correct. By that
time, Jesus was the one with the upper hand and now challenging the Pharisees. So, Jesus pressed on them, saying, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote
this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them
male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man
shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall
become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no
one separate”(Mark 10:5-9), reflecting on Genesis 2:15-25.
This is reflected in the Liturgy of the Word for the
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time on Cycle B and is often cited to
explain why the Catholic Church does not permit divorce. If a union between man
and woman has to break, then, such a union is not deemed as matrimony, as
matrimonial union, which is one of the seven Sacraments in the Catholic Church,
is made in accordance with God’s will to conjoin man and woman in one flesh. If
a union is truly of God’s will and desire to reflect His covenant love (chesed) for His beloved creation, the
humans, such a union should be as steadfast and everlasting as His chesed is (Psalm 136). If a union is not
in accordance with God’s will but solely made by human wishes, then, such a
union is likely to fizzle. This is a ground for an annulment in the Catholic
Church.
“What God has
joined together, let no one separate”(Mark 10:9; Matthew 19:6). In fact, this statement of Jesus on the
Sacrament of Matrimony is not just about the chesed-like steadfastness of Christian marriage but addressing that
no one can alter or even interfere what God intends. In other words, Jesus was
addressing that God’s will cannot be tampered by any human will or wishes, and
the steadfast matrimonial union is just one example of this truth.
With this in mind, perhaps, we can better understand
why both Mark and Matthew put the episode of Jesus blessing little children
(Mark 10:13-16//Matthew 19:13-15), following the episode of Jesus’ argument on
marriage against the Pharisee’s challenge (Mark 10:2-12//Matthew 19:3-12).
Though Mark abruptly shifts the episode of Jesus’
defense of unbreakable union of marriage against Pharisaic challenge to the
episode of Jesus blessing of little children, Matthew puts a transition statement,
indicating that Jesus moved from Galilee to Judea after arguing with the
Pharisees on marriage and divorce (Matthew 19:1-2). Thanks to Matthew, we know
that Jesus blessed little children on a different occasion and place from the
time and place that he argued with the Pharisees on marriage and divorce on
Deuteronomy 14:1-4 and Genesis 2:15-25.
Though Jesus was willing to bless little children,
his disciples seemed to have thought that these children were rather nuisance
to him, as they tried to prevent the children from being brought to Jesus for
blessings. Perhaps, the disciples had thought that they were doing a favor to
their master by trying to keep possible annoyance. On the contrary, Jesus was
rather indignant about the disciple’s interference to the children from being
brought up to him and ordered to bring the children to him (Mark 10:14). This
suggests that the disciples’ attempts to prevent the little children from being
brought up to Jesus reflects human intention that interferes God’s will, as
Jesus’ desire to welcome the children to him reflects God’s will.
Just as a man and a woman brought into one-flesh
Sacramental union, called matrimony, by God’s will cannot be separated by any
human intentions, little children being brought up to Jesus in accordance with
God’s will cannot be prevented from being touched and blessed by Jesus. Thus,
both Mark and Matthew address the truth that what is on God’s will cannot be
prevented, interfered, and tampered, by any human intentions. Such a challenge
against God’s will would be like trying to stop a freight train by jumping into
a train track.
Speaking of God’s will to prevail, here is another
interesting aspect found in Acts 5.
It was after the Pharisees worked up with other
religious authorities and the Roman authority to kill Jesus, after Jesus
resurrected and ascended, after the Holy Spirit was poured down on the
disciples on Pentecost, as Jesus promised….upon the disciples became the
Apostles and began carrying out Jesus’ mission. Obviously, the religious
authorities that got rid of Jesus were so annoyed by the Apostles and wanted to
kill them, as well. But, they struggled in accomplishing their mission to get
rid of the Apostles. So, they consulted a respected Pharisee, a teacher of the
Mosaic Law, Gamaliel in terms of what to do with the Apostles. To the religious
authorities’ surprise, Gamaliel advised:
Fellow
Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. For some
time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about
four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were
dispersed and disappeared. After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of
the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed
him were scattered. So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these
men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human
origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow
them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God! Acts 5:35-39
Gamaliel was truly a wise teacher, as he called to
let God’s will prevail and not to get in the way of God’s will.
Ultimately, it is God’s will and desire to bring all
of us to His Kingdom. Including Matrimony, all the Sacraments are visible and
tangible outgoing sign of the Holy Spirit to reflect God’s salvlfic will.
However, there is always something in our human ego that tries to defy God’s
will and interferes with God’s salvific plan. Remember, our ego is easily succumbed
to Satan and manipulated by his evil spirit. No wonder Buddhists also strive to
attain anatman or anatta, as Shakamuni Buddha had taught
problems of ego about 500 years before Jesus.
We need to be as open-hearted as the little Children
Jesus was willing to touch and bless so that the Holy Spirit can fill us and
seal us, preventing our ego from falling to Satan’s will. This way, we do not
become interference to God’s will but rather to become channels of God’s salvific
will to prevail, reflecting His chesed
to us, while attaining our way of what anatman
or anatta by letting our ego
crucified with Christ and therefore letting Christ live in us (Galatians 2:20).
This way, we, too, may become as humble as St. Francis of Assisi, because the
humbler we become, the more effective channels of God’s chesed and everything else in God’s will we become.
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