Mark 10:2–16

²And some Pharisees came up to Him, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.

³And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?"

⁴And they said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away."

⁵But Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

⁶"But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.

⁷"For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother,

⁸and the two shall become one flesh; consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh.

⁹"What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

¹⁰And in the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again.

¹¹And He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;

¹²and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery."

¹³And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁵"Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all."

¹⁶And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands upon them.

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Dear heavenly Father, show us who you are and your love for us. Produce your love in our hearts so that we may love one another as you have loved us. Amen.

Our gospel reading today is pure law. What is the law of God? The law of God contains certain demands and prohibitions on our behavior. It sets the bar for our behavior at an impossible level. But the law is much more than that. It is much more than just a set of commands and prohibitions. The Law of God is revelation of who God is. God's law shows us his character. Indeed, it tells us about the love of God. My goal this morning is to give you a fuller understanding of God's law and see in it not only God's wrath, but even more, as revelation of God's love.

The Holy Spirit in the Bible tells us that the law is fulfilled in one word: Love. Love your neighbor as yourself. Remember, also he has told us that "God is love," and because God is love, the law of God is love your neighbor. It reveals to us the love and communion and fellowship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The law of God to love one another is merely a visible expression of the love of the Trinity.

When God created the heavens and the earth it was out of a passionate, burning love that he made Adam and Eve. He created man and woman in his image, which means man is the mirror image of who God is and what God is like. God wanted mankind to be the child of his love. God, who within the Trinity possess the fullness of love's communion, created a creature which is his personal associate, the partner of his love. Man is bound to God in love's communion.

God is love; the image of God, therefore, is love; and love, then, is the fulfillment of the law. God wrote this law of love on the hearts of Adam and Eve. "A new command I give unto you, that you love your neighbor as I have loved you. " Loving your neighbor as yourself, then, is what it means to be in the image of God; is what it means to be fully human.

And nowhere does the command to love your neighbor come to life more fully than in the institution of marriage. The institution of marriage is the revelation of God's character. The marriage bond, where man and woman are joined together in love and the two become one flesh, reflects the passionate, burning love of God for you and me. In baptism, man and God are joined together and become one. Jesus says, "That you may become one with me as I and the Father are one."

The commandment, "Do not commit adultery," takes on flesh in the marriage vows of a husband and wife. First of all it reflects God's love that he sent his only begotten Son to die for us. In Jesus the love of God takes on human flesh and blood. In marriage the love of God for you, takes on flesh also. That is why the Holy Spirit calls us, the church, "the bride of Christ."

In our text we just read, Jesus tells us that God hates divorce. Why? Because God cannot be unfaithful to us and marriage reflects that faithfulness. God has bound himself to us in such a way that the bond can never be broken. Divorce, then is the antithesis of who God is. The splitting asunder of the bond between man and wife is tantamount to separating ourselves from the love of God. It defiles not only the marriage between man and woman, but the unity between God and you.

The law then reveals who Jesus is. For only Jesus was fully human. Only he lived in the fullness of love and service. Jesus is the love of God in the flesh. And that flesh of Jesus, his body, was slashed open, cut and bruised, whipped and pierced and hung on a cross. Then Jesus went into the sleep of the grave for three days and awoke to rise again. As our risen Lord, he takes us to be his bride in baptism. In baptism we are united with Christ. We become one with him.

Sounds a lot like Adam and Eve. Adam was put into a deep sleep. Then God cut open his body and took out a rib. From a piece of Adam's flesh, he created a woman, and when Adam awoke from that sleep, God gave him the woman and the two were joined together and the two became one. Luther says of marriage: "God gloriously honors and praises this estate. He has instituted it before all others. He created man and woman separately, but so that they might live together in marriage, to be fruitful, bear children and nourish and train them to honor God. Therefore, God has also richly blessed this estate above all others."

So in marriage, man and woman are joined together and the two become one. The command to not commit adultery reveals the unconditional love of God for us and his uncompromising faithfulness to us. In our struggles, in our suffering, in our pains, in economic problems, unemployment, in our sickness and even in death, the one thing we have for sure, the one unchanging thing that we can cling to is God's love and faithfulness to us. He promises to deliver us in the day of trouble, to save us and raise us on the last day to everlasting life in Jesus Christ. The prohibition against divorce and adultery show us the faithfulness of God; the unbreakableness of the promise he has made to us. "I shall never leave you nor forsake you," he promises unconditionally.

So, God hates anything that breaks the bond and union of marriage. This includes not just actual divorce, but also any sort of immorality and impure thoughts. He forbids indecent language and dirty jokes. He forbids pornography and any sex outside of marriage, like cohabitation, and premarital sex. Why? Because all of these defile the estate of marriage. They all break the bond of marriage. Marriage is meant to be a permanent bond of love between a man and his wife. It is not to be broken, because the love of God cannot be broken. The commandment "thou shalt not commit adultery" reflects the faithfulness and complete commitment of God to mankind. God has bonded himself to us and will not and cannot break that bond. He will not and cannot be unfaithful to us.

But, what if it is already too late? What if you have already broken the bond of marriage? What if you are in the middle of a broken relationship; an adulterous relationship, or struggling in your marriage? The marriage bond that reflects God's love gives us the solution to our problem of sin. Paul explains to us, "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." The same commandment to love your wives shows us the love of Christ for us. The love that Christ sacrificed his life for us, even to the point of shedding blood for our sake in order to do what? To sanctify us and cleanse us with the washing of water with the word. He died on the cross so that we would be without spot or wrinkle; but be holy and blameless in the sight of God. He marched into hell and there suffered its fiery punishment on behalf of his bride to present you, his church, to himself in full glory and holiness. To make you, his bride, blameless before God. He forgave your sin. He washed away your sin and in baptism gives you a new birth, a new life to start over new. The past is wiped away and all has become new. You have a new beginning in Christ. You are a new person. So the sins that you have committed have been forgiven and you can start out your relationship new, as a new person and this time get it right.

Therefore, face up to your sin and confess it for God hates sin. Repent and turn from your sins and do not repeat them again. Confess your sins and receive the forgiveness of Christ. He forgives your sin and gives you a new beginning. That is what the cross is all about: on the cross he says, "Your sins are forgiven. Go, sin no more." He gives you the freedom to live in love for your spouse and to obey his commands. Wives, "be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ also is the head of the church." If you haven't done that up to now, repent, confess it and trusting that you are forgiven, start doing it now. Husbands, "Love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her." If you haven't done that up to now, repent, confess it and trusting that you are forgiven, start doing it now. And strengthen that love by eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the communion. For as God created Eve from the flesh of Adam, so he creates new life and strengthens that new life with the flesh of Christ.

Then as children of God baptized into Christ, the law tells us who we are in Christ. It is our identity in Christ. Therefore, on account of God's inseparable bond with you, on account of what he has done to forgive your sins and save you, live in love for your neighbor, beginning with your spouse, by doing what the law commands. If you are not married, still you are to live in love for your neighbor. Be imitators of God and walk in love, just as Christ loved you and gave himself up for you. Do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you. Let there be no filthiness or course jesting, but rather give thanks. Know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person shall inherit the kingdom of God. These things bring the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience. Live by doing what is right to your spouse, your children and your neighbor. You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light. In whatever estate you are, married or single, live as children of light. Live in decency and serve you neighbor in love. Do not defile yourself with immorality or indecency. Live in righteousness. For this is pleasing to the Lord. It is your identity as Christians. It is what it means to be fully human.

Amen.