The Scarlet Letter
Scripture Reading: Mark 10:2-16
Last week we heard Jesus speak in vivid terms of hell, “where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.” Today we heard what sounds like an uncompromising word on divorce. I realize it’s October, the season for scary stories, but these two readings back to back are enough to scare away many a preacher and make them turn to other readings in the Lectionary.
I’m not suggesting that I don’t share that impulse, but I do believe it’s important to confront the more unsettling passages of scripture, especially those that come from the mouth of Jesus. As we heard a few weeks ago when Peter became upset because Jesus told him that the Messiah must be killed, we don’t always get the Jesus we want but we do always get the Jesus we need. And we need to hear this word from Jesus today.
The first thing I want to remind us of is geography. The past few weeks we’ve followed Jesus and the disciples as they made their way back and forth throughout Judea and surrounding regions. After crossing the border of ancient Israel to the city of Tyre, then to the border region of Caesarea Philippi, and then back home to Galilee, Jesus is now turning south toward Jerusalem. The closer he gets to the holy city, the more opposition he will face from the religious leaders.
We encounter a taste of that opposition today. Some Pharisees, a group known for their strict observance of the Jewish law, approach Jesus and ask him whether it’s lawful for a man to divorce his wife. They’re not really interested in the question. They already know the answer. What they’re trying to do is put Jesus in a no-win situation to discredit him. If Jesus agrees that the law allows a man to divorce his wife, then he sides with the Pharisees. If he says that the law does not allow for divorce, then he appears not to have studied the scriptures. And what kind of rabbi doesn’t know the scriptures?
But Jesus refuses to play along. He recognizes the rhetorical trap that the Pharisees have laid and refuses to step into it. Instead, he answers their question with a question of his own: “What did Moses command you?”
Jesus is referring to the Torah, i.e., the law, the first five books of the Bible that tradition held were written by Moses. Given their zeal for the law, the Pharisees don’t hesitate to answer. They know that the law allowed a man to divorce his wife. Verse 1 of chapter 24 of the Book of Deuteronomy clearly states that a man may divorce his wife if he finds something “objectionable” about her. All he had to do was present her with a certificate of divorce. He didn’t need to hire an attorney or appear in court. It was all quite convenient.
But what about this word “objectionable”? How broadly or narrowly should this word be interpreted? This was a matter of debate among Jewish scholars in Jesus’ day.
But Jesus takes no side in the debate. He’s not interested. What concerns him is not the meaning of this or that word but rather the rationale for why the concept of divorce appears in the law at all. And that reason is the human heart. “Because of your hardness of heart [Moses] wrote this commandment for you,” Jesus says.
“Hardness of heart.” In the Greek in which Mark writes, that phrase is captured in one word: sklerokardian. Sklero as in “atherosclerosis,” a hardening of the arteries, and kardian as in “cardiac,” relating to the heart. According to Jesus, we are sick with heart disease, not the kind that comes from a poor diet and a lack of exercise but rather that comes from a deep-seated sinfulness. Among the symptoms are pride, envy, greed, deceit, and adultery. The condition is fatal, save for the mercy of God.
The hardness of the Pharisees’ heart is evident in the way they are interpreting the law. It’s like they’ve read the fine print in the user agreement and have found a loophole. I’m sure you’ve seen those voluminous license agreements that you must consent to before installing software. You may have seen them, but I bet that you haven’t actually read them, unless you suffered from insomnia. They’re lengthy and they’re full of legalese.
But the Pharisees have poured over the terms in the Book of Deuteronomy and have homed in on this word “objectionable.” It’s like a Get Out of Marriage Free card. It gives a man an “out” from a marriage that no longer interests him. Just find something objectionable about your wife and you’re in the clear!
The Pharisees want to know what God permits, but Jesus tells them what God intends. They want to know what is lawful, but Jesus responds with what is loving. They ask about divorce, but Jesus answers about marriage.
You see, the Pharisees are focused on what God permits, but Jesus reframes the issue around what God intends. They want to know what is lawful, but Jesus redirects them to what is loving. They ask about divorce, but Jesus speaks to them of marriage, a marriage in which two become one flesh.
That is God’s intention in marriage, going all the way back to Genesis 2:24, which Jesus quotes. In marriage, two individuals become one flesh. They share one life. Their mutual love for one another is a reflection of God’s love for us. It’s within this context that Jesus says the words that were once part of the traditional marriage rite: “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
A lifetime union. That is what God intends, but we all know that it is far from the reality. Of course, no one gets married expecting that they’ll one day get divorced, and yet divorce is a fact of life. Years ago I remember the statistic that half of all marriages end in divorce. I don’t know whether that’s still true, given that fewer couples marry these days. I do know that several marriages in my own family and among my friends have ended in divorce. I imagine that you can say the same for your friends and family, maybe even for yourself.
With divorce being so common these days, Jesus’ words here ring all the more harshly. The standard he upholds is worlds apart from our lived experience. The standard is so high that the disciples ask him about it once more when they are alone with him. Really, Jesus, are there no exceptions?
He tells them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” Just as he did in the reading from last week, Jesus holds up the full weight of the law. Last week you may remember hearing him say that if your hand or foot or eye causes you to sin, well then cut it off! Better to enter life maimed than to be thrown into hell fully intact. Rather than trying to soften those words, as was my instinct, I let them stand so that we could appreciate the enormous weight of the law that Jesus was presenting the disciples with.
He is doing the same thing here in this passage, highlighting for the disciples once more just how demanding the law is. But he’s also doing something more.
In the Old Testament, adultery had a very specific definition. It meant sexual relations between a married woman and any man other than her husband. Adultery was committed only against a husband, never against a wife. In other words, if a married man committed adultery, he sinned not against his own wife but against the husband of the woman he slept with.
But Jesus challenges that notion of adultery, saying, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.” Against her. Jesus elevates the status of the woman as one with the same standing as the man. She can be a victim of adultery committed by her husband.
“And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery,” he says. Thus, in addition to having the same rights as the man, the woman has the same responsibilities as well. Jesus restores the status of the woman to a full and equal partner in marriage, subject to the same rights and responsibilities as her husband.
For Jesus, marriage is not something that can be ended on a whim, merely because a man finds something “objectionable” in his wife…even if that’s what the law allows. In teaching this, Jesus is providing protection for women for whom the reality of divorce could be impoverishing. A divorced woman, especially if she were beyond childbearing age, could lose everything and be reduced to begging or even prostitution.
Now, it’s important to note what this is and what it isn’t. Yes, Jesus is bestowing full dignity upon women in marriage, but in teaching that divorce and remarriage is the same as adultery Jesus is not articulating some new, rigid legal principle. That is, he’s not replacing the old law with a new law. This must be said because somewhere along the way you may have heard a sermon to that effect, in which the message was that divorce is incompatible with Christian teaching. Full stop.
To that I say this…divorce is never God’s intention, but neither is living in a loveless marriage or an abusive marriage. In truth, in a broken and fallen world, divorce is sometimes the least bad option.
And let’s be honest. The truth is we are all adulterers, in that we have all been unfaithful to the God with whom we are in relationship. We have all turned our eye lustfully to other gods—money, power, sex, alcohol, social influence, the approval of others, grievance and victimhood. The list goes on and on. It’s as if we bear the mark of a scarlet “A” on our foreheads.
Do you remember reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in high school? Set during the days of the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, The Scarlet Letter tells the story of Hester Prynne, a young wife who bears a child out of wedlock, while her husband presumably has been lost at sea. She refuses to name the father and is publicly shamed by being forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her clothing, symbolizing her adultery.
We too bear the mark of a scarlet letter upon our bodies. However, it is not an “A” for adultery that marks us but rather an “F” for forgiven. This letter is not made from fabric sewn into our clothing but runs down from the body of our savior who bled out on the cross, and that blood washes clean every sin we have ever committed or ever will commit, inside or outside of marriage. We are forgiven unconditionally, completely, and eternally. Like the children who come to Jesus to receive his blessing, as children of God we may approach the throne of grace with confidence, knowing that he loves us with a perfect love.