Making Adjustments
Is marriage forever?
Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning “made them male and female”, and said, “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.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’ They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?’ He said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the beginning it was not so. - Matthew 19:3-8
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees. They want to trap him so they hit him with a question that could make him look bad regardless of how he answers it.
Divorce was allowed under Moses, so saying it is bad makes him look foolish, but he answers them that way, causing them to think they have him. But he tells them Moses let them divorce because they were hardhearted. He let them off the hook, so to speak.
What about us?
We are followers of Christ, so shouldn't we follow what he said?
We aren't hard hearted, are we?
I guess what it all boils down to is making adjustments to suit our needs. We find ways to justify our lifestyle, even when it doesn't align completely with doctrine.
Are we wrong, or simply hard hearted?
We could say that we have always modified the laws and commandments to suit our desires, finding loopholes and conditions that make our actions seem lawful, even if in our hearts, we believe it is wrong.
Today, many people will say that we are more progressive, that we understand better, but I wonder what the final judgment will be, if we still believe there will be a final judgment.
I don't think making adjustments to try to attract and appease greater numbers of people is what Jesus had in mind. He came to turn around those who had gone astray.
The questions is, who is that?
Maybe we will just have to wait and see.
More to come...