GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 10:10
I Can’t Believe That
It is not uncommon to hear someone say, “I can’t believe that,” when confronted with something that contradicts tradition or stretches credulity. The expression corresponds closely to the anonymous aphorism, “The truth always sounds like a lie the first time you hear it.”
In answering his Pharisee critics who tested him with a divorce question, Jesus took his audience beyond contemporary authorities, beyond Moses the lawgiver, back to the Father’s original plan for marriage: “Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Mark 10:9) At this time, Rabbi Shammai taught that only adultery could dissolve a marriage—a strict interpretation. Rabbi Hillel taught that a man could divorce his wife whenever he wished, even for something as trivial as her complaint that his shoes left dust on a freshly washed floor. While Jesus appears to allow for adultery as grounds for divorce (Matthew 19:9), his view of marriage is higher than that of even the strict teachers: a union God has made should not be broken.
The disciples undoubtedly knew the Genesis account to which Jesus referred, but they had apparently never heard it applied so forcefully: “And in the house the disciples asked him again about this.” (Mark 10:10) It is as if they said, “I can’t believe that.” Peter was the only disciple known to have a wife (Mark 1:30), and it appears to have been a good marriage, for she traveled with him (I Cor. 9:5). So their question about divorce does not suggest that any of the disciples were divorced or were thinking about seeking a divorce. They sought clarification about a new principle—the permanence of marriage, no divorce. In this teaching, adultery does not necessitate divorce. The Apostle Paul, writing to Gentiles, discusses divorce and remarriage. He does not dilute Jesus’ teaching, but he does address situations where an unbelieving spouse leaves the marriage: “In such cases the brother or sister is not bound.” (I Cor. 7:15)
After Jesus answered his critics, when they were alone in the house, the disciples asked him to clarify his teaching, for they had heard something difficult to believe—a case of “I can’t believe I heard that.”
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