‘Mmm’, Jesus seems to say, ‘So divorce, separation and breaking of trust are issues which ail the heart! Well, because your hearts are ‘hard’, you find yourselves with these confusing dilemmas.’
A ‘hard heart’, or a ‘heart of stone’ is an unloving heart, a heart separated from the loving heart of God. When we do not carefully discern
God’s will, we can easily begin to misinterpret the intention of God’s Law and separate ourselves from God and one another’s love.
So, Jesus simply reiterates God’s Law in his answer to the Pharisees. He goes back to before human sin to show God’s original intention. Marriage was intended to be a great unifying blessing, bonding a man and a woman in the closest of relationships, in a bond of ‘one flesh’, or marriage.
When a marriage bond is of God, in God, and remains anchored in God, it will be impossible for evil to break it. Divorce is an accommodation to human weakness, intended to bring order in a society that disregards God’s will and to reduce the hardship of the consequences of divorce, especially for children. It is not the desire of God’s heart.
If you intend to make
marriage vows, take them very seriously and ask God to reveal God’s heart in the matter to you and the one you love so that you may make an honest and lasting commitment to one another and God.
If you are married, consider your heart's condition towards God and your spouse. Ask Jesus to help you maintain a heart of love amid the complicated and tricky questions of the heart.
If your heart has been broken through separation or divorce, ask God to help you forgive, give you a soft, loving heart once again, and help you be careful when forging close relationships.
Reflections by Reggie
Venter
