comes from Mark chapter 10. We're going to be continuing our series through the Gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 10, and I'm going to be reading verse 12 verses. This can be found on page 845 of the Pew Bibles. Mark chapter 10, the first 12 verses. Please give your attention to the Word of God. And Jesus left there, and went to the region of Judea, and beyond Jordan. And the crowds gathered to Him again. And again, as was His custom, He taught them. And Pharisees came up, and in order to test Him, asked, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Jesus answered them, what did Moses command you? They said, Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Jesus said to them, because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment. From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife. and they shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. But therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery. Well, it's been a while since we've been with the Pharisees. Recently, as we've been going through the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has been doing a lot more private teaching, and specifically to his disciples. But now Jesus is back in a more public ministry. Mark lets us know that Jesus' custom was to teach the crowds. So the Pharisees have returned and they have an agenda. It's a very simple agenda. They want to destroy Jesus. Remember, Mark tells us this back in chapter 3. We're there at the synagogue. There is this man with a withered hand. Jesus asks a question about the Sabbath. Is it lawful to do good? or to do harm on the Sabbath. Is it lawful for me to restore this man's hand and give him rest, or to leave him as he is? So Jesus heals the man with the withered hand, and Mark records this about the Pharisees. This is chapter 3, verse 6. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against Jesus. how to destroy him. I told you I wasn't making that up. The Pharisees have this agenda, destroy Jesus, and so first they try to discredit him. We get this in chapter 7. They say to Jesus, your disciples don't follow the tradition of the elders. Jesus teaches, well, when you follow the tradition of the elders, what apparently seems to happen is that your heart is far from the Lord. You acknowledge God with your words, but your heart is far from Him. Another thing that happens is you keep the traditions of the elders, but you ignore the commandments of God. Then in chapter 8, they put a test to Jesus. Jesus, we were there when you healed the man with the withered hand. We know none of us could do that. We've heard stories about your miracles, your healing, feeding large groups of people, but none of that proves that you're the Messiah. Give us a sign from heaven. And Jesus says, no sign will be given to this generation. And so in our scripture passage this morning, the Pharisees have returned with a test. And much like chapter three, it deals with what Moses, wrote down, the Mosaic Law. So we're presented with a question. Who reads Moses the right way? Is it Jesus or the Pharisees? And one of the ways that Mark right away lets us know that the answer is Jesus, he draws this comparison of Jesus and Moses. You remember, if you read Deuteronomy, we see that the book starts with Moses teaching the people about life in covenant with God beyond the Jordan. The crowds have come to Moses to know what it means to live in covenant with God. And here, in our sermon passage, Jesus is described as teaching life in the New Covenant with God beyond the Jordan. And this setup is fitting because the passage in question that they're going to argue about is Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 24 verses 1-4. I'm going to read it to you. When a man takes a wife and marries her, If then she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and becomes another man's wife, and the latter man hates her, and writes her a certificate of divorce, and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, and took her to be his wife, Then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for this is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for inheritance." Now, after reading that law in Deuteronomy 24, you might say, Hunter, I don't teach preaching, but you might have presented that a little out of order. First, you should have gone to the Pharisees in their response to Jesus in verse 4. Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce, and then you're supposed to say, now where is that law at? And then you're supposed to read Deuteronomy 24 to us. Well, the reason why I didn't do it in that order is because the Pharisees know about this law in Deuteronomy 24. When they come to Jesus, they are not pulling up a desk, opening their notebook, and saying, teach us. This is a trap. Mark tells us that this is a trap, that they have come to Jesus to test Him. And so far in Mark's Gospel, when he has been using the Greek under that word test, it's only applied to two parties. The Pharisees, Satan back in chapter 1 our English translations have it as tempting or temptation but it's the same Greek and so as Satan wanted to stop Jesus's ministry to prevent him from accomplishing this new exodus to deliver his people from sin and death here are the Pharisees coming with this question about Moses's law not to learn but to discredit Jesus to shame him. And so it's important as we come to this question to remember, one, it's a trap. This is a test. And two, who was the last person to answer this question? The last person who faithfully explained and stood for the Lord's teaching about relationships that he has commanded in his word between man and woman, husband and wife, with John the baptizer. How'd that go for him? And so it could be that the Pharisees are saying, hey, we know that this is a question that will get you into hot water. Isn't that interesting? That asking questions about marriage and the relationship between husband and wife can get you into hot water. And when John answered that faithfully, Herod arrested him, and then later he was beheaded. Well, maybe we can get rid of the Lord Jesus, well, they wouldn't have called Him that, get rid of Jesus by getting Him to answer this unpopular question. So how does Jesus answer this test? Well, He goes to Scripture. What did Moses command you? I think what's very interesting is here the Pharisees present the question in this kind of hypothetical third person. If a man happens to do this, and Jesus is speaking directly to them, the second person, what did Moses command you? Later he will say, your hardness of heart. But Jesus answers this test by appealing to scripture. I thought that was a little interesting. When you are the eternal Son of God, you don't have to appeal to Scripture. You wrote Scripture. You are God. You can say, that's what you need to do, or don't do this, and that's that. But here, the Lord is appealing to Moses to show that his ministry is not getting rid of what Moses commanded. But there needs to be a certain level of clarification, a matter of the heart. But I think that for us as Christians, we shouldn't read over too quickly that Jesus, when asked a question, if it's a question that the Scripture speaks to, He is more than willing to say, what does the Word say? In your life, you are going to be asked all kinds of questions. And you have three categories that you're going to be answering those questions in. You have think or feel questions. Those are your first two. Right? So afterwards, we go downstairs for the fellowship lunch, and we're looking at the fantastic food from the Ordination and the great food that Christina made. I can say to John, what do you think you're going to start with? This isn't something that Scripture has spoken into, so he doesn't have to appeal to Scripture. But friends, when it comes to things that God has spoken on, marriage, how you speak to your spouse, how you treat your children, how you conduct yourself, what is true, what is false, what is really loving, and what would be hateful. You are not allowed to appeal to your thoughts and to your feelings, but to submit to God's Word. And so Jesus asked the Pharisees, what did Moses command you? Isn't there a little bit of a spot here? There is no command that says Yes, you there, man, divorce that woman. Or you, woman, get rid of that man. But there is a commandment that is dealing with hard-hearted realities. And what is that reality? That sinners get married. That sinful men take wives. And in certain scenarios, those sins rule and reign in the marriage, rather than grace and truth and love. It's a commandment that deals with hard hearts. This is what Jesus is getting at in His response in verse 5. Why is that there in Deuteronomy 24? Because of your hardness of heart. Deuteronomy 24 is not there for Pharisees to high-five about how easy it is to get rid of a spouse. It's certainly not there to try and trick the Messiah. but it is there because man is sinful and hard-hearted. The law does not promote divorce, but it is a divorce law that is trying to prevent further evil. There's a writer, Doug O'Donnell, who gives a very helpful illustration, so helpful, you're going to hear it this morning, obviously. He says, if you're getting a new vehicle, you reach into the glove compartment and you take out the car manual, and there's a section that says, If you get in a car accident, or when you get in a car accident, you are not going to take that instruction to mean, well, I must get in a car accident. But rather, I don't want to get in an accident. I want this car to get me to A to B with no accidents in between. But that's there in the manual that if you experience destruction, chaos, this is how to respond. And so he says that Deuteronomy 24 isn't promoting divorce, but it's trying to prevent further wickedness. The wickedness of a man finding something displeasing in his wife, divorcing her, and then she goes off and gets married, and then that second man either divorces her or dies. But that first man is not able to say, You know, the problems that we had were so bad that I wasn't willing to either bear or work it out. I had to get rid of you, but a little bit of time has passed. Come back. The Lord says that that's an abomination, that this is not what you are to do. In fact, almost all of the laws in Deuteronomy that we see dealing with marriage and family life in this regard have these kind of car accident elements to it. things that God does not want to happen, did not purpose to happen. This is chapter 21, verses 10 through 14. When you go out to war, the Lord did not purpose war from the beginning. Against your enemies, the Lord did not purpose enemies from the beginning. And you see among the captives a beautiful woman. This is not a promotion of going to war, taking captives. But this is trying to prevent further sin, and so what's the rest of the law? If you see a beautiful woman among the captives, don't snatch her up and run to the bedroom. Give her time to grieve. Give her time to understand that she has just witnessed the effects of sin in a fallen world, where those would oppose God and His people. And if you put her away, don't try to sell her as a slave or get rid of her in a disgraceful way, but let her leave on her own accord. Chapter 21, verse 15. I'm just going to read this law. I don't think I have to explain it. If a man has two wives, the Lord didn't purpose two wives from the beginning, and loves one and hates the other. So not only has someone acquired multiple wives, but they love one and hate When we're reading Deuteronomy and we're encountering these laws about marriage, we are not seeing what God promotes. We are seeing one consistent point being made. Man's heart is hard. And if we did not have God's law, it's not as if our sin would vanish, but in fact it would just continue to burn. The fire of our wickedness would only rage stronger. And this is something that's important to remember about Old Testament law. Because many of you, you go to school, you work in locations, you live in neighborhoods where not everybody is a Christian. And so they'll say to you, wait a minute, you're a Christian, you believe in the Bible, there's that law there about captive wives. Why would I want to be in a religion that promotes taking captive wives? And it's important for you to say, friend, not everything that the Bible records or notes is in the style of promotion, but it is preventing further sin and hard-heartedness. Then you could open up that passage and say, are you referring to Deuteronomy 21? Read it with them and show them. God's law is good because it is preventing the wickedness of man from spreading. Even Moses acknowledges this. He gives these laws to the people about the way of life and death. And then at the end, how does Moses, what's his final words to the people? I know how rebellious, stubborn you are. Behold, even today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord. And how much more after my death. So here Moses knows that he was giving these laws. to a generation with hard hearts. And here in our scripture passage, what do we see? That those hard hearts have not disappeared. This is what we see whenever we are interacting with the scriptural witness about divorce. The hard heart is always assumed that even when the Bible permits divorce, we see a violation of God's purposes. That when the Bible permits divorce, It's saying that though this is no longer a sin to divorce this person, it's not a good thing. In Matthew 19, Jesus Christ lists adultery, something that happens because of hard hearts, as a permissible reason for divorce. So it would not be a sin, but the Bible doesn't say this would be a good thing. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul writes that an unbelieving spouse who wants to leave their Christian husband or wife and refuses all attempts at making living together permissible. Again, this is a hard part. Or as our Confession writes, Chapter 24, Paragraph 6, Although the corruption of man be such as is apt to study arguments unduly to put asunder those whom God hath joined together in marriage, I can just maybe put a Philly is a twist on that if Dern usually calls it a Philly ism. What's that thing man? It's so wicked that he's going to try and find a whole bunch of reasons to ruin what God has put together That's what the confession is trying to say there. I'm going to read the rest yet nothing but adultery or such willful desertion as can no way be remedied by the church or civil magistrate is caused sufficient of dissolving the bond of marriage and Jesus says that when we are talking about what is lawful between husband and wife, what God has purposed, what with his authority he has created and commanded, we don't approach that with hard hearts. But we look before adultery. We look before captives and wars and enemies, before men being so sinful and selfish to take multiple wives. We go to the beginning. This is Jesus' point here in verses 6-9. I'm going to read it. But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife. They shall become one flesh. They are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. Two things that I find very interesting about Jesus' answer here He's talking with hard-hearted Pharisees about a hard-hearted law. And he says, so we need to go to the beginning, when there is no hard hearts, when God established man in righteousness, in the garden. And so prior to hard hearts, what do we find? The goodness of male and the goodness of female. Today, what is widely believed is that male and female, these distinctions exist because of hard-heartedness. That we've come up with these categories because there is oppression and wickedness and sin. And those things certainly do exist. But here, Jesus is saying, before hard hearts, there is the goodness of male, the goodness of female. And it's defined by God's command. And that's the second thing that I think is very interesting. Today, so many people are questioning the goodness of their male bodies, or the goodness of their female bodies, because they don't meet the standards produced by a hard-hearted world. So a sinful, hard-hearted world says, well, if you're going to be a female, the goodness of female is this kind of appearance, this kind of response when you walk into a room, these kinds of interests and hobbies and all kinds of other arbitrary things. And so, so many women are led to question the goodness of female, their sex, their body, because they don't match the standards of a hard-hearted world. Would you believe me if I said the same thing is happening to men? That because I don't have the appearance of what the world tells me is good about maleness being a man Because I don't meet those standards Something's wrong with me or something's wrong with maleness But we come and we see that that Jesus says that before hard hearts We have these distinctions, and they are good, and they are defined not by sinners and magazines and social media posts and influencers, but by the Lord God. The goodness of male and female was to come together and spread God's presence throughout the world. so that all of creation wouldn't be under the sway of male dominance or patriarchy, but under a holy and loving God's purpose and will. Jesus says that we won't get this unless we go to the beginning. You know, as I'm talking about those standards that a hard-hearted world produces about male and female, I think I have a responsibility to encourage those who will be looking for a spouse to not use those hard-hearted standards. That when you are looking for the male or the female that you would marry, don't pull your ear open and say, what does the world tell me makes male or female? Or marriage, for that matter. But what has God created? And what has he commanded? Approach marriage not with the standards of the world, but asking the Lord to work on your heart so that you would become one flesh with this person. But if you be the man that you would be ready and prepared to leave father and mother and hold fast to your wife. Jesus says that we need to go to the beginning. Jesus Christ does not come to get rid of the law of Moses, doesn't come to get rid of the goodness of sex differences, he doesn't come to get rid of the purposes of marriage, but he does come to destroy something. Hard hearts. Because this is what prevents us from enjoying the goodness of what God has created and following his command. Hard, sinful hearts. And this is where we are encountered with the deep love of Christ Jesus. That when we encounter hard hearts, we can't find a quick enough reason to get rid of that person. To get out of my marriage, get out of my family, get out of my life, get out of our church. And the Lord Jesus teaches hard hearts. and then goes to the cross and dies for hard-hearted sinners. What a loving response to hard hearts. To suffer as a righteous one. To suffer as the Son of God for hard-hearted sinners. And we are not then told that because of this great sacrifice that the only appropriate response is to say, thank you, Lord, for your sacrifice and continue to ignore his teaching or continue to live by hard hearts or hard-hearted standards. But we are, with the peace and forgiveness that Jesus has accomplished for us, to walk and what He has called creation to be, and what He has called us to do in His command. I think this is why Mark gives us Jesus' teaching one more time for the twelve disciples. I think it's there for two reasons. One, Jesus' teaching is unpopular. And when you're saying something unpopular, and it's true, you've got to say it as much as possible. No one wants to hear what Jesus is teaching. I think it's interesting, often, when we're seeing the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees. In popular Christianity, the understanding is, there's those rigid and stiff Pharisees, and here's Jesus just being loose and changing things and making it so easy for everybody. But that certainly wouldn't work. The prevailing interpretation at the time is, has your wife spoiled your dinner? Divorce her. Have you found a more attractive woman? Divorce her. This is the prevailing interpretation about what, in Deuteronomy 24, it says when that husband finds something displeasing, so that displeasing thing eventually becomes any old thing. Jesus is saying that what I said to the Pharisees isn't just for people trying to test me, but if you would be a disciple, if you would follow Jesus Christ, you cannot approach life, marriage, work with a hard heart. But you must, by your transformed life, show the goodness of what God had created from the beginning. By your obedience to the command, bring glory to me and give a good witness to Christ's love for the Church. And two things, friends, prevent marriages from being what God has created and commanded them to be. One is a hard heart. I think we've talked a lot about that. The second thing is believing that the hard heart has the final word. Let me tell you what that sounds like. It's always been this way in my marriage, so it's never going to change. She's always been this way. He's always been this way. I've always been this way. Believing that the hard heart has the final word, that the hard heart will rule supreme. But Jesus, as I said earlier, came not only that hard-hearted sinners could have their guilt pardoned by His death, but He has come and sent His Spirit so that grace can reign in your marriage and not hard hearts. That truth So, this week, we are called, friends, not to live with heart harms, but with the new heart that comes by placing our faith in Christ, repenting of our sins, and following him with that new heart, embracing the goodness of his creation, the plan of his creation, and following his commands. We do that this week. Let's pray. Lord, there is no accurate description. There is not enough words to exhaust the great love that you have for hard-hearted sinners. We thank you for grace. We thank you for forgiveness. We also thank you that by your Spirit we can obey, that we can hear your teaching and walk according to what you teach, what you call for us to do. or put our hard hearts away. Let your truth reign in our lives. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.