April 23, 2001

Get more information about Bible Study for Texas here.

May 6 Lesson

Lack of spiritual direction complicates family life ___Matthew 19:1-15 ___1When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. ___3Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" ___4"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' 5and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? 6So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." ___7"Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?" ___8Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery." ___10The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry." ___11Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." ___13Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. ___14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

___By Scott Collins
___I'm not sure when or where I first heard it, but my guess would be the old 1970s television show "Hee-Haw." It is a ridiculous and silly explanation of why the writer of the poem/song is his own grandpa. "I'm My Own Grandpa" goes like this:
___It was many, many years ago when I was 23
___I was married to a widow, she's as pretty as can be.
___This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red,
___My father fell in love with her, and soon these two were wed.
___This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life.
___My daughter was my mother 'cause she was my father's wife.
___And then to complicate the matter, though it brought me joy,
___I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.
___This bouncing baby then became a brother-in-law to dad,
___And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad,
___For if he was my uncle then he also was the brother
___Of the widow's grown-up daughter, who, of course, was my stepmother.
___Father's wife then had a son who kept them on the run.
___And he became my grandchild, for he was my daughter's son.
___My wife is now my mother-in-law's mother, and it makes me blue,
___Because although she is my wife, she's my grandmother, too.
___Now if my wife is my grandmother, then I am her grandchild.
___And every time I think of it, it nearly drives me wild.
___For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw.
___Husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa.
___I'm my own grandpa, I'm my own grandpa.
___It sounds silly, I know, but it really is so, oh
___I'm my own grandpa.
___Sound confusing? In these days of divided and divorced families, imagine how confused children often must feel as they spend weekends in a different home, take turns spending holidays with a different parent and watch as their immediate and even extended families wrestle with the consequences of parental and familial division.
___Is this the best for children? Is this the best for anybody? Obviously the answer is consistently and emphatically no. Instead, the best is what Jesus called for in Matthew's account found in Matthew 19.
___Wrong question
___As a journalist, I've found that the most important aspect of interviewing anyone is to ask the right questions. Many times I have walked away from an interview only to review my notes and discover at least one more question I wish I had asked. When you don't ask the right questions, you don't get the right answers. Jesus, however, is the exception.
___In Matthew 19, Jesus' old nemeses the Pharisees show up with yet another attempt to entrap Christ. This time, their attack is an attempt to place Jesus in the middle of a crossfire between two competing schools of Pharisaic thought--the Hillelites, who granted divorce "for any good cause," and the Shammaites, who limited divorce to reasons of adultery. This difference of opinion centered on interpretation of Moses' teachings with respect to divorce. He had written, "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 writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house." (Deut. 24:1) The argument was about the meaning of "some indecency."
___The question posed in Matthew 19:3 assumes divorce. The implication from the very nature of the question is that divorce is a matter of societal life. Therefore, the only question remaining is the proper excuses or circumstances for divorce. This sounds all too familiar with modern American society where divorce is seen as an alternative even before the marriage vows are consummated. Yet it is true "Moses had permitted you to divorce" (v. 8). In Jesus' day, as in ours, divorce had become an easy answer to difficult questions. Like all easy answers, it is wrong, as Jesus will eventually tell the Pharisees. But in giving them his answer, he makes it clear theirs is the wrong question.
___To be sure, while the attempt by the Pharisees was to trap Jesus with a tricky question, he nonetheless gave them their answer. But first, he provided a lesson about the more important issues related to divorce.
___Right answer
___Jesus' right answer to the Pharisees' wrong question is found in verse 4. Here Christ recounts the creation story, and in so doing, he reminds the Pharisees and us about the intent and purpose of marriage. "Haven't you read," he replied to his scholarly audience. Surely this left his hearers indignant. Jesus is saying to them, "You are always boasting about your knowledge of the law, so you should know what Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 tell us about marriage." The right answer concerning divorce is to return to God's intent from the beginning--"a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" (v. 5). He continues: "So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
___While divorce is the question the Pharisees ask, Jesus' answer centers on God and God's purpose and design for marriage. How can something, anything, that has been joined and molded into a single unit separate and become two again? It is wrong and unnatural.
______Wrong again
___If the Pharisees' first question was wrong, their follow up question in verse 7 was just as wrong. The question's obvious intent was to spring the trap they set in verse 3. If God's intent was for no separation, they ask, "Why then did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"
___This time, Jesus took direct aim not only at the question, but also at the Pharisees who asked it. "It was because of you," Jesus replied in verse 8. "It is because your hearts are hard." But he reminds them of what he has already said. "It was not this way from the beginning."
___Then, in verse 9, Jesus leaves little doubt about his answer. It is a simple "No" to the original question from verse 3. Only in the case of marital unfaithfulness can divorce be considered, but remember that even in saying so, Jesus is reminding them this is not the way it should be or was intended from the beginning.
___A single purpose
___Obviously taken aback at Jesus' answer, the disciples jump into the fray in verse 10 by assuming that if marriage is so tough, then why do it? And to some extent, Jesus agrees with them. In fact, he provides a strong apologetic for remaining single. It is, Jesus says, preferable not to marry than to be wrong in marriage. Fortunately, our society has come a long way in recognizing singleness as an accepted way of life for some people.
___My wife and I did not get married until we were 30 years old. I love being married, and I wouldn't trade my marriage and my family for anything tangible in the world. But I must confess that I truly enjoyed being single, too. I found it did in fact offer what Jesus talked about in verse 12, that is, opportunities to serve in the kingdom of heaven that can be more challenging to accept with a family. During the time I was single, I lived in Africa doing mission work with the Foreign Mission Board. Such an adventure has a whole different meaning when a family is involved.___
___Family matters
___As Jesus' discourse on family relations continues from marriage to singleness, "little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them" (v. 13). Coincidence or two separate events? While the adverb "then" does not necessarily mean immediately afterward, the connection between marriage as described by Jesus and children is so close that we like to think of them happening as one event so that Jesus addresses family matters while he is, as Hendriksen notes, "in the house."
___The disciples' rebuke of those who brought the children to Jesus occasions one of the greatest visual pictures of Jesus in all of Scripture. I can remember from my early days in primary Sunday School the portrayals of Jesus with little children on his lap and scattered all around him. It is true--"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world!"
___Earlier this year, my wife and I, along with our 5-year-old daughter were flying to Disneyland for a vacation. Our flight plan took us through El Paso before catching a connecting flight to Los Angeles. It was Valentine's Day, and as we waited in the gate area, the gate agent for the airline began reading love poems. They were really bad, and after a few attempts, she agreed. She then opened the microphone to anyone who wanted to sing a love song. Our daughter, Claire, volunteered as Judy and I wondered out loud what love song she might sing. To our parental pride and amazement, she began singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children."
___The kingdom of heaven, Jesus says, "is for such as these." And at that, "he placed his hands on them and went on from there."
___Last year, deaths from child abuse and neglect in Texas jumped 71 percent. In 1998, the most recent year statistics are available, 167 children died of abuse. And each year, nearly 7,000 children in Texas must be taken from the custody of their parents because of abuse and neglect. The children in our state need for us to pray for them and to show them that there is a Heavenly Father who loves them and cares for them, for his kingdom is theirs.
___Scott Collins is vice president of communications for Buckner Baptist Benevolences.

For thought and discussion
___ How does divorce affect families? Are there occasions where divorce is permissible other than marital unfaithfulness? Give consideration to situations such as spousal and/or child abuse in the home.
___ How should churches deal with divorcees in their congregations? Are there ministry tasks from which a divorced individual should be excluded?
___ What are the pros and cons of being single? How are single individuals treated in most churches? Are single people ever excluded from certain ministries because they are single? Is this right?
___ Based on Jesus' attitude toward children, what can churches do to encourage the spiritual growth of children?___
___ How can your church be involved in helping protect and value children, while showing them that Jesus "loves the little children?"

Get printer-friendly version of this story


Send this story to a friend

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!