Divorce, Discernment, & Discipleship

Jul 19, 2026 • Rory Mosley

056 Divorce, Discernment, & Discipleship

Mark 10:1-12

July 19, 2026

This morning we approach that sensitive yet relevant topic of DIVORCE.

The difficulty of such a passage is not found in its interpretation, but rather in its offensive nature, because divorce is such a common occurrence in our culture.

Certainly it is a topic that the church needs to address.

This is an area where our culture needs clarity from God’s word.

But it is also a difficult topic because so many have been hurt by it.

· Divorce leaves open wounds.

· Divorce has lingering effects.

· Divorce is public and visible.

Our objective as the church is to rightly understand & address the issue.

· We want to state the truth about marriage and divorce.

· And we want to do it in a way that convicts those in sin,

· We want to do it in a way that warns others against it.

· We also want to spare and encourage those who are victims.

It is a touchy subject.

But one we will approach this morning through the instruction of Jesus.

AND YET…

Anyone who has ever studied the reality of divorce

Knows that what Mark records here is far from comprehensive.

There are additional truths…

There are exceptions…

There is more information…

That Mark does not mention.

And that tells us that Mark’s point in including this story

Was NOT to give us an exhaustive answer on the issue of divorce.

IT’S NOT LIKE Mark was writing his gospel account

And just out of the blue thought that he needed to address divorce.

If that were the case there is clearly much more information

That could be and should be included.

But Mark isn’t exhaustive on divorce

Because his MAIN POINT is NOT JUST about divorce.

Mark is in a segment where Jesus is revealing WHY HE CAME.

· The disciples now know who Jesus is.

· Now Jesus is teaching them why He has come.

First on that list had to do with His suffering.

He is showing the disciples

· That He will suffer reproach and rejection.

· That this suffering will lead to death.

· And that death will give way to resurrection.

But we have noted that, thus far, the disciples have failed to grasp it.

They are still looking for earthly prosperity, comfort, and glory.

So Jesus is working to “make disciples” out of the disciples.

They are not yet ready to take His message to the world.

· They know who He is

· They don’t know why He has come

AND they have problems that are keeping them from understanding.

· Stubbornness

· Arrogance

· Snobbery

· Ambition

· Lack of Authenticity

And this morning we can add to that list:

HARDNESS OF HEART

ALL OF THIS IS WHAT MARK IS SHOWING US.

So while we will learn about divorce,

We are also going to see that Jesus is being opposed,

The disciples still don’t get it,

And we’ll add another reason to why they don’t get it.

We’re going to break this text down into 4 points.

#1 DEPARTURE

Mark 10:1

This is really just here to set the scene,

But there is a dark and terrible revelation here that we ought to see.

(1) “Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan;”

Jesus is moving south.

He is leaving Galilee and headed for Jerusalem.

When Jews from Galilee went south to Jerusalem they had two travel routes as options.

1. Was due south through Samaria. (faster, but Samaritans)

2. Was south through Perea (slower, through Jericho, but not Samaritans)

Jesus is traveling through Perea “beyond the Jordan”

But the sad part of the text is found in the words “He went from there”.

THIS WAS THE END FOR GALILEE.

Jesus would never return.

This region that had been saturated with the miraculous works

And teaching of Jesus had received its last revelation.

We can’t help but think of the warning Jesus would soon give Judea

John 12:35-36 “So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.”

The Light won’t shine forever.

· We all have our day of visitation.

· We all have our season of revelation.

Light had shined in Galilee.

· Isaiah had foretold it.

· Matthew had recognized it.

Matthew 4:12-17 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.” From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The Light arrived.

But you will remember that Galilee rejected that light.

Matthew 11:20-24 “Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. “Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. “Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

What a tragedy for Galilee.

Blessed with so much light.

Now cursed with so much judgment.

It’s the text we saw this morning in our prayer calendar:

Hebrews 6:4-8 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”

BEING ENLIGHTENED DOES NOT EQUAL BEING SAVED.

The warning is not only to hear, but to believe and obey.

The tragedy is when men are enlightened

But do not take advantage of the opportunity.

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.”

Galilee did not, and now Jesus has departed.

JESUS HAS NOW COME TO PEREA.

We read that, “crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.”

Jesus reopened His public ministry.

· He had closed it in Galilee and was focusing only on the 12,

· But now in Perea He is once again preaching to the masses.

· Perea is receiving the Light that Galilee ignored.

But Mark’s focus will NOT be on the specifics of Jesus’ ministry in Perea.

Mark’s focus will be on the fact that no matter where He goes,

He is always opposed, just like He said.

Here we are in a new region, but it is the same old opposition.

Mark is showing that this world has no place for Jesus.

He is being despised and rejected just as He said.

Departure

#2 DEBATE

Mark 10:2-4

Here they are again:

“Some Pharisees…”

That group of legalists who just can’t stand the gospel of Christ.

“came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.”

This is why Mark addresses the subject of divorce,

Because that is the subject the Pharisees are using to try and trap Jesus.

THEIR PLAN IS QUITE CLEVER.

Jesus is in Perea.

· Perea was governed by Herod Antipas.

· Herod is touchy on the subject of divorce.

Mark 6:17-18 “For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

· John the Baptist had openly preached in Perea about the immoral relationship Herod had with his sister-in-law.

· Herod had resented that sermon series and arrested John.

· Herodias had resented it so much that she conspired to have John beheaded.

· John was actually beheaded in Perea by Herod Antipas.

It’s not hard to figure out

Why this is the topic the Pharisees have selected to question Jesus.

They are hoping that He will incriminate Himself before Herod

Just like John did and that Herod will take care of Him.

THAT IS THE POINT OF THIS STORY.

JESUS IS UNDER ATTACK.

That’s why Mark doesn’t even give all the details of this conversation,

Let alone an exhaustive discussion on divorce.

Mark’s first objective is to show you that Jesus is opposed and attacked

Just like He said He would be.

BUT, AT THE SAME TIME, what Jesus says is truth,

We would be foolish if we did not take the opportunity

To listen to what is said and learn from it.

The Pharisees want to know if He thought “it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.”

· Matthew’s gospel includes the phrase, “for any reason at all”.

· But Mark omits it, because that is not his main point.

Mark just wants you to see the attack

And that the battle ground is over divorce.

So the Pharisees have asked the question.

(3) “And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”

That certainly makes sense.

· You want to know if it is “lawful”,

· Well what does the Law say?

SO LET’S DISCUSS THIS A SECOND.

You are likely tempted to assume that the command Jesus had in mind

Is the same one that the Pharisees will quote to Him.

They are going to reference Deuteronomy 24:1-4,

But I promise you this was NOT the command Jesus had in mind.

There are actually multiple commands that one might look at in the Law.

Deuteronomy 22:13-19 “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then turns against her, and charges her with shameful deeds and publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her a virgin,’ then the girl’s father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. “The girl’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, but he turned against her; and behold, he has charged her with shameful deeds, saying, “I did not find your daughter a virgin.” But this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. “So the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him, and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father, because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.”

Deuteronomy 22:28-29 “If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered, then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he cannot divorce her all his days.”

· Both are specific circumstances,

· Both came with the simple command, “he cannot divorce her all his days.”

But I don’t even think that is the command Jesus has in mind.

But when the Pharisees answer, they don’t go with either of those

Or the one that Jesus is thinking of.

They pick Deuteronomy 24.

(4) “They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

Deuteronomy 24:1-4 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that 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 from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, and if the latter husband turns against 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 husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.”

I hope you notice the difference.

· This IS NOT a command about divorce.

· This IS a command about remarriage.

Moses’ command does not address whether divorce can happen,

Moses merely addresses rules after a divorce has happened.

This would be one of those “contingency” type commands.

THINK ABOUT IT LIKE THIS:

Someone comes up to you and says, “I had an affair, what should I do?”

You respond, “The Bible says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

They say, “I get that I messed up, what I want to know is what to do now?”

The original intent has already been broken.

We want to know what to do now.

That is what Deuteronomy 24 is about.

· It is NOT a command to divorce your wife for indecency.

· It is NOT EVEN a statement permitting you to divorce your wife for indecency.

It is merely a recognition by Moses that such divorces do occur

He is addressing how to keep a bad situation from getting worse.

BEYOND THAT:

That is NOT the issue, and not even what the Pharisees initially asked.

· They asked if “it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.”

· They DID NOT ask if a divorced man could remarry.

I hope you see how they are twisting the issue.

· Jesus then asked, “What did Moses COMMAND you?”

· And they responded with “Moses PERMITTED…”

The Pharisees skipped the actual command about divorce.

They jumped to an area where Moses addressed remarriage

Then assumed that meant that Moses was ok with the divorce.

MOSES NEVER SAID THAT.

He only addressed how to keep a bad situation from getting worse.

BUT I SPECIFICALLY WANT YOU TO NOTICE WHAT MOSES SAID ABOUT THE SPECIFIC REMARRIAGE:

He said a man couldn’t remarry a woman who had been the wife of another man because that was “an abomination before the LORD”.

Divorcing a wife, and then taking her back

After she has been the wife of another man is an abomination.

PUT A PIN IN THAT, WE’LL COME BACK TO IT.

But you see how the Pharisees are twisting the scripture

To say what it did not say.

JESUS AND HIS WORD ARE UNDER ATTACK

Departure, Debate

#3 DIRECTIVE

Mark 10:5-9

So Jesus is going to address the topic.

· Not only will He give the accurate answer to the question,

· He will also address the type of person who would ask it.

(5) “But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.”

There is the explanation of the reason for Deuteronomy 24.

· Deuteronomy 24 was not a command revealing God’s original intent.

· Deuteronomy 24 was a command to address the bad decisions of hard-hearted people.

Moses knew, that despite God’s directive against divorce

That people would do it anyway.

Moses knew that his congregation was hard-hearted

· He knew they would disobey God.

· He knew they would divorce their wives for petty reasons.

· He knew they would marry other women.

· He even knew that sometimes they would regret their decision and try to take back their original wife.

Moses could see all of this coming

Because he knew how sinful his congregation was.

And Moses wrote to stop them from making a bad situation worse.

He stopped them from doing

What was abominable in God’s sight!

SO LET’S REVISIT THAT WORD FOR A SECOND.

Moses said that remarrying a woman

After she had been defiled by another man was “an abomination”.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

The Hebrew is (TOE-AY-VAW)

It simply means “disgusting”

When Joseph was set to dine with his brothers,

He did not feed them with the Egyptians:

Genesis 43:32 “So they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians.”

· There the word is translated “loathsome”.

Later when Jacob was brought to Pharoah; Joseph counseled him on what to say:

Genesis 46:34 “you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians.”

· There it is “loathsome” again.

Egyptians find the eating habits of Hebrews

And their shepherding occupations as disgusting

And they don’t want to be around them.

We see that same word used in Leviticus for sins like:

Homosexuality, child sacrifice, and graven images.

God finds it an abomination, loathsome, disgusting.

It is actually the word used

For how God described the general lifestyle of the pagans in Canaan.

Deuteronomy 18:12 “For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.”

· There it is rendered “detestable”.

SO NOW, LET ME ASK YOU

Why is it not ok for a man to divorce his wife and then later take her back after she has been the wife of another man?

(Yes, God says so, but there is a reason)

IT IS DISGUSTING TO GOD.

· It is offensive to your Creator

· It is detestable to the Sovereign One.

· It is loathsome to God.

Moses’ chief concern was to not offend God

And thus cause Him to leave them alone in the wilderness.

Moses’ concern was to make sure God was with them.

So he was intent on warning the people

Not to do the things which make God sick!

THAT IS WHERE DEUTERONOMY 24 CAME FROM:

· You’ve already disobeyed God with the divorce.

· Now you want to do what is loathsome to Him by remarrying her.

YOUR HARD HEARTS ARE GOING TO OFFEND GOD!

Does that make sense?

That is how Jesus answered the Pharisees.

BUT JESUS DOESN’T STOP THERE.

· After addressing their hardened hearts,

· Jesus then sets out to correct their bad doctrine.

(6-9) “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

Here Jesus doesn’t just recognize the command of Moses,

He actually reveals the motive behind the command.

Jesus reveals that we read the Law not just dissecting the command, but seeking to understand the motive behind it.

And the motive is clear:

WHAT IS THE ORIGINAL INTENT OF GOD?

· When God created this world, He created it good.

· He created it according to what pleased Him.

And that original intent is obvious.

· 1 man, 1 woman, 1 flesh, forever.

Incidentally, if you ever find yourself in one of those debates with someone who says Jesus never addressed homosexuality, just go here.

· Jesus affirmed that there are only two genders.

· That those two genders are assigned by God at birth.

· That marriage is only between one man and one woman.

· And that marriage is meant to be permanent.

It is clear what Jesus thought about the entire LGBTQ agenda.

HE CATEGORICALLY REJECTED IT AS SINFUL.

BUT HERE JESUS LOOKS FOR GOD’S ORIGINAL DESIGN

First He quotes:

Genesis 1:27 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

· That is pretty clear to answer all things gender related.

And then He quotes:

Genesis 2:24 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

It is a beautiful picture painted for us by God.

A boy is born as a son to his parents.

· He has their DNA, he has their genes, he has their bloodline.

· He is literally flesh of their flesh.

But God designed it where there would come a time when that boy would leave that most natural of relationships and cling to his wife.

And that boy and his wife would then “become one flesh.”

· Jesus adding, “so they are no longer two, but one.”

· They become a new unit recognized by God.

We find it wrong for a parent to abandon their children.

We find it wrong for a child to curse a parent.

God sees the same problem in divorce.

This is a new unit that He has established.

He recognizes that man and that woman now as one family.

· That is the design of God.

· That is beautiful in His sight.

· That is good.

And that then brings the one statement of explanation from Jesus.

(9) “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

That is to say, “If it is God’s will that they be together, who are we to do otherwise?”

Now, I know there are other passages in Scripture that speak on divorce.

We could even read Matthew’s account of the same incident where Matthew includes the exception clause.

Matthew 19:9 “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Or we could read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians where Paul talks about if a believer is married to a non-believer and the non-believer leaves you should let them.

1 Corinthians 7:12-16 “But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?”

We are aware that there is more to say on the subject

Than what Mark includes.

If Mark’s objective was to give you a full dissertation on divorce

He would have included all of that.

But that was NOT the objective of Mark.

Mark’s goal regarding divorce is to show you the original intent of God.

Mark’s goal is to show you God’s original created will.

And here it is:

(9) “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

Do you want to know the intended plan of God?

Do you want to know the will of God?

DON’T GET A DIVORCE.

· I know you can throw out “what if’s…”

· I know there are exceptions to quote.

· I know there are permissive circumstances.

I’m certainly not going to condemn any of those.

But it doesn’t change the divine design.

DON’T GET A DIVORCE.

1 Corinthians 7:10-11 “But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.”

And I think it is good to point out to you where this all originates.

JESUS APPEALS TO CREATION.

That tells us a great deal about

How we deal with the commands of the Law.

They must be read in light of God’s original intent at creation.

Think about woman pastors (there’s another hot topic)

1 Timothy 2:12-14 “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”

· Do you see how the command is directed by the original design of creation?

Think about the order of the home

1 Corinthians 11:3, 8-9 “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ…For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.”

· Again, it is the original design of creation.

And it all goes back to not doing that which is disgusting to the Creator.

We want to do everything the way God intended it.

· The Law helps us define that.

· And the Law even helps us know what to do after we’ve blown it.

But the goal is to please the One who created us.

· If He wants marriage between one man and one woman…

· If He wants marriage to be forever…

Then that’s the way it should be.

ARE YOU MARRIED?

Don’t get a divorce.

The reason the Pharisees did not agree with that command

Is because they had hard hearts

That rejected the original design of their Creator.

SO YOU SEE

· There is opposition to Jesus

· Why there is opposition.

These men don’t care about God’s will, don’t like God’s design,

And so it stands to reason that they wouldn’t like Jesus.

Departure, Debate, Directive

#4 DISCIPLESHIP

Mark 10:10-12

Mark includes this because this is the whole basis for this segment.

Remember the segment is about Jesus discipling His disciples.

And immediately we see another problem in the 12.

They have hard hearts too.

What Jesus said to the Pharisees shocked the 12.

Jesus’ answer shocked and confused them

So they “began questioning Him about this again.”

Matthew 19:10 “The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

The Disciples were shocked when Jesus said not to get a divorce.

· Their hearts had been deceived with worldly thinking

· They also where hard-hearted toward the original intent of God.

And Jesus’ answer is again simple:

(11-12) “And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

So do you see why Jesus commands against divorce?

IT’S BECAUSE DIVORCE CAUSES ADULTERY.

· If a man sends his wife away, he is practically sending her into the arms of another man.

· If a woman sends her husband away, she is practically sending him into the arms of another woman.

And when you have men and women breaking their original vow

To go and be with someone else,

And that sort of thing is not the design of the Creator.

NOW YOU SEE THE COMMAND JESUS HAD IN MIND

When He asked the Pharisees “What did Moses command you?”

· He had in mind “THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY”

The Pharisees sloppy view on divorce

Was causing men to become adulterers.