Homily for Proper 22 Year B 2021 

       There are no good answers to bad questions.  The assumptions and presuppositions of the question itself get in the way of providing an appropriate answer.

       The Pharisees ask Jesus a bad question.  “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

       Jesus then explains to them that it is a bad question.  The assumptions and presuppositions of the Pharisees provide no opportunity for a good answer.  

       The question arises from a discussion of the meaning of Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  The passage is to provide protection to the wife and to give her certain safeguards (possession of divorce papers, right to remarry, prevention of the former husband from interfering in a subsequent marriage).  Given the patriarchal nature of the culture, the protections and safeguards are rather remarkable.  But, the Pharisees entirely miss that point.  They reconstrue the issue at hand, and not surprisingly, make it about them.  They wanted to know if they could divorce their wives. I say, “they” divorce “their” wives, because wives did not have the legal ability to “file” for divorce, only men could that.

       They found themselves in a situation where the “law of the land” was in tension with the “law of God.”  Legally, they were allowed to divorce their wives.  But, should they?

       Rabbi Shammai said that a man may not divorce his wife unless if she is unfaithful.  Rabbi Hillel said that a man may divorce his wife even if she burnt dinner.  Rabbi Akiba said that a man could divorce his wife if he found someone prettier.

       And so, such was the religious debate about if it was religiously permissible to get a divorce.  The Pharisees wanted Jesus to weigh in on the subject.  What did he think?

       And, Jesus thinks it is a bad question.  He disagrees with the assumptions and presuppositions implicit in the question itself.  Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is not about what grounds you need to get a divorce and you should not be making it about your wants.  The Pharisees were looking for some sort of theological rationalization, and Jesus was having none of it.  Jesus rejects the assumptions and presuppositions of the question they asked.

       And, he does so by the use of hyperbole or overstatement (a teaching technique Jesus sometimes employed).[1]  He gives them a shocking answer.  An answer, we, like the Pharisees, still find shocking (some things don’t change).

       And, the Church has been trying to explain Jesus’ answer ever since he said it.  Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 7:10-11), quotes from the oral traditions of Jesus concerning the subject of divorce and his telling of the story essentially matches that of Mark.  But, by the time Matthew was written, some felt need for explanation and elaboration.  Matthew, when he tells the story, wants the reader to understand that Jesus was engaging in hyperbole (in case you missed it) and he is not to be taken literally.

       But, we, like the Pharisees, want to justify ourselves, our behavior, our choices.  (Rationalizations are, as psychologists will tell you, very important.)  We aren’t concerned with protecting the vulnerable—we don’t want to be held accountable for our behavior, our choices.  So, we read this story from Mark like the Pharisees first heard it, and Matthew worries his readers will read it.  We too want to justify ourselves.

       So, to answer the question of the Pharisees:  “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”  Moses, Paul, and Matthew all indicate various reasons one might seek a divorce.  But, Jesus does not want to talk about the exceptions to the rule—he is concerned they have lost sight of the rule itself.  Jesus seeks to emphasize the permanence of marriage in an ideal world.  A divorce, any divorce, reveals a failure of the ideal.  The ideal is a lifelong marriage.

       But Jesus knows, as Moses, Paul, and Matthew know, we don’t live in an ideal world.  We live in a world that has gone wrong, is going wrong, and will go wrong.  And in a world gone wrong, we can trust in the steadfast love of God.  God’s mercy is never ending.

       I can imagine someone, after hearing today’s gospel, might be thinking about a previous marriage.  Maybe your role in that particular gone wrongness is tiny; maybe it is gigantic.  Only God can judge the size of your role in that particular gone-wrongness.  It is not for you, or for me, or for anyone else to judge.  

In a few moments, we will pray the General Confession.  Know that if you ask God to forgive you for the role you played in the gone-wrongness, God will forgive you.  And, that is the Good News.  

When life is less than ideal, God loves you.  

You are a beloved child of God.  

And, God is always working to make something good happen out of the gone-wrongness of our lives. 

The good question would have been, "When life goes wrong does God love me?"  Jesus would have had a good answer to that question.  I can hear him say, “oh, yes.  Always.”   

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[1] See Robert Stein, Method and Message of Jesus’ Teachings (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978) pp. 7-33.