A Sad Truth

Hidden truths and overlooked is the reason I do what I do. It is why I began with the parables, and it is why I now, from time to time, veer off the beaten path to cover the odd expression or subtlety of wording. I had fully intended to find a parable to work from – then this caught my eye.

Mark 10:1-9 is one of those small episodes in which the religious authorities attempt to test Jesus in matters of the law. Of course, as he always does, Jesus rips them a new one. I am always cheering for Jesus in these slugfests, and Jesus never fails to deliver. In this particular exchange, Jesus tells the Pharisees, the keepers of the law, that something is not quite right in their interpretation.

Indeed, it is a sad truth and a message that all of us should take to heart. Jesus speaks as much to you and me as he does to the Pharisees. That is because we share the same blind spot and predisposition as the Pharisees. So, here is a brief rundown of the incident. The Pharisees pose a simple question from the law: is it legal (but more to the point: is it right) for a man to divorce his wife?

Jesus responds with a question of his own. “What did Moses command you?” There is a subtlety here that seems always to be overlooked. What did Moses, the man, command? What the Pharisees considered as unassailable canon was based more on the instructions of a man than on the actual spirit of God's own law. In a way, this is similar to extremist Muslims who base their canon more on the instructions of a man than on the law of God.

Jesus told the Pharisees that Moses only allowed divorce because of the hardness of the hearts of men. He also told them that the law of God was different from what Moses allowed. In so saying, Jesus tells all of us a sad truth about the predispositions of the religiously-minded – the ones who are always trying to force an issue. The subtlety that Jesus reveals shows us that much in the law of God, at least, those parts most cherished and upheld by men, is no more than arbitrary instruction by some other man.

I think, if we are honest about it, most of what Jewish and Christian leaders and zealots have gone on and on about, are the writings and interpretations of the writings of men. My opinion is that much of what Moses instructed the Jewish people was politically motivated. I say this out of respect for the overwhelming task that Moses took upon himself. Just think of all that Moses had to deal with, of all the people and various factions lobbying, as it were, for special needs and interests. Moses had a lot on his plate.

Moses had to hold it all together – somehow. Divorce was just a small part of that 'somehow.' But, that was neither the law nor the will of God, and Jesus did not fail to explain that part, both in public to all who listened, and in private to his disciples as they sought a clearer understanding of his words. Jesus classified what Moses allowed as a precept. Here, it is up to us to determine if precept is the same thing as law.

A quick internet search for the common definition of the word precept gave me this: a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought. Synonyms used for precept are principle, rule, tenet, canon, doctrine, command, order, decree, dictate, injunction, and mitzvah, which means a good deed done for religious duty. All of these may, indeed, be legal, although none of them is inherently 'right.' There are wrong decrees and wrong doctrines to be sure.

More importantly, any of these may be created solely from the predispositions of a man, that is: from his thoughts and opinions and feelings. As such, they are wholly arbitrary, non-universal, temporary, and re-writable. There is much in our faiths that we take for solid truth written in stone – but, it simply is not. We have a predisposition for certain things that simply are not the law – by which I mean: the law given by a spiritual God.

A law given by a spiritual God is a spiritual law. While it may exist in our physical world, and be enacted physically, there is a spirit behind it that is bound to no particular enactment or person. Jesus explained the spirit behind marriage: the union of one physical male to one physical female in Mark 10:6-9, “From the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.”

Now, we can look at the precept of divorce, an arbitrary decree given by a man, and see it as perfectly legal, or we can look at the law of marriage given by a spiritual God, and know that it is right. The spirit of the law follows through in every aspect and facet of truth, as Jesus explained to his disciples in Mark 10:11 and 12, “Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.” Why? Because they are still united in the spirit of the law: they are still one flesh. One flesh may not act against itself as every decision must be made in one spirit. “If a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.” Why? Because they are still united in the spirit of the law: they are still one flesh. One flesh may not act against itself as every decision must be made in one spirit.

There is in these verses a subtle truth that begs honest inspection. There are two laws. One is given by God, the other is given by man. That which is given by man is not really the law, but it strikes a chord with those who look for an easy workaround. It is a sad truth to see so much of it in our faith: that is to say: little physical enactments that replace the spirit of the law.

We see in the Bible Jesus twice quoted as quoting Elias, and railing against the hypocrisy of men in seeking the commandments of men rather than the law of God, as Paul says in Titus 1:14, “. . . commandments of men, that turn from the truth.” We see religious people washing their hands, fingering beads, bowing to pray, marching around square buildings – performing any and almost every physical enactment except the one that actually counts: attending the true spiritual law of God.