The Third Scurrilous Mystery
When it came to marriage, Jesus raised the bar and angered many. Indeed, there are still people upset with what he had to say about marriage, divorce, remarriage, adultery and the celibate life. He tells his listeners that Moses allowed a writ of divorce because of the hardness of their hearts. However, this was not the way it was supposed to be. The pattern of Genesis was one man and woman, becoming one flesh, never to be torn asunder. Multiple wives and/or marriages were thus condemned. Divorce was absolutely prohibited. Women suffered under the law of divorce, often making a woman destitute in her abandonment. This would often force these women into adulterous relationships so that they could survive. Jesus saw the great injustice in this. Promises were made to be kept. Just as Christ would keep his covenant with his bride the Church, so too were other husbands and wives called to constant fidelity. When the disciples react to his words as hard to hear, saying it might be better not to marry at all, he says that celibate love is not given to all. But he does elevate a celibacy that renounces “marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.” Given that Jews associated divine blessing with wife, children and wealth; he was turning their accepted understanding on its head.
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