Welcome to
Heaven's Point of View.
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My name is Dr. Senez
Rodriguez and we are discussing
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the part of a Series on
Love, Marriage, Sex, and Divorce
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according to the New Testament.
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Our special guest
today is Dr. Tom Sheperd
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who is a Professor of
New Testament Interpretation
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at Andrews University Seminary,
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so, welcome, Dr.
Sheperd. Tom: Thank you.
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Last time, we noticed
Paul's differences of describing
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some teachings from the
Lord and others from him.
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Did he have
different levels of inspiration
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you think, when
he used those terms?
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Yeah, now we looked at
that last time and we said,
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he talked about... he
said, "Not I, but the Lord,"
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and then he says later
on, "Not the Lord, but I... "
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Hmmm... hmmm...
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And so, it gives
some people the idea that,
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"Well, the ones
that come from the Lord,
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those are ones
you have to follow
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but when he just
talks about... from him...
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then it's... you know...
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you don't have to
take that as heavy...
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it's still
like... different levels
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now we said last time that:
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No, Paul had the
same view of inspiration
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but the reason he uses the
term, "The Lord, not I... "
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is because he is quoting or
depending on a saying of Jesus
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when he talks about this topic.
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Now, when he says,
"Not the Lord, but I... "
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then he's
talking about a situation
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for which he does not
have a saying of Jesus.
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Now, what is the
topic that he talks about
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in quoting the
Lord, specifically?
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When he quotes the Lord,
it's the question of divorce.
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All Right.
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Divorce among believers,
well, let's read it again
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in 1st Corinthians
7 verses 10 and 11,
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this will be the
focus of our study today,
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1st Corinthians 10...
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I'm sorry, 1st
Corinthians 7 verses 10 and 11.
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Ten and eleven... "And unto
the married I command yet not I,
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but the Lord,
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Let not the wife
depart from her husband:
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But and if she depart,
let her remain unmarried,
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or be reconciled to her husband:
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and let not the
husband put away his wife. "
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Hmmm... hmmm...
now we said last time,
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that this
parallels a saying of Jesus,
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the question is,
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"Which saying of
Jesus does this parallel?"
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The words of Jesus on divorce
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are found in
four different places.
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Matthew 5, Matthew 19,
Mark chapter 10 and Luke 16,
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now we studied in
detail Matthew 19,
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in previous programs
and so... we know there that
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when Jesus talks about divorce
that the Lord affirms marriage
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between one man and one woman
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and that he indicated that
marriage was to be for life,
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he said, "What God
has joined together,
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let not man separate. "
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But we also noticed
that in that same passage,
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that Jesus talked
about an exception
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when there could be divorce
because of sexual immorality
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when a husband or
wife had sexual relations
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with someone not their spouse,
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we noted too at that
time when we studied that
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that Jesus did not
command that you had to divorce,
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there is no text
in the Bible ever
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that commands that
you have to have divorce.
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Back in Deuteronomy, the
divorce was already active,
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already going, and
Moses controls it some,
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he says, "If you do this
and you give her a divorce,
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then, you cannot
do certain things. "
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Jesus never commands
divorce so, the issue here is,
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that when He gives this
exception clause in Matthew 19,
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also again in Matthew chapter 5,
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that the innocent party
had the right to divorce
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if the person had been
unfaithful to their marriage vow
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they had slept with somebody
that was not their spouse,
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Jesus did not command
that they had to divorce
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but He indicated
it was justifiable.
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Now the interesting
thing is that the same story,
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I mean, it's fairly
clear, it's the same story,
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is found in Mark chapter 10
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and in Luke chapter 16
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but there's no reference
to the exception clause,
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when you read
those two passages,
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it pretty much
sounds like Jesus is saying,
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"No divorce, divorce is out,"
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and in fact, Paul
here, in 1st Corinthians 7
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sounds much like that as well,
he doesn't seem to suggest that,
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"Oh... " except... except for...
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if there is
marital unfaithfulness,
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he doesn't mention that.
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So, let's take a look at
Mark 10 and read the passage,
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Mark 10 verses 2 to 12
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and see how it
compares with Matthew 19.
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Mark chapter 10 verses 2 to 12:
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And the Pharisees
came to Him and asked Him,
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"Is it lawful for a man to put
away his wife?" tempting Him.
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And He answered
and said unto them,
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"What did Moses command you?"
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And they said,
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"Well, Moses suffered to
write a bill of divorcement,
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and to put her away. "
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And Jesus answered
and said unto them,
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"For the hardness of your
heart he wrote you this precept.
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But from the
beginning of the creation
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God made them male and female.
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for this cause shall a man
leave his father and mother,
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and cleave to his wife;
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And they twain
shall be one flesh:
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so then they are no
more twain, but one flesh.
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What therefore God
hath joined together,
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let no man put asunder. "
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And in the house his
disciples asked him again
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of the same matter.
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And he said unto them,
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"Whosoever shall put away
his wife, and marry another,
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committeth adultery against her.
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and if a woman
shall put away her husband
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and be married to another,
she committeth adultery. "
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Hmmm... hmmm...
now, this actually sounds
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very similar to what we've
read and studied over in Matthew
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there are a few interesting
differences between the two
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sometimes people worry
about these differences
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they say, "Wait, you
know, over in Matthew
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the Pharisees said, 'command'
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and Jesus said,
'allowed' and here it's reversed
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and people say over in Matthew,
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there's no exception clause,
there's no exception clause here
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and over in Matthew,
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we noticed that
when they come to Him
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and ask Him the
question they said,
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"Is it lawful for a
man to divorce his wife?"
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They say, "for any cause,"
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and here in Mark it just says,
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"Is it lawful for a
man to divorce his wife?"
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And so they
noticed these differences
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in the details
between the gospels
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and it upsets
them because they say,
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"Wait, this should be
the same shouldn't they?"
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I mean, it's the
same story, it's like,
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"When Jesus goes to Jericho,
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he meets a man
named Bartimaeus. "
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Hmmm... hmmm...
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"Well is it one
beggar or is it two?
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Matthew says two, Mark says one"
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"is he going into Jericho
or is he going out of Jericho?"
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Luke has him...
mentions Him going into Jericho
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and then Matthew and Mark talk
of Him going out of Jericho,
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so, people worry about that,
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I mean, it's obviously the same
basic story that's going on,
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they say, "How can it be that
these four different gospels
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have these minor
differences between them?"
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Well, I tend to say
it this way to people,
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if you were to
go to a Court Room,
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and there had been an accident,
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and there had been four people
who had seen the accident,
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and they were brought into the
Court to give their testimony,
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what did they see?
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You would not be surprised
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if they got up
on the Witness Stand
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and the man said,
"Well, there was this black car
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and it was coming...
and it ran a red light
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and it hit the
white car, you know,
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and it pushed it all the
way across, over there. "
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And you wouldn't be
surprised if somebody else said,
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"Well, there was a
white car that came
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and it hit the black car
and pushed it over there. "
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And you might have somebody else
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give a little
different kind of a thing...
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and you can say, "Well,
those aren't big issues"
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but if they came in and every
single detail of what they said
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was exactly the
same, you'd tend to say,
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"They made a story
up... they were out...
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they were talking together
and put their stories together
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so that they
were exactly alike. "
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It's funny, in a Court of Law,
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we expect four witnesses to have
it a little bit different...
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difference between their
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testimonies and
it doesn't bother us
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but when it comes
to the four gospels,
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we want that to be
exactly... exactly alike.
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You know, no actually,
the small differences...
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the small
differences between them
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should encourage our
faith not discourage our faith.
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So we have the
small differences,
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the difference we
note is, in particular,
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that Mark has no
"exception clause,"
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and Mark refers to the
wife divorcing her husband
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that Matthew doesn't refer to,
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we notice that
Jesus affirms marriage
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but noticed that
people do divorce
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even if for...
inappropriate reasons, so...
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So why does Matthew
have the exception clause
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but Mark does not?
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Yeah, that's a good question,
that's an interesting question
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and it's related to something
called the Synoptic Problem.
00:11:08.36\00:11:11.77
The Synoptic
Problem is the question of
00:11:11.83\00:11:16.60
which gospel was written first
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and did they use
each other's writing
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and if so, who
used what writing?
00:11:21.48\00:11:24.88
Now, this kind of question,
when I raise it in class
00:11:24.91\00:11:28.45
with students, you
know, you get the feeling that
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sort of... ahhh...
people start to yawn
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and they are like,
"You know Dr. Sheperd,
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that's a really interesting
question... who cares?
00:11:37.16\00:11:40.76
Who cares who wrote their
gospel first and everything?"
00:11:40.80\00:11:44.37
But, you start to
realize there's more at stake
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when you face a problem or
a question like this, okay.
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Here's what some
liberal scholars say.
00:11:53.07\00:11:54.61
They'll say,
"Jesus said, 'no divorce,'
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just like it is in
Mark," which was reported
00:11:58.75\00:12:02.78
in the earliest gospel,
Mark, that's what they maintain,
00:12:02.82\00:12:06.29
Mark was the first one
written and there are other...
00:12:06.32\00:12:09.49
other positions that say
that Matthew was written first
00:12:09.52\00:12:12.66
and so on, all
right, but they...
00:12:12.69\00:12:14.50
it's most common... people
say that Mark was written first
00:12:14.56\00:12:16.67
and in Mark, Jesus
said, "No divorce. "
00:12:16.70\00:12:19.00
But that was too hard
for people to live with,
00:12:19.03\00:12:23.47
they just couldn't take
it, so when Matthew came along
00:12:23.51\00:12:26.57
and wrote his
gospel some decades later,
00:12:26.61\00:12:28.84
he modified things a bit,
he put words into Jesus' mouth
00:12:28.88\00:12:34.92
saying, "Well, there is
no exception for divorce
00:12:34.95\00:12:39.49
except if the person committed
adultery, then it's okay. "
00:12:39.52\00:12:44.96
When you start to understand
00:12:44.99\00:12:48.46
that that's where people
are going with these arguments,
00:12:48.50\00:12:51.10
you start to realize
the Synoptic Problem is not
00:12:51.13\00:12:54.50
just a boring question
for Scholars to think about,
00:12:54.54\00:12:57.84
it is a very important question
that impacts the veracity,
00:12:57.87\00:13:02.71
the inspiration, the authority
00:13:02.74\00:13:05.31
and the applicability
of the Word of God.
00:13:05.35\00:13:07.25
How do you
answer the question of
00:13:07.28\00:13:10.72
"no exception clause" in Mark?
00:13:10.75\00:13:14.09
All right, so there's
an exception clause...
00:13:14.16\00:13:15.99
the data is there, you know,
00:13:16.02\00:13:17.79
we should
recognize and admit the data,
00:13:17.83\00:13:19.33
that the data is there,
Matthew has an exception clause,
00:13:19.36\00:13:21.83
Mark and Luke do not.
00:13:21.86\00:13:23.83
So, here's how I
answer that, we must remember
00:13:23.87\00:13:26.30
the context in
which Jesus was speaking,
00:13:26.33\00:13:29.74
okay, it was a dispute
with the religious leaders
00:13:29.80\00:13:34.04
not over whether
divorce was possible,
00:13:34.08\00:13:36.75
they all held
that it was possible,
00:13:36.78\00:13:39.35
but rather on what
grounds could it be valid,
00:13:39.38\00:13:42.52
the Hillite... the
School of Hillel said
00:13:42.55\00:13:48.09
you could divorce your
wife for whatever cause
00:13:48.12\00:13:50.06
and the School of Shammai said,
00:13:50.09\00:13:51.66
"No, only for
marital unfaithfulness"
00:13:51.69\00:13:54.20
so the new Hillite ruling...
00:13:54.23\00:13:57.07
this is from David
Instone-Brewer's book,
00:13:57.10\00:14:00.04
"Divorce and
Remarriage in the Bible"
00:14:00.07\00:14:03.00
he says, "The new Hillite ruling
00:14:03.04\00:14:05.74
did not require any
valid grounds for the divorce
00:14:05.77\00:14:08.64
and allowed
divorce for any reason,
00:14:08.68\00:14:11.31
therefore, when contemporary
Jews heard the question,
00:14:11.35\00:14:14.68
"Is it lawful to
divorce your wife?"
00:14:14.72\00:14:17.65
which is the question in Mark,
00:14:17.69\00:14:19.42
they would have
mentally added the words,
00:14:19.45\00:14:22.42
"for any reason,"
00:14:22.46\00:14:24.23
similarly when
they heard the reply,
00:14:24.26\00:14:26.90
"Whoever divorces his wife,"
00:14:26.93\00:14:29.26
they would have
mentally added the phrase,
00:14:29.33\00:14:32.13
"except for valid grounds. "
00:14:32.17\00:14:34.60
It's similar to what we
see in Matthew, actually,
00:14:34.64\00:14:37.87
when Jesus says that if a man
00:14:37.91\00:14:40.21
looks at a woman
to lust after her,
00:14:40.24\00:14:42.04
he has already committed
adultery with her in his heart.
00:14:42.08\00:14:44.85
Now, that' true for
every woman except one
00:14:44.91\00:14:48.72
and that's your
wife. Hmmm... hmmm...
00:14:48.78\00:14:50.55
And it's all right to have
that desire and passion for her,
00:14:50.59\00:14:53.25
in fact, that's
what you should do.
00:14:53.29\00:14:54.62
Senez: Hmmm... hmmm.
00:14:54.66\00:14:55.99
So there's an
exception to Jesus' statement
00:14:56.02\00:14:57.53
but you
understand that you know,
00:14:57.56\00:14:59.76
so, in this kind of context
when people would be asking
00:14:59.79\00:15:03.20
this sort of question,
"is it lawful to do this?"
00:15:03.23\00:15:06.03
They would have mentally
00:15:06.10\00:15:07.44
said that "exception
clause" in their mind,
00:15:07.47\00:15:09.60
Matthew just makes it explicit,
00:15:09.64\00:15:11.47
Mark doesn't,
Matthew makes it explicit.
00:15:11.51\00:15:14.14
Also, back to 1st Corinthians 7,
00:15:14.18\00:15:17.31
what is Paul
teaching in verse 10?
00:15:17.35\00:15:20.42
All right, let's
look at verse 10 again,
00:15:20.45\00:15:23.28
all right, 1st
Corinthians 7 and verse 10,
00:15:23.32\00:15:26.09
he says this,
00:15:26.12\00:15:28.42
"To the married,
I give this charge,
00:15:28.46\00:15:32.36
not I, but the Lord,
00:15:32.39\00:15:34.36
the wife should not
separate from her husband. "
00:15:34.40\00:15:38.73
Paul emphasizes the importance
of keeping a marriage intact,
00:15:38.77\00:15:44.94
staying together,
00:15:44.97\00:15:46.81
just like we saw
Jesus does over in Matthew,
00:15:46.84\00:15:50.35
just like we've
said, we read in Malachi,
00:15:50.41\00:15:53.88
"God hates divorce,"
00:15:53.92\00:15:55.58
it is like we
read in those passages,
00:15:55.62\00:16:00.06
"What God has joined together,
man should not separate. "
00:16:00.12\00:16:04.69
Now, you're a
Clinical Psychologist
00:16:04.73\00:16:08.06
and... so I'd like to
ask you a question here,
00:16:08.10\00:16:10.97
what ways have you found or
have you emphasized to people
00:16:11.00\00:16:15.27
to help them keep
their marriages intact?
00:16:15.30\00:16:17.61
The first step is:
00:16:17.64\00:16:20.18
Start right, from the
beginning. Hmmm... hmmm...
00:16:20.21\00:16:24.08
Unfortunately many,
many, many marriages these days
00:16:24.11\00:16:27.98
start out of passion...
00:16:28.02\00:16:29.58
rather than the
principle of love.
00:16:29.62\00:16:32.72
Many people fall in love
because of what they see,
00:16:32.75\00:16:35.62
but not for something else,
and so, if you "begin right"
00:16:35.66\00:16:41.46
it is more likely
that you would stay
00:16:41.50\00:16:43.87
because you are always
going to find surprises,
00:16:43.90\00:16:48.50
and most people don't like
00:16:48.54\00:16:50.87
bad surprises,
00:16:50.91\00:16:52.24
we like the good
ones but not the bad ones.
00:16:52.27\00:16:53.68
Okay, now, so
if you start right,
00:16:53.71\00:16:56.98
you are more likely
to continue in that path
00:16:57.01\00:17:02.35
but also, keep your
love alive. Hmmm... hmmm...
00:17:02.38\00:17:07.72
And how do you do that?
00:17:07.76\00:17:09.32
Well, you do that by
spending time together,
00:17:09.39\00:17:13.09
bringing up the good
things about your wife,
00:17:13.13\00:17:16.46
the more good things
you bring about your wife,
00:17:16.50\00:17:19.80
the more she
falls in love with you
00:17:19.83\00:17:22.40
and the more she
falls in love with you,
00:17:22.44\00:17:24.11
the more you feel
this "closeness" and so...
00:17:24.14\00:17:27.21
it is a mutual kind
of thing rather than...
00:17:27.24\00:17:29.01
If somebody says to you, Doc,
00:17:29.04\00:17:30.45
"Yeah Doc, that's
all good... " he said,
00:17:30.48\00:17:32.08
"but I have to work
three jobs in order to...
00:17:32.11\00:17:34.78
just to keep
food on the table. "
00:17:34.82\00:17:36.58
Well, but you probably
had to also do the same thing
00:17:36.62\00:17:40.86
when you fell in love...
00:17:40.89\00:17:42.52
you didn't care
to walk ten miles,
00:17:42.56\00:17:45.59
if you didn't
have a car, why now?
00:17:45.63\00:17:47.30
Hmmm...
00:17:47.33\00:17:49.53
So, it is a matter of,
"What is your priority?"
00:17:49.56\00:17:52.17
Yeah.
00:17:52.20\00:17:53.54
And then you maintain that,
00:17:53.57\00:17:55.40
so if you were in
love with your partner,
00:17:55.44\00:17:59.41
it is much more likely that it's
going to be stayed together,
00:17:59.44\00:18:05.51
walk together, stay together,
00:18:05.55\00:18:07.35
pray together, eat
together, spend time together.
00:18:07.38\00:18:11.12
So you focus on the
importance of the relationship
00:18:11.15\00:18:14.89
between the two
people, you put that primary
00:18:14.92\00:18:17.39
and there might be some
00:18:17.43\00:18:19.93
challenge or choices
that you have to make
00:18:19.96\00:18:22.90
in order to make that happen,
00:18:22.93\00:18:24.37
maybe it's a matter of
living in a smaller house
00:18:24.40\00:18:27.84
or maybe in an apartment,
00:18:27.87\00:18:29.20
maybe having one car
instead of two or something
00:18:29.24\00:18:31.11
but putting the relationship
00:18:31.14\00:18:33.54
ahead of material
resources sometimes
00:18:33.58\00:18:37.75
or material gain and saying,
00:18:37.78\00:18:40.22
"Look, maybe we
should live below our means
00:18:40.25\00:18:43.18
so that we have a
little more time for each other
00:18:43.22\00:18:45.72
and something like that. "
00:18:45.75\00:18:47.16
Correct because we are
living in a competitive world...
00:18:47.22\00:18:50.13
Yes.
00:18:50.16\00:18:51.49
Everybody wants to be
better than the other one
00:18:51.53\00:18:54.80
and that puts a lot of
stress on a relationship,
00:18:54.83\00:18:58.37
unless you live
within your means
00:18:58.40\00:19:00.77
and you understand that
the most important thing is,
00:19:00.80\00:19:04.21
your relationship,
then, you are opening the door
00:19:04.24\00:19:07.61
for serious
problems that you don't need.
00:19:07.64\00:19:10.85
I like what you say about
spending time with each other
00:19:10.88\00:19:13.55
because it seems to me that
00:19:13.58\00:19:14.92
our Society
tends to soak up time,
00:19:14.95\00:19:17.49
there's so much media,
there are so many things...
00:19:17.52\00:19:20.32
internet, there are all these
phones with all kinds of Apps,
00:19:20.36\00:19:23.86
sometimes you see
people sitting in a restaurant
00:19:23.89\00:19:25.79
and he's looking at
his phone or something
00:19:25.83\00:19:27.73
and she's looking at her phone,
00:19:27.76\00:19:29.10
you think, "Wait a minute,
00:19:29.13\00:19:30.47
you're supposed to be
here talking to each other. "
00:19:30.50\00:19:31.97
I was in a restaurant recently
00:19:32.00\00:19:33.34
where they have a
little display thing there
00:19:33.37\00:19:36.37
you know, where you can
swipe your card and stuff,
00:19:36.40\00:19:38.54
and my wife had
gone to use the restroom
00:19:38.57\00:19:41.34
and I was looking at this thing,
it was tapping and everything,
00:19:41.38\00:19:43.65
and they had games
and Apps there, you know,
00:19:43.68\00:19:46.45
and you could
pay $2 and it's like,
00:19:46.48\00:19:47.88
"Oh, my! we've
come to the restaurant
00:19:47.95\00:19:50.92
to play these little
Apps and stuff... " you know,
00:19:50.95\00:19:53.39
"you really should
focus on... on talking
00:19:53.42\00:19:56.12
with the person that
you're with instead. "
00:19:56.16\00:19:58.93
Exactly, the way that
relationships start is by
00:19:58.96\00:20:01.73
maintaining closeness,
00:20:01.76\00:20:03.73
once... anything begins
to increase the separation,
00:20:03.77\00:20:09.10
physical
separation, communication,
00:20:09.14\00:20:11.67
then you're opening
the door for other things,
00:20:11.71\00:20:14.21
all of a sudden... another
woman calls your attention
00:20:14.24\00:20:16.68
and you say, "Wow!
this is better than mine"
00:20:16.71\00:20:19.11
but then, you're
getting into trouble,
00:20:19.15\00:20:20.78
even if you didn't
have the plan to do that.
00:20:20.82\00:20:23.72
Hmmm... okay...
00:20:23.79\00:20:25.45
Now, verses 11...
00:20:25.49\00:20:30.16
verse 11 seems to go
back on that and say,
00:20:30.19\00:20:36.00
"Well, but if you do divorce
00:20:36.03\00:20:39.30
or separate, then... what?"
00:20:39.33\00:20:43.44
Yeah, okay, let's look a bit,
the question is kind of like...
00:20:43.47\00:20:47.04
does Paul contradict Jesus
00:20:47.08\00:20:48.68
because Jesus says,
00:20:48.74\00:20:51.08
"No divorce except for
marital unfaithfulness"
00:20:51.11\00:20:55.15
and notice what
Paul says in verse 10,
00:20:55.18\00:20:57.72
"To the married I give
this charge, not I but the Lord,
00:20:57.75\00:21:00.06
the wife should not
separate from her husband. "
00:21:00.12\00:21:01.66
That sounds like Mark 10,
00:21:01.72\00:21:03.06
in verse 11 he says,
"But... but if she does... "
00:21:03.09\00:21:07.86
Hmmm... hmmm...
00:21:07.90\00:21:09.23
"but if she does," verse 11,
00:21:09.26\00:21:12.07
"she should remain unmarried
00:21:12.10\00:21:15.04
or else be
reconciled to her husband
00:21:15.07\00:21:16.54
and the husband should
not divorce his wife. "
00:21:16.57\00:21:21.18
Whereas, Jesus, in Mark
10 mentions no exception,
00:21:21.21\00:21:25.81
it sounds like, "no divorce,"
00:21:25.85\00:21:28.45
Paul refers here to "separation"
00:21:28.48\00:21:31.09
using the word, "chórizó"
00:21:31.12\00:21:33.12
which actually is
one of those terms
00:21:33.15\00:21:38.09
that could be used for divorce,
here... translated "to separate"
00:21:38.13\00:21:43.03
there is the...
00:21:43.06\00:21:45.67
the other word that he uses,
00:21:45.70\00:21:47.34
"the husband should
not divorce his wife... "
00:21:47.37\00:21:49.34
is "aphiémi"
which means to send away
00:21:49.37\00:21:52.11
so, you almost kind of
get the idea of one going away
00:21:52.17\00:21:55.64
and one sending
away, kind of a thing,
00:21:55.68\00:21:57.41
they were, sort of...
00:21:57.45\00:21:59.08
the "separate"
being the wife's action
00:21:59.11\00:22:02.68
the later... the husband's...
00:22:02.72\00:22:04.15
"the send away"
being the husband's action
00:22:04.19\00:22:05.75
"sending her away,"
00:22:05.79\00:22:07.12
the two terms, however,
may have been fairly synonymous
00:22:07.16\00:22:09.96
that "separate"
however, does not equal divorce,
00:22:09.99\00:22:13.43
it does not mean divorce here,
00:22:13.50\00:22:15.23
it's clear from Paul's
advice because he says,
00:22:15.26\00:22:20.17
"if she separates, she
should stay single or return. "
00:22:20.20\00:22:25.11
Hmmm... hmmm...
00:22:25.14\00:22:26.47
Be reconciled to her husband,
however, the word "aphiémi"
00:22:26.51\00:22:31.25
is a common term for
divorce and so, you know,
00:22:31.31\00:22:35.78
he says to the
wife, "If you go away,
00:22:35.82\00:22:37.72
stay single or come back but...
00:22:37.75\00:22:41.22
otherwise... the husband...
he should not divorce her,"
00:22:41.26\00:22:44.86
okay, so, he really is about
the marriage staying together.
00:22:44.89\00:22:50.00
The parallelism is to Mark 10,
00:22:50.03\00:22:54.50
however, in Mark
10 verses 11 to 12,
00:22:54.54\00:22:58.84
Jesus said, "Whoever
divorces his wife... "
00:22:58.87\00:23:01.94
now notice, he recognizes
that divorce could happen,
00:23:01.98\00:23:05.25
"whoever divorces his
wife and marries another
00:23:05.28\00:23:08.72
commits adultery against her,"
00:23:08.75\00:23:10.09
that is...
against the first wife,
00:23:10.12\00:23:11.45
"and if she divorces her
husband and marries another,
00:23:11.49\00:23:14.69
she commits adultery,"
00:23:14.72\00:23:16.06
this suggests that
the definition for Jesus
00:23:16.09\00:23:20.03
of what
divorce... of this whole...
00:23:20.06\00:23:25.30
put together... this
whole thing put together,
00:23:25.33\00:23:27.50
adultery is defined
in the following way,
00:23:27.54\00:23:29.84
"divorce... " we would say
"without Biblical grounds... "
00:23:29.87\00:23:33.98
divorce plus
remarriage equals adultery
00:23:34.01\00:23:37.45
okay, that's
Jesus' kind of formula,
00:23:37.48\00:23:40.92
remember, he is very strong
on keeping marriages together,
00:23:40.95\00:23:45.12
he said, "What God
has joined together
00:23:45.15\00:23:47.46
people should not separate"
00:23:47.49\00:23:48.82
and so, he has
this little formula,
00:23:48.86\00:23:52.29
if you have no
Biblical grounds for divorce,
00:23:52.33\00:23:55.80
then if you divorce
and then you remarry,
00:23:55.83\00:23:59.03
that's the same as adultery.
00:23:59.07\00:24:02.67
Divorce by itself, while tragic,
is not defined as adultery,
00:24:02.70\00:24:09.08
it's important to
repeat, "Divorce by itself,
00:24:09.14\00:24:12.98
though tragic, is
not defined as adultery,"
00:24:13.01\00:24:16.79
thus Paul's statement
about remaining unmarried,
00:24:16.82\00:24:19.19
or else being reconciled
00:24:19.22\00:24:22.92
is consistent with
Jesus' words in Mark
00:24:22.99\00:24:27.16
because Jesus recognized
that there could be divorce
00:24:27.20\00:24:33.50
but he doesn't,
how shall I say it?
00:24:33.54\00:24:37.77
He doesn't
describe... sort of... too much
00:24:37.81\00:24:39.67
the in between state,
00:24:39.71\00:24:41.04
if you just divorced
and you didn't remarry.
00:24:41.08\00:24:42.94
He says, "if you
divorce and you remarry,
00:24:42.98\00:24:44.85
and you didn't have
Biblical grounds for that,
00:24:44.88\00:24:46.61
then that is
equal to adultery. "
00:24:46.65\00:24:49.92
But it sounds though like Paul
wants the person to stay single
00:24:49.95\00:24:56.73
is that really
fair or healthy at all?
00:24:56.76\00:25:01.10
Yes, people wonder about that,
00:25:01.16\00:25:03.30
remember Paul is
thinking of what Jesus said
00:25:03.33\00:25:06.74
about God's plan for marriage.
00:25:06.77\00:25:09.30
God's plan for marriage
is for it to remain together,
00:25:09.34\00:25:13.17
for people to stay together,
00:25:13.21\00:25:15.44
the Apostle is not talking about
00:25:15.48\00:25:17.65
divorce or
separation for valid grounds
00:25:17.68\00:25:19.91
which we've already described
as: when a husband or wife
00:25:19.98\00:25:23.45
has sexual relations with
someone other than their spouse,
00:25:23.49\00:25:27.66
he is talking about separation
or divorce for other reasons,
00:25:27.69\00:25:31.89
and then, like Jesus,
he says that the only valid
00:25:31.93\00:25:36.36
and moral thing
for the Christian to do
00:25:36.40\00:25:38.33
is to remain single or
to seek reconciliation.
00:25:38.37\00:25:43.30
But someone says,
"Is that really fair?"
00:25:43.34\00:25:46.91
Hmmm...
00:25:46.94\00:25:48.28
Well, the word, "fair"
is an interesting word,
00:25:48.31\00:25:51.31
you know, if you
take a piece of chocolate
00:25:51.35\00:25:54.22
and break it in
two, and give it to...
00:25:54.25\00:25:56.85
if you take a piece of it,
00:25:56.89\00:25:58.22
one piece of chocolate and
you give it to two children
00:25:58.25\00:26:00.16
and say, "Share that...
" and they break it in two
00:26:00.19\00:26:01.99
and one gives it
to the other one,
00:26:02.02\00:26:03.36
and the other one
will say, "It's not fair,
00:26:03.39\00:26:05.69
your piece is
bigger than mine. "
00:26:05.73\00:26:07.70
The idea of fairness
has something to do with
00:26:07.73\00:26:11.40
the concept of
justice, what's right and moral
00:26:11.43\00:26:14.67
and according to
Jesus, what is right and moral
00:26:14.70\00:26:18.24
is for people to be
faithful to their wedding vows
00:26:18.27\00:26:21.74
and to seek a change of heart
rather than a change of partner,
00:26:21.78\00:26:25.71
so "fair," you
know, if someone says,
00:26:25.75\00:26:29.08
"Is it really fair
that I can't remarry?"
00:26:29.15\00:26:32.29
That's probably the
wrong question to be asking.
00:26:32.32\00:26:34.92
Is it healthy?
00:26:34.96\00:26:36.29
Well, that's another
interesting question,
00:26:36.32\00:26:38.79
sometimes the healthiest
thing is actually for a person
00:26:38.83\00:26:41.96
to remain single,
00:26:42.00\00:26:43.33
when people disregard
the teaching of Jesus,
00:26:43.37\00:26:46.53
it does not bring
health, it brings heartache,
00:26:46.57\00:26:50.21
so, some people...
because of the situations
00:26:50.24\00:26:53.81
and circumstances and
attitudes of their life,
00:26:53.84\00:26:57.35
will actually be healthiest
and healthiest in a single state
00:26:57.38\00:27:01.48
rather than...
in a married state,
00:27:01.52\00:27:04.85
so, here what we've seen so far
00:27:04.89\00:27:08.16
is that Paul takes very
seriously... the words of Jesus,
00:27:08.19\00:27:11.83
here there's great
parallel to what Mark has said
00:27:11.86\00:27:15.43
and we've already
suggested that Mark's...
00:27:15.46\00:27:19.10
the context in which
Jesus is talking in Mark,
00:27:19.13\00:27:22.70
would already imply
the "exception clause"
00:27:22.74\00:27:25.77
that we fine explicit
in the book of Matthew
00:27:25.81\00:27:28.78
but other than this explicit
reason for sexual unfaithfulness
00:27:28.81\00:27:34.15
Jesus did not offer some reason
00:27:34.22\00:27:36.75
why people would
be able to divorce.
00:27:36.79\00:27:38.92
Well, my friends, we
have come to the conclusion
00:27:38.95\00:27:44.23
of this program today,
00:27:44.26\00:27:45.59
we thank you for staying with us
00:27:45.63\00:27:48.60
and I guarantee
you that the next time
00:27:48.66\00:27:51.03
we will continue our look at
what Jesus says about divorce
00:27:51.07\00:27:55.57
in this interesting passage
that we have been discussing.
00:27:55.60\00:27:59.84
So, I invite you to be aware
00:27:59.87\00:28:03.65
of the
continuation of this program
00:28:03.68\00:28:05.41
and I'm sure that
you're going to enjoy it
00:28:05.45\00:28:08.72
as we have been doing so far.
00:28:08.75\00:28:10.39