The grace of living together
Proper 22B | Mark 10:2-16
We definitely have a spicy gospel today! Is this a three-pepper dish or four? There is some heat. Marriage, divorce—and Jesus’s hot take on both is something to behold, isn’t it?
But first, let’s remind ourselves that Jesus receives this question about divorce on his way back into Hebrew territory. Since chapter seven, Jesus and the disciples have been traveling in Greek space, visiting with Greek people, healing and proclaiming the Good News. And new crowds have gathered around.
And don’t forget, this whole time, his disciples have been off their game. First Peter doesn’t realize that he’s making himself a stumbling block, then the disciples can’t exorcize a demon that is tormenting a boy, then they argue about which of them is the greatest, Jesus tells them to treat children like they are God, and then the disciples try to stop an unlicensed disciple healing in Jesus’s name.
Now, the disciples return to Judea, crowds surround them again, and the critics return, too. And keep all of this in mind as we jump into interrogation here, especially the part about children and stumbling blocks and the disciples’ being slightly off …
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