Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we read Jesus saying some incredibly blunt and harsh words followed by Him saying some of the most gentle recorded in the Gospels.

The two subjects seem to be unconnected and yet they are very connected.

We may first ask the question why the Pharisees approached Jesus with a question about divorce. Then we may want to know how the question was posed? Was the question framed in an inquisitive manner of a hostile manner?

To answer those questions we need to establish where Jesus and the disciples are at this point in time. There travels have brought them into Perea. Perea is the land beyond the Jordan, or east of the Jordan, that is controlled by Herod Antipas.

If you remember Herod divorced his first wife and married his brother's wife, Herodias. John the Baptist had openly criticized Herod about these acts which led to his imprisonment and death.

It's safe to assume that the Pharisees were once again trying to trap Jesus. They asked a question about a very sensitive subject, divorce. We can also assume it was posed in a hostile manner to provoke a response that would lead to Jesus' arrest.

In the discourse we see that Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send his ex-wife on her away. Moses allowed divorce with a written certificate not because it was right in the eyes of God, but to be merciful to the women. The certificate was proof that she was no longer married and could rebuild her life.

At issue was the interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4. The two major rabbinic schools of Shammai and Hillel had differing views on the grounds for divorce. Shammai held that marital unfaithfulness was the only allowable reason for divorce. Hillel allowed a man to divorce his wife if she did anything he disliked. The real purpose of Deuteronomy 24:1 was not to make divorce acceptable, but to reduce the hardship of its consequences on the women that were divorced.

The Pharisees used the Old Testament to frame the question about divorce. Jesus likewise refers to the Old Testament for His answer. In Genesis God instituted marriage as a great blessing where two become one. Marriage is a union that is not meant to be broken by the selfish nature of man.

Our reading abruptly shifts from divorce to blessing children. As people brought children to Jesus to bless them the disciples were turning them away. Jesus was angered by the disciples and insisted the children be allowed to come to Him. In the actions of the disciples we see the mindset about children at the time. In general children were nothing more than property. Cheap labor at best otherwise just a burden on resources of the family.

Jesus says anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. The action of Jesus blessing the children brought to Him and His statement about receiving the Kingdom of God like a child was really extraordinary for the time. We may think Jesus is speaking about the innocence of a child, or that a child has no prejudices, or that a child knows their place and is open to new thoughts. All of those may be true however from the previous two lessons involving children the latter is probably the most accurate.

All children recognize there is someone that has authority over them and they are open to new ideas. We know that children are not truly innocent, they exhibit selfish behavior early in life and they learn to hate and lie when they are quite young. We also know that children are capable of violence. The point is that receiving the kingdom of God is really about a relationship with God, knowing that He does have authority over us and being open to His will. That is child like faith.

So what is the connection between the harsh statements on divorce and the blessing of children?

In that culture women and children were second class citizens. Little or no protection from overbearing men existed. It was not uncommon for women to be divorced on a whim and sent away with no means of support. Without a certificate of divorce the poor woman had little hope of starting over. It also was not that uncommon for children to be abandoned to fend for themselves or forced into long hours of arduous labor. Women and children were not offered much in the way of education unless a boy was chosen to study under a rabbi.

Jesus was sending a message loud and clear that women and children were just as precious to God as men, especially self-righteous individuals like the Pharisees.

Unfortunately, we see Christians that are just as self-righteous on these same subjects. Children that act out are an annoyance not to be tolerated. We might hear or even think, "Keep that troublesome child out of our sight".

If a visitor comes to a church that has been divorced, some may avoid contact with them. Some may think themselves better because their marriage has survived. In truth any honest couple that has stayed together will tell you that it was the grace of God that kept the marriage together. Who among us is the perfect relationship builder? Not I.

The truly unfortunate part of all of this is that our human nature zeros in on the person as the issue not a bad behavior or a mistake. Just think where we would be if God had taken that stance. Jesus would not have come to Earth to sacrifice himself to save us. What would be the point? If God zeroed in on me as a bad person, which He has every right and proof to do, then He would not love me. If He didn't love all mankind then why sacrifice Jesus? We can't even get through the first hour of the day without failing in the eyes of God.

God doesn't zero in on the person as bad He grieves over our mistakes and still loves us. God even gets angry at our foolishness. Didn't Jesus rebuke the disciples? I think you would be hard pressed to find Jesus making a personal attack in the Gospels. No one said you can't be angry but it should never be a personal attack.

Jesus always corrected out of love. We should make every attempt to love people no matter what their behavior or background. I'll be the first say I'm a failure in the love thy neighbor regime.

God knows our hearts He grieves over our mistakes and still loves us out of His boundless mercy. He has shown us that the weakest and the most wayward are loved by Him. It's a godly attribute we can only aspire to gain but must work toward and pray for everyday.

In the name of our risen Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.