ACC ~ Mark 10 v1 - 11

10:2 | To Test Him

FACING DECEPTIVE INTERROGATION

ORIGEN: Of those who came to Jesus and interrogated him, some put questions to him simply to trick him. If our glorious Savior was tested in this way, should any of his disciples called to teach be annoyed when questioned by some who probe, not from the desire to know, but from the intent to trip up? COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 14.16. [1]

[1] TLG 2042.030, 14.16.9-20; cf. ANF 9:505.

10:6 | God Made Them Male and Female

THE LAW OF MONOGAMY

TERTULLIAN: I will call your attention to the law of monogamy. The very origin of the human race sanctions it. [1] It is abundantly clear that God ordained it at the beginning as a pattern for posterity. For after he had made Adam, and had foreseen the necessity of providing a helpmate for him, he borrowed from his loins one alone. [2] One woman only did he design for man. EXHORTATION TO CHASTITY 5. [3]

[1] Gen 1:27.

[2] Gen 2:21-22.

[3] Cetedoc 0020, 5.1; GMI 235**; ANF 4:53**.

10:8 | The Two Shall Become One

MUTUAL SERVANTS, EQUALLY SERVING

TERTULLIAN: Where are we to find language adequately to express the happiness of that marriage which the church cements, the oblation confirms, the benediction signs and seals, the angels celebrate, and the Father holds as approved? For all around the earth young people do not rightly and lawfully wed without their parents’ consent. [1] What kind of yoke is that of two believers who share one hope, one desire, one discipline, one service? [2] They enjoy kinship in spirit and in flesh. They are mutual servants with no discrepancy of interests. Truly they are “two in one flesh.” [3] Where the flesh is one, the spirit is one as well. Together they pray, together bow down, together perform their fasts, mutually teaching, mutually entreating, mutually upholding. In the church of God they hold an equal place. [4] They stand equally at the banquet of God, equally in crises, equally facing persecutions, and equally in refreshments. Neither hides anything from the other. Neither neglects the other. Neither is troublesome to the other. [5] TO HIS WIFE 2.8. [6]

[1] The sacrificial offering of the Son in the Eucharist.

[2] Cf. Eph 4:4.

[3] Gen 2:24; Mt 19:5; Eph 5:31.

[4] Cf. Rom 12:15; 15:6; Gal 3:28; 1 Cor 12:12.

[5] Cf. Phil 1:27. The assumption of equality between women and men, their mutual self-disclosure and charity, is clearly expressed in this text.

[6] Cetedoc 0012, 2.8.37; ANF 4:48*.

THE ONE FLESH OF MAN AND WOMAN

ORIGEN: For the Word of God is to be considered as being more in one flesh with the soul than a man is one flesh with his wife. [1] But to whom is it more becoming to be also one spirit with God, than to this human soul which has so joined itself to God by love as that it may justly be said to be one spirit with God? [2] ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2.6.3. [3]

[1] Cf. Gen 2:24.

[2] Cf. Deut 11:22; Rom 5:5; 1 Jn 2:5; 4:7-16.

[3] Cetedoc 0198E(A) 2.6.3; ANF 4:282*. Through faith the human soul joins itself to God by love so as to become one spirit in a unity even more profound than that of husband and wife. The joining of one man and one woman in one flesh is viewed in the light of the Incarnation.

THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE BRIDE

JACOB OF SARUG: In his mysterious plans the Father had destined a bride for his only Son and presented her to him under the guise of prophetic images. Moses appeared and with deft hand sketched a picture of bridegroom and bride but immediately drew a veil over it. In his book he wrote that a man should leave father and mother so as to be joined to his wife, that the two might in very truth become one. The prophet Moses spoke of man and woman in this way in order to foretell Christ and his church. With a prophet’s penetrating gaze he contemplated Christ becoming one with the church through the mystery of water. [1] He saw Christ even from the virgin’s womb drawing the church to himself, and the church in the water of baptism drawing Christ to herself. Bridegroom and bride were thus wholly united in a mystical manner, which is why Moses wrote that the two should become one. … Wives are not united to their husbands as closely as the church is to the Son of God. What husband but our Lord ever died for his wife, and what bride ever chose a crucified man as her husband? Who ever gave his blood as a gift to his wife except the one who died on the cross and sealed the marriage bond with his wounds? Who was ever seen lying dead at his own wedding banquet with his wife at his side seeking to console herself by embracing him? At what other celebration, at what other feast is the bridegroom’s body distributed to the guests in the form of bread? Death separates wives from their husbands, but in this case it is death that unites the bride to her beloved. HOMILIES. [2]

[1] Of baptism.

[2] JF B 122-23; MS 1:78, 80.

10:11 | Whoever Divorces and Marries Another Commits Adultery

WHICH REMARRIED PARTY IS ACCOUNTABLE?

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Guilt in this does not attach merely to the man who divorces her. It attaches also to the man who takes her on, since he provides the starting point for the woman’s sin. STROMATEIS 2.23. [1]

[1] FC 85:254*; TLG 0555.004, 2.23.146.3.1-2; cf. ANF 2:379. Accountability is broadly shared by all parties in the breaking up a marriage.

VEILED ADULTERY

ATHENAGORAS: We hold that a man should either remain as he is born or else marry only once. For a second marriage is a veiled adultery. A PLEA REGARDING CHRISTIANS 33. [1]

[1] LCC 1:337.

EQUAL APPLICATION TO MEN AND WOMEN

BASIL: This declaration of the Lord applies equally to man and woman. It prohibits departing from marriage except in the case of fornication. [1] LETTER 188, TO AMPHILOCHIUS 9. [2]

[1] Cf. Mt 5:31-32; 19:9; Mk 10:11-12; Lk 16:18; Rom 7:2-3; 1 Cor 7:10-11.

[2] HE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL | MARK 1:1-5

THE DURABILITY OF THE BOND

AUGUSTINE: ”For a woman is bound, as long as her husband is alive.” [1] As a consequence, therefore, the husband is also bound, as long as his wife is alive. This bond renders any further union impossible without the implication of adultery. Hence, four adulterers are produced of necessity from the two marriages, if the wife remarries and the husband marries an adulteress. However, a more infamous adultery is imputed to the one who remarries after the dismissal of his wife for other than the cause of fornication. Matthew spoke of this type of adultery. [2] Such a one is not the only one who commits adultery, but, as we read in Mark: “Whoever puts away his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if the wife puts away her husband, and marries another, she commits adultery.” [3] ADULTEROUS MARRIAGES 2.9.8. [4]

[1] 1 Cor 7:39.

[2] Cf. Mt 19:9.

[3] Mk 10:11-12.

[4] Cetedoc 0302, 2.9.8.391.12; FC 27:111.

WHETHER FORNICATION IS AN EXCEPTION

AUGUSTINE: God created marriage. As the union is from God, so divorce is from the devil. But one is allowed to divorce a wife in case of fornication for the precise reason that one never originally wished to have a wife who has not preserved conjugal fidelity to her husband. TRACTATE ON JOHN 9.2.2. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0278, 9.2.9; FC 78:195*.