Oct. 13, 2024

Today we are covering a very difficult topic that Jesus spoke about in answering a question from the Pharisees about divorce and Jesus took it a step further and talked about a godly marriage.

Mark Lesson 14 Study Questions

1.    Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? The real point of the Pharisees’ question is made clear by Matthew’s account: Is it _______ for a man to divorce his wife for just _____ reason?

2.    When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some ___________ in her, and he writes her a certificate of ________.

3.    What did Moses command you? Jesus emphasized the ________ of the matter in Deuteronomy 24:1. Moses did not command divorce; Moses ___________ it.

4.    But from the beginning of the creation: Jesus now transitioned from a talk about _________ to a talk about __________. The problem was not that they did not understand the law about divorce. The problem was that they did not understand what God said about marriage.

5.    This emphasis on marriage rather than divorce is a wise approach for anyone interested in keeping a marriage together. Divorce cannot be seen as an ________ when things are hard. Marriage is like a mirror; it ________ what we put into it. If someone has divorce readily in his or her mind as a convenient option, divorce will be much more likely.

6.    The term Jesus uses for joined together is literally ______ together. Like two animals yoked together, couples must ______ together and head the same way to really be joined the way God wants them to be joined.

7.    What God has joined together: Next, Jesus reminded the Pharisees that marriage is spiritually _________ before God. Marriage is not merely a social _________, and as God has joined He will keep together.

8.    “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, ________ for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits ________; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits _______” 

9.    To this permission for divorce, Paul added the case of ___________ by an ____________ spouse (1 Corinthians 7:15). Remember, Acts 20:27 “the whole counsel of God.”

10.    We must come to grips with the fact that marriage, as a __________ made to God, our spouse and the world, is a binding promise, and cannot be broken at our own discretion. There are certain cases where God allows the promise to be dissolved, but it is up to _____ and not us.

11.    The disciples rebuked those who brought them: Because children love to come to Jesus, we should never _______ the way – or fail to _______ them a way. We know more about Jesus than the women of Judea did. Is there any good reason for us to not ______ our own children to Jesus?

12.    For of such is the kingdom of God: Children are not only for blessing; they are also examples of how we must enter the kingdom with a ____________ faith, not with a childish faith. We must come to God with a faith that trusts God just like a little ______ trusts his father – and leave all the problems up to daddy.

13.    Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him: Jesus was filled with loving compassion for this man because his life was so _______. He had climbed to the top of the ladder of success, only to find his ladder leaned against the wrong __________.

14.    Jesus’ purpose wasn’t to make the man sad; yet he could only be _______ by doing what Jesus told him to do. So, he went away sorrowful. Many people have almost everything, yet they are ___________.