How do you make the Law simpler?

(76) Relationships, Simplicity and Law

So here’s Jesus, a prophet from Galilee, wandering Judea, the land of the Law. And of course, the Law is what the lawmakers want to test him on: Read Matthew 19:1-3, Mark 10:1-2 (also Luke 16:17-19, but we read that earlier).

1.       Why are the crowds following Jesus? And why are the Pharisees following him?

2.       Read Matthew 19:4-5, Mark 10:6-8, Genesis 2:22-24. Is marriage a law or a gift?

3.       Read Matthew 19:6, Mark 10:9. Is divorce in the hands of man or in the hands of God? Or – Read Mark 10:12 Could divorce be in the hands of a woman? (And what about marriage—is that in our hands or His?)

4.       Read Matthew 19:7-9, Mark 10:3-5. Is divorce a law or a gift?

5.       Read Mark 10:10-12 (Luke 16:17-19, Matthew 5:32) Is divorce simple or complicated?

a.       How should we react when society makes divorce simpler?

b.      How should we react when churches agree that some marriages must be dissolved? For example, should Matthew 5:32 be the only reason a marriage can be dissolved? Should remarriage be allowed?

c.       What about obeying God’s Law in general? Is it simple or complicated?

                                                                                       i.      The Pharisees tried to make God’s law simple by building more laws around it. How does Jesus make God’s law simple?

                                                                                     ii.      How do our churches complicate God’s law? And how can we make it simpler?

6.       Read Matthew 19:10-12 Is the single life simple or complicated?

In a society where men could divorce their wives but wives remained subject to their husbands, Jesus’ answers, stressing the creation of male and female, and even accommodating women who divorce their husbands, clearly stood up for the rights of women. But what about the rights of children – the lowest of the low in legal terms?

1.       Read Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16, Luke 18:15-17 The story must be very familiar. Can you paraphrase it?

2.       Do you usually imagine this story taking place in the town or the countryside? How might that change your view of it?

3.       Did the children come because they wanted to, or because somebody brought them? Who brought them?

4.       Is this a ceremony of infant baptism (Luke 18:15a) or healing (Mark 10:13a), or are they (who?) testing Jesus (Matthew 19:13a) to see how he will pray?

5.       What do you think Jesus means when he says the kingdom of heaven belongs to (or is made from, or is made for) children? (Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16)

6.       What do you think it means to receive the kingdom “as a child”? (Mark 10:15, Luke 18:17)

7.       Why might Matthew not have included this statement? (Who might most dislike being compared to a child?)

8.       Which are we best at: Welcoming children into church? Blessing children? Praying over children?

a.      Or receiving the kingdom like children? What might that look like?

9.       What are children best at?

a.      Are we told to be childlike in faith? in belief? in behavior? in love? in trust?

b.      What would it mean to receive a blessing like a child?

c.       How might this relate to making God’s law (about marriage and other topics) simpler?


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