Devotional for the Week

Relationships over Rules

Devotional for the week of October 6 2024

This gospel reading is one that hits everyone’s ears as uncomfortable. Divorce has touched the lives of most listeners in some way, whether it’s themselves, parents, siblings, children, colleagues, or friends. We all know and understand the sting of pain that divorce can cause. Holding this pain and naming its vulnerability in our lives might just be exactly what Jesus is getting at in his reply to the Pharisees.

The Pharisees are testing Jesus once again. “Is it lawful . . . ?” Lawful, yes, but if that’s the sole focus, we miss the point. It’s not primarily about the law; it’s about relationship. In Jesus’ response to the Pharisees, he draws his listeners to the Creator and to relationships. Jesus points to Genesis, where God sets the intention for relationships to be filled with love, respect, and accountability. The law is there because we human beings fail to comprehend the value of relationships.

Jesus’ seemingly absolute prohibition on divorce is not meant to justify staying in a harmful or toxic relationship—quite the opposite. He is challenging the Pharisees to understand the damage that is caused when we discard another human being. This hurt is the opposite of what God intends for our relationships.

Jesus continues to draw his hearers into the power of loving relationships by welcoming children and blessing them. One way to interpret his words is that one must receive the kingdom of God the way one receives a little child. How we treat each other matters to God. God invites us into relationships to see the belovedness in one another, to uplift each other, and to care for one another. When a person is vulnerable like a child, this is exactly when we are to share grace and love, not the sting of law.