"Disposable People"If we read our gospel text with modern eyes we may miss experiencing two of the most radical pronouncements of Jesus. For centuries this text has been used to browbeat couples into staying married - even when doing so meant that a woman was condemned to terrible emotional or physical abuse. But, this gospel isn’t really about the law; it is about grace. It is about protecting the vulnerable and lifting up the oppressed.

In order to understand this we need to understand what it was like to be a woman or child in Jesus day.

First, marriage had little to do with the couple getting married and even less to do with love. Marriage was a business contract between two families. It was done for sociological and economic reasons, and no consideration was given to the wishes or feelings of the bride and groom. They had no say and often had been objects of this business deal since early childhood.

Children were property of their fathers. They were seen as having no more value than cattle or other possessions. It was even worse for a girl than for a boy. When a boy grew to manhood he achieved a certain degree of freedom and independence. He could work, own property, travel freely, etc. A girl, OTOH, went from being property of her father to being property of her husband. And a husband could treat his wife any way he pleased, including divorcing her at any time she displeased him - even for something as minor as a less than perfect meal. All a man had to do according to Jewish law was write a paper saying he was divorcing his wife. He could then evict her from the home with nothing more than the clothes on her back. The wife was then on her own - homeless, helpless and pretty hopeless. Other than turning to prostitution or selling herself into slavery, she had no means of making a living. If she didn’t have a male relative who would take her in she would have no place to go. And, of course, living on the charity of family and an outcast from her husband’s family, left her open to all kinds of abuse. The divorce paper freed her to remarry, but what kind of man would marry a woman who had already disappointed one husband. Divorce could be both literally and figuratively a death sentence. Thus a woman was a disposable person.

Children faired little better. Because so many children died at an early age (60% before age 16), parents could not afford emotionally to become attached to their children. Furthermore, until late childhood or even teen years children couldn’t contribute to the family income so they were actually a drain on resources. Far from being the center of attention and nearly worshiped as they are today, children of the ancient world usually were seen as worthless incumbrances, as disposable people.

With this information before us, we are now ready to deal with Jesus’ pronouncements. In answering the Pharisees, Jesus speaks strongly in favor of the indissolubility of marriage. Since a woman in Jewish culture could not divorce her husband, Jesus is saying that men are to stop casting their wives out.

Then, Jesus goes even further when talking privately with His disciples. First, He declares it a sin for a divorced man to remarry. He says that this is committing adultery "against her". This was an unheard of pronouncement and protection for women. In the past, if a man had relations with a married woman, he committed adultery against the husband - he damaged the other man’s property. Even rape was an offense against the husband or father, not against the woman who was victimized. Here we have Jesus making the woman the focus, the one of concern. Jesus goes even further though in acknowledging however indirectly that a woman might divorce her husband.We need to be clear here. God intended and continues to intend marriage to be a lifelong covenant and Jesus is not saying that divorce is God pleasing. But Jesus came to bring forgiveness to those who err just as he came to bring freedom and comfort to those who are oppressed and abused. In fact, looking at the larger context of this passage we find that it is located in the midst of Jesus passion predictions. Thus, He is speaking important words about the disposable people being part of his kingdom and also how the church He leaves behind is to treat such people - forgiving, supporting, protecting and most of all, accepting them.

Jesus then stretches the understanding of his hearers and readers even more as He turns His attention to children. According to some knowledgeable commentators these children that were being brought to Jesus were anything but the lovely youngsters, glowing with health that we see in artists’ renderings of these verses. The word we translate "touch" is used in reference to healing sick people in every other instance in the New Testament. We can surmise then that these were sick children Jesus was being asked to heal. These were among the 60% expected to die and were therefore weak, vulnerable and unwanted. And in a largely nomadic culture they might well be left on the side of the trail to die. Yet, Jesus surrounds Himself with these useless cast-offs. He says the kingdom belongs to them. The kingdom belongs to disposable people.