Valuing the Honorable

01.16.13

Luke 16.18 18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (NIV)

We must be careful when we read the Bible that we don’t misinterpret what is written. Today, in my reading I ran across a small passage of Jesus’ teachings labeled in my Bible: Additional Teachings. Like Luke didn’t have anywhere else to put these teachings so he crammed them in here.

In Luke 16 right in between Jesus’ parable of the Shrewd Manager and the Rich Man and Lazarus, we find these words: “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Right before this Jesus said: “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”

And almost as a “for instance” He says, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” In other words, just because you break a commitment, doesn’t mean God does. What people value highly [can be] detestable in God’s sight.

The foreground story in Luke 16 is about our use of money and what lengths some will go to protect their financial security. So Jesus’ point, is we will go to great lengths to make and keep money but we won’t keep our far greater commitments: like marriage. And He underscores this by saying: The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. (Vv. 16,17) In other words, the Law is still the Law no matter how we choose to interpret it or live by it: if a man divorces his wife and marries another woman, he commits adultery. If someone else marries a divorced woman, he commits adultery – that’s what the law stays and that’s how we’re to live.

We have more of a relaxed attitude toward making and breaking commitments: God never does. The invitation of the Kingdom of God is simply: live the way God does; say what you mean and mean what you say. Keep your commitments out of a sense of love and devotion, and look for creative ways to keep love and devotion strong. Breaking commitments is as bad as adultery.

The shrewd manager dishonestly looked for ways to protect his future: gifts with benefits. Money can become a god if we’re not careful. The Law doesn’t change just because our values do; obey what is written, and keep our commitments. In our efforts to care for ourselves, keep in mind that there are the poor; and in our good times and days of plenty, we mustn’t forget about them.

We will be held to how we’re supposed to live, and we’re supposed to live loving and obeying God, and loving and serving our fellow man. I think about these things today and God is reminding me to value what is honorable in His sight…