Insightful Musings on theScriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Good morning, dear ones.
Neato…there is a film of frost over everything outside and the sun is shining in the tops of the trees. I may be able to knock out some important outside work. Yesterday would have been a good day for that too…but I did a lengthy itinerary into Portland that consumed most of the daylight hours.
Blessings on your day. Love, Dad/Ray
27 January
Passage: Matthew 19:1-15
Focus: "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female'… Matthew 19:4.
Consider the MADE part of this thesis. It is more than difficult for me to comprehend the gross absurdity of the evolutionary notion that embraces the idea that all life is a total accident. It’s just a lot of BS! (bad science). Even if I were to concede enough to allow that just maybe some proteins and amino acids coupled with an electrical shock could have caused a “spark of life” at some point, how could we account for the development of gender and all the minute distinctions and details. It is just infinitely impossible! GOD MADE GENDER (sexuality). In my judgment, there is simply no better scientific explanation.
In concise terms, Jesus presents the FACT and IDEAL for human marriage. It only makes sense to me that if we, as a body of Bible believers called the CHURCH, could allow these simple concepts to be fully absorbed by our persistently dirty little hearts, it would go a long way toward dealing effectively with the prominence of sexual confusion, permissiveness, and marital infidelity that so plagues the church in particular and our society in general. Please, please, please understand that your maleness or femaleness, with its accompanying sexual apparatus is not of your own making nor the invention of modern man. Sexuality is the creation and gift of God to humans and He has every right to prescribe responsibilities for its use. And please find ways to communicate this perspective to your children.
I could get carried away here. We could address all kinds of issues
dealing with marriage and sexuality. But I’m choosing to simply
cite Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Matthew 19:3-12 in The Message
translation. My view flows with his take. What about you?
One day the Pharisees were badgering him: "Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?" He answered, "Haven't you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female? And because of this, a man leaves father and mother and is firmly bonded to his wife, becoming one flesh — no longer two bodies but one. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart." They shot back in rebuttal, "If that's so, why did Moses give instructions for divorce papers and divorce procedures?" Jesus said, "Moses provided for divorce as a concession to your hardheartedness, but it is not part of God's original plan. I'm holding you to the original plan, and holding you liable for adultery if you divorce your faithful wife and then marry someone else. I make an exception in cases where the spouse has committed adultery." Jesus' disciples objected, "If those are the terms of marriage, we're stuck. Why get married?" But Jesus said, "Not everyone is mature enough to live a married life. It requires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn't for everyone. Some, from birth seemingly, never give marriage a thought. Others never get asked — or accepted. And some decide not to get married for kingdom reasons. But if you're capable of growing into the largeness of marriage, do it."
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)Channing Pollock