Mark 10:11-15

Mark 10:11 (KJB)
And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.

Jesus places a very important principle in this verse and that is if a person divorces their wife and then marries another commits adultery and remember under Mosaic law, adultery is met by stoning. Jesus also states that if a man marries a woman who is divorced, then whether she has a writ of divorce or not, it is considered adultery in the eyes of God. In the time Jesus walked the earth, just like today, divorce and remarriage was rampant and Jesus is telling them that it is adultery to marry a person whose spouse is still living. Moses allowed remarriage but Jesus is stating that it is adultery. If a man divorces his wife, this means she is still living and if they are joined together by God as we saw and he marries another after divorce, then he is actually married to two women. He has adulterated the marriage.

Mark 10:12 (KJB)
And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

(Rom 7:3 KJV) So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. If a woman divorces her husband and she marries another, then she too is in adultery. The only way a marriage is dissolved is by death. After the death of the spouse, the other person is permitted to marry again.

Mark 10:13 (KJB)
And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

It was a custom for parents to bring their children to the scribes and elders of the synagogue to receive a blessing from them. Therefore, those that brought their children to Jesus had held Him to be a Rabbi. The children were probably very young and had to be carried into the house. (Luke 18:15 KJV) And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. The Luke account states they were infants. The disciples had rebuked those who had the little children. Maybe the reason the disciples tried to stop it was because they were learning from Jesus and did not want to be interrupted. This is a strange occurrence because to the Jews children were considered a blessing of God and God’s favor. Whatever the reason was as to why the disciples rebuked the parents with the children remains unknown.

Mark 10:14 (KJB)
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Jesus then rebukes the disciples and tells them not to forbid the children to come unto Him. The word “suffer” is in the Imperative mood making it a command to the disciples. There will be many who will be saved when they are children and they have the same standing before the cross as every other believer. Then Jesus tells them that “of such” is the Kingdom of Heaven. This means that those believers who have the attributes of children such as trust, love, joy, innocence, simplicity, etc., are the type of believers which make up the kingdom of God. Too many think that you have to be well educated or have some type of training to be in the kingdom of God but all it takes is child like faith, the size of the mustard seed. When a child jumps from a step into his father’s arms, he is not worried about gravity or wind shear, all he is concerned about is his faith that daddy will catch him. That is the kind of child like faith we are to have in our Heavenly Father. We don’t worry about what the world thinks, we just know our Heavenly Father will catch us when we make that leap of faith.

Mark 10:15 (KJB)
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

No one can enter the kingdom of God with an arrogant self-serving attitude. The main attribute of a child is unquestioned trustfulness. When one comes into the Kingdom of God they must trust God and not hold an attitude of self-reliance. When we look at this verse, we see the word “receive” which indicates that salvation is a gift and cannot be earned. One must admit they are weak and helpless and in no way can enter the Kingdom of God without these attributes.

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