Jesus Deals With The Demise of Marriage & Family

Matthew Series | Matthew 19:1-15 | Pastor Duane Smets

This week is an exegetical sermon on Matthew 19:1-15 where we Jesus addresses the importance of marriage and family as well as the pain and hard heartedness of divorce. Current statistics, the story of Genesis, cultural trends, and joy and purpose of children are all highlighted in grappling with Jesus’ words in this passage. This sermon was originally preached on September 5th, 2010 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
September 5th, 2010

“Jesus Deals With The Demise of Marriage & Family” | Matthew 19:1-15
I. Divorce Defies The Divine Intention For Marriage
A. The Creator’s Creation (v4-6)
B. Moses and Hardness of Heart (v7-9)
C. Eunuchs and a Heart for Heaven (v10-12)
II. Children Are Essential To The Kingdom Family
A. Children Ought Not Be Rejected (v13-14)
B. Children Are Blessings Of Jesus (v15)

Introduction

Today, we’re in The Gospel of Matthew, heading toward the final stretch of Jesus life. This fall will essentially consist of going through the last nine chapters of Matthew which cover the events and teachings of Jesus in the very last week of his life in physical bodily form here on earth.

We’re not quite there yet but this morning we’ll enter Matthew’s fifth installment of material beginning with Jesus leaving Galilee to go toward Jerusalem and a very significant conversation which happens once he’s probably a little more than half-way there…about 20-30 miles south of Galilee.

So let’s read the story from the Bible, pray over it, and then talk about it, learn from it, and apply it to our lives. (Read Text and Pray).

All right. Jesus has alluded to the importance of marriage and family several times in the last two years of his preaching and teaching ministry. Jesus’ speech and theology is saturated with talk of fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters as analogies or parallels for who God is and what the relationships of his followers is supposed to be like. But up to this point, he has not directly addressed the husband and wife relationship.

And this is a hot topic. It was a hot topic in the first century and is a hot topic today…marriage and family. I know I’m jumping into hot water. There are land mines all over the place. So I’ll just warn you ahead of time…I’ll do my best to be nice and “sensitive” as my wife says. But you might need a little bit tougher skin today and a warning for parents, things might get a little PG-13, or even R as we try to work through Jesus’ words here.

Marriage and family is a sensitive and hot topic in our day, it was in the first century and in reality it really has been since the very first marriage and family of the whole human race. Adam and Eve set us off in a course of brokenness and tension when it comes to marriage and family and Jesus takes it on and directly addresses it. He doesn’t avoid controversial and sensitive issues but takes them head on. So the title for my sermon today is “Jesus Deals With The Demise of Marriage & Family.”

Alright…so the Pharisees are the ones who initiate this conversation. They are not new characters to us, if you’ve been around. Basically they were supposed to be the pastors of the people…but rather than caring for people’s lives and their hearts for God they had turned into authoritarian rule enforcers who loved their titles and position of status and respect. Jesus comes on the scene and is getting a lot of attention so they’re not happy about it and are frequently coming around and trying to trip Jesus up and cause division and controversy concerning him.

So they come up and ask Jesus this question about divorce. Here’s the deal. There were two main ideas about this…it was a hot political topic in the day, sort of like the debate of whether or not two gay people can get married is a highly debated issue in our day.

One school of though was the Hillel school who said a man could divorce his wife for whatever reason he wanted…if she burnt the food, got leprosy, or basically did or didn’t do anything the man didn’t like.

The other school of thought was the Shammai school which said a man could only divorce his wife if she was unfaithful and had sex with another man.

So they’re trying to trap Jesus and get him to side either with Hillel or Shammai and as a result get a bunch of the people who are following Jesus to turn away from him.

But Jesus won’t be boxed in and he goes far deeper and further back, surpassing Hillel and Shammai and instead deals with the divine intent for marriage and heart issues involved in divorce.

I. Divorce Defies The Divine Intention For Marriage

So my first main point for today is, “Divorce Defies The Define Intention For Marriage.” But before we get into what Jesus actually says, let’s just address the elephant in the room and talk about our personal experiences of divorce and what a huge issue it still is today, nearly 2,000 years after this conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees took place.

First some statistics. We are acutely experiencing the demise of marriage and family. Multiple surveys and studies show that the current divorce rate in the US is between 40-60 percent. The National Center For Health says right now it’s 60%. That means more than one out of every two marriages end in divorce.

Now let me give you a little perspective. The divorce rate in 1950 was about 8%. Nobody got hardly ever got divorced except for extreme cases. Ask anyone who got married in the fifties or earlier and they will tell you this, “Divorce was not an option.”

Since the divorce rate has been steadily increasing those who have been touched by the pain of divorce has been increasing as well. Psychologist Patrick Fagan wrote a book titled “The Effects of Divorce in America.” His studies showed that 50% of children will experience the divorce of their parents before the age of 18 and 40% of those kids will grow up without a father in the picture.

I’m not going to ask you to respond but I’m sure if I asked you…we would find these numbers true for us right here in this room. And by the way, according to the Barna Research group the statistics are no different for Christians, virtually identical.

Here’s some effects of that. Children and parents who have experienced divorce are more likely to become dependent on anti-depressants, children get lower grades, parents business ventures fail, both develop deep seated bitterness and are more likely to have anger issues which result in violence, and the suicide rate is twice is high for those who have experienced divorce (From Eighteen Shocking Statistics About Marriage and Divorce).

So the elephant in the room is I know that many of you have experienced divorce, whether you yourself are divorced or you’re parents are and you may have or have not also known those negative effects. I know that this is likely a very painful subject, hits close to home…and because of that our opinions, feelings, and thoughts about it are pretty heavily loaded.

So what I want to do is simply ask for you, to the best of your ability to suspend judgment just for a few moment are hear Jesus out. Anyone who has experienced divorce wishes it didn’t happen and that’s what Jesus is really getting into, why it happens, why it shouldn’t, and even how there’s grace and healing from it.

Okay, Jesus responds in three different way to the question and issue of divorce. His first and main point is to appeal to the purpose and intention of marriage as it was created by God.

A. The Creator’s Creation (v4-6)

Rather than getting into the mix of the debate between Hillel and Shammai Jesus goes farther back, all the way to creation and essentially says, marriage is the “Creator’s Creation.” Check it out. Verse 4, “Have you not read (in Genesis, the first book of the Bible), that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female.”

So first, Jesus says that God is the creator of human being…we exist because God created us. We are creatures, he is our creator. Second thing Jesus says by this, we were created with gender…male and female. This includes different body parts physically and different roles spiritually and relationally.

Now let’s follow Jesus logic. Verse 5. “Therefore (because God created two different kinds of people, male and female…) a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This is a direct quote of Genesis 2:24. So what’s Jesus saying?

It’s very basic but foundational. Jesus says, because there is gender, because there are males and there are females…that says something about God’s purpose and design. Our biology says something about theology. Man is meant to be with a woman and a woman is meant to be with a man and they are supposed be with each other in a special type of union, where they “become one flesh.”

Is he just talking about sex…that there is a brief physical union during the act of intercourse? Well that’s surely included but this “one flesh” is much more, it’s a marriage. Look at verse 6, “So then they are no longer two but one flesh..” They have entered a new state of being or union…a marriage union where they are one.

What’s kind of union is this? Verse 6 continues, “What therefore God has joined together, let man not separate.” That tells us something. That tells us it’s a union or a state of being where somehow God is involved in the union or the joining and it’s never to be separated. So it has to be more than just sex…because that would be impossible to never separate physically from. Thus marriage is primarily a spiritual and relational union under God. Marriage is a union where two become one never to be unjoined. Sex is an outward demonstration, privilege and pleasure of that union.

Today marriage is mostly thought of as a legal contract, you get a marriage license and tax benefits from it. But according to the Bible that has nothing to do with marriage. If you are not getting joined together under God, I don’t even know what that is.

Marriage in the Bible is a deeply profound and supernatural union. One of the great privileges I have as a pastor, one that most of you will never experience, is the joy of being the physical representative of God’s joining presence in marrying people. No one sees a wedding from my perspective…being right there and being the one to pronounce God’s blessing on the marriage. When a man makes a vow to a woman and a woman makes a vow to a man and when they exchange rings and we covenant them to one another under God…there is a supernatural union which takes place in that blessing. The closest thing I can describe it to is like some of the experiences I have had in taking communion…where the presence of God feels so thick and tangible that you can almost touch it.

Marriage under God’s joining is a mysterious and profound physical and spiritual union. As Genesis 2:24 states, it is a deeper bond than children even have with their parents. That bond is deep. You can’t get rid of your parents, your family…they are blood. Most children throughout their life feel and know a deep connection to their parents. And God says here in his word that the marriage bond is even deeper than that because children go out from their parents and become one with another in a way that is deeper than their blood ties. Marriage is heavy and serious and glorious.

Alright, so two main implications from this.

One, if you are single, you are supposed to get married. Ideally, by the age and time that you are capable of living on your own and leaving your parents house. Here’s what God says, Genesis 1:24, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” If you’re single, it is not good and life is not going to be very good…until you get married.

We’ll talk about the special and rare gift and calling of a eunuch in a minute but for most all people…God means for you to get married. It’s not a question of whether you want to or feel like it. It’s a matter of design. If you have genitals, God means for you to get married. Not only so that you can use them, in a God glorifying way, but so that you can no longer be incomplete but become one, and whole with another.

So that’s the first thing. God means for humans to get married.

Second implication from this that Jesus states, that marriage is not supposed to end, ever. What “God has joined together, let not man separate.” You are commanded by God to not ever end your marriage. You are to, what’s it say? ”Hold fast” in your marriage. You are not to let it go.

Malachi 2:16 says, “God hates divorce.” God unites, man divides. John Calvin said something interesting in his commentary on this passage. He said that because the two become one in marriage, that because of that, “Whoever divorces his wife tears himself into pieces.”

For those of you who are divorced…you probably know that too well. You know what it’s like to be torn into pieces. You have known and felt that pain. And those of you whose parents were divorced, you too probably know too well what it’s like to see your parents lives be torn apart into pieces.

Church, can you see why God hates divorce? Do you get it? This topic today is so crucial. We don’t want people to be torn into pieces. It’s one of the reasons I have every couple who goes through pre-marital counseling with me write up a one page paper for me titled, “Why This Marriage Will Not End In Divorce.” That way when things get hard they can go back and read it.

Okay, so this is Jesus main point: God’s divine intention for people is for them to get married and to stay married, never separating. Then come the objections, one from the Pharisees and one from the disciples.

B. Moses and Hardness of Heart (v7-9)

First, the Pharisees objection. What I’m calling, “Moses and Hardness of Heart” in verses 7-9. The objection is that in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 Moses mentions the ancient Mesopotamian cultural practice of writing certificates of divorce and puts restrictions on it.

What Jesus points out is that there is a twisting of Moses’ words and intent. Check it out with me. In verse 7, they, the Pharisees say, Moses “commanded” a certificate of divorce. Well…if you go back and read it that’s not really what it going on. Moses is addressing the practice of giving certificates but never commands to write one. In fact, if you keep reading the passage in context, Moses concludes it by saying, it is “an abomination before the LORD” and “brings sin upon the land (Deut 24:4).”

Jesus points out their twisting of the Scriptures and corrects the Pharisees in this in three ways.

First, Jesus goes behind the letter of the law and addresses the heart. Again and again and again Jesus brings up the issue of our hearts. That all sinful behavior is an outplay of what is going on in our hearts. Look at it, Jesus says the only reason this thing was written in Deuteronomy was because of “hardness of heart.”

In fact, Moses was not commanding divorce but disapprovingly allowing it and putting constraints on it. Jesus corrects them immediately on that by changing the language from commanding to allowing. The instructions Moses gives are actually protective measures for the woman so that she is not sent away without cause and is not thought then to be a runaway adulterous. Moses is putting a restraint on wicked men’s desire to fulfill inflamed lust and providing a protection for the women.

Jesus says here, such a thing was because of hardness of heart. All divorce, all the time is because hearts get hard. First hearts get hard toward God and his word and will. Then spouses get hard toward one another, resistant to opening up and working through things. And then ultimately they become hardened and one or both parties cannot receive or extend forgiveness.

The second thing Jesus does is reiterate his first point about God’s divine intention by saying, “from the beginning it was not so.” In the beginning, before sin and the fall in the Garden of Eden, before man first sinned against God and then against one another…divorce was inconceivable. Jesus point again, is divorce ought never to happen, it is not God’s design.

Then Jesus says something surprising. You would almost expect for that to be his last word about it but then there’s verse 9. All verse 9 does is basically restate what Moses already said in Deuteronomy 24. By doing that, Jesus not only holds up the Bible rather than discount it but he ends up doing the same thing Moses did. He gives a concession or allowance for what he has just said is hardness of heart. Yes, even in the case of sexual immorality and adultery.

Now the funny thing is, at least in the Christian world, these words of Jesus get so abused. Whenever a marriage has difficulty and it is not addressed, divorce doesn’t happen out of a vacuum, often times it leads to adultery. When that happens people often automatically jump to this verse and say something along the lines of…well he or she cheated on me and because of that Jesus said I can divorce him or her.

On top of it our culture, our city, makes it so easy and encourages divorce…telling you “you’re justified to get a divorce if you’re not getting your needs met, are not happy, or just are not in love anymore.” There’s that van over by In-N-Out which says “Fast Divorce” on it, anyone ever seen it? That thing makes me so mad. Every time I see it I have to resist ramming my car into it. Actually I’d love to go on a secret holy mission and car bomb that thing sometime.

Okay, let’s be real here. Jesus says you can get a divorce. But let me ask you. After reading and hearing Jesus and what he said up to this point, do you think that is what he wanted us to take away from this? If so and so cheated…”well then go ahead, forget them.” Is that what Jesus is saying and getting at here?

No. That completely misses his tone and the context. When we do that we’re doing the same thing the Pharisees are doing here, which Jesus just corrected. When I have sat in counseling sessions with couples who quote these words of Jesus’ to me and just want out…what I ask them is, are you telling me you have a hard heart?

So why does Jesus allow for this concession? I think it is because of grace. Because God is a God who has grace for hard hearts. He realizes that sexual adultery of a spouse is sin and is a very difficult thing to work through and God is a God of grace, healing and forgiveness for sin.

Let me tell you a story about the grace of God and how he sees it from his perspective. Has anyone ever heard of the book of Hosea in the Bible. It’s one of the smaller prophet books in the Old Testament right after Daniel.

Here’ story of Hosea. God comes to Hosea and he tell him that he wants him to go marry this woman named Gomer. And he tells him ahead of time that Gomer is going to cheat on him, multiple times, have children from other men but each time he does to take her back and take the kids as his own. Nice calling on Hosea’s life huh?

Hoeas is obedient to God though. Things start off okay and they have a baby together named Jezreel. But then sure enough Gomer starts sleep around, gets pregnant and gives birth to a daughter. Hosea names her “No Mercy” and takes his wife back. But it’s not long before she cheats on him again and gets pregnant again from another dude. But he takes her back and calls the son “Not My People.” But then she leaves him again and actually ends up being an official whore employed by a pimp. What’s Hosea do? He goes to her pimp and buys back his wife, from the pimp with a bunch of money.

Who ever said the Bible wasn’t R-rated or interesting? Crazy story huh? Any of you like, “Why the heck did God want Hosea to do that?” Here’s the answer. God told Hosea he wanted him to do this because his people had committed “great whoredom by forsaking [him] (Hos 1:2) but despite their whoring he loved them and was going to buy them back and then they would come and “fear to the LORD “ and know “his goodness” all their days (Hos 3:5). God had Hosea do this because it was a picture of his love for his us.

When a couple goes to court to get divorced the legal terminology that is used is “irreconcilable differences.” But here’s thing…with God, there are no irreconcilable differences. All can be reconciled and forgiven and restored. There is no situation a couple goes through that the grace of God is not able to touch and redeem. God can soften hearts and heal and restore.

Interestingly, this whole section comes right after Jesus just taught about forgiveness and restoration. Marriage more than any other is a relationship where there has to be much forgiveness that takes place. In marriage we easily and regularly hurt one another and we must easily and regularly forgive one another.

Divorce flows out of hardness of heart, so in your marriages keep a watch on your hearts, guard them, check in with on another often, and grant each other grace and forgiveness when you don’t meet one another’s expectations. Only Jesus ever perfectly meets our expectations, so if we keep him the center of marriage, the motivation of our hearts will not be our spouse’s performance.

C. Eunuchs and a Heart for Heaven (v10-12)

Okay, the second objection, which is the disciples’ response to this. I’m calling this part, “Eunuchs and a Heart for Heaven.” Basically the disciples are like…”man Jesus, that’s gnarly…maybe we just shouldn’t get married since marriage is a such a big deal and is so permanent?”

Jesus’ response is pretty straight forward. One, in verse 11 he says that’s a thing that must be “given” to you. It’s a gift or a calling. The apostle Paul has a helpful cue in 1 Corinthians 7:8 for how you know if you have the gift…he says it’s when you don’t “burn with passion.” So if you “burn with passion” you don’t have the gift. I think you know what he means. It’s a nice way of saying aroused or stimulated.

Not too many people have that gift. The technical term for it is being a Eunuch, which is the term Jesus uses. Jesus says there are three kinds of Eunuchs.

One kind are those who were eunuchs from birth, they either were born without certain sexual organs or born without desire.

Another kind are those who were made eunuchs so they could serve in some official capacity, a common ancient practice of king’s was castrating his officials to make sure they didn’t intrude on their wives, harem and/or other practices.

Then Jesus mentioned a third kind and that is those who are choose to become Eunuchs either by castrating themselves or by finding a sinless way to put a bridal on their desire. Interestingly Jesus commends this, if it is for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

Now some in Christian history have wrongly thought that if you’re a dude and you castrate yourself you are some how more spiritual or holy or more Christian or whatever. No that’s not what Jesus is saying here. He’s pointing out the simple fact and truth that without the responsibility of a wife and kids, you don’t have others depending on you so you’re able to do more ministry freely.

For example, since I’m a husband and a father my primary ministry is to my family. So every evening except the night we have community group, I’m home with my family spending time ministering to them. If I wasn’t married I would be able to spend that time doing more ministry with people…which would be good for the kingdom.

Here’s what I think we ought to get from this.

There are some, very few, whom God has designed and called to be single for life because he has a special ministry assignment for you to do. So I would say if you think you have that gift, you better devote yourself to the ministry of the kingdom. And that is honorable.

The other thing I think is relevant here for us to talk about is a fourth kind of eunuch Jesus doesn’t mention here but is an outflow of the same sentiment of the disciples concerning marriage and divorce and that’s the functional eunuch, where you’re not really a eunuch but you’re not about marriage either.

This is quite popular today. The cultural idea is that you don’t want to get married because that will tie you down…marriage is a “ball and chain.” Instead you should protect yourself so you can be free and hook up with as many girls as possible. I regularly talk to guys who will straight up tell me, “Man I don’t ever want to get married…at least not until I’m after 30.”

And this is happening on a large scale. Earlier we were talking about how things have changed in only 50 years. For most of history and still for most of the world, besides the US and Europe…it would be rare that you would not be married before the time you were 20 years old. That would be late, most people would marry off somewhere between 17-19.

Now if you get married here, even at like 26-27, that’s considered getting married young by today’s current standards. Why is that happening? There’s a number of factors, like the age of college and quarter life crisis, the breakdown of gender roles, but we don’t have time to go into all that today. I’ll just mention one of the big factor since it’s in our text and that’s divorce.

What has happened because vast epidemic of divorce and the pain involved, is that children who have gone through it do not want to get divorced. Like the disciples, they’re like…yeah, let’s avoid that. And there has been three main popular solutions. One, don’t get married, at all. Two, wait until you are older and wiser, post thirties. Or Three, live together before you get married to make sure it’s going to work.

The funny thing is, the older people get the more difficult those people say it is to find someone to marry. And those who co-habitate before marriage, live together before, actually have a 65% higher divorce rate according to a study done by Georgia State University.

Why mention this? Because these solutions just don’t work. The only solution is to simply trust and obey God and his plan…to live under the rule and reign of God from heaven rather than thinking we can be smarter or do things better our way. The creator tells the creature it’s purpose and design not the other way around.

Apparently the disciples got what Jesus was saying. According to tradition, out of the twelve, only John was given this gift…all the others embraced the joy of marriage according to God’s divine plan and design.

I’ll say this one last thing. Some of you are in college and I just want you to hear me…there’s sort of this perception that college is the time when you are supposed just have fun and then grow up later. I don’t think so, I think it’s the time you ought to be getting married, so I think you ought to be looking for a husband or a wife and getting on with it.

If you’re body is old enough so that it is functioning in a way that you can make a baby (i.e. ovulation, erections, etc.) you’re old enough to get married, that’s what your body is telling you. Our biology says something about theology. Our biology is saying find someone to marry and make some babies.

II. Children Are Essential To The Kingdom Family

Okay, last point for today, “Children Are Essential To The Kingdom Family.” I’m just going to take both these sub points together about children not being rejected and instead being blessings.

A. Children Ought Not Be Rejected (v13-14)
B. Children Are Blessings Of Jesus (v15)

I don’t think it’s coincidence that right after this discussion about marriage there’s this scene with children. Some people bring kids up to Jesus but the disciples reject and rebuke them. Why? Because Jesus was the king of the kingdom and there was certain protocol for behavior when before an excellency.

Jesus was and is the king but he was never the type of king who forced unneeded ceremonies and performances. So Jesus here corrects the disciples and says let the children come, “for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” and then he lays his hands on them and blesses them.

Here is what I want to say about this. Children are extremely important in the Bible from beginning to end. We already talked about how biblical theology is fraught with familial language but even more so than that, children are essential to the story of God and his people.

The whole story of the Bible from beginning to end is the story of God making a people for himself. He does this in two ways: through births and new births. That is through procreation, where actual babies are made and then through new creations, when people are born again and redeemed through the gospel.

God promises Abraham he will have as many children as there are sand and stars…Then as we we’re talking about earlier through the story of Hosea and Gomer…God’s people have sinned and strayed from him and so he has bought us back in Jesus and through Jesus, we are born a new God becomes our Father.

Now here’s the thing. I know sometimes I say it jokingly about people needing to get married and have children. But I believe this a very serious biblical issue and that there is a very big a cultural lie we have begun to buy into.

The biblical issue is that God commanded, the very first thing he tells man to do, is “Be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28).” Sure, there are other reasons and benefits to sex, but one of them is procreation. The issue of biblical commands is not, “follow these rules or else” but follow these commands because this is how God designed you and obeying them is what will make you happy in life.

So many couples I see struggling with their identities and careers and their marriage and sometimes Amy and I will just say to them… “You know what? You guys just need to start having kids.”

The cultural lie we buy into is that it is a choice of our to decide if “we want” to get married and if “we want to have children.” The truth is that is not something for us to decide but rather to obey because God our Father knows best because he made us. When we don’t obey him, that’s called rebellion.

This is really where sin and the brokenness that first came into marriage which causes divorced first came into the world…it was when Adam and Eve decided that they thought they knew better and could do better if they did not obey God’s commands and instead did their own thing. They didn’t have a whole lot of commands in Eden. Three commands: make babies, take care of the garden and don’t eat of this one tree. But Adam and Eve disobeyed doing their own thing and we have been following that pattern ever since.

Statistically, another result we are seeing along with couples get married later in life is that they are then not having kids until years later after that if they do get married and by that time the women are approaching the age for medical risk in pregnancy and giving birth.

But I think that is just a symptom of how widespread this non-biblical ideology has become, because the ideas about getting married later in life and not having kids until way later does not come from the Bible but from a culture who thinks they can fix themselves and be happier if they just do our own way.

On top of it, as Amy and I personally have discovered…the ability to have children is not guaranteed. I’m speaking both from personal experience and repentance. Most of you know now that Amy is pregnant again…what you may not know is that we had been trying to get pregnant for almost two years but Amy had two miscarriages.

Which by the way I know there are probably some of you out there who have gone or are going through that. I would just say to you, you are not alone, there is story after story of couples in the Bible who wanted and tried to have children and were faced with the pain and difficulty of not being able to fulfill both their desire and the biblical command. Every time, they cried and cried out to God. So cry out and we cry with you.

For Amy and I we waited to start having kids until later in life because we “wanted to be financially stable” and then we though that having kids was just like math, it’s automatic, you just don’t use a condom. We feel as though we bought into the lie and tried to play God rather than trusting God.

Here’s the thing and this is the last thing I have to say about it. Children are a blessing. Jesus here says let them come. Let them come and then he blesses them. Marriage isn’t a ball and chain. Marriage is the good life. And then having kids is the really really good life.

Children shouldn’t be rejected, they are a blessing. Let them come. Let them come into the world so they might come unto Jesus.

Conclusion

All right, let’s conclude. We’ve covered a ton of ground and a ton of stuff. We’re going to go to Jesus’ table and worship and receive his provision of grace. I can think of three things that may need to happen for some of you today.

One, you don’t know Jesus…you’ve left God and not lived for him and you need to be bought back. Two, some of you may know Jesus but you’re still holding the reigns on your life and your in rebellion and need to repent. Three, some of you are hurt, still with the wounds and pain that come from hardness of heart that has wrecked marriage and family close to you and you need healing and restoration. Fourth, you’re married and having kids and you have a lot to be thankful for in Jesus blessing in your life and you need to stay dependent on him for it and keep a soft heart.

Here’s where today’s message hits home for all of us in the gospel. We all have hardened our hearts toward God and divorced ourselves from him and gone after other loves. Yet, like Hosea, God has reached out to us and made away to bring us back and redeem us into his love through Jesus. Jesus lived the life we have failed at and died the death we deserve so we might be brought back into the grace and love of the Father.

So let’s go to Jesus with our needs, with our worship and with our thanks.

Let’s pray.