Preparing for Worship - October 3, 2021

Several of our Scriptures this weekend deal with questions about marriage. The Old Testament lesson, Genesis 2:18-25, is the foundation passage for God’s institution of marriage. God created the first man and then the first woman from a rib of the man to show how they would be just right for each other and compliment and help each other, in the lifelong commitment of marriage.

The Psalm, Psalm 128, gives the promise of the Lord’s blessings to His people and to families who fear and trust in Him and seek to walk in His ways. This is a tough passage, since in our sinful world, with so much trouble and temptation, things don’t always seem to work out so well. Yet we have God’s Word and His direction to guide and forgive us. Ultimately, we also have God’s peace and His promise: “You shall be blessed and it shall be well with you,” in the promises of eternal life.

Our Epistle lesson, Hebrews 2:1-13 (14-20), calls us to keep Christ and His saving work for us at the center of our personal and family life. “We need to pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it," the author says. If we neglect the "great salvation” of Christ for us, “how shall we escape” God’s judgment?

Jesus became a true man, lower than the angels, to suffer and die for us and defeat the power of death and Satan. Through His resurrection and ascension, He is now “crowned with glory and honor”, though it does not always look that way right now, in our troubled world. By God’s grace and faith we say, "I will put my trust in Him - I and the children God has given me.”

In the Gospel lesson, Mark 10:2-16, Jesus is asked if it is “lawful” to get a divorce. Jesus says that Moses allowed it because of the hardness of sinful human hearts. Jesus calls people back to the OT lesson in Genesis 2 and God’s high standard that He wishes for marriage - seeking a lifelong commitment of one man and one woman in marriage together. Jesus also highlights the importance of children, when the disciples do not want Jesus to be bothered by them. Jesus blesses children and calls for a childlike faith in Him and the Kingdom of God He brings.