The purpose of the Pharisees’ question is to test Jesus. Their questions always have an angle. They ask Jesus about divorce, but Jesus answers with teaching about marriage.

Later, when the disciples ask about divorce, He answers them in private (10:10). This is significant. Jesus did not come to load guilt on people for their past failures. Remember how He spoke to the woman of Samaria who had gone through five divorces. Jesus did not condemn her. He spoke to her about becoming a true worshipper of God.

Jesus does not focus on past failures, but on present realities and future possibilities. The focus of our Lord’s teaching is on the dignity and value of marriage.

What is marriage? Here is Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees: “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh" (10:6-8).

Notice God’s pattern for marriage:

A man: Singular. Marriage is an exclusive union between two people.

Will leave: Marriage is a public attachment, not a private arrangement.

And be united: Marriage is a lasting relationship characterised by love.

To his wife: It is a relationship between one man and one woman.

One flesh: The union of their hearts is sealed and strengthened by the union of their bodies.

Those God has joined together, let man not separate. Marriage is an exclusive, public, lasting, loving union of one man and one woman sealed by God.

What do you think about God’s pattern for marriage? What comfort do you find in Jesus' focus on the dignity and value of marriage?

Many people manage their lives by dividing them into compartments. There’s the work compartment, for business, budgets, and sales reports; the family compartment, for marriage, children, and home; and the spiritual compartment, for God, the church, prayer, and eternity.

If you divide your life like that, you will probably feel that God cares about your soul but not about the ups and downs of your marriage. You’ll feel that He is interested in your heart but not in the chaos of your children’s schedules.

Think about this for a moment: the incarnation was God entering the world of noisy kids and pushy parents and strained marriages and messy divorces. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (1:14). It does not say the Word became spirit. If it did, we would have to limit God’s interest in our lives to the things of the spirit, like prayer and Bible study. But God is interested in every aspect of your life in the flesh - your work, your marriage, and your children.

The incarnation blows apart the compartments you may use to manage your life. When the Word became flesh in Jesus Christ, God was invading the whole of our lives: marriage, chequebook, children, career, everything! When Jesus went to the cross, He died not only to save your soul but to redeem your life. Thank God for that!

What compartments have you divided your life into? Do you truly believe that God cares about each part?

Here are two more observations on the strong words of Jesus.

4. Hell is eternal, conscious punishment.

'Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched' (9:48). Jesus speaks not about the worm, but their worm. It is personal. The worm destroys by eating away at the inside. The thing that eats away inside a person is conscience. A person in hell will live with the full knowledge of what they have done. This never diminishes and it never ends. Then Jesus says, "the fire is not quenched." A person in hell lives under the judgement of God, who is a consuming fire forever.

5. It is worth going to any length to avoid hell.

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell” (9:43). Jesus says it would be better to be blind than to have your eyes multiplying lust. It would be better to have no arms than to add to your sins by striking another person. It would be better to have no tongue than to rage in anger, destroying another person's confidence.

Hell is a reality so terrible that you should be ready to do anything to avoid it—accept any discipline or restriction, change any habit, flee any temptation. Jesus endured the wrath of God so that you might never know what it is like. Would He have done this if hell was no big deal?

Reflect on the specific and personal nature of hell. How does this impact your desire to live a holy life? How does it impact your motivation for sharing the gospel?