The Dovetail and the Beggar: Marriage, Surrender, and Sight in Mark 10

A dovetail joint is designed to hold permanently. Once the pins and tails are fitted and glued the two pieces become one structure. Pulling them apart does not just separate them because it damages the wood itself. The joint was never meant to come apart.

Mark 10 is a chapter about things meant to hold together including marriage and the kingdom and a life surrendered to God. And it shows us what happens when we try to separate what God has joined.

What Did Jesus Teach About Divorce in Mark 10

The Pharisees approach Jesus with a question about divorce. It is a trap. They want him to contradict Moses. Jesus redirects them away from the legal question and toward the original design by taking them back to Genesis. From the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. They are no longer two but one flesh. What God has joined together let no man put asunder.

The disciples ask him privately about this later. He tells them that whoever divorces their spouse and marries another commits adultery against them. It is a hard saying and the disciples are astonished.

Jesus explains that Moses permitted divorce because of the hardness of human hearts. The permission was a concession to failure and was never the plan. I have been married to Melissa for twenty years and I can tell you that a marriage that holds together is tested many times. It holds because both people keep choosing to stay.

How to Enter the Kingdom of God as a Little Child

People bring children to Jesus but the disciples rebuke them thinking the children are a distraction. Jesus is indignant and says let the little children come to me and do not forbid them. The kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Then he says something that has stayed with me. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will not enter it. A child does not negotiate or try to earn the gift. A child simply receives with open hands and that is how the kingdom works.

This connects to an earlier reflection about the nevertheless joint in 2 Nephi 4. Receiving the kingdom like a child means acknowledging inadequacy and trusting God anyway.

Meaning of Camel Through the Eye of a Needle

A rich young man runs to Jesus and kneels asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus lists the commandments and the man says he has kept them all since his youth. Jesus looks at him and loves him before saying the words that change everything. One thing you lack. Go sell whatever you have and give to the poor. Then come take up your cross and follow me.

The man goes away grieved because he has great possessions.

And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

Mark 10:23

The disciples are astonished. Jesus says it again. Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom.

The problem is not the money but the trust. When your security is tied to what you own you cannot experience the total dependence that the kingdom requires.

Lessons on Service from Mark 10

James and John approach Jesus wanting to sit on his right hand and his left in glory. They are asking for power and the other disciples are angry when they hear about it.

Jesus calls them together and redefines everything. Those who rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them but it will not be so among you. Whoever desires to be great will be your servant and whoever desires to be first will be servant of all.

For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

I think about this when I am tempted to measure my worth by recognition. The kingdom runs on a different currency called service.

Spiritual Meaning of Blind Bartimaeus Healing

Jesus is leaving Jericho with a great crowd when Bartimaeus a blind beggar sitting by the roadside hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He cries out Jesus Son of David have mercy on me. The crowd tells him to hold his peace but he cries out even louder.

Jesus stops and calls Bartimaeus. The man casts away his garment and rises to come to Jesus. That garment was his only possession and the sign of his identity as a beggar. He throws it aside before he receives his sight because he lets go first.

Jesus asks what he wants. Lord that I might receive my sight. Jesus tells him to go his way because his faith has made him whole. Immediately he receives his sight and follows Jesus in the way. He does not go home. Physical sight becomes spiritual discipleship on the same road.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Jesus say the law of divorce was a result of hardness of heart?

Jesus taught that Moses provided a way to divorce as a concession to human failure not as the original design. The goal is to find the grace to heal the union rather than finding a way to legally separate.

Is it impossible for a rich person to get into heaven?

Not impossible but hard. The danger is not the money itself but the trust placed in it. When your security is tied to wealth you cannot experience the total dependency on God that salvation requires.

What does it mean that the last shall be first?

This reverses worldly values. The first in God's kingdom are those who humbled themselves and served others. The worldly hierarchy is overturned by the law of love.

Why did Bartimaeus cast away his garment before being healed?

The garment represented his identity as a beggar and his only source of security. By casting it away he demonstrated faith that his life was about to change. He let go first.

Closing

A dovetail holds because it was designed to hold. Marriage and the kingdom of God and a life of service all require letting go of something. The Pharisees needed to let go of their traditions. The rich young man needed to let go of his possessions. James and John needed to let go of their ambition. Bartimaeus needed to let go of his cloak.

The letting go is the hard part but it is the only way the joint holds.

— D.