Elsewhere: Jesus on gay “marriage”

Elsewhere

Some people assert that Jesus never said that gays could not marry. This is wrong on so many levels. For starters, Jesus never explicitly said that men could not marry farm animals nor that women could not marry vegetables. Such wonky logic! The obviousness of these things in biblical times precluded any need for additional comment. In fact, these things were obvious to all for the entirety of human history until recently when some of us think that they have “evolved.”

The entire Old Testament was abundantly clear on homosexuality. For example, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22) or “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, they have committed an abomination; the two of them shall be put to death; their bloodguilt is upon them.” (Leviticus 20:13)   Was all this thrown out? NO – “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)

Direct comments are not absent from the New Testament either. For example, “Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Writing for Catholic Lane, Christopher Eden suggests that Jesus actually did address the issue of gay “marriage”:

Jesus’ stance on marriage was strong. When the Pharisees asked Him whether it was lawful for a man to give his wife a bill of divorce He responded, “The Creator ‘made them male and female…   a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’…   So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate?” (Matthew 19:4-6).

The apostles were stunned when He went on to say that only death could dissolve a (valid) marriage, and how anyone who divorced and remarried lived in adultery. “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry!” (Matthew 19:10) Jesus didn’t back-pedal; they had understood Him just fine. That was marriage in the Kingdom – marriage as it was before humanity’s Fall. Jesus knew it would be difficult, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted” (Matthew 19:11).

Pay attention to what Jesus said next: “Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:12). A man’s ability to be united to his wife, sexually, was what made him a candidate for marriage. If he was unable to achieve sexual union because of a) birth defect, b) castration, or c) a vow of celibacy; then marriage was not his vocation.

The foundation of Jesus’ whole argument is biological. Unless “a man” and “his wife…   become one flesh,” there is no valid marriage. For Jesus, and for anyone committed to His teachings, it is impossible to speak of a “Christian same-sex marriage.” Jesus’ words rule it out absolutely. The parameters for marriage between Christians, the parameters for a sacramental marriage, have been set by Jesus and cannot be changed. “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away” (Luke 23:33).

Christians who argue differently undermine their faith. To make their argument they would have to assume that either a) Jesus was wrong on the nature of marriage (If so, He’s not God); or b) the Bible puts false words in Jesus’ mouth (If the Bible got Jesus’ words on marriage wrong, why believe it when it says that God loves us or Jesus died to save us from our sins?) There are some questions where Christians can honestly disagree with one another, but this is not one of them; Jesus teaching is plain, as is His warning to those who try to water His teachings down, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels? (Luke 9:26).

Read the whole piece: Was Jesus Really Silent on Same-Sex “Marriage”?.


Comments

  1. Other things Jesus is not quoted as saying in the Gospels:
    That the moon is not an apple
    Not to poke one’s eyes with one’s toes
    That the world is not a big Hacky Sack being kicked in its orbit by two college guys
    Never to operate heavy equipment without a permit
    That he was spelling everything out for everyone who would ever live item by item.

Share Your Thoughts

show