Compare Two Pericopes From Mark and Matthew

Pericopes From Mark and Matthew on Divorce

A pericope, hermeneutically speaking is defined as a selection or extract from a biblical book such as one of the gospels. It is especially used to reference a selection from the Bible, appointed to be read in the churches or used as a text for a sermon used to teach or instruct upon a specific rather than a general matter of Church doctrine and comes from the Greek meaning a "cutting" or a textual extract. ("Pericope," The American Heritage Dictionary, 2004) The synoptic Gospels of Mark and Matthew show many parallels in their relating of the events of Jesus' life in their selection of such textual extracts. However the order of these two gospels is slightly different in terms of the way they set and vary the different blocks of Jesus' teachings. ("Introduction to the New Testament," p. iii)

The overall chronology of Jesus' life is the same in the sense that Jesus has a ministry, dies upon the cross, and is then resurrected. But Mark contains omissions, like the nativity of Jesus. Additionally, the first book of Matthew's stress upon Jesus' lineage has caused scholars to call it the most 'Jewish' of the gospels, or at least the one that appeals the most to past Israeli religious authority and to the heritage of Jesus. ("The Gospel According to Matthew," p.1) Mark, widely considered the oldest gospel, shows a Jesus that stands alone and in almost complete rebellious opposition to the authorities of his day. ("The Gospel According to Mark, p.47)

One of the most noteworthy distinctions between Matthew and Mark's use of pericopes, is the younger text of Matthew's inclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, through which it frames many of Jesus' most famous and notable teachings, particularly those regarding humility. The Sermon on the Mount, found in Chapter Five of Matthew, thus does not include all new material, in contrast to Mark. It also reframes older material present in Mark but in different authoritative terms. It appeals to Jewish authorities and teachings of the past, as well as challenges them, in contrast to the structure, framework, and setting of Mark.

For instance, regarding the issue of a man's right to divorce, his wife, a right granted in the Torah, in Mark 10:1, Jesus is shown first simply speaking to some crowds near the River Jordan about some undefined issues. Then, some Pharisees barge in, come and ask Jesus specifically, Mark tells us, "to test him" if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. (10:2, p.62) In contrast, the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew takes place on a mountaintop. Jesus speaks to a large gathering of loyal followers. Jesus speaks spontaneously, without a prompt, on the subject of divorce, not as the result of a cunning challenge from the competing authorities of the law-conscious Pharisees.

Mark's Jesus also says, in apparent contrast to the Pharisees' teachings, that Moses only allowed a man to "write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce" his wife, because "of your hardness of heart" thus "he wrote this commandment for you." (10:5-7, p.62) Matthew makes no reference to the hardness of hearts of the men who seek divorce, or to the Pharisees. Instead, the Jesus of Matthew's sermon says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." (5:17-18, p.6)

The fulfilling and Jewish nature of the heritage and teaching of Jesus, rather than his opposition to religious authorities thus comes to the forefront of the Sermon on the Mount. Rather than arguing with Pharisees, the Jesus of Matthew addresses the crowd directly, as fellow citizens, rather than in the framework of a religious debate. Also, he is less concerned with divorce per se but with what it symbolizes, spiritually. "You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (5:27-28, p.6) Divorce and adultery becomes symbolic of the lack of separation of the thought and the deed in Jesus' teaching -- to think a bad, unchaste thought, is to do it.

It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the grounds of unchaste behavior, causes her to commit adultery, and who ever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. " (5:31-32, p.7) Jesus shows concern for the tenuous social status of the cast-off woman, and fears that marrying a divorced woman will socially condone a socially divisive and possibly impoverishing practice for the woman concerned.