What is the Biblical Definition of Marriage?

Introduction

The topic of the Biblical definition of marriage is a very complex and controversial one.  We must first understand that the Bible is not like Hong Kong Fooey's instruction book.  You can't just flip through the index and exclaim "Ah, here it is!  The Biblical Definition of Marriage!" (apologies to those of you who are too young to remember Hong Kong Fooey).

There are many verses in the Bible which talk about marriage both directly and indirectly.  One thing is for certain, Christians cannot simply ignore what the Bible says on the matter.  They must understand that the objective of what the Bible describes as the standard for marriage is for the benefit of all mankind in all times and God's standard does not change based on political correctness within any given people group at any given point in Earth's history.

One must also understand that the Bible does not approve of everything it records (much of the Bible is recorded history) and that there is a significant difference in Hebrew civil law provided by Moses for the governance of the Hebrew nation during Old Testament times and the moral law (given also to Moses) to govern all human conduct in all times.  For example, we are no longer commanded to stone the disobedient child at the city gates, but we are still commanded to not murder.

Moral law given in the Old Testament is equally as applicable today as it was when it was originally written, morality does not change.  Certain laws and rituals required in the Old Testament under the "old covenant" were superseded by grace in the "new covenant" when The Messiah came into the world.

Jesus Himself said that he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-19).  The civil law including the sacrificial system, the priestly rituals, the design and furnishings of the temple, and other such things were designed to look forward to the coming Messiah.  Since the Messiah had now come (and after his death the Holy Spirit), those laws and rituals were no longer necessary.

The law Jesus did not abolish was moral law.  As he continues on with the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5 he reiterates the importance of the Ten Commandments.  Each of the laws that he calls out are moral law and not civil law.  Jesus still attached utmost importance to the moral code that was established in the Old Testament and He was very clear that it was still very much applicable under the new covenant.

It is also important to understand that every command given to every person or group of people in the Bible is not necessarily a command for all people in all times and situations throughout the history of the world.

One such example of this principle is Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  This is from the text of a letter reproduced beginning in Jeremiah 29:4 which says: "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon".  It is not a promise to all people at all times it is a statement to those oppressed people at that specific time.

Although, there is no doubt that God wants all of his people to prosper, it is hard to reconcile this promise (if given to all people at all times) with the mass murder of Christians in the early church resulting in the Diaspora or the mistreatment of the Jews at the hands of the Germans during WWII.  If we understand the promise being made was to a certain group of people at a certain period in time, then it is not difficult to understand that God never promises a conflict free life (quite the contrary, actually).

It is commonplace for non-Christians to point out commands (not commandments) to a certain group of Hebrews during a time of war and extrapolate that God commands Christians to do the same things today.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Bible does, however, set out clear principles of how each of us should attempt to live our lives and much of those principles are given to various people or people groups at various times as general commandments for all (like the Ten Commandments).

In order to fully understand the Biblical definition of marriage, we must analyze what the entire Bible has to say on the subject, not just a few verses here and there which are used like a dictionary definition, but also those verses containing descriptions of lifestyles described as good and proper for a healthy and prosperous marriage and a healthy and prosperous society.

Remember also that one of the most basic tenets of all of Christianity is that humans are fallible and are unable to achieve these goals absent the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives which we receive upon salvation resulting in the "peace that passes understanding".  The bottom line is, people are not expected to be perfect, but they are expected to try to be with the help and power of the Holy Spirit.

Another very important caveat to this post is that it is very easy to try to use the socially explosive topic of gay marriage (and homosexuality, in general) as the exclusive objective and not consider that those topics are just a sidebar on the Bible's instruction on marriage.  The Biblical definition of marriage concerns the way married people should live and act for their own benefit and the benefit of society while living in a marriage relationship.  The topic is in no way limited to heterosexual vs homosexual relationships, although that is a part of it.

The Biblical Definition of Marriage

Probably the most common passage used for the definition of Marriage is Genesis 2:23-24:

"The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." (NASB)

There are a number of implications of this verse which may not be obvious in a casual reading.  The first being that the union between the the two people was made in the Garden of Eden when only two humans walked the earth.

A few verses prior to this (in verse 18), we are told that God created the woman as a helper for man:
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

From this verse we understand that the relationship between the two was ordained by God.  In clearer terms, it is God who originally invented marriage and since God invented it, only he can redefine it.  We do not have the freedom to redefine marriage as we see fit any more than we can redefine the ten commandments - it is simply not in our purview.

The second implication of this verse is the notion that the two were once "one flesh" in that the woman was formed from the rib of the man (verses 21 and 22) and that the two will be reunited and become one flesh again.  Marriage creates a symbiotic relationship where the two are joined together, not like a passing fling as a boyfriend and girlfriend, but as a permanent attachment.

This kind of rejoining of man and woman together as one flesh makes no sense if the concept were two men or two women.  God did not take another man out of Adam, he took a woman out of Adam and the ordinance of marriage is the rejoining of those two as one flesh.

This verse is illuminated by Jesus Himself in the New Testament.

Matthew 19:3-6 quotes Jesus elaborating on this verse:

Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON 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. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

When two people enter into a marriage it is not merely a "civil union" where they share possessions and file a joint tax return.  It is a spiritual joining of the two individuals together by God Himself!

Importantly, this joining is not done by a priest or preacher, a justice-of-the-peace or a ship's captain, or a magistrate of some other agent of the state or church who "marries" the individuals (although they may officiate at some kind of a ceremony), but by God.¹




This next principle that can gleaned from this verse is that a marriage is between a man and a woman and no leeway is given for a man marrying anything or anyone other than a woman.  In the Genesis passage referenced above, the Hebrew word for man is 'îysh (Strong's H376) which means "man" and nothing else, and the word for wife is 'ishshâh (Strong's H802) which means "woman" except when used in relationship to a man in which case it means "wife" and nothing else.  There is no ambiguity here and these words can mean nothing else.


In Jesus' affirmation of the scripture quoted above in Matthew 19, he uses the terms "male" and "female".  The term translated from the Greek as male is arrhēn (Strong's G730) and means only "male" or "man".  The term for female is thēlus (Strong's G2338) and can only mean "female" or "woman".

Some would argue that these terms are merely symbolic of "party 1" and "party 2" and does not have to be specifically a man and a woman.  The terms here are distinctively masculine and feminine and cannot be interpreted in any other way.  To ignore the gender specificity in these terms is to redefine the words themselves which cannot be justified.

In Ephesians 5:25-33 Paul compares the husband and wife to Christ and the church:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;  for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.

FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.  This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. (NASB)

This passage does not make sense if applied to two men because one would have to compare Christ to another Christ, or for two women because one would have to compare the church to another church.


The man's relationship to his wife is compared with Christ's relationship to the church.  Two husbands or two wives is simply not compatible with with this analogy.

Further, all Biblical passages dealing with marriage exclusively deal with a union between a man and a woman (see 1 Peter 3).  Nowhere in any marriage related passage is it allowed that both parties to the marriage could be the same sex.

Clearly, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, marriage as defined by the Bible applies only to a man and a woman and nothing else.

Bigamy and Polygamy

The next logical question, then, is: there are many instances of bigamy and polygamy in the Bible and the Bible does not condemn this as "an abomination" or "unrighteous" as it does homosexual activity².  Does this mean that bigamy and polygamy are condoned by the Bible?

To put it in terms of the modern political discourse: should a marriage be only be between one man and one woman, or can one man be married to two or more women or vice versa?

This is a more difficult question to answer because the Bible is not nearly so clear on the subject.  In Old Testament times, a man is obligated to marry his brother's wife if the brother dies and leaves his wife childless.  The Bible does not say that this should only be the case if the brother is not already married.

In addition, King David is known to have had many wives and concubines and is called "a man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22).

Clearly, the issue of bigamy or polygamy is not a moral one, if it was, then it would be immoral for all people at all times (since what is immoral does not change in the Bible) and it is clearly not defined as such in the Old or New Testaments.  What then is the Bible's position on people having multiple spouses?

In this instance, we must rely on the previously stated hermeneutic principle that the Bible does not approve of everything it records.  For instance, Genesis 4:19 says "Lamech took to himself two wifes;", but it does not say whether or not this was acceptable, it merely states that it was so.  Lamech is later shown to be an evil man (See Genesis 4:23,24).

Once again, although David is described as having multiple wives (seven listed in 1 Chronicles 3) and concubines, this was never condoned nor condemned.  It was simply recorded as history.  It should also be noted that Samuel's description of David as "a man after his [Gods] own heart" was before his reign as king and subsequent sinful acts (including the murderous affair with Bathsheba) and that God forgave David of his sins, but did not relieve him of the punishment for those sins.  Thus, although God loved David, David was far from perfect and did not always act in ways others should emulate.

Another interesting aspect to this issue is that the Bible strictly prohibits Polyandry (a woman with more than one husband):

Romans 7:1-3 Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?

For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.

 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

1Corinthians 7:39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 

David, when he lusted for Bathsheba, murdered her husband so that he could marry her (2 Samuel 11).  She could not be married to more than one husband at a time, but David had seven wives (including Bathsheba) so it was clearly acceptable at the time for a man to have more than one wife.

It is clear from these Biblical texts that Polyandry is not acceptable and has never been acceptable.

When dealing with bigamy and polygamy, possibly the most commonly quoted verses from the point of view supportive of monogamy are Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9.

Mat 5:32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Mat 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

In Matthew 5:32, based on information noted above about polyandry, it is easy to see how the man would cause the wife and the new husband to commit adultery because that wife would not be considered divorced in the sight of God (who, as previously shown, is the one who joined them in marriage and the only one who can dissolve it) and she and her new husband would both be committing adultery against the first husband since the wife can only have one husband at a time.

In Matthew 19:9, if bigamy were acceptable, why would the man be committing adultery by marrying another woman if it was permissible for him to have more than one wife?

Another strong passage in support of the monogamous relationship is the analogy comparing Christ and the Church to the Husband and Wife.  If the husband had more than one wife the analogy would fall apart as this would allow Christ to be the head of more than one church.

The only logical conclusion, then, is that whereas bigamy and polygamy were tolerated in the Old Testament, Christ declares that practice to be no longer acceptable.  This might at first consideration seem to be a ridiculous notion until presented with Christ's answer to the Pharisees about divorce.

Matthew 19:7-9 They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?"

He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.

And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Here Jesus specifically states that the practice (divorce) which was tolerated in Old Testament times for a specific reason, is no longer acceptable.

There are any number of reasons why God would allow bigamy and polygamy in Old Testament times.

First, in those days a woman was typically not easily able to provide for herself in a moral way.  A woman could not hold a job and did not inherit, so with no man to take care of her she was routinely relegated to prostitution to provide for herself (and possibly her children).

With the likelihood that, just as is the case today, there were more women than men (especially in an age where wars would claim the lives of many men leaving their wives without a provider), it would have been necessary for a man to have to provide for more than one woman as is provided for by the civil law requiring a man to marry (and thus care for) his brother's wife.

Additionally, from the earliest times, when man was commanded by God to "be fruitful and multiply" this could occur much faster if a man could bear children with multiple wives at a time.

Based on God's original ordinance of marriage, however, that the "two shall become one flesh" (not the "three shall become one flesh", and Jesus' authoritative statement that a man was committing adultery if he married another woman after divorcing his wife absent infidelity, it is logical to infer that bigamy or polygamy, while necessary for some period of time, was not a part of God's perfect plan and by New Testament times the needs which were satisfied by the practice were no longer valid and the practice would no longer be permissible.

This understanding is further supported by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians:

1Corinthians 7:1-5 Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.

The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Note in this passage that Paul refers to a man and his wife (singular) and it is not considered that the man would have more than one wife.  If the man had more than one wife he could have his needs met by another wife.

There are many other similar passages referring to a man and his wife (singular), but the point has been made and the location of additional supporting verses is as easy as a Google search, so there is no point in additional elaboration.

Marriage between unbelievers

At this point, we have shown how the Bible defines marriage, but, based on Paul's comments that a Christian is not obligated to stay married to a non-Christian (1 Corinthians 7:12-15), one must consider the question: Does God recognize marriage by non-Christians (or in the pre-Messianic age, by non-Jews).

There is quite a bit of precedent that God does recognize marriages of non-believing couples so long as they comply with His definition of the term.  Remember, the union between two individuals is ordained by God himself and not by a priest, rabbi, cleric, or other religious or non-religious magistrate.  A couple is only "married" if God joins them together.

The first precedent is in the aforementioned statements by Paul on marriages between believers and unbelievers (1 Corinthians 7:12-15).  In these cases, the two are considered married even though one of the two are not believers.

In Genesis 20:17, Abraham prays for Abimelech and God "healed Abimelech and his wife."  From this we see that Amimelech's marriage to his wife was recognized by God and Abimelech was certainly not a Jew (or Christian).

We find many other instances of non-Jews and non-Christians being referenced as a husband and wife as well, so there is no doubt that God recognizes such marriages.

Of interest on this topic is also Paul's command to widows.  In 1 Corinthians 7:39, Paul says if a woman's husband dies she is free to marry whoever she wished "only in the Lord", meaning, she can marry whomever she wishes "who is a Christian".

In 2 Corinthians 6:14, Paul says "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?"  The King James version says "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers".

This verse has a much broader context than marriage, but it most certainly applies to marriage as well.  The reasoning given is that if Christians are bound (yoked) by the Bible to try to do what God has commanded, but unbelievers have not, then the two parties are not on equal ground (we will talk more about the importance of this in the next section).

To put it into the context of marriage; if the wife is doing her duty as a good Christian wife and supporting and submitting to her husband, but the husband is not living according the the duty of a good Christian husband and putting his wife's needs above his own, then the result may not be the harmonious life that God wants married people to have together.

Certainly, unbelievers can live by these Biblical tenets as well and life can be harmonious for the couple (as Paul clearly states), but when issues of how the children are taught concerning spiritual matters come up, it is difficult (at best) to raise the children as children of the light when one of the parents is walking in darkness.

For this reason, believers should not marry unbelievers.

Marital Obligations

The Bible not only defines what constitutes a marriage, it also defines the obligations assigned to those who are joined in marriage.  Importantly, these obligations are not about what a person should get out of the marriage, rather, they are about what a person is required to put into the marriage.

Because God's plan for marriage is perfect, He gives us instructions in the Bible for how husbands and wives should behave in the marriage relationship and these are as much a part of the Biblical definition of marriage as is who can be a party to one.

First, we are to love God above all else.  In Luke 10:27, Jesus tells us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and all your mind".  It is through loving God above all else that we are able to better love our spouse and children.

This is a difficult concept for non-believers who say, "If God told you to kill your own child would you do it?"  They ask this question primarily because they have heard of (or have read) the story of Abraham being told by God to sacrifice Isaac and they find Abraham's agreeing to do that to be abhorrent.  The notion that God would ask someone to kill their own child is atrocious to them, but comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Early in Abraham's life, he did not trust God.  First, God sent him to a new land and when he got there he told Sarah to say she was his sister because he was afraid someone in the new land would kill him so they could take Sarah as their own wife.  He did not trust that God would (or perhaps could) protect him and his family in this new land.  As a result, Abimelech took Sarah as his own wife not knowing that she was already married to Abraham.  God showed Abraham his power by cursing Abimelech's family (he later removed the curse since Abimelech was tricked) and restoring Sarah to Abraham and protecting them (and even causing them to prosper) in this new land.  On a side note, Sarah's marriage to Abimelech was never recognized by God and so they were never truly married and no divorce was necessary for her to return to Abraham as his wife.

Next, God told him he was going to give Abraham a son through Sarah, but Abraham, not trusting that God could do that with Sarah who was quite old, took Sarah's maid Hagar to bear him a son (Ishmael) instead.  God proved his power once again by giving Sarah a child (Isaac) even in her old age.

Abraham finally ended up learning his lesson.  By the time Isaac was a young man Abraham put his full confidence and trust in God above all else.

When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son on an alter, He never had any intention of allowing Abraham to go through it.  God wanted Abraham to understand that he could fully trust God above all else and Abraham finally got it.

When he went up onto the mountain with Isaac, Abraham told his servants "We will return" (Genesis 22:5).  We are later told that Abraham believed that when he offered Isaac as a sacrifice that God would raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:9).

Most importantly, this entire episode is a typology of God's sacrifice of his Son to draw all mankind to himself.  Just as Abraham trusted God and believed He would raise his son Isaac from the dead, we trust God and believe that God did raise His son Jesus from the dead (see Romans 4:22-25).

The entire episode was meant by God to be passed on from generation to generation in anticipation of the coming of God's own Son Jesus, who would be sacrificed to save us from our sins.  But that is a topic for a different blog post.

The bottom line is, God never intended for Abraham to actually put his own son to death, he would not have permitted it, and he would NEVER ask us to do it.  Therefore the question of whether we would kill our own spouse or child if told to do it by God is moot.  It would go against everything the Bible teaches and anyone who believes that God is telling them to do any such thing should immediately remove themselves from their family's presence and seek Christian based psychological care.

The next question will then be: "Well, what if God told you to kill someone else, would you do it?"  This is in direct response to commands (not commandments) given to the Israelites in the Old Testament when they were conquering the promised land.  Those commands were given for a specific group of people at a specific time and for a specific reason.

God gives us those reasons throughout Genesis.  The people living in that land where exceedingly evil and routinely practiced such things as child sacrifice and other heinous acts.  God gave them the opportunity to repent and they did not (as did Nineveh in Jonah's time) and God brought judgement against them in order to keep that evil from spreading outside that region, but that is, once again, a topic for another blog post.

The bottom line is, God will NEVER command anyone to do anything that is contrary to his moral law and murdering someone else (anyone else) is clearly against God's moral law as specified in the Ten Commandments (killing someone in a time of war is not murder).

We have seen what God will not command us to do, lets now look at what he does command us to do.

The Husband

This brings us to the obligations placed by God on the husband.  Ephesians 5:25-33 provides an elegant example of how a husband should treat his wife.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.

FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.

This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Just as it is Christ who cleanses the church and provides for her spiritual needs and gave his life for it, the husband is commanded provide for his wife's needs and be willing to give his life to protect her.  This means putting the needs of his wife above his own needs.

Additionally, the husband is to care for his wife as though she were his own body (his own flesh).  He is commanded to nourish her (provide for her) and to cherish her.  The Greek word translated cherish here is thalpō, which means to encourage or foster as a teacher fosters learning in a student. This means much more than just providing her with food to eat and clothes to wear.  The husband is to do whatever he can to help her grow as a Christian, a person, a wife, and a mother (if she is a mother).  He is to support her however he can in her endeavors whatever they may be (so long as they don't contradict the Bible, as previously stated).

1 Peter 3:7 says the husband should honor his wife and live with her in an understanding way.  The word translated honor is timē (Strong's G5092) and means esteem of the highest degree.  He is to be utterly devoted to her and her well-being.

The Wife

The other half of this passage deals with how the wife should relate to her husband.

Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.

But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

Possibly one of today's society's most controversial verses in the Bible is Ephesians 5:22 which commands the wife to be subject to her husband.  The word translated "be subject to" here is hupotassō (Strong's G5293) and is also translated as "submit to" or "obey" and is a voluntary act (the husband is not commanded to force his wife into subjection to his will).

The verse does not mean the wife should do whatever her husband commands her to do.  Remember, the wife should first and foremost love God and submit herself to Him.  So the wife should not go along with any activities which are contrary to God's word.

It is also very important that this passage not be taken out of context with the proceeding passage dealing with how the husband is to treat his wife.  God's plan is perfect when both husband and wife are acting toward each other as they have been commanded.

If the husband is doing everything he can to edify and support the endeavors of his wife, there should be no conflict.  If the husband's desire is to have harmony in the marriage (like the church should have harmony together as the body of Christ) then he should remember that his wife has been given to him as a helper and rely on her judgment as his closest adviser and confidant.  The husband who tries to subjugate his wife to his will is clearly outside the will of God.

The wife is called to be that helper, to provide counsel, and to support her husband in his endeavors.  The very end of the passage says that the wife should also see to it that she respects her husband.  The word translated respect here is phobeō (Strong's G5399) which means literally to "revere".

Importantly, a woman need not be married to find fulfillment and purpose.  Paul says it is better if a woman can remain unmarried (1 Corinthians 7:34), so that she can worry about the things of the Lord rather than worrying about how to please her husband.  The verses mentioned here are specifically written for married women but are not a command that a woman must be married to find fulfillment through her husband.

Physical Intimacy

The Bible also talks about the attitude of each person in the marriage with regard to physical intimacy and the command is the same to husbands and wives:

1Corinthians 7:2-5 Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.

The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

But this I say by way of concession, not of command.

That last sentence I include for completeness, the word concession there is is suggnōmē (Strong's 4774) sometimes interpreted in the Bible as permission (and also as "sympathetic understanding" or "good judgement" from extra-Biblical sources).  It is widely considered that Paul means that he is saying this based on his own knowledge and understanding and that the Holy Spirit allowed him to say it rather than commanded him to say it.  In any case, it carries the weight of the Holy Spirit and does not diminish the authority which which Paul speaks.

I think the best summation of this passage is: "Don't use sex as a weapon".  Husbands and wives have certain obligations to each other and among these is the giving of each to the other sexually to prevent "burning of passions" (1 Corinthians 7:9) which can lead to sin.  It most certainly does not mean that either can force themselves on the other without consent.

Conclusion

If it has to be boiled down to one paragraph, perhaps the Biblical definition of marriage in the New Testament age is: A union (physical and spiritual) between one man and one woman, joined together by God.  The union is of such a permanent nature that once joined, only God can separate them.  The couple is to love God above all else and put the needs and well-being of their spouse ahead of their own.

There are additional words of wisdom in the Bible for the married couple, but that is beyond the scope of this post.

Importantly, we see nowhere in the Bible where any governing authority is required to give any kind of special treatment to a married couple.  The Biblical definition of marriage has nothing to do with civil benefits and is not considered to be an unalienable human right.  In fact, Paul on a number of occasions (as quoted above) tells his followers that is is better if they can remain unmarried, but that it is better to marry than to burn with passion which can lead to sin.
 
If a person ponders entering into a marriage considering only what they will get out of it, the marriage is bound to fail.  This is because the symbiotic relationship only works when both parties are more concerned with satisfying the needs of their spouse than that of themselves.

Considering all this, it is imperative that the couple considering marriage ponder what is required of them in the relationship.  If either person does not believe they can provide what is required to the other, then they should not enter into that bond.  It is not a matter to be taken cavalierly such as one of my friends said to me before I got married: "What's the big deal, if it doesn't work out, you just get a divorce."

It is a big deal and requires careful consideration and extreme commitment and should not be entered into lightly.

1Peter 3:8-9 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.  

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Footnotes

¹This blog is not about divorce, but the instructions that Jesus was giving are important and the subsequent verses about divorce also add some illumination into the importance of the marriage bond and God's role in it.

Matthew 19: 8-9 says,

He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

The word translated immorality here is porneia, which literally means harlotry including adultery, and incest (Strong's number G4202) and has also been translated as "unfaithfulness", meaning any sexual relations outside the bond of marriage.

It is interesting to note here that Jesus is speaking to Pharisees who are Jews.  Paul provides additional illumination for Christians on this concept in 1 Corinthians 7:8-16:

But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I [unmarried]. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

      But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
      But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? (emphasis and text in brackets is mine).

It is interesting to note that that final paragraph is instruction from Paul and not from God.  The paragraph attributed to God prohibits divorce (for reasons other than infidelity as previously stated), and says that a wife "should" stay with her husband, but leaves open the possibility that a woman could leave her husband (without divorcing him).  I find in this passage justification for a woman leaving an abusive relationship absent infidelity.  But, importantly, if the woman leaves her husband she is still not allowed to divorce him or remarry ("must remain unmarried").  These same conditions apply to the husband.

Paul's instruction (that not from God) indicates that a Christian is not obligated to stay married to a non-Christian since the non-Christian is not obligated under God's moral law.  As such, a man or woman who is "unequally yoked" cannot control what their non-believing spouse (who does not consider God's moral law in their decision making) does.  Even in this situation, however, the two should make every effort to stay together such that the spouse and their children will benefit from the Christian's belief.

All this to say, marriage is not just just a civil contract which can be broken at the will of the individuals and should not be entered into lightly.  As is noted herein, there are significant obligations which are placed on the individuals entering into the marriage and one cannot escape those obligations because of their own will or even some civil law says they can.  This is a union made by God and not by man.  Man cannot create the union, nor can he break it.

A person should not consider entering into a marriage relationship with anyone whom they do not trust completely, and to whom they are completely devoted.  Since God is the one who joins them together and the only valid reason God gives for divorce is infidelity, divorce is not just as simple as filing the paperwork and moving on with your life.  It is one of the biggest decisions a person will ever make and should be carefully considered.

²Leviticus 18:22: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."  The final phrase of this verse clearly makes this issue a moral one and not a civil one.  If it is an abomination then it is abhorrent to God and is such for all time and for all people.

The term translated from the Hebrew as abomination here is  tô‛êbah (Strong's H8441) which literally means "morally disgusting" and "an abhorrence".

This statement does not apply to an single group of people at a single point in time because what is defined as immoral in the Bible never changes regardless of whether the world is under the old covenant or the new covenant.  Remember, the new covenant changes civil law and not moral law.

Paul reiterates this in the New Testament in his letter to the Romans:

Romans 1:21-27 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

Paul also declares homosexual activity as unrighteous in his first letter to the Corinthians:

1Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (NASB)

Importantly, Paul calls out that the listed sins are not unforgivable and clearly states that salvation is possible for perpetrators of any of these acts.

The word translated here as effeminate is malakos (Strong's G3120) and literally means "soft or effeminate" and figuratively refers to a catamite (a boy who is the sexual companion of a man).

The word translated here as homosexual is arsenokoitēs (Strong's G733) and literally means "sodomites or men who abuse themselves with other men".

It is common among Christians (and others) who attempt to justify homosexuality as not being condemned in the Bible to claim that this word is misinterpreted.  In order to justify this position, however, one must also reject God's moral law as specified in Leviticus and also ignore other verses such as the Romans quote which do not use this word, but instead describe the act itself.

There is simply no way for the intellectually honest to justify homosexuality in the Bible. 

In The Beginning - Chapter 22 (Epilogue)

Jesus now sat in the throne room at the right hand of his Father, the entirety of the heavens was permeated with the glory of the Holy Spirit.  Each of the three aspects of God together in Heaven.

In the presence of the twenty four elders, the Seraphim, and hosts of Angels, God looked at the timeline of Earth's history.

He looked again at the creation of the universe and of the Earth.

He looked at the point in time when man fell and a dark shadow was cast over the entire universe.

He looked at the point in time where he was forced to limit the lifespan of man to temper the spread of evil throughout the Earth.

He watched as all humans except Noah and his progeny were wiped clean from the face of the Earth because of their extreme wickedness.

He watched King David writing his prophetic prose in a cave by a campfire.

He watched as his chosen people rejected him and then repented over and over again.

He looked to the point in Earth's history when the time was right to offer Himself a living sacrifice to pay the penalty of the sin of those whom He loved.

He watched again as the part of him known as Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, was crucified to pay that penalty.

He then looked to the end when man, as many as would, had come to salvation by acceptance of his free gift of grace.

This was the time when he would send his earthly persona back to the earth to gather those who accepted his gift of salvation back to him in a great reaping of the harvest of souls.

Between the two comings of Jesus' physical presence to the Earth was a great period of time when the people of the Earth would experience an enlightening as had never happened before.  A time when the good news of salvation would be spread rapidly throughout the entire world spurred on by the diaspora.

A time when the seeds of salvation would be planted by everyday people pleading with their friends and family to experience the love they had experienced in Him.

A time for the love of God to be experienced as it never had been before.

Now.

In The Beginning - Chapter 21 (The New Beginning)

But that wasn't the end of Jesus story here on the earth.  It was only the beginning.

Early on a Sunday morning on the third day Jesus re-entered his physical body.  Having paid in full the penalty for all of the sins of everyone who would ever live.  Jesus rose triumphant sealing Satan's fate beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Jesus demonstrated his deity by raising his imperfect human body from the dead.  From inside the damp, dark tomb into which he had been placed, the glory of his countenance drove all darkness into hiding.

Moving through the stone walls of the tomb, Jesus emerged from the tomb and stood a ways off and watch the scene unfolding in front of Him.

Outside the tomb a company of angels had gathered, Satan's demons were nowhere to be found.

God the Father stepped down from his throne and appeared outside the tomb with His Son to watch the victory being discovered.  When He arrived at the scene the ground began to tremble.  Unlike a normal earthquake which would last only a few seconds, the quaking increased and did not abate.

Suddenly a bright light appeared in the sky and the centurions had to shield their faces from it.  As the light grew brighter it became clear that it was coming from an angel who was descending from the heavens.

The angel moved up to the stone and with a slight tap of his finger, the huge stone that sealed the entrance to the tomb rolled away.

The centurions were unable to control themselves and fainted, falling to the ground in a heap.

Not long after that, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Mother of James and Joses, Joanna, and Salome, wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John, left home to bring their spices and perfumes to anoint the body of Jesus.

Arriving at the tomb and were asking each other how they were going to get the stone rolled away from the tomb when they noticed it was already moved.

Mary Magdalene immediately turned and ran back to the house.

The other women entered the tomb and saw two angels in white robes that gleamed like lightening.  The angel on the right said “Do not be afraid.  I know that you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified  Why are you looking for the living among the dead?  He is not here, he is risen.  Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’  Come and look at the place where he lay.

“Go quickly and tell his disciples ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see him.”

The women were scared and fled from the tomb, too afraid to talk to anyone.

As they were running down the road, Jesus met them and said “Greetings”.  They came to him clasped his feet and worshiped him.  Then Jesus told them “Do not be afraid.  Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

In the meantime, the guards went to the chief priests and reported what had happened.  They paid them to say that his disciples had come during the night and stolen him and promised to keep them out of trouble if the governor found out.

Also during that time, Mary Magdalene had arrived back at the house and told Peter and John that Jesus body had been stolen.  They ran to the tomb to see for themselves.  John arrived first, but did not enter the tomb.  Peter arrived later and went in to see the linen strips laying there and the burial cloth folded up and laying separately.  John then entered the tomb and saw it and believed Jesus had been raised from the dead.

In the meantime, the other women had arrived back at the house and told the other disciples what they had seen, but they didn’t believe them.

Mary Magdalene had followed Peter and John and was waiting outside the tomb.  Peter and John returned to the house, but Mary stayed behind and wept.  She walked into the tomb and saw two angels, one at the head and one at the foot.  They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have put him.”

She then turned away and saw Jesus standing there, but didn’t recognize him.  She thought he was the gardener.

“Woman, why are you crying?  Who is it you are looking for?” He said.

“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” She replied.

Then Jesus said to her, “Mary.”  And she recognized him and cried out “Teacher!”

“Don’t get too attached to me,” He said, “I have not yet returned to my father.”  Go and tell my brothers ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Then she returned to the house and told the disciples what she had seen.

Later that day, two of disciples (but not of the Eleven) were walking along the road to Emmaus.  Emmaus was a town about7 miles or so west of Jerusalem.  They were talking about everything that had happened that day when Jesus appeared, came up an began walking with them.

They did not recognize him and he asked them what they were discussing.  They told him, incredulous that he didn’t know what had happened that day.  Jesus then started with Genesis and went through all of the scriptures telling them everything that was said in the scriptures about him.

When they approached Emmaus, they asked him to come and eat with them, so he did.  As he took the bread, prayed over it, and then broke it and gave it to them their eyes were opened and they recognized him.  He immediately disappeared.

They immediately got up and returned to Jerusalem, found the Eleven, and told them everything that had happened to them.

They had found the disciples in a house with all of the doors locked for fear of the Jews.  While they were still talking about these things, Jesus appeared to them and said “Peace be with you!”

The disciples were afraid, thinking that they had seen a ghost.  He showed them his hands, his feet, and his side and his disciples were overjoyed, but they were still in a state of shock and couldn’t believe it so he asked them “Do you have anything here to eat?”  They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he ate it.  Ghosts can’t eat solid food, so his disciples believed.

He told them “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised… in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

They asked him “Is it time to restore the kingdom to Israel?”  He had told them that this generation would not pass away before the Son of Man came in all his glory.

“It is not for you to know times or dates that the father has set, but when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” He replied. 

                                                                                          

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures.

He said “As the father sent me, I am sending you.  All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Then he led them out to the vicinity of Bethany and lifted up his hands and blessed them and while he was blessing them he left them and ascended up to heaven.  While they were intently looking up into the sky, suddenly two men dressed in white appeared beside them.

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who as been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

50 days later, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came on them in power and the age of the church had begun.  It was the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end.

In The Beginning - Chapter 20 (It Is Finished)

Chapter 20

Back at the palace of Pontius Pilate, Jesus was participating in his fourth trial of the morning.

The whole of the Great Sanhedrin had accompanied Jesus to the palace as well as a large portion of the temple guard comprising more than a hundred men.  Already gathered there were a large crowd of people who wanted to plead for the lives of a friend or loved one.

The Romans had determined that it was easier to govern if the people were content.  As such they allowed the Jews to govern themselves by their own laws and to practice their religion with some specific limitations.  They did not allow the Jews to pronounce a sentence of death on anyone without the consent of the Roman governor.  It was also the custom at the time for the Roman governor to release a prisoner to the people in celebration of Passover.  These types of things worked well to quell the prospect of a popular uprising.

There was a man in prison at the time by the name of Barabbas.  He was Jewish patriot and Roman outlaw who was fomenting civil unrest and had been arrested under the charge of murder; many of those outside the palace of Pilate where there to plead for the life of Barabbas.

The chief priests approached Pilate who was sitting in a chair in the court yard of his Palace.  It was from here that he sat in judgment of the people of Israel.

Pilate sat quietly as the chief priests presented their prisoner.  Then he asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

One of them spoke up and said, “If he were not a criminal we wouldn’t have brought him to you.”  Hoping that Pilate would take his word for it and that would be the end of it.  The chief priests had already spent a long time discussing their strategy for getting Pilate to agree to the execution.

“OK, then take him and deal with him yourselves,” he said waving his hand as if to dismiss them.  There was no need for his involvement unless the crime of which Jesus was accused was a capital offense.

“We have no right to execute anyone,” replied the priest.

At this, Pilate paused for a moment and furrowed his brow.  An execution was an entirely different matter.  He was charged by Caesar with keeping the peace, which was no easy task in a region where the people were unwilling subjects.  An execution was not a good way of keeping the peace.

“This man is subverting our nation.  He opposes paying taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king!” said the priest, hoping that Pilate would condemn him for treason against Caesar, which was a capital offense and why Barabbas was arrested.

Pilate stood and walked back to the porch which was attached to the palace and overlooked the courtyard.  He motioned for Jesus to follow him.

“Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked.

“Is that your own idea or did someone else tell it to you?” replied Jesus.

“I’m not a Jew,” replied Pilate, “your own people, including your chief priests, turned you over to me.  What have you done to make them so upset?”

“My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus.  “If it were, my servants would have fought to prevent my capture.  My kingdom is of another place.”

“Ah, so you are a king!” exclaimed Pilate.

“Yes, you are right,” said Jesus, “I am a king.  For this reason I was born into this world and for this reason I’m telling you the truth.  Everyone who cares about the truth listens to me.”

“Humph,”  Pilate said grimacing.  “What is truth?” he said sarcastically.

He walked past Jesus back out to the courtyard and announced, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

The priest was getting frustrated now and it was audible in his tone of voice.

“He stirs up the people all over Judea.  He started in Galilee and has come all the way here!”

Pilate’s eyebrows raised when he heard this.  “Is this man a Galilean?”

“Yes,” the priest replied.

This changed everything.  As a citizen of Galilee, Jesus was under the jurisdiction of Herod.  Things were looking up for Pilate.

Not only could this be the way he didn’t have to decide the matter, but he was also in a state of feud with Herod.  Years before Pilate had had some of Herod’s subjects killed and Herod had been his enemy ever since.

Pilate also knew that Herod had heard of Jesus and wanted to meet him.  As luck would have it (or so he thought) Herod was currently in Jerusalem.

“He is a Galilean and is under the jurisdiction of Herod,” said Pilate.  “Let Herod decide what to do with him.”  And he went back inside his palace.

The chief priest motioned to the head of the temple guard who grabbed Jesus by the rope which tied his hands together and they moved off down the street to the place where Herod was staying.  It was only a few blocks away and they arrived at about seven in the morning.

Along the way, unseen by the scrum of priests, members of the Great Sanhedrin, temple guard, and centurions, the road was lined on both sides by the angels of God.  The brightness of their glory was unprecedented in the heavenly realm.  The strength of God permeated every aspect of their being.  In the middle of the street walked the hoard along with a company of Satan's demons.

Satan himself led the entire crowd in their trek to the place where Herod was staying.  As he walked, he sneered at the angels that surrounded him.  He still believed his own lie, "You can be like God", and despised them for not following him during the great war in heaven.  Revenge is sweet, though, and he refused to think about anything beyond the current moment.  Whatever happened, there were billions of souls in the balance and he knew many would be his.

When Herod saw that they had brought Jesus to him he was very pleased.  He had heard tales of all kinds of magic tricks that this man could do and he very much wanted to be entertained by him.

Meanwhile, Judas, who had not known about the chief priests' plan to have Jesus crucified, was no longer possessed by the spirit of Satan, and was instead filled with remorse.

He ran back to the Temple where he had made his deal with the members of the Great Sanhedrin to betray Jesus. The place was empty except for the priests charged with maintaining the temple.

Confronting the first priests he found there he pleaded with them saying "I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood."

The priests looked down their noses at him.  "What is that to us?" one of them said.  "That is your responsibility."

Judas' heart sank within him as tears welled up in his eyes.  He threw the sack which contained the thirty pieces of silver they had paid him (the cost of a slave) down the hall at them and ran back out of the temple and into the street.

In fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah, the priests then picked up the coins and knowing they could not put blood money back into the temple treasury, instead used it to buy the potter's field where they would bury the dead who could not afford their own burial place.^[3]

Judas walked aimlessly through the streets until he came upon a man who was selling a rocky crag of land.  Judas knew the place well, having lived in and around Jerusalem for all of his life.  The price for the land was the same price that Judas had accepted as a bribe for leading the temple guard to the savior.  Surrounded by Satan's minions, Judas became suddenly resolute.  The night was dark as was Judas' countenance, both physically and spiritually.

Pulling his purse from inside his belt he payed the man thirty pieces of silver, took the deed to his newly acquired land and walked out of town.  He stopped only once, just long enough to buy a length of rope.

When he arrived at his newly acquired land, he found an outcropping of rock near which a tree grew out and over the cliff.  He fashioned one end of the rope into a noose and threw the other end over a branch of the tree which extended out over the cliff.

He tied the rope off securely, took a deep breath and jumped.  When his fall reached the length of the rope his neck was quickly broken, but the weight of his body caused the branch to snap as well and Judah fell headlong down the cliff hitting one sharp rock after another until he bowels spilled out, covering the ground in his blood and entrails.

Satan's demons smiled with satisfaction.  Judas' story was now complete.  As is always the case with those who agree to do Satan's bidding, what seemed like a pleasurable experience in the beginning turned out tragic in the end.  The demons returned to the hoard watching Jesus being questioned by Herod.

The priests accused Jesus to Herod and Herod who was most pleased with this turn of events began to question Jesus.  Jesus stood before him silently.

The angels of the Lord stood silently surrounding the entire gathering.  Shoulder to shoulder they stood glowing brightly in the strength of God's glory.

Intermingling with Herod and the rest of the crowd gathered there, Satan's minions shouted in blissful glee as the plans of their master came to fruition.

Herod had heard Jesus could do magic tricks wanted to see some for himself, but Jesus did not participate.

Seeing he was going to get nothing out of Him, Herod had his personal guard fetch one of his robes and they placed it on Jesus, mocking him as the King of the Jews.

No longer amused with his mockery, Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate.

When Pilate saw that Herod had sent him back he called the chief priests and the rest of the Sanhedrin together.

Trying to find a way out of his predicament he said, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion.  I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.  Neither has Herod, because he sent him back here to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.

“It is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of Passover.  Do you want me to release the king of the Jews or Barabbas?”

Barabbas had been thrown in to prison for insurrection and murder.  The Jews were accusing Jesus of insurrection, but Barabbas was the real thing.  Having also been convicted of murder, Pilate had hoped the people would not want him releasing a murderer back into the population.

Just then, while Pilate was sitting there making his offer, one of his officials arrived with a message from his wife: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

While Pilate was distracted, the chief priests had talked to the temple guard and others gathered with them there and convinced them to ask for Barabbas instead of Jesus.

“Away with this man!” they yelled, “Give us Barabbas!”

Pilate continued to try to reason with them but the chief priests had whipped the crowd into a frenzy.  

“What should I do with Jesus, then?” he asked.

“Crucify him! Crucify him!’ they chanted.

“What crime has this man committed?” he asked.  “I have found no grounds for the death penalty.”

Hoping to appease their blood lust he said, “I’ll have him punished and then released!”

But the shouts got louder and louder and it was beginning to look as if a riot would ensue.

Pilate then ordered that Jesus be scourged before being released to the Jews.  Perhaps he thought that if they saw him punished, they would stop trying to have him killed.

Roman scourging was called the “halfway death” because it was supposed to stop this side of death.  It was not administered in addition to another punishment.  The two “thieves’ who would die on this day were not scourged.  And the Jewish law – Mithah Arikhta – forbade any manner of prolonged death for condemned criminals, and exempted any who were to die from the shame of being scourged…

The scourging of Rome … was administered by a trained man, called a lector – there were none in Palestine – and he used a short circular piece of wood, to which were attached several strips of leather.  At the end of each strip, he sewed a chunk of bone or a small piece of iron chain.  This instrument was called a flagellum.  There was no set number of stripes to be administered, and the law said nothing about the parts of the body to be assailed.

Jesus was standing, bent over a short column and tied to it securely…

The soldier who performed the flagellation for the Jerusalem garrison… moved to a position about six feet behind Jesus, and spread his legs.  The flagellum was brought all the way back and whistled forward and made a dull drum sound as the strips of leather smashed against the back of the rib cage.  The bits of bone and chain curled around the right side of the body and raised small subcutaneous hemorrhages on the chest…

The flagellum came back again, aimed slightly lower, and it crashed against the skin and flesh…. The flagellum now moved in slow heavy rhythm.

The Tribune was also watching…  It was his responsibility to stop the “discipline” when he thought that the guilty one might not be revived…. He ordered the executioner to stop.

The scourging had not taken more than about three minutes.  It was now over, and the Tribune sent two men for cloths and cold water.4]

The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head.  They put the purple robe Herod had adorned him with back on his shredded back and shouted “Hail, king of the Jews!” and struck him in the face.

When this was done, Pilate came back out and said, “Look, I am bringing him out to you  to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

Jesus followed Pilate out, still wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and was barely able to walk.

Not moved at all by the pitiful shape Jesus was in, the chief priests and the rest of the Sanhedrin started their chant back up again: “Crucify him, Crucify him!”

“You take him and crucify him.”  Pilate answered, “I find no basis for a charge against him.”

Knowing they could not legally carry out a death penalty, the chief priest insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

When Pilate heard this he was even more afraid.  The Romans had many gods and it was not a good idea to get on the bad side of one of them.  He went back inside and had Jesus brought in with him.

“Where do you come from?” he asked.

When Jesus didn’t answer he yelled, “Do you refuse to speak to me?  Don’t you know I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?”

“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above,” he said.  “Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

Pilate went back out to face the Jews, trying again to get them to relent.

“If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar,” they said.  “Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

They were trying to scare Pilate into crucifying him.  If Pilate allowed someone to live who claimed to be king he would be subject to the punishment for treason himself.

When he heard this, he sat back down on the judgment seat.

“Here is your king,” he said.

“Crucify him, Crucify him!” they chanted.

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

This was obvious.  God’s perfect design was for the Jews to have God as their king. The Jews believed the Messiah was to be their earthly king, but God sent his only son to be their spiritual king.  Their rejection of him was not new, the Jews had been rejecting God as their king for more than 500 years.

Finally, Pilate gave up.  Jewish law prescribed a very specific ritual for when a man was found slain and the perpetrator was not known.

They were to take a heifer from the nearest town, one that had never worked or been yoked, and sacrifice it.  The elders from the town would wash their hands over the heifer and declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.  Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man.”  In this way the bloodshed would be atoned for.

Pilate walked over to a basin of water and washed his hands.  “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said.  “It is your responsibility.”

The reply from the elders here, though, was different than that prescribed by Jewish law in the case of the unknown murderer.

“Let his blood be on us and on our children,” they said.

It was around 11am on Friday morning when Pilate’s soldiers took charge of Jesus.  They brought out the crossbeam from a cross and made Jesus pick it up and carry it.  Just as his ancestor Isaac had carried the wood on which he was to be sacrificed, Jesus carried the means of his.

Severely weakened from the beating he had taken, Jesus was barely able to stagger down Via Dolorosa.  Becoming impatient with his progress, the Roman soldiers conscripted the help of a passer by named Simon of Cyrene.  They put the cross on his shoulders and made him carry it instead.

By this time, all of Jerusalem had heard what was going on and had come out to watch.  Jesus was followed by a large crowd including women who mourned and wailed for him.

Jesus turned to them and quoted to them from the prophet Hosea:“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.  For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’  Then “’they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”  and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry.”

Two other men, both criminals, were also brought out to be executed along with him.  Together they climbed the hill called The Skull.  Jesus hands were tied to the crossbeam Simon had carried and nails were driven through his hands and into the wood.  They then placed the crossbeam over another slotted beam to form the shape of a “T”.  They pulled one foot over the top of the other and nailed his feet to the second beam.

When he  was secured to the cross one soldier walked to either side of the crossbeam and lifted the cross until the bottom of the vertical beam dropped into a hole causing Jesus extreme agony.

Still in great pain, Jesus looked up into the sky and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

The Roman custom was to put a sign above the person being crucified which explained the crime for which this person was being executed.  This was expected to be a deterrent to those who would commit the same crime.

Pilate had written the sign above Jesus’ head himself and it read: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”  After all, that was the crime for which he was being executed.  He wrote it in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek ensuring everyone who passed by the place could read it.

When the Jews read the sign they protested and asked Pilate to change it to say he “claimed” to be the king of the Jews.  Disgusted, Pilate said “What I have written, I have written.”

The clothes Jesus wore were no longer of use to him.  The Roman custom was to humiliate the criminals as much as possible; they were crucified naked.

The soldiers divided his garments amongst themselves.  There were four soldiers and five garments, Jesus undergarment was woven in one piece from top to bottom.

“Let’s not tear it,” they said.  “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

Near the cross, stood Jesus' mother, his mother’s sister, Mary and Mary Magdalene.  Also nearby was John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.

He looked down on them and said “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to John he said, “Here is your mother.”

As Jesus and the two other criminals hung there dying, the chief priests sneered at him.  They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers mocked him.  They offered him wine vinegar to ease the pain and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

One of the criminals who hung beside him joined in on the insults: “Aren’t you the Christ?  Save yourself and us!”

The other criminal on his other side, though, chastised the first.  “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, and we are getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Filled with compassion, Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Satan stood afar off and observed the scene of Jesus dying on a cross, his greatest triumph yet.

On the cross, Jesus had been hanging for a number of hours getting weaker and weaker as he struggled to breathe.  The sins of all mankind were attached to him like a hideous cancer and the glow of his spirit which once shone bright with the Holy Spirit was all but extinguished.

He lifted up his eyes peering into the heavenly realm and saw God the Father sitting on His throne gazing back at him.  As the living and omnipotent God, He knew it would come to this when he created man, but that didn’t make it any easier.  As he watched the scene unfold in the earthly realm,  sadness welled up inside of him at the thought of all those who would not accept this most generous gift.

Those standing around Jesus began to mock him.  “He saved others but he can’t save himself!  He is the King of Israel!  Let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him… He trusts in God.  Let God rescue him now if he wants him…”

At that moment, Jesus on the cross shouted “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”  which means My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

Those standing around the cross were speaking amongst themselves when it occurred and they didn’t understand what he said.  They asked each other “What did he say?”

“He’s calling for Elijah,” someone said, as they moved to prepare a sponge with some vinegar for him to drink.[3]

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In Heaven, God looked hundreds of years back in time to a cave in which the grandfather of Jesus, many generations removed, slept restlessly in a cave - another man who would be King of the Jews.

Just like his descendant, Jesus, David was being persecuted by his enemy (Saul) after having done nothing to deserve it.  Saul’s jealousy burned against him and he was attempting to kill him.  As the Holy Spirit which also inhabited the body of Jesus came upon David he awoke suddenly and sat up.

He pushed the skins under which he was sleeping away and sat next to the fire rubbing his eyes.  He took a long drink from the sheepskin in which he kept his water and washed the foul taste of sleep from his mouth.

The air was dank and smoky and David felt the stirring of the Holy Spirit within him.  He pulled out a quill and some papyrus and began to write.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

            Why are you so far from saving me,

            so far from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,

            by night, and am not silent.

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;

            you are the praise of Israel.

In you our fathers put their trust;

            they trusted and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were saved;

            in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

But I am a worm and not a man,

            scorned by men and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me;

            they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

"He trusts in the LORD;

            let the LORD rescue him.

            Let him deliver him,

            since he delights in him."

Yet you brought me out of the womb;

            you made me trust in you

            even at my mother's breast.

From birth I was cast upon you;

            from my mother's womb you have been my God.

Do not be far from me,

            for trouble is near

            and there is no one to help.

Many bulls surround me;

            strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

Roaring lions tearing their prey

            open their mouths wide against me.

I am poured out like water,

            and all my bones are out of joint.

            My heart has turned to wax;

            it has melted away within me.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd,

            and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

            you lay me in the dust of death.

Dogs have surrounded me;

            a band of evil men has encircled me,

            they have pierced my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones;

            people stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them

            and cast lots for my clothing.



David stopped for a moment and closed his eyes.  A mournful spirit had come upon him.  He was deeply depressed, struggling to keep the tears from rolling down his face.  He lifted his eyes up peering right through the roof of the cave and into nothingness that he perceived existed there.

He pleaded with his God to relieve him of this feeling of ultimate misery and despair.

From deep within his spirit he felt the words forming in his mind "Call upon me and I will answer, cry for help and I will say 'Here am I'."

Immediately, his countenance began to change.  His depression and despair turned to a since of victory and joy.  He began to voice silent thanksgivings to God as he once again picked up the quill an papyrus and began to write.

But you, O LORD, be not far off;

            O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

Deliver my life from the sword,

            my precious life from the power of the dogs.

Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;

            save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

I will declare your name to my brothers;

            in the congregation I will praise you.

You who fear the LORD, praise him!

            All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!

            Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

For he has not despised or disdained

            the suffering of the afflicted one;

            he has not hidden his face from him^[1]

            but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;

            before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied;

            they who seek the LORD will praise him—

            may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth

            will remember and turn to the LORD,

            and all the families of the nations

            will bow down before him,

For dominion belongs to the LORD

            and he rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

            all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—

            those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him;

            future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness

            to a people yet unborn—

            for he has done it.[2]

“He has done it!”  thought David.  A feeling of complete peace and exhaustion came over him and he laid his head back down and covered up with the skins and fell fast asleep.  The best sleep he had had in months.

----

Jesus, while hanging on the cross and after quoting the beginning of the song of victory first penned by his ancestor David, raised his eyes up to Heaven and said “Lord, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.”  Then he said “It is finished,” and his physical body died.

In the heavenly realm, the hosts of angels gathered around the cross immediately began to shout and moan and thrust their swords up into the air.  The demon hoard had disappeared.  With his ultimate triumph now complete Satan had also vanished.

Explosive bursts of light lit up the the entirety of Jerusalem in the tumult and seraphim exercised their powerful wings filling the air with loud rumbles of turbulence.

In the midst of the uproar, God took his finger and ripped the thick curtain that hung in the temple to separate the Holy of Holies where God figuratively sat on the Bema Seat on the top of the arc of the covenant.  Man no longer needed a human high priest to offer a sacrifice for his sin.  From now on, man could come directly to God through the great mediator, Jesus, the ultimate high priest and blood sacrifice for all mankind.

As the triune God gazed back and forth through the ages of the earthly history, the spirit of those who believed glowed brightly before Him.  What Satan had meant for evil God had used for good.  It was all at once the greatest tragedy and the greatest act of love ever perpetrated upon the earth.  At the moment that Jesus died he bore the sins of every man and woman who ever lived in the past, present, and future history of the world.  He paid the price which they could not pay.  By this one act the world was redeemed and Satan had lost once and for all.

---

[1] Unlike the statement by the popular song, Psalm 22 makes it clear in verse that God the Father did not turn His face away from Jesus on the cross.  Rather, He heard Jesus' cry for help.

[2] Psalm 22 (NIV)

[3] Jeremiah 19

[4] Bishop, Jim.  The Day Christ Died, Harper Collins, 1957, 1977.