Gospel in Art: Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife?

Ill Matched Lovers, by Quentin Masseys 1520 © The National Gallery of Art, Washington

Gospel of 25th February 2022 - Mark 10:1-12

Jesus came to the district of Judaea and the far side of the Jordan. And again crowds gathered round him, and again he taught them, as his custom was. Some Pharisees approached him and asked, 'Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife?' They were testing him. He answered them, 'What did Moses command you?' 'Moses allowed us' they said 'to draw up a writ of dismissal and so to divorce.'

Then Jesus said to them, 'It was because you were so unteachable that he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. This is why a man must leave father and mother, and the two become one body. They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.' Back in the house the disciples questioned him again about this, and he said to them, 'The man who divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she is guilty of adultery too.'

Reflection on the Painting

It is important when reading today's Gospel reading to remember that Jesus is now on His way to Jerusalem and to the cross. So everywhere He stops, in Judea today, He is teaching, and the Pharisees are testing him again. It is the way they ask the question that shows their mindset. They don't ask, 'Jesus, what can you teach us about marriage?'. They ask 'Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife?' They immediately take the legal route to talk about marriage, but above all their question implies they want to know what He thinks the Law would allow people to do, or to put even more boldly, they want to know 'what they can get away with', in order not to get in trouble with God. They are simply interested in their own rights, and not in learning about their responsibilities in marriage.

After yesterday's painting, if I may stay on the more humorous theme of paintings, I would like to share this panel by Quentin Massys, painted circa 1520. It depicts a married couple. Titled Ill Matched Lovers, it shows an old man being seduced by a younger woman. This theme of pairing 'unequal' couples has a literary history dating back to antiquity when Plautus, a Roman comic poet from the 3rd century BC, cautioned elderly men against courting younger ladies. This also became a favourite theme in European literature and art in the early 16th century. Our painting is an amusing illustration of the idea that old age can leads to foolishness as far as romanticism is concerned. This is further illustrated by the presence of a fool in the background, helping to rob the old man's purse. The artist conveys humorously how a women's sexual powers cause men to behave absurdly and to lose their wits and their money. The deck of cards in the foreground further implies morally loose, gambling behaviour.

Jesus goes onto tell us how marriage is to be a reflection of God's relationship with us. He calls for greater love, intimacy and fidelity... the opposite of what is depicted in the painting...

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/1095
Christian Art - www.christian.art