The Servant King
But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. Mark 10:5 · Berean Standard Bible
Jesus replied, 'Moses wrote that rule because your hearts were hard.' In other words, divorce wasn't God's plan — it was a concession to human brokenness.
There's a difference between what God allows and what God wants. Jesus was pointing them back to the original design, not just the emergency provisions.
Jesus reveals the deeper reason behind the law.
Jesus cut through centuries of legal debate with one insight: the divorce provision existed because of hard hearts, not because God changed His mind about marriage.
Jesus reframes the Mosaic provision as a concession to 'hardness of heart' (sklērokardian) — not a positive command but an accommodation to human sinfulness. This subordinates the Deuteronomic regulation to the creation ideal.
Sklērokardia is the same condition attributed to the disciples (6:52, 8:17), showing that marital failure stems from the same spiritual hardness that blinds people to God's purposes.
Jesus explains the reason behind Moses' provision.
Jesus drops a theological bombshell: Moses didn't command divorce — he conceded it because of human hardheartedness. The permission was a merciful accommodation, not a divine endorsement.
3“What did Moses command you?” He replied.
4They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart.
6However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
7‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
Read all of Mark 10 — Jesus redefines greatness. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve — and to give His life as a ransom.
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