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| What God has joined, let not man put asunder. Mk. 10:9 |
How permanent is marriage? How permanent should it be? Or, perhaps, the better question is how permanent did God intend it to be.
Modern man can try to redefine nature or the finality of nature. Despite all his efforts, he will never be able to change the limitations God has set upon creation. To each creature, its own finality has been determined by its very creator.
There's no difference with marriage. As an institution established by God, its very nature and finality was defined already at its inception. The phrase "what God has joined" has a special meaning when we see that the word for "unite" in Greek is syzeúgnymi which actually means to be "jointly-yoked."
This denotes that marriage has the finality of joining man and woman under one common task, which is procreation and raising children. This yoke, in this sense, can synonymously be called task, duty, obligation or finality. Once this yoke has been jointly taken, by its very nature, and, above all, by divine decree, the union must not be broken by man, neither by magistrate, king nor pope.
But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother; and shall cleave to his wife. And they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
And in the house again his disciples asked him concerning the same thing.And he saith to them: Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. (Mk 10:6-12)
To defend holy matrimony, it's necessary to remind mankind of God's original intent for marriage. By knowing the creators intent, we can better understand the nature and finality of marriage and, in turn, attain its perfection.
