One of the strongest arguments I hear against affirming theology is:
“Jesus said male and female. A man leaves his father and mother, joins his wife, and the two become one flesh. Jesus defined marriage.”
Jesus absolutely said those words.
But what was Jesus actually being asked?
In Matthew 19, the question brought to Jesus was about divorce — specifically, whether a man could divorce his wife “for any cause.”
Jesus was speaking in a patriarchal world where men held tremendous power and women could be left economically and socially vulnerable by divorce.
So Jesus reaches back to Genesis and then says:
“What God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Traditional Christians understand Jesus’ appeal to male and female as establishing the boundaries of marriage for all time.
Affirming Christians ask another legitimate question:
Was Jesus attempting to answer a question about same-sex marriage — something nobody had asked him — or was he demanding faithfulness from men who wanted permission to dissolve their marriages?
And then Matthew 19 becomes even more interesting.
Immediately afterward, Jesus talks about eunuchs, including those who were “born that way” — people whose lives did not fit conventional expectations surrounding marriage, sexuality and reproduction.
That doesn’t mean eunuchs were simply ancient gay people. They weren’t.
But it does remind us that Jesus recognized human lives that existed outside the expected reproductive pattern.
So I don’t think we should claim:
“Jesus condemned gay marriage.”
He never addressed gay marriage in the recorded Gospels.
You may still believe his reference to male and female establishes an exclusively heterosexual definition of marriage. I respect that interpretation.
But let’s be honest about what Jesus was actually asked — and what he actually answered.
Affirming Theology — Part 7
Darkness may be part of the journey, but it doesn’t have to be the destination.
Light Heals.
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