NOTES for Mar 10:1-16
The Pharisees wanted to know Jesus Christ's opinion on the disputed question of divorce: whether divorce was allowed and for exactly what reason. They themselves had different opinions on this matter. But Jesus' answer amazed everyone.
Jesus states that Moses allowed divorce only "because of your hardness of heart," in other words, to avoid something worse, such as husbands murdering their unloved wives. Yet God wants husband and wife to attain an indissoluble unity in marriage ("one flesh").
This appears not merely difficult, but impossible. This was the disciples' first reaction, recorded by another evangelist: "If such is the obligation of a man to his wife, it is better not to marry" (Matt. 19:10).
Jesus' statement about the indissolubility of marriage was so astonishing that the disciples asked for an explanation. Jesus confirmed what He had said before. Yes, God desires from us what, by human standards, is impossible. Therefore Jesus says: "With people this is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God."
God acts in us and through us when we fully trust Him, just as little children trust their parents. The Greek word "paidia" indicates that the children brought to Jesus for blessing were no older than 7 or 8 years. The disciples evidently did not consider little children fully complete human beings. But Jesus emphasized that adults need to learn lessons of faith from children.
Having learned faith from children, we will receive the blessings of the Kingdom of God already here and now, and God will accomplish in us and through us what is "impossible for people."