Was Jesus Silent Concerning Gay Marriage?
I don’t know how many times I have come across people with very strong and heartfelt feelings concerning the gay marriage issue.
They have either been taught or try to use the admonition of Jesus concerning loving one another to justify accepting people who engage in homosexual activity.
Many times those people try to say that Jesus never addressed the issue of same-sex marriage or homosexuality.
Because of this, I wanted to give you a solid understanding of why it is not the truth that Jesus didn’t address the issue of same-sex marriage.
He addressed the issue of marriage and sexual sins outside of marriage and in doing so, He did deal with the issue of homosexuality.
I hope this study will help you understand and defend traditional marriage to those who are either uninformed or trying to use the scriptures to justify a lifestyle that it does not support.
Jesus And Same-Sex Marriage
In order to understand the views of Jesus on same-sex marriage, you have to look at 2 things. You need to look at the definition of marriage that Jesus had, and then you need to look at whether or not Jesus condoned sexual relationships outside of that definition.
So let’s look at what Jesus said about marriage and sexual acts outside of marriage.
The definition of marriage according to Jesus.
Matthew 19:4-6
New Living Translation (NLT)4 “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’” 5 And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ 6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
Here we have Jesus defining what is marriage.
Clearly, Jesus considers marriage the joining of a man and a woman. He says that it has been this way from the beginning. This union joins a man and a woman into one.
His definition is the traditional definition of marriage. He did not say two persons or any other word that would give the impression that marriage was considered acceptable between the same sex.
The definition of sexual sin according to Jesus.
Mark 7:21-22
New Living Translation (NLT)
21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
Jesus always taught that sin first comes from the heart and then the actions follow.
The Greek word for sexual immorality is Porneia which means, illicit sexual intercourse, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals, etc. It is the word that we get our word pornography from.
Thus, you can see that homosexuality is considered sexual immorality, and it is one of the sins that Jesus talked about when talking about sex outside the context of traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
Did Jesus Condone Same-Sex Marriage?
Since Jesus defined marriage as the union between a man and a woman, and because Jesus considered any sexual acts outside of that union sin, it is obvious that Jesus addressed the issue of same-sex marriage.
He addressed it and called it wrong.
However, that does not mean that we are to go out and beat up homosexuals.
I remind you of the story of the woman caught in the very act of adultery. Jesus considered this sin just as equal to homosexuality. Here is what He said.
John 8
New Living Translation (NLT)
A Woman Caught in Adultery
8 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”
6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
11 “No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
The proper response of the Christian is to model the example of Jesus.
He did not beat up on this woman, nor did He say she did not sin.
He told her to go and sin no more.
It is the duty of the Christian to handle dealing with homosexuals with the care and love that Jesus showed this woman without condoning what they are doing or enabling them to continue in their sin.
Jesus did not condone what she had done, nor did he enable her by accepting that she would just go back and continue to sin.
I hope that this article has helped you understand that Jesus did address the issue of same-sex marriage and that it is not the response of love to enable and accept the behavior.
The response of love is to help them overcome this temptation and sin that has engulfed their lives.
Pastor Duke
