Recently, I was conversing with two friends, and we were talking about the subject of gender and sexuality. As you can imagine, there were differing opinions in the room.
One of my friends said: “When I speak on the subject of homosexuality, I keep in mind what Jesus had to say about it.” And when I pressed my friend on what that was, she said: “Nothing.”
I came away questioning if, in fact, Jesus had nothing to say on the subject of gender and human relationships. I think there is more there than meets the eye.
One place where Jesus had something to say about gender is found in Mark 10. Here, he is answering a concern brought up by the Pharisees regarding divorce. Jesus promptly said that Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be used, but this was not God’s design from the beginning.
This is because Jesus affirmed the traditional understanding of marriage, between a man and a woman for life. He quoted from Genesis 1:27-28 in Mark 10:6–9 (ESV):
“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
So you can see that Jesus certainly affirmed the two genders of male and female, as image-bearers of God. And that male and female were equipped to have a lifelong relationship, capable of producing children, under the grace of God.
But why did Jesus not mention homosexuality? I would argue that our Lord did not specifically talk about this subject because the gospels were written in a Judeo-Christian context that assumes heterosexual practice and relationships. Although the Roman empire had its examples of same sex relationships (many of the Roman emperors practiced pederasty and Paul references that some in the church at Corinth had left the gay lifestyle), Palestine was a place where heterosexuality was a given. The Levitical law was upheld on this and many other subjects. For instance, Leviticus 18:22 (ESV) reads:
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
Same sex relationships would have been an extremely silent minority, if any presence, in the time and place where Jesus lived. But that is not to say that Jesus did not have some thoughts on the matter.
In addition, the deconstructive philosophy of today is completely at odds with the idea that one is born with a specific gender that is not dependent upon how one feels. In contrast, a Barna research study found that “One-third of teenagers indicated that gender is how a person feels inside and not the birth sex. Seven out of 10 believe it’s acceptable to be born one gender and feel like another.” (https://biola.edu/blogs/talbot-magazine/2018/what-every-church-needs-to-know-about-generation-z/
So to say that Jesus did not have something to say about gender and sexuality is untrue and demands deeper questions and a more-thorough combing through the Scriptures, in my humble opinion.
Central to Life 