The passage of Mark 10:2-16 has greatly impacted Susan Cameron’s growth and thinking about what God is trying to say to us through the Bible — particularly because of its abuse and misuse.

In her childhood church, her friend’s mother’s church membership was revoked because she had chosen to remarry years after a divorce, though she had been living in near poverty. This was a result of the interpretation of this passage at the time, over 50 years ago, and Susan’s family left that particular church as a result. Susan continued to struggle with this passage into adulthood. She became a lawyer, but hoped to avoid involvement in divorce cases. However, given limited job opportunities for female lawyers at the time, she did work for a lawyer who’s practice included family law. In the 1990s, she worked worked for a divorce helpline, having developed a sub-specialty in the intersection of religion and family law.

Studying family systems in seminary at the time she was doing this work finally brought light to Susan’s view of what Jesus was saying in this passage. Rather than words of bondage, she was able to see that these were words of liberation. Jesus’ words about adultery in his day were very different from how it came to be defined by Christian community centuries later. Jesus’ words were shocking in his day because they included rights for a woman impacted by adultery, rather than just men or husbands.

Hear more as Susan goes deeper into this passage to help us understand just how radical these words were in terms of marital fidelity and mutuality.