In St Mark's Gospel, one striking feature is the amount of healing that Jesus did. And as His reputation spread, people came gathering round Him either perhaps in the hope of healing or out of curiosity. When crowds came round Him, He began to teach.

But, what was He teaching about when those Pharisees mentioned in today's gospel came along to test Him with "tricky" questions about divorce? Was there some big discussion going on? And why did His own disciples later, in the house, return to the same question yet again: after all, the teaching Jesus gave on the matter seems very clear. But clearly, too, the human relationships of marriage, and all the social, religious, economic and other factors connected with it, ensure that there will always be questions and problems concerning marriage and divorce in one form or another. Today's scene is no different. Each of us surely knows people caught up in such problems, and the amount of hurt and pain and damage they can cause.

May the lives of all of us who profess to follow Jesus and bring His love to our world somehow bring inspiration and encouragement, comfort and strength where needed. May we be channels of peace, not judgement, of healing rather than 'taking sides' or prolonging the pain.