When the Bible is used in the homosexuality debate, it is normally the teachings of Moses and Paul that are marshalled as evidence of the Bible’s opposition to all forms of homosexual sexual activity.
Sometimes it is even suggested that Jesus would not have opposed the practice of homosexuality, because his was an ethic of love, accepting all sinners, regardless of their sexual preferences.
However, the evidence of the Gospels does not support this view. On the contrary, the teaching of Jesus complements the teaching of Moses and of Paul in seeing all homosexual sexual acts as a sinful departure from God’s intentions for humankind.
Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount assumes and reinforces the ethics of the Old Testament as the basis of our response to God under the new covenant. On the question of marriage, for example, Jesus reinforces the teaching of Genesis 1-2 which only recognises marriage between a man and a woman as the proper context for sexual union (Matt 5:27-32; 19:1-12). Moreover, Jesus condemns all kinds of sexual impurity as evils to be avoided, including porneiai, moicheiai and aselgeia (Mark 7:20-23). The third term in this list suggests sexual licence or debauchery beyond the norm. Although it may not be possible to establish a specific reference to homosexual practice, the semantic range of aselgeia is clearly inclusive of homosexual practice.
Although Jesus does not specifically address the question of homosexuality, two points are worthy of attention. First, in the discussion of divorce in Matthew 19:1-12, the disciples’ response to Jesus’ high standards concerning marriage is to question whether it is better not to marry at all. However, Jesus’ reply suggests that apart from marriage, the only other viable state is celibacy.
Such celibacy may be the result of one being born a eunuch (the impotent), being made a eunuch (the castrated) or making a voluntary decision not to marry (the celibate). It would therefore appear that Jesus did not contemplate homosexual union as a viable alternative of sexual expression for those who would be members of the kingdom of God. On the contrary, he reaffirmed and reinforced the teaching of the Old Testament with respect to sexual union (Matt 19:4-5; cf 5:17).
Second, Jesus affirmed loving relationships between his disciples. Apart from the oft cited commandment to love one another (John 13:34), Jesus also evidenced a special love relationship with other men. Lazarus is described as one whom Jesus loved (John 11:36); a special relationship is evident between Jesus and the trio of Peter, James and John; and the author of John’s Gospel also describes himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26; 22:7; 21:20). Moreover, Jesus described his followers as ‘friends’, suggesting a greater degree of intimacy than that conveyed by the term ‘servants’ (John 15:15).
Although there is no warrant to infer any sexual union by such descriptions of intimacy, it is important to note that the Gospel records do give ample testimony to the promotion of genuine, loving and caring relationships between people, beyond the marriage bond.
Dr Glenn Davies
Dr Glenn Davies, Bishop of North Sydney, wrote a chapter for Faithfulness in Fellowship the Anglican Church of Australia’s recent report on the issue of homosexuality.
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