Jesus on Divorce
As we walk through our summer series “Building on the Rock”, looking at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 – 7, it is impossible to cover all the material in just 11 weeks (something I have discovered as I’ve tried to cover all the material in just 11 weeks!) I realize that each of these subjects needs a full unpacking, but in lieu of that, I wanted to share some perspective on Matthew 5:31-32, where Jesus talks about Divorce. Here’s the text
“You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’ But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.
That is a hard passage. You know why it’s hard? Because I know so many good people walking through this world of divorce. And I put them in this passage and it’s hard. Hard because we live in a broken world where broken people go through incredibly hard things.
And if you are reading this today and are in that situation, please realize I am not judging or looking down, truly. I am not here to add to your hurt and pain. And I don’t believe Jesus is either
So what is Jesus saying here? If we could put aside all the names of real people who we know, separate the emotions from his point. Jesus is for marriage more than he’s against divorce. He is holding high the value of marriage. He says it’s a big deal, a serious thing, and we don’t just walk away from it lightly. There are real consequences.
His audience was clinging to a loop-hole, an allowance in mosaic law that said they could send their wives away with a simple piece of paper. But that was not part of God’s original plan. Jesus tells us that, Matthew 19:3-9
Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
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.”
7 “Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” they asked.
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. 9 And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.
The Pharisees were preoccupied with the grounds for divorce. Jesus was more interested in the institution of marriage. The Pharisees called Moses’ provision for divorce a command. Jesus called it a concession due to the hardness of human hearts. The Pharisees regarded divorce lightly. Jesus took it so seriously, that with one exception, he called all remarriage after divorce adultery.
In the last book of the Old Testament from the prophet Malachi, it says God hates divorce. Not divorce people, but divorce itself. Because of the pain that it causes, the breaking of a covenant.
I used to do this illustration at summer camp when I was speaking to high school students. I would take a piece of duct tape and paste it to my arm really tight. I spoke about how when the two become one, it creates a new bond. Then I began to peel the duct tape off my arm, and there was a lot of pain evidence as the tape took some of the hair from my arm off! That is the pain of when the one try to become two again.
Jesus wants to keep us from that pain. He wants us to fight for marriage.
I’d invite you to delve deeper into this issue by reading this article from Radio Bible Class, the same ministry that produces Our Daily Bread. It addresses further what the Bible teaches about divorce and remarriage.