Regarding Divorce
TRANSLATION
(1) Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and came to the borders of Judea beyond the Jordan. (2) And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
(3) Some Pharisees approached him, and, to test him, they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” (4) He answered, “Have you not read that, at the beginning, the Creator made them male and female (5) and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?’ (6) So then they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let no one separate.” (7) They said to him, “Why then did Moses command a man to give (his wife) a certificate of divorce and send her away?” (8) He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives. However, from the beginning it was not that way. (9) And I tell you that whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (10) The disciples said to him, “If such be the case of a man with his wife, it would be better not to marry.” (11) He then said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying, but only those to whom it is given, (12) for there are eunuchs who were born that way, eunuchs who were made eunuchs by others, and eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let whoever is able to accept this accept it.”
(13) Then little children were brought to him so that he might lay his hands upon them and pray (for them). And the disciples rebuked them. (14) But Jesus said, “Allow the little children to come to me and do not forbid them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (15) And he laid his hands on them and went away from there.
OBSERVATIONS
Again, the Pharisees approached Jesus with questions designed to undermine his teaching authority, and again he demonstrated his ability to deal with all their efforts to discredit him. Repetitions in this segment again point us to the emphasis of each paragraph. In the first, “divorce(s)” occurred four times (vss. 3, 7, 8, & 9), “wife/wives” five times (vss. 3, 5, 8, 9, & 10), “one flesh” twice (vss. 5 & 6), “Moses” twice (vs. 7), “receive” three times (vss. 11 & 12), and “eunuchs” five times (all in vs. 12). In the second paragraph we find “children” and the phrase, “lay/laid his hands on them,” both repeated (vss. 13 & 14). “Disciples” is the only word found in both paragraphs (vss. 10 & 13).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus responded to the Pharisees’ questions about divorce with authority. (1-12)
II. Jesus rebuked the disciples’ attempt to hinder those bringing children for his blessing. (13-15)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus set forth God’s design for marriage and expressed his love for children and those with a child-like faith.
APPLICATION
The way we frame our questions will often reveal our presuppositions. This was certainly evident in the way the Pharisees probed Jesus regarding his views on the controversial subject of divorce. Their first question, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause,” was carefully worded to exert a subtle pressure on Jesus to comply with their views. Instead of falling into their trap by directly answering their question, he called their attention to the foundational passage on marriage in Genesis 2 which described God’s creation of two complementary genders, male and female. These verses then defined marriage as “two becoming one flesh.” His concluding statement could not have been more forceful: “What therefore God has joined together, let no one separate.” By reasoning from the sacred text, Jesus reached the inescapable conclusion that God never intended his design for marriage to include the possibility of divorce.
Unwilling to accept his answer, the Pharisees persisted with a further question asking Jesus why Moses would then allow the possibility of divorce in Deuteronomy 24. To this Jesus responded with a two-part explanation. First, he stated that Moses had permitted divorce because of humanity’s “hardness of heart,” a clear result of our fall from grace (Gen. 3). Then he declared that divorces that end marriages had never been part of God’s will for human flourishing.
Jesus’ response not only stunned the Pharisees but also caused his own disciples to conclude, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” God’s ideal for marriage, established before the Fall in Eden, may seem an almost unattainable goal after our first parents sinned, given human selfishness and the brokenness that resulted. However, by God’s grace and by the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit, husbands and wives can experience the wonder of self-sacrificial love in lifelong marriage relationships that reflect the creator’s character and nature if they are willing to submit to his will for their lives.