1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left
Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side
of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed
them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it
lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every
reason?"
4"Haven't you read," he replied, "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 and be united
to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? 6 So they
are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined
together, let man not separate."
7"Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give
his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"
8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives
because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from
the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his
wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another
woman commits adultery."
10 The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation
between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry."
11 Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but
only those to whom it has been given. 12 For some are eunuchs
because they were born that way; others were made that way
by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the
kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept
it."
Analysis
Jesus acknowledges that not
everyone will be able to accept His teaching on divorce.
This does not make it an optional command and that people
are excused from following it if they don't like it.
Instead He is confirming that it exists and that people will
continue to divorce because their hearts are hard.
At the
time, a man could divorce his wife for any trivial reason,
even something such as burning the toast. Jesus
explains that divorce is not God's will but had been allowed
in the law of Moses because of the hardness of people's
hearts.
There are a few lessons from what Jesus says and
at least two from what He doesn't say. The first is
that someone who initiates a divorce and then remarries is
guilty of adultery.
The second lesson is a tricky exception to the rule of
divorce. The Greek word that is translated as marital
unfaithfulness is porneia. No one knows the
exact meaning of this word although it is understood to be
similar to fornication or adultery. It is the root
word where we get the word pornography. Marital
unfaithfulness is grounds for divorce according to Jesus,
assuming that this is precisely what porneia means.
What is not said is if a person who has a legitimate
reason for a divorce can then remarry. This topic is
discussed under "Is infidelity grounds for divorce?" and
"Should I get remarried?"
While a person who initiates the
divorce is told not to remarry because it is adultery, the
fate of the divorcee is not mentioned. Are they
allowed to get remarried because they were not at fault for
the divorce? Jesus addresses this partly in Matthew
5:31-32 and it is discussed here under the topic "Should I
get remarried?"
Other passages concerning divorce
Malachi 2:13-16
1 Corinthians 7:10-11, 39
