Dale Ridge church of Christ

                At the beginning when man was created, God said that it was not good for man to be alone, so He put the man into a deep sleep, and from his rib, he made him an helpmeet for him.  The woman was brought to the man, and the first marriage ceremony was performed.  Adam and Eve became husband and wife (Genesis 2:22-25).  We move forward about four thousand years to the time when Jesus walked the earth, and we hear the words of Christ as He used the first marriage ceremony to teach us about the sacredness of this special union between husband and wife (Matthew 19:1-9).

                The record in Matthew 19 indicates that the Pharisees were seeking a way to find fault in Jesus.  They did this by tempting him in regard to the matter of divorce.  This attempt was an effort to weaken the influence of Jesus by politicizing his teachings.  The question they asked Him was “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” (Matt. 19:3).  Jesus’ three-fold response to the Pharisees’ question is God’s law on marriage, divorce and remarriage.

                In the first part of this threefold response, Jesus goes all the way back to that first wedding ceremony in the Garden of Eden.  Thus, He shows the importance of God’s original intentions in marriage—one man for one woman for life.  Not only does the beginning of the Old Testament emphasize the sacredness of this union in God’s eyes, it ends with this emphasis as well.  Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, states that the Lord “hateth putting away” (Malachi 2:16). 

The second part of this threefold response of Jesus is the application He made from the original intent of marriage.  Jesus said “What God therefore hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6).  Thus, when a man and a woman are married, it is God that binds them together, and whatever it may be that God binds together should only be taken apart by God. 

The third part of Jesus’ threefold response concerns the one exception for divorce.  After Jesus’ response of God’s original intent, the Pharisees asked why Moses allowed divorce.  Jesus answered that Moses allowed divorce because of the hardness of people’s hearts.  The Law of Moses also did not allow divorce for every cause.  It was only allowable in cases of uncleanness (Deuteronomy 24:1).  Jesus, our lawgiver, then set forth His legislation on marriage, divorce, and remarriage (Matthew 19:9).  This general legislation from our Lord covers every matter and circumstance that might arise in cases dealing with the bond of marriage. 

Simply put, that only acceptable reason for divorce is for fornication (porneia).  In such cases, the innocent party of this union may “put away” his or her spouse for adultery.  This is the one and only exception for a scriptural divorce.  The guilty party may not remarry.  Furthermore, Jesus teaches that the one who marries the one who has been “put away” likewise becomes guilty of adultery.  Moreover, Jesus’ use of the word “whosoever” in Matthew 19:9 shows that this law applies to everyone, both Christian and non-Christian alike.

Published by Michael  Email This Post  Print This Post
Filed under: Doctrine, Michael Carter on September 15th, 2008