In Mark 10, the Pharisees came to Jesus for the purpose of testing Him. Their motivations were impure, but they asked a question of him that is especially important to us today. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” (10:2). Matthew records the question in this way, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” (19:3).
The question centered on the correct interpretation of Deuteronomy 24. Moses, as the Pharisees noted, “permitted” divorce by certificate, “because he has found some uncleanness in her” (Deuteronomy 24:1). Jews in Jesus’ day had two widely divergent views of what “some uncleanness” meant. Some rabbis taught that the term was very restrictive, while others contended that any displeasure caused to the husband would qualify. Regardless, Moses permitted the practice. Would Jesus ally himself with Moses’ command? Or would he contradict Moses’ command? Would the Pharisees have something with which they could accuse Him? The correct answer is, none of the above.
As Jesus correctly noted, Moses was limiting the already common practice of divorce. Moses’ “command” (cf. Matthew 19:7), was actually an accommodation. Jesus told them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (Matthew 19:8).
Jesus’ simple premise in His teaching on divorce was to reinstate what God intended from the beginning. In doing so, Jesus makes the concession of Moses in Deuteronomy 24 irrelevant. Consider Jesus’ words in both accounts:
“But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:6-9).
“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:4-6).
The last sentence of each passage establishes Jesus view on the matter. “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” The idea that a man does not have the right to divorce his wife has never been popular. In Moses’ day people didn’t like it. In Jesus’ day the Pharisees didn’t like it. Today people don’t like it, and come up with a multitude of rationalizations to appease their conscience when they disregard Jesus’ teaching on the matter.
What Jesus taught is not that hard to understand. There is a unanimity throughout the gospels regarding His views on the topic of marriage, divorce and remarriage. Consider the following passages:
“So He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery’” (Mark 10:11-12).
“And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery” (Matthew 19:9).
“But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery” (Matthew 5:32).
“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery” (Luke 16:18).
What do we learn from these passages?
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God’s intent from creation was for a man to be joined to a woman for life.
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Moses made a concession because hard hearted men had disregarded God’s intent, and were abusing their wives.
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Jesus by His own authority reinstated God’s law from the beginning. “And I say to you.” … “But I say to you.”
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Man does not have the right to divorce his wife, because the two are joined by God. “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
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The answer to the question “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” is NO!
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Anyone who divorces their spouse, and marries another commits adultery.
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Anyone who marries one who has been divorced commits adultery.
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There is one exception to this rule, “except for sexual immorality” (fornication).
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The one who has been divorced, for whatever reason, does not have the lawful right to remarry, “and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
God’s law for marriage, simply put, is One Man, One Woman, for Life! If anyone comes to you and tries to convince you otherwise, don’t listen! Listen to Jesus instead.
