Jesus’ Teaching on Divorce

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” –Matthew 5:31-32 (ESV).

A certificate of divorce in the time when Jesus lived on the earth, and for quite some time before, had been easy to acquire.  For example in one of the Jewish books of the interpretation of the law, Mishnah Gittin 9:3,  Essentially, the bill of divorcement that was easily allowed read, “Lo, thou art free to marry any man.” Divorce and remarriage were widely practiced in the first century.  Jesus was succinct in his statement here in the Sermon on the Mount concerning divorce and remarriage.  To get a fuller view of his teachings on the subject, confer Matthew 19:1-12.  There he explains that Moses, because of the ‘hardness of men’s hearts’ allowed divorce.  But from the beginning (when God joined Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden) that was not the intention.  Except for unfaithfulness—adultery, sexual immorality—the marriage vows should not end in divorce.  “What God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6b) lies at the heart of the importance and sacredness of marriage.  We often hear a comment which we state far too glibly of a successful marriage:  “Their marriage was made in heaven.”  Far from meaning that the couple are compatible, they build a beautiful and worthwhile life together, actually all marriages should be considered “made in heaven,”  for marriage is a sacred relationship each to the other and to God.

If Jesus were to walk the earth today, and see in our own country and other places in the world, the high divorce rate (it is approaching the alarming statistic of half the marriages ending in divorce), would He be any more lenient in stating His terms of divorce and remarriage?  No. The principles He gave in the first century A. D. still hold today.  Regardless of man’s disregard of the sacredness and intended permanence of marriage, Jesus held up standards for us to follow, and these have not changed.  Marriage is not merely a human agreement but a relationship in which God enters in.  Marriage is so sacred and precious that the metaphor of marriage is used to describe Christ and believers—His church—as the “bride of Christ.”

The topic of adultery and divorce is so prevalent that almost three pages are given to the discussion of it in the study helps in The New English Study Bible.  To summarize, whether it is acceptable to marry again after divorce was not God’s original intention for marriage.  Jesus was rebuking the first-century practice of easy divorce for trivial reasons.  Likewise, He appeals to us today to think highly of marriage, to recall that the vows are made before man and God and are both legally and spiritually binding.  When there is divorce, for whatever cause, it represents failure to live according to God’s plan.  This behooves us all to think of how serious a matter is the commitment of marriage.  Just because our social norms make divorce easy, the original intention of God was for marriage to be permanent and fulfilling.  We remember the admonition in that great love chapter of the Bible, I Corinthians 13.  There we read, “Love suffers long and is kind” (v. 4).  When true love is the center of marriage, and spouses are attentive and perceptive to each other, the need for divorce does not arise.  It is a “’til death do us part” partnership that seeks the best one for the other in mutual love, respect and longevity of the marriage.  Thoughts of divorce nor unfaithfulness do not enter such a trusting loving relationship.