Divorce,   Matthew 5:31-32

This post explores what Jesus said about divorce.

Divorce covers the sin of a legal separation of a marriage, Matthew 5:31-32. “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.” Thus, Jesus explains the relationship between legally dissolving a marriage and adultery.

Moses had allowed the Israelite husbands to divorce by simply giving a wife a divorce certificate. But Jesus explains that unless sexual immorality has occurred, this separation constitutes sin. If the woman remarries, both she and the new husband commit adultery.

Divorce separates what God joined—always a sin. Further, the breaking of one’s vows made before God and men occurs in a legal breaking apart of a marriage.

To clarify further God’s joining, consider how Jesus answered Pharisee testing, Matthew 19:3. They asked, “…Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”

Jesus answered, Luke 19:4-6. “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, … ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? …they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Jesus refers back to the beginning of marriage when God brought Eve to Adam in Genesis 2:24. “…a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Jesus then provides what God wants—a permanent bond, Luke 19:6. Once joined in matrimony by God, they should not be separated by government decree.

So, what did we learn?

1.Divorce, except for sexual immorality, causes adultery.

2.God never intended for marriages to be broken.

 For more on the Bible,

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