Click here for the Matthew 5:31-32 PODCAST
"31 Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32 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 5:31-32
Today, we return to our study of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7. In this sermon the Lord Jesus laid out His culture by providing definition to the questions about that which is truly real. After giving us a description of the process involved in the changing of our hearts in the context of a relationship with Him, the Lord Jesus utilized six "You have heard it said" statements. He did this in order to reveal to His hearers the difference between the words of God and the words of men. Ultimately, the Lord Jesus was trying to help the people see their lack of their ability to earn God's favor through their good behavior. He also was destroying the self-righteous system of the religious leaders of Israel.
In v.31 of today's passage we read, "Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'"
Again, the Lord Jesus was providing His hearers an outline to His culture which is the truth. And the truth is, the health of any society is determined by the health of the families found therein. And, the health of the family is determined by the health of the marriages involved. God says to the most important relationship in a society, "Do not commit adultery." This seventh of the Ten Commandments protects the sanctity of each marital relationship. As we have mentioned, marriage between a man and a woman was the first relationship God established. Since the marriage is the most important building block to a great society, God gave the seventh commandment in order to protect it.
The greatest threat to any marriage is adultery. In Deuteronomy 24:1-2 we read, "If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something indecent in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. 2 When she has left him she may go and become someone else’s wife."
The Lord Jesus used this Old Testament passage to show that even though He had given His culture to man in the Old Testament, sinful man was incapable to substantiate the truth. This is why Moses allowed a man to divorce his wife, especially if "he found something indecent in her." This indecency was something that brought shame to her husband resulting in producing a desire within him to no longer desire her. This was what was allowed by the Lord through Moses but, as we see in Mark 10, this was allowed by God due to the hardness of the people's hearts. In fact, from the very beginning of the creation, God's intentional design was that a woman and a man remain married til death did them part. To do otherwise and remarry was to be guilty of adultery.
In v.32 of today's passage we read, "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."
In this verse we see that the words of the Lord Jesus were set against the Law of Moses. But this was not His intent at all. And, it was not that the Lord contradicted that which He had previously given. Rather, the Lord Jesus told the people that Moses allowed for divorce because of the hardness of their hearts, meaning that God knew that the people would rebel against Him. So here, in today's passage, the Lord Jesus explained what the standard of God actually was by explaining His standard from the very beginning.
With this in mind, the Lord Jesus next said, "whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery."
The word "except" here means there is one exception to the rule of marriage and that is adultery. The woman, having been dismissed by her husband for a reason that is insufficient in the eyes of God, is now to be considered an adulteress. By the way, this is true for the man, as well. As such, the person who marries the one who is guilty of adultery. This clearly reveals that God still saw the original union in the light of His original intent.
In Genesis 2:23 we read, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh."
We cannot understand divorce unless we understand marriage. We will never understand how God views a separation until we understand how He defines the union itself. Herein do we find that God had brought together a man and a woman with permanency in mind for their sake. From the very beginning God ordained monogamy between a married man and woman. God said, "A man shall leave his father and his mother, cleave unto his wife; they shall be one flesh." There is no ending to that, they were meant to continue to be one flesh til their deaths.
When two people are glued together they become one single individual, and so it says, "they shall be one flesh." So marriage, as God designed it, was to be the perfect melding of two people together into one. Intimacy is the goal. This is true in every dimension, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, sexually. Every marriage is meant to be undergirded by the commitment made before witnesses til death do them part. God's goal for marriage was and has always been that of perfect intimate oneness. This is the foundation of a God-defined marriage. As God's culture is inculcated therein society flourishes in that context.
God created mankind to worship Him, but man rebelled, falling victim to Satan, sin, and death. God then called Israel as His prototypical nation, but they, like the first humans, hardened their hearts against God and His truth. This was man's problem that the Lord Jesus came to remedy. The subject of divorce was used of the Lord Jesus as a microcosm in the Sermon on the Mount in order to address the root problem within the heart of rebellious man. Just as a marriage relationship transcends the two people who are involved in it, it also reflects God’s redemption to this fallen world. In the Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom of heaven has drawn near to sinful man. The loving God has pursued fallen mankind as a husband pursues his wife. God has made His salvation available to everyone willing and honest of heart. The only question is: Are we honest, humble and willing enough to receive His free gift?
