He set out from there and went into the district of Judea [and] across the Jordan. Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom, he again taught them. 2 The Pharisees approached and asked, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” They were testing him. 3 He said to them in reply, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They replied, “Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her.” 5 But Jesus told them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother [and be joined to his wife], 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” 10 In the house the disciples again questioned him about this. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Jesus went from Galilee to Judea and was teaching the crowd that gathered around him. The Pharisees asked him about the legality of divorce in an effort to get him to take a position contrary to the Torah (v. 2; Mt. 19:3). Jesus referred them to the Mosaic Law (Deut. 24:1-4; 22:13-19) where divorce was allowed if the husband decided that his wife was guilty of misconduct or indecency. The Law did not encourage divorce even though it was allowed. In their Gospels of Mark and Luke, Jesus does not permit divorce under any circumstances (Mk. 10:11-12; Lk. 16:18), but in Matthew Jesus allows divorce if the marriage is unlawful based on the Mosaic law which forbids marriage between close blood relatives or legal relations (Lv. 18:6-18).
In ancient Judaism there were no court proceedings for divorce. The man just wrote a bill of divorce and handed it to the woman (v. 4; Deut. 24:1). Jesus told the crowd that it was through human weakness that Moses made a concession to allowed divorce, but that was not what the Creator intended. God created man in his image and with His dignity. Human society is based on the union of man and woman in an indissoluble bond (Gen. 1:27; Mk. 10:7-8)). When man and woman are joined in marriage, they become one flesh therefore divorce is not possible (vv. 7-8; Gen. 2:24). Jesus was teaching the crowd and the Pharisees that man must return to God’s original plan (1 Cor. 7:10-16). God is the author of marriage so no third party, not even a judge in a court, has the authority to dissolve a marriage in the kingdom of God which has arrived (Mk. 1:15; v. 9).
Almighty God, grant us the grace to choose wisely when we
desire to marry and the commitment to persevere when times are difficult. In your mercy bless our children even when
they are not listening to your voice, and never allow them fall into apostacy and
relinquish the gift of salvation. This
we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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