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JESUS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE (II)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16
Mark 10:2-12

1 Corinthians 7:1-17

 

“…Whosoever shall put away
his wife, and marry another,

committeth adultery against her.”

 

JESUS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE (II)
 
Marriage must be taken seriously, and divorce should not be made easy. Note that Deuteronomy 24 does not provide a convenient escape from marriage. Consider the Mosaic regulations. Moses instructed that for a divorce to take effect: (1) It had to go to the courts in the presence of witnesses where a legal bill for divorce had to be drawn up and signed. This of course required time. There should be no such thing as getting married today, and then divorced tomorrow. Neither could a person divorce his spouse verbally by simply saying “I divorce you” (Talak) three times. (2) A certificate of divorce had to be served. The one who filed for divorce was required to put the document into the other party’s hand. (3) The person divorced had to move out of the house; they were no longer to live together. (4) Once divorced and remarried, they could never be married to each other again. All these rules were imposed to discourage divorce, to encourage reconciliation, and to allow for time to heal relationships.
 
The Pharisees taught that a man could put away his wife for every cause. Against this Jesus said, “Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” There is but one reason for divorce and only one, namely, fornication (i.e. marital infidelity or adultery and other sexual sins like homosexuality, bestiality and incest). Anyone who marries an adulterer or adulteress commits adultery as well. It is significant to note that the exception clause (“except it be for fornication”) is found only in Matthew 19:9. Mark 10:1-12 and Luke 16:18 are parallel passages on marriage and in these places the exception clause is absent. Jesus was emphasising the rule that the marriage covenant is binding, not the exception. Once married you should never divorce. The Lord hates divorce, and if you insist on divorce, it is only on grounds of adultery. Just as the Lord will never break His redemptive covenant to save us till the very end, so must we not break our marital covenant; we need to be faithful to our respective spouses till the very end. Remember the marriage vow, “as long as you both shall live”!
 
THOUGHT: “Jokes about marriage have come from Satan’s worship.” (Calvin)

PRAYER: Father, keep my family intact.

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