The Law and Divorce

Matthew 5:31-32

a. The Law and Jesus concerning Divorce

1. INTRODUCTION

a. I want to first explain that I am coming at this text from a permanence view of marriage. There are three accepted views within Evangelicalism. The permanence view, the semi permanence view and the permissive view. The permanence view holds that there is no divorce, no remarriage. The semi-permanence view allows for divorce but not remarriage. Lastly, the Permissive view allows divorce and remarriage. This view is where you find the largest majority of Christians.

b. I don’t want us to think that the permissive view on marriage are somehow pastors or Christians who don’t hold to the truthfulness of the Bible. This is not the liberal view.

c. Within the permissive view, there are two camps. The one clause view or the two clause view. The one clause view allows for divorce and remarriage in the case of adultery (Matthew 5:32 & 19:9).

d. The two clause view allows for divorce and remarriage in the case of adultery and the abandonment of an unbeliever to a believer. Only in these two instances, the permissive camp allows for divorce and remarriage. In any other circumstance, even the permissive view does not allow for divorce. So it doesn’t make it any easier, it’s still hard when people come up to pastors who hold to this view and say my husband is a gambler or an alcoholic, these pastors would still have to say that those are not grounds for divorce.

e. This sermon is not to talk about how other Christians who hold to anything other than the permanence view are lesser Christians. There are many faithful preachers and Christians who hold to different views. Again, we must be charitable and gracious to those who hold to different views if it isn’t about salvation. But because we need to have a position on marriage and divorce, I firmly believe in the permanence view. I will give my reasons later. I will say though, it is not directly from the text, but implications of who God is.

2. BODY

a. The Law and Jesus concerning Divorce

i. The interesting part of Jesus’ statement here is that it is not directly from the ten commandments. Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy 24 and speaking of the Law of Moses rather than directly from the ten commandments. The Law of Moses was the first five books of the Torah, but not specifically from the ten commandments as we have seen with the first 2 statements. Today, Jesus is quoting outside of the ten commandments because the ten commandments does not make mention of divorce.

ii. So Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 24 here and says whoever sends his wife away, give her a certificate for divorce. Now when we read Deuteronomy 24, it says that and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, then he will write a certificate of divorce. Now if you continue to read to verse 4, it talks about a second husband who turns on her and writes her a certificate of divorce, then the former husband who left her, cannot take her again to be his wife.

iii. When you think about these verses, it seems strange that we are talking about divorce. What we see from these verses is that the law is dealing with remarriage. It is speaking of if you divorce her, then you can’t remarry her after she has been married to another man.

iv. So I don’t think Deuteronomy 24 is really dealing with divorce, but rather, remarriage. It seems that is the similar approach Jesus is taking here in Matthew 5:31-32. So we want to deal with a text that deals specifically with marriage and divorce. Jesus is quoting the Old Testament to give reference to what He is speaking of which is why He is dealing with the case law.

v. So what is Jesus saying here in verse 32? Jesus quotes the case law in Deuteronomy 24 and then says, that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity. This is the hardest phrase in dealing with marriage and divorce.

vi. Many commentators say Jesus uses two different words here for immorality and adultery but they should be understood interchangeably. Almost all commentators seem to make the simple assumption again that porneia means adultery in this context. The question nags at me why Matthew would not use the word for adultery, if that is in fact what he meant.

vii. So what is the issue? No other Gospel makes mention of this except Matthew. Matthew 1:19 gives us a hint of what it could mean. In Matthew 1:19, it says that Joseph was a righteous man yet he was planning to send her away secretly. The word there means to dissolve a marriage relationship, to divorce. Considering that Matthew uses this term here to say that Joseph considered divorce and He was a just man, it helps us to understand the exception clause.

viii. How does it help us understand the exception clause? This word for sexual immorality would link back to the Jewish betrothal period. To get out of this betrothal, one would need to provide adequate proof that the intended spouse had been unfaithful or sexually impure in some way. Matthew is also the only gospel writer who makes mention of Joseph’s plans to put Mary away and break off the engagement because of her supposed sexual immorality due to her pregnancy.

ix. This goes to show why only Matthew speaks about this exception clause because of his Jewish audience and His Jewish origins. Only Jewish people would be familiar with this exception clause just as Joseph was aware of it.

x. This is why Joseph’s circumstance with Mary made sense. Because they were betrothed and he thought that she was sexually immoral, he had adequate proof to get divorced.

xi. So is Jesus saying adultery is the means in which a person can justify their divorce? Well we need to look at the exception clause in Matthew 19:1-9.

xii. Interestingly enough the sequence of answers are different in Mark 10:1-12 and Matthew 19:1-9 but for the sake of the exception clause, we will look at Matthew 19:1-9.

xiii. When we read Matthew 19:1-9, we see the whole story unfold. Verse 3, some pharisees came to Jesus to ask Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus’s response in verse 4-6, Jesus quotes Genesis 2:24 and then gives us the most important truth about marriage. Jesus gives us the purpose statement of marriage. Jesus then criticizes the pharisee’s failure to recognize the book of Moses God’s deepest and original intention of marriage. Jesus goes off in verse 6 to talk about the purpose of creation and the purpose of man and marriage. He tells them that God made them male and female that the two shall become on flesh and that they are no longer two, but one flesh.

xiv. Then Jesus completes the argument by stating in verse 6, that a married couple is not a man and a woman getting together, but that it is God who has joined them together and that no man is to separate this covenant.

xv. So after Jesus states this, the pharisees and according to Mark 10:10, the disciples asked Jesus, well why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce then?

xvi. They couldn’t believe with their own ears that Jesus didn’t allow for divorce. Again, Matthew 5:17 is massive in its implications because Jesus came to fulfill the law, to make it clear and see where men came to understand it wrong.

xvii. So Jesus listening to their second question, answers their question in verse 8. Previously the question was, is it lawful for a man to divorce at all? Jesus answered this section with an adamant no. So in verse 8, they question, then why did Moses allow it if God doesn’t allow for divorce?

xviii. Verse 8, Jesus says Moses allowed you because of the hardness of your heart. Again, Jesus is confronting the Pharisees about the inward nature of divorce as stating that a hardened heart is what desires divorce. He was talking about the heart in the previous section dealing with adultery, saying that if any man looks upon a woman with lust, then he has committed adultery. In the same way, Jesus says because of the hardness of your heart, Moses wrote you this certificate.

xix. This is what contextually leads to the exception clause. Jesus responds in verse 9, whoever divorces his wife for except for immortality and marries another woman commits adultery.

xx. When you read this statement that Jesus explains to the Pharisees, it seems bizarre that Jesus is allowing an exception clause. Jesus makes no mention of an exception clause where He says that there is an outlet to get divorced. Jesus makes it absolutely clear that there is no exception. Divorce is not a tenable position because it is a relationship that God has joined together and no man is to separate this sacred bond.

xxi. Jesus was making it clear what God’s intention for marriage were because He argues from creation and quotes Genesis 2:24. But because of man’s sinfulness, Moses allows men due to the hardness of their hearts that they were allowed to divorce their wives. Moses knew that they would get divorced so he tried to put some type of restrictions on it.

xxii. Later on, through two houses of thought, during the time of Christ, these houses would determine who was or was not allowed to get divorced. Bet Shammai was the first school which was more conservative and had more stringent allowances for divorce. Bet Hillel on the other hand was more liberal and takes into account people’s needs and sensitivities.

xxiii. When both Shammai and Hillel read Deuteronomy 24, the phrase, “found some indecency in her” this could mean a lot of things. It will obviously mean sexual immortality but also could mean things that upset the husband. Under Jewish law, a man can divorce a woman for any reason or no reason. The Talmud specifically says that a man can divorce a woman because she spoiled his dinner or simply because he finds another woman more attractive, and the woman's consent to the divorce is not required. In fact, Jewish law requires divorce in some circumstances: when the wife commits a sexual transgression, a man must divorce her, even if he is inclined to forgive her.

xxiv. Because the disciples knew about the divorce laws and were hearing from Jesus that there were no exceptions to divorce, they kept asking Him more questions and in verse 11, Jesus responds by telling the disciples whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her, his first wife because his first wife is still alive. Likewise, if a woman divorces her husband remarries, she commits adultery because her husband is still alive.

xxv. We read later from Paul in Romans 7:1-3, where Paul says that a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living but if her husband dies, she is released from the law. So if her husband is alive and she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress but if her husband dies, she is free from the law and is not an adulteress.

xxvi. This is totally consistent with what Jesus is saying regarding divorce and remarriage. Specifically from Mark 10, it seems clear that Jesus is making it clear that there is no exception. Only when asked further questions regarding divorce, does Jesus speak about divorce, only on the topic of remarriage.

xxvii. So how are we to respond to Matthew 5:32 with the exception clause? Again, the exception clause does not come within the question of divorce, but remarriage. I don’t believe Jesus is speaking of the exception clause in light of divorce, but remarriage. If because of the hardness of your heart, you divorce your wife, not because divorce is allowed, but because of your heart, if you remarry, you are causing your spouse to commit adultery. That is the context of what Jesus is speaking of.

xxviii. So why do I hold to a permanence view? My understanding of the permanence view is because of Christ and the church. If our marriages are to exemplify the love of Christ and His love for the church, then it is my understanding that Jesus Christ will never leave or forsake the church. If that is true, then it is my job and purpose to ensure and make sure that I strive to live in harmony and in peace with my wife.

xxix. The greatest convincing point for me regarding the permanence view is because of Christ’s love for the church. If Christ forgives me unconditionally, that should cause me to love my wife unconditionally just the way Christ loved me. There are no loopholes in Christ’s relationship to us. Christ does not say because of our sin, I will leave you. The opposite is true. In the Gospel, Jesus comes to earth to save us from our sin. He takes our sin upon Himself and dies for our sin. In the same way, I am to die for my spouse and her sin and forgive her just as Christ has forgiven me.

xxx. On top of that, our marriage vows speak of a permanence view. Listen to this. I, Samuel Han, take Jinhee Choi, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee my faith.

xxxi. Notice, it says till death do us part according to God’s holy ordinance. Right there, we see clearly that a marriage is God’s holy ordinance and this is a pledge of my faith to Christ.

xxxii. There are no circumstances in which we should get divorced. And if you come to me asking me for your blessing for a divorce, I will not tell you to get a divorce. I am not telling you to stay in the marriage to be miserable. What I am asking is, please work hard inside of you, dig deep to forgive your spouse. I don’t want people to be miserable, what I want from our marriages is reconciliation. The same reconciliation that Jesus spoke previously about in Matthew 5:21-26.

xxxiii. This is antithetical to the world and it’s philosophy but that’s the standard in which Christ calls us to. Nobody said it will be easy. This is why we must put our trust in Christ and ask Him to allow us to forgive each other.

3. CONCLUSION