Sermon on the Mount wk 6

Divorce

This morning as we come to our next subject in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus deals with an important but controversial topic.

In this section of the Sermon on the Mount we have been looking at what you have heard in the past, to what Jesus has to say about it.

Jesus is taking topics from the Old Testament Law and expounding or clarifying them.

The last two have come from the Ten Commandments, but today it comes from the Mosaic Law.

We are going to be looking at Matthew 5:31-32 which is the Sermon on the Mount, and then Matthew 19:3-12 as Jesus goes deeper on the subject.

This morning we are looking at the subject of divorce.

The divorce rate for 2023 was at 42% of marriages end in divorce.

With that as we look at divorce we will also look at marriage.

Look with me at our main text this morning

Matthew 5:31–32 NASB95

31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Pray

I. Creation Law

Matthew 19:3–6 NASB95

3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

Instead of going back to Deuteronomy, to the Mosaic Law, Jesus went back to the beginning in Genesis.

If we build a marriage after God’s ideal pattern, we will not have to worry about divorce laws.

Reason for Marriage

The only thing that was not good about creation was the fact that the man was alone.

Genesis 2:18 NASB95

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

The woman was created to meet this need.

Adam could not find fellowship with the animals.

He needed a companion who was equal to him and with whom he could find fulfillment.

God’s answer to this need was Eve.

Marriage makes possible the continuation of the race.

Be fruitful, and multiple was God’s mandate to the first married couple.

Genesis 1:28 NASB95

28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Paul then used marriage as an illustration of the intimate relationship between Christ and the church in Ephesians 5.

Just as Eve was taken from the side of Adam, so the church was born from the suffering and death of Christ on the cross.

Christ loves His church, nourishes it with His Word, cleanses it, and cares for it.

Christ’s relationship to His church is the example for all husbands to follow.

Characteristics of Marriage

By going back to the original creation law, Jesus reminded His listeners of the true characteristics of marriage.

If we remember these characteristics, we will better know how to build a happy and enduring marriage.

Divinely Appointed Union

God established marriage, and therefore only God can control its character and laws.

Physical Union

The man and woman become one flesh.

While it is important that a husband and wife be of one mind and heart, the basic union in marriage is physical.

Permanent Union

God’s original design was that one man and one woman spend one life together.

God’s law requires that the husband and wife enter into marriage without reservations.

Union between One Man and One Woman

God did not create two men and one woman, two women and one man, two men, or two women.

Group marriages, gay marriages, and other variations are contrary to the will of God.

II. Mosaic Law

Matthew 19:7–8 NASB95

7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.

Like many people who argue religion, these Pharisees were not interested in discovering truth.

They were interested only in defending themselves and what they believed.

This was why they asked about the Jewish law of divorce.

Deuteronomy 24:1–4 NASB95

1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.

The divorced wife could not return to her first husband if she was put away by a second husband.

Moses did not command divorce, he permitted it.

The Pharisees were interpreting the Mosaic Law as though it were a commandment.

Jesus made it clear that Moses was only giving permission for divorce.

The Mosaic Law demanded the death penalty for those who committed adultery.

Leviticus 20:10 NASB95

10 ‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Deuteronomy 22:22 NASB95

22 “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.

Why did God command that the adulterer and adulteress be stoned to death?

Certainly as an example to warn the people, for adultery undermines the very fabric of society and the home.

There must be commitment in marriage, and faithfulness to each other and to God, if there is to be stability in society and in the church.

God had preserve Israel because the promised Savior would come through that nation.

God opposed divorce in Israel because it weakened the nation and threatened the birth of the Messiah.

There was another reason for capital punishment: This left the other part free to marry again.

Death breaks the marriage bond, since marriage is a physical union.

The divorce that Moses permitted in Deuteronomy 24 actually severed the original marriage relationship.

God permitted the woman to marry again, and her second husband was not considered adulterous.

Scriptural divorce does sever the marriage relationship.

Jesus made it clear that this Mosaic Law of divorce was a concession on God’s part.

God’s original law of marriage left no room for divorce, but that law was laid down before man had sinned.

Rather than have two people living together in constant conflict, with one or both of them seeking fulfillment elsewhere and this commit sin, God permitted divorce.

This divorce included the right to remarriage.

III. Jesus’ Law

Matthew 19:9–12 NASB95

9 “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” 10 The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 “For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus declared that marriage was a permanent union that could only be broken by sexual sin.

Marriage is a permanent physical union that can be broken only by a physical cause: death or sexual sin.

Our Lord’s teaching is that there is only one scriptural basis for divorce, and that is sexual sin.

If two people are divorced on any other basis, and marry other mates, they are committing adultery.

Jesus did not teach that the offended mate had to get a divorce.

Certainly there can be forgiveness, patient healing, and a restoration of the broken relationship.

This would be the Christian approach to the problem.

But, sad to say, because of the hardness of our hearts, it is sometimes impossible to heal the wounds and save the marriage.

Divorce is the final option, not the first option.

Jesus did not want them to consider divorce as an out because then they would not have a serious attitude toward marriage.

If we begin marriage with the thought that if it does not workout, there is always divorce, then the marriage will have a high chance of ending in divorce.

Divorce should not be an option, if we commit our marriage not just to our spouse but to God also, then divorce is not even a thought.

Divorce is to be a last resort and it is an admission of defeat.

Married people should always be seeking ways to improve and enhance relations with spouses rather than wondering how they can get out of the commitments they have made.

Those who divorce and or remarry on any grounds must admit failure, repent of the sins that led to the dissolution of their marriage, and vow to remain faithful to any subsequent relationships.

Marriage is a triangle, with husband and wife at the bottom two sides and God at the top point, the closer we are to God in our marriage, the closer we are to our spouse.