Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
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Anger
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Scripture Reading
Prayer
Introduction
Exposition 1
The Pharisees, as has been typical in Matthew, seek to “test” Jesus here.
The question is a loaded one, it has to do with the interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4
Qumran Covenanters - Divorce was always illicit (Not mainstream)
Mainstream views (2 camps)
School of Hillel
School of Shammai
Both permitted divorce on the grounds of something “indecent”
Shammai - gross indecency though not just adultry
Hillel - anything displeasing (poorly cooked meal)
Both allowed remarriage, even if the divorce was not allowable.
I. Marriage is a permanent union rooted in creation (4-6)
Here, the pharisees openly appeal to the Deuteronomy passage
They interpret it to mean...
If a man takes a wife…and she does not find favor in his eyes…he shall write a bill of divorce…and shall send her away from his house.
But, it actually means
If a man takes a wife…and she does not find favor in his eyes…and he writes a bill of divorce…and he sends her away from his house…and her second husband does the same thing, then her first husband must not marry her again.
Notice the focus of the text is not on the divorce but on the husband and wife getting remarried after the wife has been remarried.
This would have been considered similar to incest.
The “indecency” isn’t permission to divorce but rather simply a statement of the condition.
Jesus answers their question with the answer, essentially that divorce was allow because of the hardness of hearts
II.
Divorce always involves unrepentant sin
This verse has many interpretation, I believe, primarily because people want to soften it, but also for 2 other reasons.
because the parallel accounts don’t contain the “except clause”
to harmonize it with the teaching in 1 Corinthians 7:12-15
Back to the interpretation
porneia - sexual immorality
except
Basically, never get divorces, but if a divorce happens, you are only free to remarry if the divorce is because the other spouse has moved on to an adulterous relationship
In the context of forgiveness, it seems to be that that this spouse is unrepentant, preventing true forgiveness
This is consistent with the earlier context in 1 Corinthians 7 as well
III.
Divorce is not to take place within the covenant community (the church)
IV.
For some, it is better, for the sake of the kingdom, to practice life-long celibacy
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