Matthew 5:31-32
The Law & the King – Divorce
Read…
Matt.
Matt. 5:32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
Pray
Intro
√ The law & the King - divorce
Not surprisingly…
Marriage
Divorce
Remarriage
…were hot topics in religious circles during the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth just as it is in ours.
The Pharisees had very strong opinions on the subject and that is what Jesus is dealing with here…
…their interpretation of the Law as it relates to marriage, divorce and remarriage.
In our text this morning we find that Jesus addresses this important subject and gives us God’s perspective on how marriage, divorce and remarriage are supposed to work.
Ap. The Lord’s will for our lives
It is an unfortunate truth that over half of all Christian couples end their marriage in divorce.
Having said that I also don’t believe that divorce is the…
Unforgivable sin!
Rather, it is a sin like any other and can be forgiven like any other sin.
And while it is certainly less than God’s best for His children…
…none the less we ought not to treat divorce as a greater sin than other sins, or treat divorced people as a greater sinners than anyone else.
They can all be forgiven!
It is also important that when we talk about the subject of divorce that we take into account all that Jesus said on the subject…
…lest we come to wrong conclusions regarding God’s instructions.
The Letter of the Law (vs. 31)
Matt.
√ The Letter of the Law
Thus we find Jesus saying…
“Furthermore it has been said…”
Once again we find that Jesus is going to contrast the interpretations of the Law by the Pharisees with God’s intention in the giving of the commandment.
Specifically, God’s instructions regarding divorce.
The interpretation of the Law that Jesus is challenging is found in Deuteronomy…
Deut. 24:1 "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 uncleanness in
her, and he writes her a certificate
of divorce, puts it in her
hand, and sends her out of his house,
Deut. 24:2 "when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man's wife,
Note that the Law provides for…
Divorce
Remarriage
The question then is not can you remarry after you’ve divorced…
…it is what constitutes “uncleanness”.
With regard to this law there were two main schools of thought, or interpretations, among the religious leaders in Jesus’ day.
1) Rabbi Hillel – a theological liberal, said that a man could divorce his wife for “any reason”, because that’s what God meant when He said…
“…it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her.”
Deut. 24:1
Convenient! Sounds like a man’s logic.
By defining “uncleanness” to mean whatever you’d like, the Pharisees could dump their wife for a newer model for literally any reason.
We see this thinking demonstrated in scripture in Matthew’s Gospel…
Matt. 19:3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"
Ex. Rabbi Hillel’s teaching
According to their tradition the husband had absolute authority to dictate the terms of the marriage relationship.
Any failure to meet the requirements of the husband constituted grounds for divorce.
If the wife burnt breakfast then the husband could say…
“I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you”
And it was done!
2) Rabbi Shimmai – a religious conservative, taught that a man
could divorce his wife for sexual sin only.
Ex. Woman becomes pregnant before marriage
As in the example with Mary and Joseph. When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant he sought to divorce her quietly.
They weren’t yet married, only “betrothed” but in the eyes of the Jewish people it was the same level of commitment as marriage.
The only thing these two schools of thought agreed upon was that divorce did not include adultery…
…because adultery was punishable by death! (Deut. 22).
So, when we read the Lord’s instructions here bear in mind that the issue was never a question of whether or not a person can remarry after they’ve divorced...
…because the law in Deuteronomy made provision for remarriage!
The only question is on what grounds can a man divorce his wife?
Ap. Legalism
An interesting observation is that there are some Christian groups today who say they believe in Grace…
…but when it comes to divorce and remarriage they actually hold to a stricter self-imposed law than Moses gave!
The Spirit of the Law (vs. 32)
Matt. 5:32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
√ The Spirit of the Law
Once again we find Jesus saying…
“But I say to you…”
That is, He is now going to give us God’s thoughts on the subject of divorce.
Very important because when God gives us His thoughts on a subject we want to get in line with His thinking...
…regardless of what our opinion may be!
So, what does Jesus tell us?
He says that God views the marriage relationship as an indissoluble unit that should not be broken.
However, God does allow a person to divorce their spouse when there is sexual immorality.
Specifically He tells us that to divorce “for any reason” (vs. 32 - note that He is directly challenging Hillel’s teaching) is wrong because it violates the command…
“Do not commit adultery” – Matt.
That is, the religious leaders who were following Rabbi Hillel’s teaching were in fact committing adultery even though they technically kept the Law!
Ex. “For any reason”
The religious leaders claimed they weren’t committing adultery because they said they followed the law by giving their wives a certificate of divorce.
But, Jesus says that interpretation doesn’t keep the spirit of the Law as God intended it.
Look again at Jesus’ conversation on the subject with the Pharisees later in Matthew’s Gospel…
Matt. 19:3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
Hillel’s interpretation!
Matt. 19:4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’
Matt. 19:5 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’?
Matt. 19:6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Matt. 19:7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”
Matt. 19:8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
Matt. 19:9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”
So we see that Jesus clarifies God’s intention in the giving of the divorce law. Divorce wasn’t God’s best for people…
…rather, because of the sinfulness of the human heart God gave the command to regulate divorce and to protect the innocent party.
Ex. Marriage, divorce and remarriage in Bible times
The certificate of Divorce spoken of in Deut. 24 provided legal
protection for the woman so that she could remarry.
Without a Certificate of Divorce no prospective husband would take her for fear of breaking the law.
She would become a social outcast and looked upon as a harlot.
But, recognize that by giving the commandment God was not putting His seal of approval on divorce or even encouraging it…
…rather, He was acting to protect the woman of Israel who had no legal standing in the ancient culture.
Once again we find that the righteousness that the Pharisees claimed to possess was in fact only a façade. For they took the commandment and twisted it to serve their own sinful desires.
The Practice of the Law (vs. 32)
Matt. 5:32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
√ The Practice of the Law
The first thing we need to understand about divorce is that it should be the very last option that a person pursues because God takes marriage and divorce very seriously.
Jesus said…
"Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." ~ Matthew 19:6
Malachi tells us…
"For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one's garment with violence,"
Mal. 2:16
So we understand that divorce is never God’s best because there is no such thing as a “good” divorce, they are always messy and people always get hurt.
Even when a person has Biblical grounds for divorce!
Ex. God hasn’t divorced us!
The prophet Hosea had plenty of Biblical reasons to divorce his wife but God told him to take her back.
The point is that God’s perfect plan is for a man and a woman to be married for life.
Before you file for divorce you need to be sure that God has given you the green light.
On the other hand the reality is that we don’t live in a perfect world and because people have sin-hardened hearts…
…divorce is more rampant than ever.
So what’s a Christian to do?
√ Biblical divorce
The Bible gives us at least two scenarios in which God permits divorce…
Sexual immorality (Matt. 5:32)
Abandonment by an unbelieving spouse (I Cor. 7:12-16)
In these two cases the Bible tells us that the faithful partner is free to divorce and remarry another.
√ Unbiblical divorce
But, most divorces today (including Christian couples) are for unbiblical reasons…
“We fell out of love”
“Irreconcilable differences”
“I wasn’t happy & God wants me to be happy”
So, what should you do if you’re in such a situation?
If you’re trying to earn your own way to heaven by good works like the Pharisees…
…you’re out!
But, thankfully Jesus came to fulfill the Law for us!
So, if you are guilty of breaking the Law by terminating your marriage for unbiblical reasons…
…then simply ask Him to forgive you and start living the way He wants you to from this point forward.
After all, the blood Jesus spilled on the Cross is sufficient to cover every sin – isn’t it!?
√ Remarriage
Some Christians believe that if you’ve divorced you can never marry again. But is that the model we find in scripture?
Ex. Biblical examples
King David committed adultery, murder and lied to cover up his sin.
But, when he sought forgiveness God granted him his life and…
…didn’t tell him to dump Bathsheba!
The woman at the well (John 4) had married, divorced, and remarried 4 times and was living with a man whom she hadn’t even bothered marrying.
Yet, Jesus offered her salvation!
The woman caught in adultery (John 8) deserved death under the Law.
Jesus forgave her.
The point is that when people sought forgiveness God granted it to them. Additionally, we don’t find the Lord putting restrictions on them like…
“I forgive you, but you can’t ever get married again.”
Ap. What about you?
What should you do if you’ve been married and divorced for unbiblical reasons?
1) If you’re both still single
Don’t actively seek out another partner. Begin praying that God would work in the heart of your ex-spouse (and in your heart) to bring about reconciliation!
Why? Because the best possible scenario and testimony of God’s love would be for the two of you to remarry with Jesus at the center of your life!
It may not be possible because of the hardness of the other person’s heart – but make sure that you’re not that person!
Give God an opportunity to do a miracle!
Ex. We have people in our fellowship who have remarried and today are a glowing testimony of God’s Grace.
2) If one of you has remarried someone else
You can’t remarry you’re ex because they, or you, have already entered into a new relationship.
If you were the one who broke up your previous marriage (the sin is on your head)…
…then ask the Lord to forgive you and make this new (or next) marriage everything it’s supposed to be in Christ.
If it was your partner who broke up your previous marriage (the sin is on their head)…
…then forgive them and make it your goal to make you new (or next) marriage all that it’s supposed to be in Jesus!
The key is to begin living in obedience from this time forward and make your new marriage a godly testimony of His love.
Close
√ The Law & the King
Lots of application for us today! The Church needs to begin living out the will of God in our marriages today and take seriously our wedding vows.
But, if you’ve already blow it don’t fall under the condemnation of the Devil (or other people)…
…rather, confess your sin and seek to make your next marriage all that God wants it to be.
Remember the words of James…
“Mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:13
God’s love and the blood of Jesus is greater than any sin we might commit!