Matthew 19:1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings,
that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the
Jordan. 2 And great multitudes followed
Him, and He healed them there. 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?" 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,' 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 then, they are no
longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man
separate." 7 They said to Him, "Why then
did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" 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. 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." 10 His disciples said to Him,
"If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to
marry." 11 But He said to them, "All
cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: 12 For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their
mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there
are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.
He who is able to accept it, let him accept it." 13
Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them
and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them;
for of such is the kingdom of heaven." 15 And
He laid His hands on them and departed from there.
It used to be, (and maybe still is, in some cases,) that
the pastor officiating a marriage ceremony would turn to the assembled crowd of
witnesses and say, “If anyone knows any reason why these two should not be
joined in marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Why would such a question be asked? (I used to think,
when attending a wedding back in the day.) But now I wonder - what would God
think? Would God bless the marriage of every couple brought before Him?
These days, especially, it is impossible to say that He
would, or even could.
Jesus alludes to man’s perversion of marriage by what He
teaches us in Matthew 19. There has been a move afoot in that culture in that
time to allow divorce for just about any reason. (Very similar to our “no-fault
divorce” provision.)
Jesus says, (and He is being tested here between two
divergent viewpoints – one conservative, and one liberal about divorce,) that
you have misunderstood marriage because you have misunderstood its design. In
saying this, there is also a plain indication you have misunderstood its Designer.
Can "one flesh" be divided any more than your body can be
torn apart? Can we depart from God’s design of marriage for any other reason than hard-heartedness toward God?
-Pastor Bill
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