Jesus Teaches His Kingdom Citizens about Divorce

Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32. He teaches this to protect women from easy divorcism.

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biblegateway.com

In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!

Matthew 5

In this post, links are provided for further study.

Let’s begin.

Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32

³¹ It has been said, “Anyone who divorces his wife should give her a certificate of divorce.” [Deut. 24:1] ³² But I tell you that everyone divorcing his wife except for the cause of sexual sin makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (Matt. 5:31-32)

Third Antithesis: “You have heard it said … but I tell you.” See v. 20 for more comments. As noted, the antitheses are the intensification of some elements of the Torah (Osborne, p. 189).

Recall Jeremiah 31:33 quoted at the top of this post. In the New Covenant, Jesus is going right to the heart, which is better than the Sinai Covenant.

31-32:

Jesus introduces the exception clause in divorce: except for the cause of sexual sin (porneia, pronounced pohr-nay-ah). Mark 10:11-12 and Luke 16:18 do not have this exception. Here, one reason for divorce is allowed.

In the church today, each couple or the single divorcee must get counsel from wise leaders in the church who can look at the unique set of circumstances.

Here is the marriage covenant, as Jesus teaches it in Matt. 19:3-6:

Matthew 19

This illustration shows that God oversees the marriage covenant between a man and a woman. God ordains the covenant, as Jesus said, referring to the original couple in vv. 3-6. So marriage is not limited to two persons (man and woman) but between three persons (God, man, and woman). However, if a man divorces his wife for an unbiblical reason, this does not mean that he necessarily breaks his standing in the New Covenant, but he does break his covenant with his wife, a covenant that God set up. So divorce, even for a biblical reason, must be done with utmost caution and with the kingdom community’s guidance or pastoral guidance.

Bottom line: Marriage is a covenant not only between the man and the woman, but between God, the man and the woman. Involve God in your marriage. If you do not, then sin may enter and destroy the covenant, and civilly legal divorce may ensue.

Bible Basics about Covenants

Word Study on Covenant

Go to church, get counseling, and pray! Divorce—breaking the three-person covenant—is the last resort!

My fuller comments have moved to this post:

Brief Overview of Divorce and Remarriage in New Testament

GrowApp for Matt. 5:31-32

1.. If you got a divorce or someone has divorced you, how has God forgiven you (if sin is involved)?

2.. How has he redeemed your life and given you a fresh start? What is your story?

9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel

1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel

2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels

1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series