The Issue of Divorce in Matthew 5:31-32

As our Sunday School class continues to go through the Sermon on the Mount I'll continue posting texts from it and also some exegesis of those texts with application. As in all my posts, the text will come from the HCSB version of Scripture unless I say otherwise.

Divorce is a serious issue today, one that most people don't want to talk about. Many, many people in our churches are divorced, and many of them have been remarried. Much of the time it seems that the people in our churches who have been divorced and remarried don't think much of it. They don't consider it having been a sin. To be sure, there are some situations where divorce is not a sin, but most of the time those who have had a divorce didn't get it for the reasons Scripture allows. That being said, Jesus addresses one of those issues here in Matthew five, and also in Matthew 19. Paul mentions another issue in 1 Corinthians 7, and to deal with the whole counsel of the subject and what the Bible teaches on it in the New Testament, I'll touch on all of three passages. First however, since we are in the Sermon on the Mount, I'll deal with Matthew five.

Matthew 5:31 "It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.
Matthew 5:32 But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except in a case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Jesus quotes the Old Testament here, referencing Moses's command on divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1. It goes along with the rest of the citations He makes in this part of the Sermon. Jesus has a pattern of mentioning an Old Testament command, and then giving the true intention of the commands. In this way, He corrects the understanding of the people and religious leaders of the day. Not to murder was not enough; getting angry at your brother is also wrong (this of course being a non-righteous anger). Not committing adultery was not enough; entertaining the thoughts of adultery were equal to committing adultery in one's heart. Now we arrive at the instructions related to divorce.

Here, as before, when Jesus makes a quote from the Old Testament, He does so to correct the mindset of his hearers. I've addressed the wrong midsets above for the other passages in Matthew five that have lead up to this point; now I do so here.

Jesus follows on the coatails of his pervious statement talking about adultery. It is no coincidence that the preceding verses address adultery and now Jesus mentions it in the context of divorce. Remember: context rules our interpretation. Jesus has said that adultery is sin, and his hears would agree with that of course, since He cited one of the Ten Commandments. He then goes on to inform them that adultery is not just the act, but the desire to commit the act. Now, He states that divorce is ALSO adultery -- unless adultery it has already happened.

The reason is described below.

Matthew 19:3 Some Pharisees approached Him to test Him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds?"
Matthew 19:4 "Haven't you read," He replied, "that He who created them in the beginning made them male and female,
Matthew 19:5 and He also said: For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?
Matthew 19:6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate."
Matthew19:7 "Why then," they asked Him, "did Moses command us to give divorce papers and to send her away?"
Matthew 19:8 He told them, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts. But it was not like that from the beginning.
Matthew 19:9 And I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery."

In this passage, the Pharisees bring up the Deuteronomy passage that Jesus cited earlier. Jesus appeals ever farther back than Deuteronomy, back to Genesis, when He gives the real designs for divorce. When God designed marriage, it didn't have in it the loophole for divorce. God designed marriage to be a permanent relationship until death, and anything less insults marriage and the One Who designed it. When Jesus appealed to Genesis, the Pharisees asked Him why it was permitted at all, and Jesus responded that it was the "hardness of their hearts." Furthermore, after saying that, He makes a very clear statement by saying, "but it was not like that from the beginning." Since it was not like this from the beginning, then to get a divorce would be to sin, because it violates God's standard for marriage. The text is clear.

This was an extremely important teaching during Jesus's time, especially when a woman's means of support was almost exclusively that of her husband. If she were to get divorced, she'd likely be left with nothing, and would probably just be forced into another man's arms to be married just so she could survive. Jesus makes it clear that this woman commits adultery when she does get remarried -- and her husband who divorced her shares the blame. Further, when the husband divorces his wife he is also guilty of adultery when he marries another. However unpopular and cutting this teaching is, it is that simple, and we mustn't try to get around it.

Now, we must ask -- when is divorce permitted? Jesus appears to be giving an exception, right? Here is the thing -- if adultery has already taken place, that is, if a marriage was going on and one of the partners were to commit adultery, then it wouldn't be a sin for the divorce to happen. However, let this be known -- this exception is not a command. More times than I can remember God refers to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament as an adulterous nation because they rejected Him, and even though He judged them, He was still gracious to them, bringing back a remnant to the land. Given this, even though adultery was a sin, divorce does not NEED to follow it. It just means that, since adultery has already taken place, then the sin is done. The divorce then would not cause it to happen, since it already has.

Now, there is one other passage in the New Testament that gives grounds for a divorce, and it is in the writings of Paul.

1 Corinthians 7:10 I command the married--not I, but the Lord--a wife is not to leave her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:11 But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband--and a husband is not to leave his wife.
1 Corinthians 7:12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is willing to live with him, he must not leave her.
1 Corinthians 7:13 Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he is willing to live with her, she must not leave her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the Christian husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
1 Corinthians 7:15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to peace.
1 Corinthians 7:16 For you, wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Or you, husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?
1 Corinthians 7:17 However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches.

Paul may have been meaning the very command that Jesus mentioned before in Matthew. Remember: the adultery doesn't happen until a remarriage happens from what Jesus was saying, even though the divorce itself was a sin. This is probably why Paul says that the Lord indicated a wife must not leave her husband and vice versa, but if they do, then remain unmarried or be reconciled to each other. It would be best if the wrong were to be righted (they get back together), but at the very least, do not fall into more sin (by marrying someone else and thus committing adultery).

Now, Paul goes on to give another reason how marriage can be ended without sin to the believer. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for one marriage partner to become a Christian and the other not. Of course, Paul indicates the possibility that the converted spouse's witness could be the factor God uses to convert the other (and even the children), but sometimes that is not the case. Sometimes, the unbelieving spouse will leave, and Paul indicates here that the believer who was left is not bound in such cases. However, note this important distinction: it is the nonbeliever who leaves here, and not the believer. Even if a Christian ends up in a marriage with a non-Christian, the Christian is not permitted to leave. Now, if the non-believer leaves, the marriage then is permitted to end according to the apostle Paul.

Note this as well -- some argue that this is Paul's personal opinion when he says that he, not the Lord, is the authoriy in the above passage. This is a WRONG idea to be sure; as I noted before, Paul is likely making reference to something that Jesus had said. Therefore, he would be saying "the Lord Jesus said this" about the first two verses I cited. The rest is not a direct reference to something Jesus had said, so then these are Paul's words, and not Jesus's. This is NOT to say that somehow what Paul is saying here is less than inspired.

So then, what about remarriage in situations where a divorce took place because of adultery or because the non-believer left? Some argue that in such cases it would be permitted, because the marriage ended in a way that Scripture allowed. The argument goes that because of Paul's use of the word "unmarried" throughout chapter 7, and since it can refer to someone never having been married or someone who was divorced, then if the marriage ends in a way the Bible permits, it would be fine if the people who were divorced ended up getting remarried; in other words, there would be no sin in it.

It seems that this argument has a lot of weight to it. I had never considered it until recently, and to be honest, I'm still thinking about it. :) However, even if it is true (and I suspect it is), that doesn't take care of the problem that is going on in the body of Christ today with divorce. Most divorces do NOT take place because either there was an adulterous relationship or a non-Christian spouse left. Rather, most divorces end up resulting in adultery because remarriage takes place as I described above.

What we need to do as the Church of Jesus Christ is recognize that we have sinned in all of this divorce and remarriage. That is not to say I am suggesting that the new marriages already formed (when people who were divorced remarry) come to an end; I am NOT saying that at all. However, I *am* saying that the church as a whole needs to remember this is sin, and those who have taken part in it ought to repent of it, not making excuses for their sin by trying to explain it away. Further, divorce by and large needs to stop in the body of Christ, and these two Scriptural exceptions should be the only time it is allowed.

In short, if you have ever had a divorce and it was not because of your spouse committing adultery, and it wasn't because your spouse was not a believer and left, then you sinned.

If then you got remarried, and your previous unbelieving spouse leaving wasn't the cause of your divorce, and your spouse having committed adultery wasn't the cause of the divorce -- then you committed adultery when you get remarried.

That is the teaching of the Scripture, and it is about time we starting believing what the Bible said about it again and obeying it.

For the Glory of Jesus Alone.