TEXT: Matthew 5:31-32

SUBJECT: Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount #7: Marriage and Divorce

The Lord Jesus came "not to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them". This means--negatively--that He is not contradicting the Old Testament Scriptures. No One ever had more regard for them than He. It also means that He is not merely expounding them--giving their deeper sense. But--positively--He is filling the Law and Prophets to overflowing. What Moses began to teach, He brings to completion.

He began, with the law against murder. Moses forbade the act, He the attitudes that lie behind it. Next, He comes to adultery. Moses prohibited the act, He the lust that leads to it. Now, in vv.31-32, He addresses the subject of divorce.

He begins in the customary way: "Furthermore, it has been said, `Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce'".

It "has been said". Everyone had heard it said. But who said it? The best commentaries answer: "The Rabbis--especially Shammai and Hillel who wrote much on the subject about 50 years before". But I have a problem with the "best commentaries" on this point. The interpretation does not fit the pattern of our chapter. In vv.21,27,33,38,43, the Lord quotes from the Word of God--not the traditions of man. Thus, we must presume that "whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce" is also from the Scripture.

Is it? It is. Deuteronomy 24:1-4. "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, when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man's wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance".

Our text, of course, is not a direct quote, but it is a fair summary. Its implication: The Mosaic Law permitted divorce. It was not commanded, but it was allowed. Is this true? The Pharisees thought so. In 19:7 they asked, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce to put her away?" The Lord Jesus conceded their point. This is not all that Moses said on marriage and divorce (or even the most important thing)--but say it, he did. The Mosaic Law permitted divorce. Check Ezra 10:3,11 to find that--at times--it was even commanded.

For what cause was divorce permitted? In Deuteronomy 24:1, the cause is "some uncleanness". What does this mean? The word "uncleanness" is used often in the Old Testament, normally in a sexual context. Thus, some Rabbis (e.g., Shammai) taught that divorce was allowed only for the cause of infidelity. But others (e.g., Hillel) would allow it for lesser causes. Some went so far as to justify divorce on the grounds that your wife burned your dinner! Who's right? It seems that the more liberal rabbis were closer to the truth than their stricter brethren. Why? Because if "uncleanness" means "sexual misconduct", divorce became unnecessary. Why? Because fornication and adultery were punishable by death! (see Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22).

Moreover, Deuteronomy 24:3 adds a second reason why a man may put away his wife. "If he detests her..." A man might well hate his wife without charging her with infidelity. He was permitted a divorce, too.

In sum: the Mosaic Law permitted divorce.

This divorce, however, required "a certificate". This was an official document drawn up (often by a priest or Levite) and signed by 2 or 3 witnesses. Its goal? To reduce the number of divorces. How would it do so? In two ways, at least:

The "certificate of divorce", therefore, was never meant to encourage divorce--or make it easy--but to deter it.

"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".

Moses allowed divorce for any cause--the Lord Jesus allows it for no cause but "sexual immorality". He does not command the betrayed husband to divorce his wife, but He does permit him to do so. Also, the "sexual immorality" is not a one-time act (though this is very bad), but a habit of infidelity. It brings to mind Hosea's wife, Gomer, whose heart was never faithful to her husband. In 19:9, the Lord uses nearly identical words: "Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery...

This brings up an important question of interpretation. In Mark 10:11, the Lord forbids all divorce: "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her". It leaves out the crucial "exception clause"--"except for sexual immorality".

In I Corinthians 7:15, another "exception" is added, "desertion". "But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases..."

The range is given: No divorce at all. No divorce, except for sexual immorality. No divorce except for desertion. Which is true? "Every word of God is pure". All of them are true. But how can they be harmonized? By this simple rule: the fuller revelation adds to the lesser revelation. An example: If you asked me "What did you do last Sunday?" I might answer: "I went to church". But later, you overhear me saying, "Last Sunday, I went to a friend's house for dinner". Ah ha!--you've caught me in a lie! Or have you? Of course you haven't. The two are not incompatible. Neither are the Scripture passages I have cited.

"No divorce" means "No divorce except in cases of sexual immorality and/or the final desertion of an unbelieving spouse".

In this way, He came "not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it". Moses promoted the sanctity of marriage by demanding "a certificate of divorce". The Lord Jesus upgrades it further by prohibiting all divorce save in the most extreme circumstances. And "extreme" is defined by Him and not by an angry husband or a disappointed wife!

Why should he be so reluctant to divorce his wife? The latter half of v.32 explains: "...(he) causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery".

The Lord Jesus "knows our frames; He remembers that we are but dust". He understands that most people will not live the single/celibate life. At least not very well. He knows that many will fall into fornication. And this, of course, is a damnable sin. How does this relate to what precedes it? Like this: If a man divorces his wife for burning his toast, she is still his wife. Thus, when she takes up with another man, she is committing adultery. As is the "other man". Hence, one man's intolerance has implicated two others in the gross sin of adultery. In other words, he "has caused these little ones to stumble". It would be better, therefore, "if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he was drowned in the depths of the sea..." To borrow from another place, he has "destroyed those for whom Christ died". And this is shamefully selfish.

If what the Lord has said is true--and it is--how must we married people live? Is it fine to live any way we please, so long as we don't divorce "for just any old cause"? It is not. If we mustn't divorce, we must do everything we can to make our marriages happy. It is, after all, unhappy marriages that end in divorce. How do we do this? There is no set of rules that guarantee a happy marriage. But there is an attitude. What is it? Unselfishness. The only way to make your wife happy is to put her interests above your own. The only way to make your husband happy is to put his interests above your own. The Word commands it. "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, esteem others better than yourself". The Example urges it. The Lord Jesus "girded a towel about His waist...and washed the feet of His disciples". The danger of divorce compels it. Let us, therefore, be up and doing it.