The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at Him. Then He said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honours is detestable in the sight of God. Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in. But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned. For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery. And anyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
Luke 16:14-18
This verse is interesting, in that as I have told you before (Gem 1065), in the other Gospels the divorce issue is found in a much longer setting. In Matthew it is in 19:3-12 and in Mark it’s found in 10:1-12. Here, the single sentence is on its own in the midst of the other verses we have been looking at, and in the midst of stories or parables related to riches and their uses. That is interesting. Notice too how the verse begins. “For example . . . ” Again, let me remind you of the fact that we have a segment in these five verses which has been the subject of much debate as to their purpose. Why are these seemingly disconnected verses grouped together? Is there any reason why they are together? Many commentators think we have an eclectic set of verses which don’t actually belong together, but rather have been jammed together as a hotch-potch of leftover ideas and disconnected thoughts. Why then, would Jesus (as I have told you, I suspect it is Jesus doing this and not a result of Luke’s editorial work) make this statement here? Especially when He doesn’t elaborate on the matter and just leaves it hanging. Has He indeed just plucked it out of the air, devoid of context and come out with it here for no reason?
The other pericopes where this notion is found are as follows:
“It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unfaithfulness, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Matthew 5:31-32
Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 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’? “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. “For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”
Matthew 19:3-12
Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. “But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. And He *said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”
Mark 10:2-12
For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery. And anyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
Luke 16:18
The idea is the same across Matthew, Mark and Luke but with some subtle differences. Notice in Luke’s account there is no mention of exceptions, i.e. in the case of adultery. Notice too, the man can commit adultery against the woman and the woman can divorce the man. What we see in these verses is that Jesus has made statements that are uniformly applied across the board.
- Men divorcing women; women divorcing men.
- Men committing adultery against women; women committing adultery against men.
That was unheard of. It was only a man who had the right to divorce (or send away, put away, dismiss, let go, loose) a woman. That a woman could do it to a man was shocking. Matthew 19 states it clearly that once married, in God’s eyes always married. The marriage relationship is a picture of God’s relationship with Israel. Always one. There is much that could be said about this but I won’t say it. Why? Because it is clear in this passage in Luke, that the subject of divorce is not the main point; rather it is an example. There is no Old Testament Law which states anything about the terms for release from Marriage. That is because it was never God’s intention. Once married; always married. As Jesus said in both passages above from Matthew and Mark in response to their question: “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?”
Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were in the habit of discussing this issue at length and coming up with a list of procedures and exceptions to the Laws of God. There is nothing coming out of the Old Testament from God’s point of view that allows for divorce. Pharisaic rules and regulations were heavily weighted in favour of the male. Jesus is not the same. Even in Luke’s short clipped verse, the construction “a woman divorced from her husband” is not passive. – I.e., Having been divorced by her husband. Rather, it is a perfect tense – she divorced some time in the past and is still in the state of being divorced. She could have divorced him or he her, that fact is not stated. Simply she is divorced.
It is worth me stating at this point that the adultery mentioned, is adultery against the first marriage not the second. I.e. In God’s eyes the first marriage has not been dissolved, annulled or put aside. The union was made in heaven. It will always be because man can’t separate it; only God can and He won’t.
Many of us read these verses and conclude that a woman is disadvantaged because her husband has divorced her and so she is stuck forever unable to marry. No, the sense of this verse is purely and simply that God never intended divorce. The weight of the example is such that the Pharisees themselves have come up with the rules and written regulations to worm their way around the immutable Law of God. The heart and intention of the Pharisees was skewed heavily toward the man and not the woman. God is not like that!
Take note of the passage from John 7:53 – 8:11. This passage of the woman caught in adultery reveals something of the heart of God in all of this talk of divorce and adultery and remarriage. Note that it was only the woman who was brought before the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. She was caught red-handed but only she was dragged before them to be stoned. That just plain doesn’t make sense. If you are caught in the act of adultery (intercourse) then there has to have been a bloke there as well. Where is he? See how skewed the way of thinking was at the time. Again, stacked against women. However, Jesus accepts her as she is and forgives her. He forgives her adultery and one would think he would also forgive her divorcing and remarrying and divorcing again. Oh, of course that is not stated. But His comment in other sections is “Moses allowed you to apply these rules because of your hard hearts (hard Pharisaical hearts). Go and sin no more. Live life according to God’s plan. If and when you marry again, hopefully you will have learned enough to know you ought to stay married.”
I am sure my comments here will stir up a hornets nest for those of you who lean more heavily toward Law than Grace. I will await the fallout. Next Gem we will look at how this segment goes together and why. I trust you have seen some clues to the puzzle already.
First some divorce funnies:
He taught me housekeeping; when I divorced I kept the house.
Zsa Zsa Gabor
I don’t think I’ll get married again; I’ll just find a woman I don’t like and give her a house.
Grouch Marx
Many a man in love with a dimple makes the mistake of marrying the whole girl.
Stephen Leacock
Then some deeper truths:
Marriage is God’s way of killing our ego.
Philip Wagner
In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce. The trick is to find and continue to find grounds for marriage.
Robert Anderson
To get a divorce because we run out of love is like selling a car when it runs out of gas.
Holy Wagner
You can never be happily married to another until you get a divorce from yourself. Successful marriage demands a certain death to self.
Jerry McCant
It is not marriage that fails; it is people that fail. All that marriage does is to show people up.
Harry Emerson Fosdick