Jesus on Divorce

Yesterday we read a large section from the Sermon on the Mount.  It was too large, in fact, to adequately comment on all of it.  Normally I take this in stride, but yesterday’s text makes that a bit harder.  Yesterday we read Jesus’ words on divorce from the Sermon on the Mount, namely, that anyone who divorces his wife makes her commit adultery and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.  I think this needs to be commented on for three reasons.

First, divorce causes a lot of pain and guilt for everyone involved.  I have heard David Gravelly (a local divorce lawyer) say that the best divorce is terrible, and it only gets worse from there.  Second, culturally we have tried to salve the pain caused by divorce by minimalizing it.  From no fault divorce laws to sitcoms that treat divorce like its just a small hiccup that you have to get over in order to move on with your life after your relationship has lost its passion, the cultural megaphone proclaims that divorce is no big deal.  In reality, divorce is not only a big deal morally, but it causes untold pain for everyone involved no matter how far gone the marriage was in the first place.  Finally, I know many many Christians who have been through divorces whether before they came to faith or after.  Reading these texts can make them feel like they are unforgivable.  More than that, if they have remarried or desire to remarry, they don’t know how to handle Jesus’ words without feeling eternally guilty.  To add on to these cultural grapplings with divorce, most Christian denominations have either handled divorce with kid gloves or boxing gloves.  They either affirm unconditionally anyone who has gone through the pain of divorce without confrontation for their own sinfulness, or they treat them as if they have, in fact, committed the unforgivable sin.  I want to try and walk between these to positions by confronting divorce with what I believe is the truth, but provide hope and comfort from the Gospel.  If, therefore, you are divorced and while reading this you find something hard to swallow, I would encourage you to finish reading the whole article.

It is my desire that we will begin to think more consciously about divorce, and I think the place to start is with Jesus Himself.  Like I said, yesterday we read Matthew 5:31-32, where He says, “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”  Now, in order to understand this text, we need to look at two things.  First, we need to look at the background of what Jesus is saying.  Second, we need to read everything Jesus has said about divorce.

So, what is the background of Jesus’ statement here on divorce?  Well, Jesus is entering into what was a cultural, moral, and religious debate in his day.  While divorce is mentioned in the Old Testament law, it is only dealt with casuistically.  In other words, the Law only deals with situations that arise from divorce, it doesn’t talk deal with the particulars of divorce itself.  It doesn’t answer the questions of what are permissible grounds for divorce, who gets the kids, etc..  So, Bible scholars were left to infer the answers to these questions from the scattered references to divorce.

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On the Old Testament

Often times contemporary Christians have a view of the Old Testament which is not found in either Christian Tradition or the Scriptures.  Paul says that all Scripture is theopneustos, literally, God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16).  We would do well to head this warning from bishop J.C. Ryle and remember that the Old Testament is every bit as inspired as the New, and just as necessary for our spiritual well-being.  Remember, the New Testament had not yet been written when Jesus said, “Man cannot live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father.”

“The Lord Jesus came to fulfill the predictions of the prophets, who had long foretold that a Savior would one day appear. He came to fulfill the ceremonial law, by becoming the great sacrifice for sin, to which all the Mosaic offerings had ever pointed. He came to fulfill the moral law, by yielding to it a perfect obedience, which we could never have yielded–and by paying the penalty for our breach of it with His atoning blood, which we could never have paid. In all these ways He exalted the law of God, and made its importance more evident even than it had been before. In a word, “He magnified the law and made it honorable.” (Isaiah 42:21.)

There are deep lessons of wisdom to be learned from these words of our Lord. Let us consider them well, and lay them up in our hearts.

Let us beware of despising the Old Testament under any pretense whatever. Let us never listen to those who bid us throw it aside as an obsolete, antiquated, useless book. The religion of the Old Testament is the embryo of Christianity. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the bud. The New Testament is the Gospel in full flower. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the blade. The New Testament is the Gospel in full ear. The saints in the Old Testament saw many things through a glass darkly. But they all looked by faith to the same Savior, and were led by the same Spirit as ourselves. These are no light matters. Much infidelity begins with an ignorant contempt of the Old Testament.

Let us, for another thing, beware of despising the law of the Ten Commandments. Let us not suppose for a moment that it is set aside by the Gospel, or that Christians have nothing to do with it. The coming of Christ did not alter the position of the Ten Commandments one hair’s breadth. If anything, it exalted and raised their authority. (Rom. 3:31.) The law of the Ten Commandments is God’s eternal measure of right and wrong. By it, is the knowledge of sin. By it, the Spirit shows men their need of Christ, and drives them to Him. To it, Christ refers His people as their rule and guide for holy living. In its right place it is just as important as “the glorious Gospel.” It cannot save us. We cannot be justified by it. But never, never let us despise it. It is a symptom of an ignorant and unhealthy state of religion, when the law is lightly esteemed. The true Christian “delights in God’s law.” (Rom. 7:22.)

In the last place, let us beware of supposing that the Gospel has lowered the standard of personal holiness, and that the Christian is not intended to be as strict and particular about his daily life as the Jew. This is an immense mistake, but one that is unhappily very common. So far from this being the case, the sanctification of the New Testament saint ought to exceed that of him who has nothing but the Old Testament for his guide. The more light we have, the more we ought to love God. The more clearly we see our own complete and full forgiveness in Christ, the more heartily ought we to work for His glory. We know what it cost to redeem us far better than the Old Testament saints did. We have read what happened in Gethsemane and on Calvary, and they only saw it dimly and indistinctly as a thing yet to come. May we never forget our obligations! The Christian who is content with a low standard of personal holiness has got much to learn.” 

from J.C. Ryle http://www.gracegems.org/Ryle/m05.htm

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