Is It Lawful to Divorce?
Matthew 19:3-8; 1 Corinthians 7:10-11
Ps Paw Liang
What are some stories of divorce have you encountered? What do you
think? Should the couples restore their marriages? Should they dissolve? Why?
To understand Jesus’ teaching, first we need to understand the
context. In the ancient Jewish culture only the husband could divorce their
wives. But in the Hellenistic culture both parties could call off their
marriages. Divorces were very common. There were two school of thoughts in the
Jewish communities: 1. Conservative’s View –Shimmai was a bit more cautious.
They taught a husband could divorce the wife if there was a sexual
infidelity. 2. Liberal’s View—Hillel;
husbands could divorce their wives for some simple reasons eg the wife burnt
the bread, etc.
Jesus is much stricter than the Jewish’s customs. He refers to God’s
ideal of marriage. Marriage is a covenant relationship. God’s ideal for this
covenant is for life. But, because of humans’ weaknesses—the concession has
been made: “Moses permitted you to
divorce your wives because your heart was hard.
But it was not this way from the beginning.” (Mat 19:8)
Second, we need to pay attention to Jesus’s style of speech. Jesus
often uses ‘hyperbole.” Craig Keener, a New Testament Theologian says that
Jesus warns His followers not to easily break up a marriage. We all should
value and be committed to marriage. For this, He has applied “hyperbole”
saying, “therefore what God has joined together, LET no one separate.” This is
to highlight that Marriage should not be dissolved easily BUT It is not
impossible to dissolve a marriage when either party break the covenant. Divorce should always be the last resort and be taken cautiously.
Marriage as Covenant. A
Covenant needs two parties. A follower
of Jesus should work hard to preserve their marriage. One person working hard
can often lead to the restoration of the marriage, but it is not
guaranteed. The other partner has their
own will and still choose to do the wrong thing. Paul made it explicit in 1 Cor 17—in the case when the spouse is an
unbeliever and can’t observe Jesus’ teachings. But sometimes, when the spouse
is a Christian similar things could happen when one party keeps doing the wrong
thing to hurt the other party.
Jesus’s Heart is for people.
And the Law is made for people – to protect from further harm.
I tell you that anyone divorces his wife, except for marital
unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery. (19:11) The Greek
word for “unfaithful” is broader than “adultery”—which means the problem should
be even more serious than adultery. Very often in Jesus’ time, the husband
would divorce his wife when he intended to marry another woman. Herod divorced
his wife, so he could marry Herodias. Jesus considers this kind of divorce and
remarry is adulterous. Both Jesus and the Law hope to protect the wife who was
often the victim. Women in those days economically mostly were not independent.
Jesus is not making the matter worse for those who are divorced
against their own will. Insted, Jesus is challenging his followers
who do not give enough commitment to preserve or build their marriage.
God’s ideal is marriage is for life. In the case of
Malachi: “God hates divorce, because the Jews were taking divorce very lightly.
We need to read in context. For those who are struggling in their marriage or
have divorced especially if it was not their choice, let’s not make the matter
even more difficult for them or abused them. (plt)
#pltwrites
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