"The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?'" (Matthew 19:3).
Jesus left Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan River. Great multitudes of people followed Him (Matt. 19:1-2). The Pharisees could not pass up the opportunity to discredit Jesus before the multitudes, so they asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"
Moses had given instructions regarding divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1. "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." What did Moses mean by "some uncleanness"? There were two schools of thought among the Jews regarding this question. The rabbinical school of Shammai took the conservative view and insisted that the "uncleanness" could only be fornication. The school of Hillel took the more liberal view and claimed the "uncleanness" could be anything; thus the question, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"
The Pharisees were hoping to place Jesus on the horns of a dilemma by asking Him the weigh-in on this controversy. They didn't really care which side Jesus took, just so long as He took one side, thus alienating Himself from those Jews who held the other view.
Although the purpose of this question was to test Jesus, His answer gives us the most concentrated teaching of our Lord on the subject of divorce and remarriage.
God Ordained Marriage
The Pharisees asked a question about divorce. Divorce is the means of dissolving a marriage. Jesus did not appeal to either rabbinical school to answer their question. To respond to their question about divorce, Jesus took them all the way back to the beginning and discussed God's plan for marriage.
"And He answered and said to them, 'Have you not read that He who made them at 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"'" (vv. 4-5)?
The Pharisees asked what was lawful. According to Jesus, any question regarding the lawfulness of divorce must be determined by looking at God's law for marriage. Also, according to Jesus, God's law for marriage was established at the "beginning" (Gen. 2:24), thus making it a universal law that transcends all dispensations and covenants. God has not surrendered His marriage law to any culture, society, courtroom or church. If we are going to participate in marriage, we must abide by God's law concerning marriage.
God Joins the Man and the Woman
Marriage is the joining together of one man and one woman. God is the one who does this joining - "therefore what God has joined together..." (v. 6). God will not join together those who are not valid candidates for marriage. For instance, these Scriptures do not allow two people of the same gender to be married to each other. While the courts of men are acknowledging and legitimizing same-sex marriage, the Bible plainly teaches that marriage is for "male and female."
Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman (Malachi 2:14). When a man and a woman enter into a marriage they exchange vows in which they promise to take the other as their spouse and to forsake all others until they are separated by death. God expects this agreement to be kept. A divorce occurs because one or both parties refuse to honor their commitment and keep their word.
The Pharisees asked if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason. Jesus answered in the negative: "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate" (v. 6). "Let not man separate" should be understood as "no man can separate." What man has the power to separate a bond that has been established by God? None. Thus it is not lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason.
Jesus' conclusion was understood by the Pharisees: it is not lawful to separate what God has joined together. This led them to ask about the certificate of divorce Moses mentioned in Deuteronomy 24. "They said to Him, 'Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?'" (Matt. 19:7).
Jesus corrected their understanding of this passage. "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so" (v. 8). Moses was not "commanding" them to divorce. The instructions given in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 were to regulate a practice the Israelites had already involved themselves in without God's permission. God "permitted" them to divorce their wives, but this was not a part of God's plan. God intended marriage to be for life (Rom. 7:1-3).
Divorce and Remarriage Results in Adultery
The question raised by the Pharisees did not concern a trivial matter of "who was right and who was wrong." There were serious spiritual consequences to those who did not properly interpret Deuteronomy 24. Jesus continued, "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery" (Matt. 19:9).
When a couple gets a divorce, in the eyes of man they are legally separated from one another and are free to marry again. However, according to Jesus, they are not separated from one another. They are still bound by God. This is why He says they commit adultery when they marry someone else.
Adultery is identified as sexual intercourse outside of an existing marriage bond. A remarriage would not be adultery if that old marriage bond did not exist. The fact that Jesus calls it adultery means the old marriage bond is still there. The couple may have gotten a divorce in the eyes of man, but in the eyes of God they are still bound to their old spouse. God sees the new marriage arrangement as a bed of adultery.
According to Jesus, there is only one exception to this rule: "except for sexual immorality." This is the only grounds upon which one can divorce their spouse and remarry. If one divorces their spouse for any other reason and marries again, they are in a sinful relationship; they are in adultery.
What happens if a person discovers they are in a marriage that Jesus describes as "adultery?" In order for one to be right with the Lord, they must end this sinful and adulterous relationship. King Herod was married to his brother Philip's wife. John the Baptist told him, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife" (Mark 6:18). He couldn't have her. He couldn't keep her. He had to give her up. God required the Jews of Ezra's day to give up their unlawful marriages and put away their wives (Ezra 9-10). God would require the same thing of those who are in adulterous marriages today.
Conclusion
Statistically, over half of all marriages end in divorce. Nearly seventy five percent of people who divorce will marry again. Half of all marriages today involve at least one spouse who has been married before. This tells us that many prospects for the gospel are in adulterous marriages. This is a very emotional issue, especially when children are involved, and strong emotions can cloud even the most basic and fundamental issues. This subject needs to be studied thoroughly, and the truth needs to be accepted, before emotions become an issue.