Back to Genesis on the Issue of Divorce

Mt. 19:1-12
KV 19:4; “Haven't you read?”

The Pharisees brought the century-old issue of divorce to Jesus asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” It was not something that can be answered by a few sentences. Nonetheless Jesus turned to the story of Genesis. Jesus did not render his legal opinion on the issue. Rather he appealed to them with the first marriage between Adam and Eve. Divorce had never been an option in the first marriage.

When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan (Mt. 19:1). Having completed his Galilean ministry, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem (Lk. 9:51; 20:17, 29; 21:1). It was the road of no return. In Jerusalem, he would suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and would be killed (Mt. 16:21). Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there (Mt. 19:2). Although his task was heavy, Jesus willingly healed them all, welcoming needy little ones and serving them on the way to Jerusalem. Jesus looked into the interest of others despite his own needs.

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason? (Mt. 19:3)" It was a loaded question. There was no simple answer for this. Any meaningful debate might take days, years and even a decade. In fact, the topic is still a mind-boggling issue even after two millenniums have passed. At the time of Jesus there were largely two schools of thoughts. The Rabbi Hillel was responsible for much of the Mishnah and Talmud, the Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures. Shammai was another famous Rabbi. He took a stricter stance, and contradicted Hillel on a few points. One of them was the practical application of divorce in the Scriptures, specifically Moses' writing. Divorce clearly existed in the covenant community of Israel. The question was on what grounds was divorce permitted? Hillel taught that a man could divorce his wife for any and every reason, even including burning his dinner. Shammai taught that divorce had to be a serious offense such as sexual immorality. Although they died before Jesus began his public ministry (Hillel 10AD, Shammai 30AD), the differing positions between these two leading Rabbis was of much debate among the religious leaders. The Pharisees expected that Jesus would give more insight towards the reasons for divorce.

Before Jesus answered the question of the Pharisees, he started with the story in Genesis. Here again Jesus did not resort to his own thought. Before he took that path and reasoned with them, he first referred to the Scriptures. He reminded them of what the Scripture would say about the issue. Needless to say, the Pharisees all knew and had studied Genesis. “‘Haven't you read,’ he replied, ‘that at the beginning the Creator `made them male and female,' and said, `For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'” (Mt. 19:4, 5)? The quote consists of two parts. The first one is what God did during the creation. God created two opposite sexes, not one sex. God made them attractive each other. God designed them to pursue each other and be satisfied. To some degree they enjoy the shadow of God's love through mutual romance. God paved the way for millions of love stories between man and woman. The second one is what the author interpreted. The male and female are the foundation for marriage. After they get married, they become one flesh. Physically they still remain as a separate body after the marriage. But the author saw the harmony and unity in the marriage and even considered them one flesh. More importantly he saw the life-long commitment in the marriage. It was Moses who wrote this. In light of this, divorce was never an option. Moses never entertained divorce when he described marriage in paradise. It was impossible. Divorce is like cutting half of one's own flesh. No one would dare to divorce their spouse if they had to face cutting of half of their flesh.

The two verses in Genesis were the basis of Jesus' answer. Before Jesus debated on the Moses' law, he resorted to Genesis. When the Pharisees debated on the divorce they were aware of Genesis and probably brought it up among themselves. They acknowledged the purpose of marriage in light of Genesis. But they were caught up with practical matters. After many debates there was a consensus among the Pharisees that divorce was legal. The only remaining issue was the reasons for divorce. By that time they completely put aside the original purpose of marriage in Genesis and considered it of no value for further debates. Jesus, however, resorted to Genesis and drew a conclusion based on Genesis. So they are no longer two, but one. Jesus said simply, “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Mt. 19:6). Jesus viewed marriage as holy, an institution of God. When we think about how two come together, we notice cases where God is not involved. For example, a couple could get married by Buddhist monks who are atheists. And the marriage develops in so many varieties that Jesus’ statement appears invalid in those cases. The jurisdiction of the law would seem to be invalid over an atheist couple. But Jesus did not make his declaration conditional. Jesus unilaterally declared that the marriage between male and female is done by God and is irrevocable under any circumstance. So any claim that the marriage outside the faith is nullified is against Jesus' view.

If the Pharisees had honored Moses, they should have honored Genesis. They should have understood Jesus' position in this matter and stopped further debate. Instead they challenged Jesus' position by invoking the Moses' command on divorce. "‘Why then’, they asked, ‘did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away (Mt. 19:7)?’" Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning (Mt. 19:8)." Jesus acknowledged Moses' command on divorce. Jesus did not claim that it was illegal. He only added comments that it was inevitable under the circumstance. Although Moses knew that the divorce was not ideal, Moses had to permit the divorce to keep his community as legal society. So he legalized the process of divorce.

When Adam and Eve got married, there was no need for marriage certificate. God's blessing and witness were sufficient to prove that they were a couple. When Moses led his people out of Egypt, there were six hundred thousands men (Num 1:46). It was necessary for a couple to have marriage certificate. The marriage became a legal issue in the society. They could no longer rely solely on one's claim and several witnesses. The married status had to be documented and recorded. It was used to validate their marriage. As their number increased, there were all kinds of problems among the married people. Some began to squabble and lived separately and they desired permanent separation. They pursued divorce as the best solution. When Moses faced divorce as the supreme judge over millions of people, he had several options. He could reject the divorce and enforce union at any cost. He could have imprisoned those until they would change their mind. He could dismiss the case and let them do whatever they wanted. He could cast them out of the community.

Moses came up with a solution. He required men to provide a certificate of divorce. Moses did so for two reasons. He understood the wickedness and mistakes of human beings. He could no longer force a couple to be together when they could no longer tolerate each other. He could no longer force a couple to remain together when living together was a hell rather than a paradise. More importantly, he wanted to protect the women who were divorced. The women of Moses' day were weak and vulnerable. When a husband didn't like his wife, he could simply dismiss her, without any accountability. Moses put a requirement that a certificate had to be issued first. This was to protect the woman's dignity. Such a woman could then remarry, and a man could marry her without being charged with adultery (Lev. 21:7). Although Moses understood the meaning of marriage in principle where divorce was not an option, Moses also understood the legal issue of marriage in the society where making divorce illegal was not an option. He had to make a compromise as the head of the nation at the time. His position was acceptable and sustainable for the nation where his people could still remain as a citizen even after the divorce.

Jesus was not the head of the nation and had no burden of ruling on the divorce in civil cases. In other words, Jesus did not give a legal opinion on the divorce in any organization. As the king in the kingdom of God, he taught the principle based on Genesis so that his people who loved the truth would follow it from their hearts. That's why he resorted to Genesis and gave his answer that divorce was not an option. After marriage, no man can separate. It is against God's will. So Jesus' position on divorce should not be constituted as a legal opinion to illegalize it in the society. Otherwise there will be a backfire. Henry VIII in England is the case in point. He was attractive, educated and an accomplished king in his prime. When his wife Catherine was unable to produce an heir for him, he considered many options. He ended up pursuing divorce mainly because he was infatuated with Anne Boleyn. Eventually, he divorced Catherine and got married with Anne against the opinion of Rome, then the head of the church. Then Pope Clement excommunicated Henry and made the marriage with Anne null. His declaration was based on the Jesus’ teaching on one part, but was also highly motivated by the political climate of the time on the other. His hard position soured the Catholic Church’s relation with England, which forced England to leave the Catholic Church and to found a new Anglican Church with Henry VIII as the head of the church. When Pope Clement exercised his legal opinion on the divorce as the head of the church, he ended up losing the majority of his own church in England. Although he expressed the opinion of Christ, because of his political position at the time, Pope should have followed the advice of Moses, not that of Jesus if he had desired to keep his church intact and save the lives of many priests. Jesus' teaching on divorce was not a legal matter.

Yet, Jesus' position on divorce was strong, stronger than that of Shammai. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery (Mt. 19:9). This echoes his earlier teachings on the same subject. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery (Mt. 5:31-32). By relating the marriage after the divorce to adultery, Jesus made such divorce the violation of the Ten Commandments. So the divorce was against the law of God. In both teachings, he admitted an exception to this rule, the marital unfaithfulness related to sexual immorality. Nonetheless, it is hard to mandate Jesus' rule on divorce to everyone. So the disciples expressed their concerns. They said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry (Mt. 19:10)." They addressed the other side of his teaching on divorce. Nobody has any experience of marriage before marriage. At the same time failure is not an option. So it will take a century to make a decision to marry, which is impractical in human society. No followers of Jesus will get married for fear of breaking his teaching and no descendants will be produced in Christian society. Jesus left this matter open. Most likely Jesus felt that he spoke enough on the subject. If there is any issue remaining, they should return to Genesis. On the other hand Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given (Mt. 19:11)."

The Pharisees posed a legal question on divorce. Jesus countered it by sharing the old story in Genesis. The Pharisees knew the story of the first marriage, but never imagined that it would be practical to implement in the society, even among God's people. Jesus did not contend their position as a legal matter. Jesus acknowledged it as permissible as Moses had commanded. On the other hand Jesus believed that the perfect union would be possible in his kingdom. He envisioned the restoration of marriage as God had instituted in the paradise. He resorted to Genesis for this.