November 20, 2022
Gospel – 8/14/20 – Matthew 19:3-12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator 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.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
They said to him, “Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?”
He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him,
“If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can accept this word,
but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
Once again, Jesus bests the Pharisees and refuses to fall into their trap.
There were two sides in the argument for divorce.
One side says you could divorce a wife for any reason you chose.
The other said it must be very serious before you could divorce her.
Nothing about the woman here. What about her?
Jesus says there is no reason for divorce except for an unlawful union.
God intended marriage to be forever but man turned so far from God, Moses allowed divorce. But Jesus reminds them that from the beginning it was meant the two become one. You leave your home to begin a new life with your wife – forever.
I think Jesus would probably agree, some marriages should end. It was unlawful to cheat on your spouse, to beat your spouse, to ignore or mentally destroy them, etc. These are crimes against Heaven.
If you don’t do everything right, according to your spouse, is no reason for divorce.
He says the two are one. Women are equal to men.
You work things out – you don’t leave.
But as the pendulum swings, we go too far. Now both will leave for trivial reasons.
At least that’s what I heard Him say…
What I Heard Him Say 