Some difficult words from Jesus on a difficult subject...

At the church where I serve, we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled Jesus uncut. During this series, we are spending our time together looking at perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, which is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. During this series, we are going to see Jesus reveal the true nature of what God demands of humanity in order to experience a right relationship with Him and what it truly means to obey the message and teachings of the letters that make up the Bible. And during this series, as we see Jesus uncut, our hope and prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in a way that enables us to wrap our heads, hearts, and hands around the lifestyle that Jesus calls us to live as one who is living in a right relationship with Him. 

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this famous sermon that Jesus preached, called the Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew, we are going to discover another timeless truth from Jesus uncut. So, let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Matthew 5:31:

"It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE';

As Matthew continues to give us a front row seat to this famous sermon that Jesus preached, we see Jesus quote from a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the Old Testament called the book of Deuteronomy. However, to fully understand why Jesus would quote this section of the book of Deuteronomy, we first need to understand something about what was happening in the culture of Jesus day and the context in which the book of Deuteronomy was written.

In Deuteronomy 24:1-4, we see the Lord, through Moses, address the issue of divorce that had begun to occur among the Jewish people. You see, during the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, divorce was purely a male prerogative. During the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, a divorce did not require a legal hearing. Instead, a divorce was simply the husband’s decision.

During the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, Jewish law made no provision for a woman to initiate a divorce and a woman had virtually no say in any divorce. In addition, during the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, women did not have the economic opportunities that they have today and were far more dependent on men for financial support and for survival.

Thus, if a woman found herself being divorced, her only options were to return to her parent’s home, become the husband of another man, or live in poverty. And because of the cultural context during the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day; and because of the divorces that were occurring during the time in which the book of Deuteronomy was written, as it was during Jesus day, the Lord addressed the issue of divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1-4.

While Jesus only quoted a section of these verses, the Jewish people listening to Jesus would have been familiar with the entire passage. Let’s look at the entire passage together, beginning in Deuteronomy 24:1-4:

"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 indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, ² and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, ³ and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, ⁴ then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

Here we see the God explain to the Jewish people that since they were already getting divorces, which went against God’s design for marriage, which is a covenant relationship between one man and one woman for one lifetime, then this was how they were to handle the issue of divorce. The Lord explained that if a man decided to divorce a woman, he was to write out a certificate of divorce to give to her.

This certificate of divorce was designed to protect the woman from any additional legal action against her by her former husband. The former husband could not accuse her of committing adultery if she was to be remarried, because he was the one who instituted the divorce. The Lord then explained that if the woman who was divorced remarried another man, and her second husband either divorced her or died, the first husband could not remarry her.

However, did you notice why the Lord said she could not remarry her first husband? The Lord explained that she could not remarry her first husband because she has been defiled. The word defiled was used in the language that this letter was originally written in to describe what happened when adultery occurred.

You see, the Lord viewed the woman’s remarriage after the first divorce as being similar to adultery in that the woman would be engaged in sexual activity with someone other than her first husband. So, if the woman remarried a man and then the second husband either divorced her or died, the first husband could not remarry her because he would be committing adultery with her, as she had entered into a marriage relationship with another man.

Thus, the Lord was establishing restrictions on the already existing practice of divorce that was occurring among the Jewish people so that divorce would not become too easy and abused so as to create a legalized form of adultery. However, the Jewish people of Jesus day had twisted and manipulated the Lord’s words through Moses in such a way that made it easy for people to get a divorce.

The Jewish people of Jesus day did what we all have a tendency to do, which is to only quote a part of what the message and teachings of Jesus have to say in order to justify behavior that may go against what the message and teachings of Jesus have to say. Thus, the Jewish people would only quote the first part of the passage in order to justify getting a divorce for any number of reasons.

Now for those in the crowd listening to Jesus sermon, no one would be surprised at Jesus words here because they had heard this phrase used in order to justify divorce. For those in the crowd listening to Jesus sermon, no one would disagree with Jesus words here because they had heard this phrase used in order to justify divorce.

For the Jewish people it was a common and accepted principle of the day that people would use this phrase to justify getting a divorce. However, what the crowds listening to Jesus were not prepared for was what Jesus had to say next. We see what Jesus said next in verse 32:

but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Now to fully understand the impact and weight of Jesus words here, we first need to understand what Jesus means when He uses the phrase “except for the reason of unchastity”. when Jesus uses the word unchastity here, this word is used to describe any unlawful sexual activity that goes against God’s design for sexuality, which is sexual activity between one man and one woman for one lifetime in a covenant marriage relationship.

And so often we focus on this little phrase, which is known in church mumbo jumbo talk as the exception clause, to be able to justify getting a divorce. However, this phrase is not the point that Jesus is trying to make here. Jesus point is not when someone is able to get a divorce. Instead, Jesus point is that regardless of whether or not a woman had committed adultery, for a man to divorce her is to portray her as an adulteress who becomes an adulteress if she remarries.

In addition, Jesus points out that the person who marries a divorced woman, regardless for the reasons for the divorce, commits adultery. Jesus point is that both the divorced wife and her new husband are guilty of adultery. Jesus point is that everyone in this scenario is guilty of adultery.

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in the crowd listening the Jesus words. Can you imagine what the response must have been like? Can you imagine the body language? The facial expressions? Can you imagine the pushback?

Maybe you find yourself pushing back. Maybe you are wondering, questioning, or even challenging Jesus words here. If we could have a conversation out at the courtyard coffeehouse, the conversation would sound something like this: “Really? Does Jesus actually think that people are guilty of adultery if they get divorced and remarry? Does Jesus actually think that a person who marries a divorced person is guilty of adultery? So, what is Jesus point here?”

If that question or pushback is running through your mind, I want to let you know that those are fair questions. And my response to that question and pushback is this: Once again, Jesus here is taking an external commandment and is internalizing the true meaning of that commandment. Jesus here is revealing the true intent of this commandment as given by God.

But what if Jesus is making a greater point than the issue of divorce? What if Jesus is using the issue of divorce as an opening illustration to address an even deeper spiritual issue? And if that is the case, if Jesus is using the issue of divorce as an opening illustration to address an even deeper spiritual issue, then what is the deeper spiritual issue?

Friday, we will see Jesus reveal the deeper spiritual issue…