Jesus' Teaching on Divorce- Read (Matthew 19:3-12) (Mark 10:1-12)
When Jesus came to Judea, the Pharisees came to test him and asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?" Jesus answered quoting Genesis 1:27, "Have you not read that he who made them at the beginning, made them male and female" and also Genesis 2:24, "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 then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. The Pharisees again asked, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so." Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced, commits adultery." His disciples said, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." Jesus answered, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb, there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."
There were 2 schools of thought regarding the interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 which spoke of divorce. The Shammai school interpreted Deut. 24:1 (something indecent) as sexual immorality to be the cause for divorce, while the Hillel school taught that a man could divorce his wife if she did anything that was not pleasing to him. Jesus pointed to God's original plan and then affirmed the Shammai teaching on the matter.
The disciples then presented Jesus with a radical solution to the matter...."If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." Jesus answered that, that was not an acceptable solution for all. He spoke of exceptions though....them who are born as eunuchs, others who undergo castration for any reason and finally those who choose to live as eunuchs or practice celibacy, so that they can give themselves completely to God's work.
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