Grant Abbott Child of Father, Follower of Son, Student of Spirit

I believe Jesus is affirming that, in the eyes of God, the only valid reason for a divorce is sexual immorality = adultery = unfaithfulness. 

If the divorce is for any other reason, in God’s eyes, the marriage union is still valid. If either spouse remarries after they divorce they are committing adultery.

But let’s remember we believe in a God who is gracious and merciful. When people make mistakes resulting in a sin, God is willing to forgive, when confession and repentance has been made.

September 12 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

Jesus appears to be assuming that the divorced wife will subsequently marry another man (as she would have been entitled to do under the Mosaic Law, and as would have been normal, since a woman in that time and culture would have had no means of support without a husband).

However, when she does so, it will be in God's view as if her former husband forced her to commit adultery, and the woman's former husband (not the woman herself) will be the one who will be held accountable by God. (In fact, he will be doubly accountable, since (as also noted in the verse cited in the question), he will also be responsible for making the man who marries the divorced woman guilty of adultery, even though, again, the Mosaic Law permitted such a remarriage.) (As Jesus said in Matthew 19:8-9, however, such permission was a concession to the hardness of the human heart, and was not God's original intent for marriage.)

September 09 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report