Christ and Divorce

   Let go right to the top authority on the subject. This seems to be a reasonable strategy when addressing a controversial issue. 
    So we come to what Christ had to say about “divorce.” We find His clear message in Matthew’s Gospel.  It was the religious leaders who posed the question -- “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” (19:3)  (Sounds like a contemporary, cultural question in our nation).
   Jesus wisely directed these confused leader to the origin of marriage,  which God Himself had instituted --
   “Haven’t you read…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?’ So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (vss.4-6)
   Case closer!  The foundation for marriage from God was unshakable. 
   But the religious leaders had their own “agenda.” It was tied to Moses who commanded a “certificate of divorce” (vs.7; also Deuteronomy 24:1-4).
   Jesus did not waver. He made it crystal clear that this Old Testament exception was tied to “hard hearts” (vs.8a). God’s focus from the beginning was ...