THE third example that Jesus brings to correct the false teaching of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law, and to bring out the false and inadequate righteousness of the Pharisees, is the question of divorce. I find myself hopelessly inadequate to speak on this subject, and fearful of doing so. However as this is the next subject in this study of the Sermon on the Mount I can’t, and I must not, avoid it.

The problem for me is that the whole subject of divorce and marriage has become in our day hopelessly disordered. The disorder has become so great that to unravel it, or speak in the complicated situations which present themselves today, is an impossible task. In my ministry I have had to deal with many and varied examples of marriage break up, and one thing I feel I must never do is to judge, but rather show understanding and love. All I would say is that it is important for all Christians to settle in their minds the mind of God as it is revealed in Scripture concerning marriage and divorce, for there is no hope of bettering the situation which exists today unless we have this as the foundation of our thinking.

What is the teaching of Scripture and Jesus about this matter of marriage and divorce? The two verses before us are quite brief. I feel we need to take with them what was taught to the Jews in the Old Testament found in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, and the more extensive teaching of Jesus given in Matthew 19:1-12.

It is plain from the record in the Deuteronomy passage that the whole matter of marriage fidelity had become very badly disordered in the time of Moses, and that this passage is showing how Moses was directed to bring some order into this situation. We have to read between the lines to understand this. Doing this we can deduce that break up of marriage had become very common, and that men, because woman had little say in the matter in those days, sought to get rid of their wives on any pretext they could, if they had come to displease them in some way. Just as it is today, the reason usually is that the man had found someone more attractive elsewhere. If a woman was turned out of the marital home in those days she was in a very precarious position. She had nowhere to go, and because she had been turned out, people may suppose she had committed adultery, and this would mean she would be stoned to death. So in this situation Moses, as Jesus indicates in the Matthew 19 passage, to curb the wilful rejection of wives, and to protect woman who had displeased their husband, Moses had ordered that a bill of divorce had to be issued. This had to be witnessed by two witnesses, and had to declare the reason for the divorce. Also, to bring out the serious nature of engaging in divorce the Deuteronomy passage prohibits any remarriage of divorced couples. It is said that this would be detestable in the eyes of God. In this way some order was being brought into the disorder, and some protection was given to the woman in a society where there was little protection. Under this law concerning divorce a man could not divorce his wife for any reason he thinks up, but divorce was confined to something indecent in the wife, not necessarily adultery because this would mean death in this society anyway, which displeased the husband.

All this illustrates how the sinfulness of the human heart is revealed so clearly in respect of marriage and relations between men and women. In New Testament times things had become disordered again. The Pharisees were meticulous in giving a certificate of divorce, but apparently they had become very lax in the way they interpreted this idea of ‘displeasing’ which is mentioned in Deuteronomy. From the question which Jesus is asked in Matthew 19:3 this seems to be clear. Although a certificate of divorce was given, it appears that any excuse for divorce was felt to be acceptable. The same is true today, and this is why the laws concerning divorce have been relaxed more and more, and it is sufficient to prove marriage breakdown as sufficient. If anything shows the corruption of fallen humanity it is in this whole realm of marriage relations and the break up of marriage.

Now we must seek, if we can, to see what Jesus says to this situation. In the two verses in the Sermon on the mount we see Jesus speaking against the prevailing teaching of the Pharisees in verse 31. It is plain that he deplored the easy way a certificate of divorce was issued, plainly on very frivolous grounds. By this he condemned the false idea of righteousness in this area which was being taught at the time by the Teachers of the Law. They seem to have taught that the Law was being kept properly, and there was no sin in divorce, as long as a certificate of divorce had been issued.

This reveals how easy in our sinfulness human beings can justify their actions when they want to, and make up their minds that all is well, and no evil is being committed. The teaching of the Jews at this time left a person feeling he had kept the Law, and there was no sin, simply because a certificate of divorce had been issued. Women seemed to have no rights at all, and the purpose of the Mosaic regulation had been got around and forgotten.