Divorce and remarriage remain some of the most challenging and sensitive topics within the Church, the Christian Post website reports today (Feb. 21, 2025).
While modern culture has become increasingly permissive regarding the dissolution of marriage, Scripture upholds a high view of the marriage covenant.
We are conditioned to view marriage as disposable. We receive these messages through public figures such as popular actors and actresses, celebrities, and even politicians. However, Jesus' teaching in Luke 16:18 provides a sobering warning: "Everyone who
divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."
These words underscore the permanence of marriage and rebuke the widespread misinterpretation of God's law by the Pharisees. To fully understand what Scripture teaches about divorce and remarriage, we must examine the historical context , the biblical framework, and the theological implications of Jesus' words.
During Jesus'ministry, the Pharisees had established themselves as interpreters and enforcers of Mosaic Law. However, they often distorted the law to fit their own desires. In many ways, the Pharisees revised the law of God to be reshaped in their image. The issue of divorce was no exception. They had developed an overly permissive view that allowed men to divorce their wives for nearly any reason. Their misinterpretation was based on a skewed reading of Deuteronomy 24:1 --4, which they used to justify easy divorce.
Marriage is foundational to God's creation order. In Genesis 2:24, we see the first divine institution of marriage.:
"Therefore a man shall leave his farther and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
From the beginning, marriage was intended to be a permanent, covenantal union. This covenant reflects God's own faithfulness and love, particularly as it relates to Christ's relationship with the Church. Jesus affirms this divine institution in Matthew 19:4--6 , stating, "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." This statement directly contradicts the Pharisees' approach to divorce and underscores the seriousness of breaking the marriage bond.