7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” 10 The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”
Some Biblical teachings are difficult, and Jesus seems to be sympathetic to that. First, He acknowledged that God had allowed for divorce (through the teachings of Moses) even though it was not part of the original design. Following His teaching on divorce, He said, “He who is able to accept this, let him accept it,” thus acknowledging that His teaching may be difficult to embrace.
Yes, God did allow for divorce according to Deuteronomy 24:1-4, it was given as a concession to people with hardened hearts as a means to regulate certain abuses in marriage. But to take advantage of that leniency meant to acknowledge the reason, namely hardness of heart. God promised a time, however, when Messiah would come, according to Jeremiah 31:33, when He would give the people a new heart, the hardness would be done away with.
Many of the Jews had turned this “allowance” into a liberal privilege, clear evidence that hardness was still the endemic condition of their hearts. Jesus confronted this problem directly. In fact one of the first things He taught, as a positive remedy, was, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8). Yet, the heart-resistance continued, “The heart of this people has become dull” (13:4). Solve the heart problem and you solve the divorce problem—that was essentially Jesus’s teaching on all concerns.
He brought definition to the issue: divorce and remarriage is tantamount to committing adultery. The exception is where the marriage bond has already been broken through infidelity. Much has been written on this subject, that is beyond the scope of this limited space. Suffice it to say, the disciples found Jesus’ teaching on the permanence of marriage to be a culturally extreme position, which of course could be said about much of His teachings.
Lord, help me accept those teachings in Scripture which are difficult to embrace and not just the things that fit my preference, lifestyle or culture.
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