Sermon on the Mount Divorce and Adultery

Matthew 5:31-32

It has been said, Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce. But I
tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to
become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.(31-32)
As stated previously, behind every thou shalt not there is a positive principle concerning
attitudes of the heart, such as the commands against murder (5:21) and adultery (5:27)
Jesus fulfills the law by reinterpreting it here he teaches against divorce permissiveness
In Deuteronomy 24:1, Moses requires that a certificate be issued in the case of divorce, but
this passage had been wrongly applied to allow men to divorce their wives for any reason
Jesus make a connection between divorce and adultery Gods principle of marriage is that a
man takes a woman as his wife for life, and when marriage is dissolved for any reason except
unfaithfulness, the failed relationship is adulterous in that Gods plan for marriage is broken
Why the exception for unfaithfulness? Because in this case adultery has already taken place
This teaching conveys the heart of God on the sanctity of marriage, and Jesus provides even
more detail when some Pharisees came to Him to test him on the subject of divorce (19:3)
Havent 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 . . . . Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of
the hardness of your hearts, but it was not this way from the beginning. (19:4-8)
In the mindset of even this religious culture, to use the vernacular, divorce was no big deal
But Jesus fulfills the law by explaining the heart of God in the divine design of marriage
If marriage means that the two become one for life, why was divorce even allowed? (Dt 24)
Jesus answer was clearly stated in Matthew 19:8: because of the hardness of your hearts
What then can we say in light of Jesus teaching about divorce?
o Gods design is that marriage is for life and not be broken (19:4-8)
o Marital unfaithfulness breaks Gods principle of one flesh and destroys marriage
o Marital unfaithfulness is adultery, but selfishly ending a marriage is also adulterous
What else does the Bible teach about divorce, reconciliation, and remarriage?
o Even if one person in the marriage is deceived and commits adultery, we learn about the
heart of God from the prophet Hosea (3:1), who was instructed go show your love to
your wife again though she is loved by another and is an adulteress (this was to
exemplify Gods love for Israel, though as a nation she had been unfaithful to God)
o When unfaithfulness is recognized as grievous sin and the offender is truly repentant
before God and the spouse he or she offended, reconciliation can take place (I John 1:9)
o Paul teaches that in the case of a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever, only if
the unbeliever wants to end the marriage is the believer free from that relationship (but
if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so; a believing man or woman is not bound in such
circumstances for God has called us to live in peace (I Corinthians 7:15)
o But if the unbelieving spouse wants to remain married, he must not divorce her . . . or
she must not divorce him (I Corinthians 7:12-13) no rationale that the spouse is
just not spiritual enough
And for those left with an undesired divorce, God heals works all things for good (Rom 8:28)