The famously Christian CEO of a fast food restaurant was in the news recently. Do not want to step into what raised a huge reaction, but rather another part of his interview:
“We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are
married to our first wives,”
Many of you reading this have in the past been made to feel like a second class Christian because you have been divorced. Where did this judgment come from?
The New Testament records Jesus speaking about divorce in four places: Matt. 5:32, Matt. 19:9, Mark 10:11, Luke 16:18. We will focus on Matt. 19:9, but if you study the others you will see that this one pretty much covers all the ground.
9 And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.”
Divorce & remarriage = adultery. (Except when the spouse has already broken the marriage vows through unfaithfulness.) That seems pretty obvious through a plain reading of the text.
Bible scholar Mimi Haddad uses a rock climbing analogy about interpreting scripture. To paraphrase, she says our instinct in both climbing, and reading the bible, is to cling tightly to the surface, expecting a more secure grip. The problem is you cannot see where you have come from or where to get the next hand or foothold. To move ahead you need to react counter intuitively and lean away from the rock to get a broader perspective. If you do this you will also discover that your hand and footholds gain a better purchase.
So let’s getter a better perspective by expanding the text and pushing away from it a little:
19 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went down to the region of Judea east of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed him there, and he healed their sick.
3 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.” 5 And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
7 “Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” they asked.
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. 9 And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.”
Jesus was responding to the Pharisees who wanted to trap Him. They were trying to force Him to drive a wedge between two schools of thought on divorce. The Shammai school permitted divorce only for unchastity, while the Hillel school allowed for “any reason.” Jesus characteristically bypassed their trap and went to the heart of the matter, telling them while Moses permitted divorce, it was never God’s intention that a one flesh bond should be broken and hence was in the most literal sense, adultery. Also keep in mind the teaching Jesus gave on lust being a form of adultery in Matt. 5.
Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees I think should be seen as a reminder that we have all fallen short of God’s perfect intentions for us. Hiding behind self-serving legalisms only introduces another layer of unrighteousness. It is only by confessing our inability to keep the law that we can step up and receive God’s grace.
Divorced people join a very large group as second rung Christians. Look around and see that we are all adulterers, murderers, and liars. Failing to recognize that and pointing out the failings of others just indicates how blinded you are by the log in your own eye.
For more references on divorce and remarriage see:
“And Marries Another: Divorce and Remarriage in the Teaching of the New Testament” by Craig Keener. (a scholarly approach)
“Grace and Divorce: God's Healing Gift to Those Whose Marriages Fall Short” by Les Carter (from a Christian counselor)
“Divorce, Remarriage and the Law of Love” a sermon by Greg Boyd, Woodland Hills Church
http://whchurch.org/sermons-media/sermon/divorce-remarriage-and-the-law-of-love
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