Seeds for 05/24/2023 - Matthew 5:31-32
Scripture: 31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Observation: As we walk through the Sermon on the Mount, we find challenges at every turn, don’t we? Let’s pause to remember our method in this scripture reflection practice: Make observations. Work to see as much that is in the passage as we can. At the same time, take care not to over-extrapolate. Commentaries from scholars who bring more to bear on the text and topic are a vital part of interpretation, but making our own observations, as well as we can, is the first step in serious study. That’s the step we are on.
This passage represents a good opportunity to say that sometimes good observation work includes raising questions for later pursuit. Let’s do some of that too.
So, what observations do we make? What questions might we raise?
The first thing I see concerns Jesus’ audience. He’s speaking to the men here. They have the agency to decide about marriage and divorce. We’ve already seen an example of this in Matthew with Joseph in chapter 1. That observation makes a difference. Hold onto it for now.
The second thing I see is the reference to prior precedent in the Torah. The citation is a paraphrase that comes from Deuteronomy 24:1: “If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house…” The rest of the passage concerns the dynamics of divorce and remarriage of the same couple in the context of ancient Israel. Here again, Jesus intensifies expectations of the original. In this case, the man may not issue a certificate of divorce simply because his wife “becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her.” It must be due to infidelity.
Who benefits from Jesus upping of the expectation here? The women, of course. Jesus is allowing for divorce among His disciples, but within a narrower constraint. Rather than the decision about divorce belonging to one party with a relatively wide discretion, the permissible rationale has been shrunk, focusing on a distinctive theology of marriage and lessening the prospect of the wife falling into a bad situation because the husband decides that she “becomes displeasing to him.” If this is followed, the prospects for women being divorced and in a more difficult situation would be reduced.
This teaching of Jesus is certainly vital to building a Christian framework for divorce and remarriage, but there are additional texts to consider as well for that purpose. Possible questions: How else does the OT discuss and address the topic of divorce and remarriage? How else is divorce and remarriage represented in the NT? What socio-cultural background information would help us understand these dynamics better? To go further on complex topics like this, these would be important questions to research.
For now, while we haven’t yet done that additional work, let’s draw modest, but well-grounded conclusions. Divorce isn’t something to consider lightly. It’s something to consider when there is disregard for the covenant promise, not simply because of whim or preference. This alone would be a counter-cultural ethic for the followers of Jesus.
Application:
How might intensifying the requirement for men to consider divorce have benefitted women in Jesus’ day?
What other questions might help gain more information for developing a biblical moral framework for divorce and remarriage? How does this help you think through other large and challenging topics as well?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, help me grow in faithfulness to my word and promises. Give me a discerning mind and a faithful heart. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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