Matthew 19:3-9 “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.”
While Jesus did not close the door entirely on the possibility of divorce, He certainly did let us know that divorce is too easy for many people. Most people who want a divorce do not have a scriptural reason to seek one. Divorce should not be for any and “every” (v.3) reason or excuse. Fornication is the only scriptural grounds for divorce. Admittedly, sometimes divorce is the lesser of two evils. At least it is better than having one member of the marriage murder the other one.
There is always great sin in divorce, although of course, the sin may not be equally shared by both parties, and often one member of the marriage did not want a divorce at all and did not divorce but was divorced. Divorce is a great tragedy, and we should have compassion on the divorced. We should be careful about being judgmental when we do not know the facts.
Whenever possible, a marriage should be protected and held intact because of the strong reasons that Jesus gives in this passage. He says, (1) marriage was God’s idea and it is His institution (v.4). (2) Marriage is entered into by God’s command (v.5). (3) Marriage is a one flesh relationship (v.6). (4) The First Couple took marriage seriously and did not divorce (v.8). And (5) there are bad sinful consequences that result from divorce (v.9).