#141 Lu. 16:18 DIVORCE AND RE-MARRIAGE Introduction: The Pharisees prided themselves, not only in keeping the Law of Moses, but in being able to rightly interpret the Law. They really failed in both instances, both in keeping the law and interpreting it. An example is their failure regarding divorce and re-marriage. I. No divorce allowed in the beginning In our text today, Jesus speaks about divorce and re-marriage. Let me appeal to you, as best you can, to lay aside any pre-conceived ideas you may have about divorce and re-marriage and just listen to the Scriptures and seek to understand what these Scriptures teach on the subject. I have been studying this subject for a long time and I confess to you that I am still learning more about it from the word of God. Matthew records two different occasions in which Jesus discussed this subject. Mark records only once and Luke, likewise, records only this once. It appears that the occasion spoken of here in Luke is that occasion which is recorded in Matthew 19:1-9 and Mark 10:1-12. Therefore in order for us to properly understand the text which we have before us, we will have to study it in the light of what was recorded in Matthew and Mark. We will also have to take into consideration what the Bible teaches on the subject in the Book of Genesis and in the Book of Deuteronomy. Since Genesis is the book of beginnings, I will begin there. In Genesis chapter two God took a rib from Adam and created Eve. He then gave Eve to Adam to be his wife. God then made a statement that was to apply to all husbands and wifes thereafter. God said, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh," Gen. 2:24. There was no provision for divorce. The husband and wife were to cleave to one another. It was to be almost as though they were glued to one another. There was to be no break-up. There was to be no separation. There was to be no divorce. Of course, there was, likewise, to be no sin of any kind. There was to be no adultery. There was to be no brutality. There was to be no wife-beating. There was to be no abuse of any kind either physical or mental. There was to be love and harmony and peace and joy. II. Divorce and re-marriage allowed under the Law of Moses But sin did come and along with sin came all manner of abuses in marriage. It was not unusual for a wife or husband to be unfaithful, committing the sin of adultery. Make no mistake about it, adultery is a sin. Adultery was a sin from the beginning. It was a sin even in the light of Genesis 2:24. God authorized the two to become one in physical intimacy, but He never authorized three or more to become intimate. The Law of Moses more clearly declared adultery to be a sin. The law says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." It was because of the sin of adultery and other sexual sins in the conduct of some marriage partners that God had Moses to write a law authorizing divorce and re-marriage in such cases, Deut. 24:1-3. It was never God's intention that divorce should take place, but God did allow it because of sexual misconduct on the part of some of the marriage partners. Under the law which Moses wrote, the people were allowed both to divorce and to re-marry. That was under the law system of worship. III. The law of divorce and re-marriage as interpreted by the Pharisees However, by the days of Jesus the Jews were very loose on the matter of divorce and re-marriage. They not only allowed divorce and re-marriage in the case of adultery, but some of them allowed it for almost other reasons. Some allowed it for almost any reason. In the Book of Deuteronomy when Moses wrote the commandment authorizing them to write a bill of divorce, Moses used the term, "some uncleanness." I understand that the original Hebrew word literally means "some nakedness." But the passage does not spell out what kind of uncleanness or nakedness is involved. By the days of Jesus there was a large number of Jews, including many of the Pharisees, who interpreted "some uncleanness" to mean "anything that did not meet the approval of the husband." So in the days of Christ on earth a man could divorce his wife for just about any reason and both marriage partners were at liberty to re-marry. IV. The law of divorce and re-marriage as allowed under Jesus However, Jesus was not that lenient in His teachings on the subject. He did not agree that one could divorce and re-marry for just any reason. Jesus interpreted the term "some uncleanness" to strictly refer to some sexual sin. In Matthew 5:31-32 Jesus said, "It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." Jesus authorized divorce and re-marriage in the case of fornication which refers to any kind of unlawful sexual sin. It takes in all manner of adulterous conduct. In other words, any time a marriage partner is sexually unfaithful to his or her mate, there are Scriptural grounds for divorce and re-marriage on the part of the innocent party. The guilty party is already guilty of adultery. The innocent party is not guilty is free to divorce the guilty party and is free to re-marry. Jesus taught the same thing in Matthew chapter nineteen. "And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. 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," Matt. 19:1-9. He said the same thing again in Mark, 10:11-12: "And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery." Now keep in mind that the marriage partner who commits fornication or adultery is already guilty of adultery. But Jesus also made it clear that the marriage partner who is not already guilty of adultery, if he divorces and re-marries for reasons other than adultery or fornication on the part of his partner, becomes guilty of adultery. Also, if one marries the guilty party, he, too, is guilty of adultery. In our text today, Luke does not mention what Jesus said about the grounds of divorce being fornication or adultery, but what Luke does record should be understood in that light. Luke 16:18, Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery...," That is, he commits adultery unless he divorces his wife on the grounds of her adultery. (V. 18) "...and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery." That is, if one marries the guilty party, he, too, is guilty along with her. The innocent party is free to re-marry. V. Another passage for study There is one other passage of Scripture that should be studied in addition to these we have already read and that is I Corinthians 7:12-16. This passage tells us that no matter whether adultery was involved or not, if a believer (a saved person) is married to an unbeliever (an unsaved person) and if the unsaved person divorces the believer because of religious differences, God does not hold the believer responsible for the divorce. Now the believer is not allowed to divorce the unbeliever because of their religious differences, but he is not held responsible if the unbeliever leaves. VI. Some things to notice Now let me point out to some things to you. Divorce is a tragedy under any circumstances. Even in the case when one has a legitimate Scriptural grounds for the divorce, it is still a tragedy. It devastates the lives of both parties. It is far better for both people involved when they can work out their problems and save their marriage. I have seen numerous divorce cases, and it always shatters the lives of the people involved. It shatters the lives of the man, the woman, and the children. My mother and dad divorced when I was in the first grade of school and I can testify that it was hard on him, it was hard on her, and it was hard on us children. We survived, but the divorce took its tole on all of us. Let me also point out to you that a lot of people have legitimate Scriptural grounds for a divorce who are not going to come to you and tell you that they have Scriptural grounds. Some of them have Scriptural grounds for divorce who do not name those grounds before the legal court. You are not going to be able to read in the papers that this man divorced his wife because she was running around on him or that this woman divorced her husband because he was running around on her. A person may have Scriptural grounds for divorce and you may never know anything about it. He or she does not tell you and me about it because it is none of our business. Let me put it this way. It is not your business to find out whether or not that person had a Scriptural grounds for divorce. That is between that person and God. It is not your's to judge whether there was a Scriptural grounds for divorce and re-marriage. God is the judge and does not need our help. So before you criticize somebody for their divorce, you should keep in mind that you do not know all the facts in the case and it is not any of your business. That is between them and God. Also, before you start to criticize somebody for a divorce, you had better make certain that it will never happen to you or your children or grand-children. The truth is, you don't know whether it will happen in your family or not. So don't be so critical of others when it happens to them or their family. I will tell you what I suggest to you. Pray God that it never happens to you or to your family. You are living in dream world if you think it could never happen to you. Work hard at the task of making your own marriage a good marriage and the best way to do that is to do your best to make your companion a good mate. Set a good example before your children and grand-children and teach them to hold marriage sacred. Teach them to make good husbands and good wives. Teach them to live godly lives so that God will pour out His blessings upon them. I also suggest that you pray for those who have had the misfortune to have a divorce. Pray for them and help them to survive the terrible ordeal that has happened to them. You do not have to approve of their divorce in order to help them. God does not approve of divorce. He does not approve of the divorce even in those cases where He gives Scriptural grounds for allowing it. But that does not stop God from being willing to help those who do divorce when they turn to Him for help. God does not approve of their divorce, but He still loves them and He is willing to help them. You, too, should love them and you, too, should help them. Conclusion: It is not only vital that marriages be saved; it is vital that souls be saved. If you are not saved, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in Him to save your soul. It is not only vital that you be a good husband or wife; it is vital that you be a good Christian. You will make a better husband or wife if you are a good Christian.