XVII

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 JESUS AND
DIVORCE
Authors in the Biblical and Theological Classics Library updated edition
G.R. Beasley-Murray
Baptism in the New Testament (10)
D.A. Carson
Showing the Spirit (1) GORDON J. WENHAM & WIILIAM E. HETH
William J. Dumbrell
Covenant and Creation (12)
John Goldingay
Theological Diversity and the Authority of the Old Testament (2)
Bob Goudzwaard
Capitalism and Progress (11)
Walter L. Liefeld
New Testament Exposition (3)
Richard N. Longenecker
Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period (5)
I. Howard Marshall
Biblical Inspiration (6)
Kept by the Power of God (7)
Leon Morris
The Cross in the New Testament (4)
Willem VanGemeren
The Progress of Redemption (8)
William A. Heln & Gordon J. Wenham
Jesus and Divorce (9)

paternoster
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
Conclusions and Implications
Considering the brevity of Jesus' recorded remarks about di-
vorce, the quantity of literature that they have generated is truly
remarkable. This survey has tried to present the current schol-
arly theories as fairly as possible, to show their strengths and
weaknesses, so that the reader can decide for himself or herself
which is the most probable view. Though it appears certain that
Jesus did not permit remarriage after divorce for any reason,
the question remains as to how the exception clause should be
precisely understood. The betrothal view seems mutually ~xclu­
sive of all the others, and its simplicity and purity ill permitting
the divorce of an unconsummated marriage, while upholding
the absolute indissolubility of a consununated marriage, is
attractive. Yet we have problems with the restricted lexical
nuance of 'unchastity'. The same is true of the unlawful mar-
riages view. The interpretation that is hard to get a feeling for,
perhaps because Jesus Himself was spe.aking in somewhat
obscure terms (at least in Mark 10) to HIS unbelieving ques-
tioners, is the preteritive or 'no comment' view. This under-
standing could possibly have given rise to each of the other
views in practical application, but we find its granunatical
construction faulty,
It seems unlikely to us that Jesus 'permitted' divorce for a
particular sexual sin via the exception clauses, for this would
conflict with His absolute prohibition of divorce in Matthew
19:4-8 and the loyal covenant love exhibited by Hosea for un-
faithful Gomer. It seems safest to say that Jesus gave an absolute
prohibition of divorce and remarriage. Should a man be forced to
put away his unfaithful wife, as the Jewish readers of Matthew's
Gospel would have been, Jesus does not hold him responsible for
breaking His conunand not to divorce. The guilt and the blame
CONCLUSIONS Ai\1D IMPLICATIONS 199
lie with the woman who is an adulteress by reason of her offence.
And should the hard-heartedness of one of the partners result in
an unf.ortunate divorce, lack of forgiveness and a refusal to be
reconcile~, Jesus requires ~s disciples to remain single.
One thing appears certam from this study: the New Testament
~nd the early church as a whole are not vague or confusing when
It comes to the question of remarriage after divorce. It is clear
that Jesus said that a man may have one wife or no wife, and if
someone puts away their partner for whatever reason they must
remain single .
. Some of the precepts of Scripture are difficult to accept and
often make the Christian uncomfortable as he considers the im-
plications of these teachings for his own life and the lives of those
to whom he ministers. This is certainly true with respect to the
C?nclUSlOns we have reached in this study. One of the most
difficult problems facing a minister of the Gospel is counselling
the divorced and those already remarried. How does one move
from a careful exegesis of the relevant texts to the heartbreaking
problems o,f those who seek his counsel in this matter? Carefully
exegenng the texts IS one thing, but the manner in which God's
word is conveyed to believers facing divorce and the issue of
rema~ria~e is quite another. There are ethical problems involved,
certainly,. but there are.also standards involved for those who by
faith desire to be Christ's disciples and experience His joy in
fullest me~sure (Iohn 14:20; 15:1-11; 17:13). Jesus' disciples did
object to,HlS firm stand on divorce and remarriage. They said, 'If
the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better
not to marry' (Matt. 19:10). This attitude makes the attractiveness
of marriage contingent upon the possibility of divorce and remar-
riage to another. The disciples had an anthropocentric outlook.
!hey felt that their designs f~r their own "well-beinq" had to be
better than therr Creator's design Just communicated to them via
the Messiah Him~elf. But remarriage was clearly not better for
them ill His teaching'.He said it was adultery.
Jesus then responded to their objections: 'Not all men can
accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given:
~s does not mean that Je~us' standard for the marriage relation-
smp applies to some Christians but not to all Christians. 'Those to
whom it has been given' are Jesus' disciples, the ones to whom
He granted the knowledge of 'the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven' (Matt. 13:11 ~ Mark 4: 11, d. vv, 33-4). All who would
200 JESUS AND DIVORCE
be Christ's disciples are called to this standard of marriage just
as they are called to lay down their lives for their friends (John
15:13); to cut off hand and foot and pluck out ~eir ey~ to ~void
sin (Matt. 5:29-30); to take up their cross, whi~h IS God s will for
their life, and follow Christ no matter what It may ~ost (Mark
8:34); and to believe that 'whoever wishes to save his l~e shall
lose it but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find It (Matt.
16:25):2 Though the standards appear to be impossible our Lord
would say to us 'With men this is impossible, but With God all
things are possible' (Matt. 19:26). He calls each of.His disciples
to a life of grace and faithful dependence upon Him so that He
might bring about His own image in us whether He uses a good
marriage or a broken marriage to accomplish this end.
lt is essential to hold before our people continually the ideal
that human marriage should reflect the union betwe~n Christ and
the church. As christ loved us sinners and gave Himself for us,
so Christian husbands and wives are called to love their partners
even if their love is inadequately responded to. As God r.emams
faithful despite our frequent faithlessness, so even a divorced
believer who remains single out of loyalty to Christ ar;d the
former partner can be a vivid, powerful symbol of the ~nau~g
love of God for sinful mankind. When the world sees this quality
of love they, too, may wish to know the God who so loved them
while they were yet sinners.
Those couples who have already remarried afte~ divorce ~ay
be wondering how their situation fits into all of this. We behe:,e
that you should see that your present marriage is now God's will
for you. You should seek to be the best husband or wife you can
be, rendering to each other your full mantal duty.. If you . faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
to the realisation that Jesus calls remarnage after divorce the sm
of adultery, then call sin'sin' rather than seek to justify what
have done, We believe this will bring great freedom to your
marriage and will break down barriers to ministry you have
encountered before. As one divorced and remarned re-
sponded to the apologetic attitude of the dean of a Bible
as he explained their policy of not granting degreesto those who
remarry after divorce: 'Don't apologize for your policy; We know
now that what we have done is wrong; but that isn t gom~
keep us from preparing to serve the Lord as best as we possibly
can.' maintaining
We also have theological reasons for believing that
CONCLUSIONS AJ\.TD L\1PLICATIONS 201
your present marriage will accomplish the greatest good. First,
D.euteronomy 24:1-4 clearly forbids restoration of marriage to a
divorced partner after one of the partners has consummated a
secon? rr:arriage. Such a restoration of marriage is called 'an
abommatio,: be!or~ the Lord' (Deut. 24:4). Now according to our
:mderstandin~ this Deuteronomic regulation is based on the
Idea that m,amage creates a permanent relationship between the
spouses - the two become one flesh' - a principle endorsed by
the New Testament. Ideally, where Jesus' principles have been
understood and.obeyed, ~e situation envisaged by Deuteronomy
should never anse for HIS followers. But where it has arisen and
remarriage following divorce has occurred, it would seem wisest
to adhere to the Deuteronomic provision. To act otherwise and
seek.~o ~eturn to yo~r former partner may or may not succeed,
but it will sur~lJ: bnng great grief to your second partner. Sec-
~nd1y, all Clms~ans, fro;" the apostle Peter onward, recognise
that their past SInS have inevitable consequences which we can-
not alter. But however blatant our past denials, Christ still offers
us forgiveness and the opportunity to love and follow Him in the
future (John 21:15-19). If this study has perturbed you, because
of your ow,: past failures or because of the way you have
c?unselled divorcees, do not forget that Christ came to save
sinners. None of us can pretend to be above reproach in the realm
of sexual morality when we measure ourselves by our Lord's
standards (Matt. 5:27-30; John 8:1-11). All of us need to claim His
daily forgiveness and grace if we are to be transformed into His
likeness. 'If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving our-
selves, and the truth IS not in us. If we confess our sins He is
from all unrighteousness' (1 John 1:8-9). So let us praise Him for
HIs mercy and dedicate ourselves anew to serve Him more
faithfully in the future.
We wish to conclude our study with some penetrating words
from Geoffrey Bromiley's little book God and Marriage (1980). He
remmds us that marriage belongs to the temporal and not to the
eternal order. Jesus told the cynical Sadducees that in the resur-
rection people neither marry nor are given in marriage (Matt.
22:30). And even though marriage may be a fulfilling and'won-
derful relationship between one man and one woman in this life
marriage has an eschatological limit. '
Life can go on apart from marriage; and those whose marriages
202 JESUS AND DIVORCE CONCLUSIONS AND IMPUCATIONS 203
have been broken must remember their citizenship in God's a~ .a constant fact in human life means living with mutual recon-
kingdom. Bromiley writes: ciliation as a constant fact. This makes indissoluble union a
in the world of the fall the redemptive work of God carries with it a . practical and attainable goal even for sinners."
service of God - not necessarily a technical ministry hut a service
according to God's will, by God's appointment, and in God's disci-
pleship - which means that some part of life,if not all, must be lived
temporarily outside the regular patterns of God's created order.
This reminds us of the order of priorities which Jesus demands in
the calling of his disciples. What God requires must come before all
else, the good as well as the bad. The followers of Jesus must be ready,
should he will, to renounce even marriage for the sake of the gospel.
They must be ready to obey God and not remarry after separation
even though they might plead, as they often do, that they have a right
to happiness or to the fulfillment of natural desires. To talk of a right
to happiness is to delude onself. Happiness, when it is attained, is a
gift from God and it cannot be attained, nor can human life be
fulfilled, where there is conflict with God's stated will or a defiant
refusal to see that true happiness and fulfillment lie only in a primary .
commitment to God's kingdom and righteousness. For God's sake
some people may have to forego marriage, some may have to put it
in a new perspective, and some who have broken their marriage may
have to refrain from remarriage. Marriage is a good thing but it is
not 'the one thing needful' (Luke 10:42). Hence it may be - and in
some instances it may have to be - surrendered.'
Jesus did not come 10 lay down a new 'law' on His disciples,
one too strict for them to bear. He gave them a moral standard
which, by God's grace, He expected His disciples to fulfil. He
said that one of the distinguishing characteristics of His disciples
is that they do not remarry after divorce. Christ carne to give
freedom, not for divorce and remarriage, but for marriage in its
creational design. Jesus' disciples have the power of the indwell-
ing Spirit of life and no longer have hearts of stone, nor are they
subject to hard-heartedness when it comes to fulfilling God's
commands. Though man will never perform perfectly, he is able
to live on a plane far above that of failure. And if one or
another leads to the tragedy of divorce, Christ's disciple
available that grace which is needed to remain single or be
reconciled. The death of Christ itself has implications for the
Christian husband and wife. It has resulted in Christ's taking
upon Himself the cost of human unfaithfulness. He has broken
its power. In Bromiley's words: 'Living with divine reconciliation
286 JESUS AND DWORCE

20. A. Isaksson, Marriage and Ministry in the New Temple (trans.

Tomkinson with J. Gray; ASNU 24; Lund: Gleerup, 1965) 72.
21. Ibid., 73.
22. Ibid, 73-4. Cf. pp. 85-7.
23. Quoted in Dungan, Sayings, 105-6. The italics are Dungan's.

Chapter 11
1. Cf. W.J. Bartling, 'Sexuality, Marriage, and Divorce in 1 Corinthian;
6:12-7:16 - A Practical Exercise in Hermeneutics', CTM 29
355-66; RA. McCormick, 'Notes on Moral Theology: AF,ril-S,'pt"nl-
ber, 1970', TS 32 (1971) 107-22 covers "Theology and Divorce':
Curran, 'Divorce: Catholic Theory and Practice in the Unite,d-Stab"
- Part One', AER 168 (1974) 3-34; 'Part Two', 75-95; W. Scllra~:",
'Ethics in the NT', IDBSup, 281-9.
2. Compare heneken emou (because of Me) in Malt. 16:25 with dia
basileian (because of the kingdom) in Malt. 19:12 (cf. 19:29).
3. See chap. 5.
4. G. Bromiley, God and Marriage (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
40-1. Other pastoral considerations along these lines may be
in J.c. Laney, The Divorce Myth (Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany,
115-49; P.E. Steele and c.c. Ryrie, Meant to Last (Wheaton,
Victor Books, 1983).
5. Bromiley, God and Marriage, 47.