Matthew 19: 3-12
Some
Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
They said to him, “Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?”
He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him,
“If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can accept this word,
but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
They said to him, “Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?”
He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him,
“If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can accept this word,
but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
We have forgotten in our age that marriage is a vocation –
a calling. A Christian does not have the right to marry. A Christian has to be
called to marriage by God. Some were incapable of marriage because they were
made so. Others have renounced marriage for
the sake of the Kingdom. This is difficult, even impossible, to understand and
accept for a large part of our society today driven by sex, feelings, and a
sense of entitlement. Marriage is my right, not something I have to be asked to
do.
Marriage is viewed as a rite of passage. We are supposed
to graduate college, get a good job, get married, and make grandbabies. Marriage
gas been reduced down to nothing more than a contract between two people for a
period of time. We can continue to stay together as long as we both feel good
about one another. As long as I get mine as I give you yours we are good.
But from the beginning it was not so.
Marriage was created as a sacrament. A sacrament is an
oath to the death. I promise to give you all that I am until I breathe my last.
A sacrament is a lifelong commitment made between three people, the husband,
the wife, and God. When a husband is unfaithful to his wife he is also
unfaithful to God. He does not cheat only on the woman. He also cheats on the
God who made him, the God that called him into this covenant to begin with.
This is why adultery is a mortal sin of grave consequence.
Therefore, whatever God has joined together no man is
capable of separating.
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