Saturday, April 25 — What God Joined Together
Today's passage is one Jesus himself handled with a steady, serious tenderness — and we would do well to handle it the same way. Many people reading this have been close to divorce, either their own or somebody's they love. What Jesus says isn't a verdict. It's a vision.
Matthew 19:3-9 — KJV 3 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? 4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 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? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8 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. 9 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.
Matthew 19:3-9 — WEB 3 Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?" 4 He answered, "Haven't you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?' 6 So then, they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don't let man tear apart." 7 They asked him, "Why then did Moses command us to give her a bill of divorce and divorce her?" 8 He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. 9 I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery."
Explanation
The Pharisees didn't come to Jesus with a real pastoral question. They came trying to catch him. In first-century Judaism, there was an active argument between two rabbinic schools about divorce — one read Deuteronomy 24 loosely and let a man divorce his wife for almost any reason, including a burned dinner; the other read it strictly and limited divorce to serious offenses. The Pharisees wanted Jesus to land on one side of the controversy and alienate the other. Instead, he does what he often does — he goes over their heads and underneath their feet at the same time. He goes back to the beginning.
"Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female?" Jesus takes them back past Moses, past Deuteronomy, past the debate entirely, and plants his feet in Genesis. Marriage is not a human legal arrangement that Moses invented and lawyers can manage. Marriage is a creation reality. Two become one. A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife. God himself is the one doing the joining. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." The verb translated put asunder is harsh — it means to tear, to rip apart. That is how Jesus describes divorce. Not a clean paperwork transaction. A tearing.
Then the Pharisees push back. "Why did Moses command a certificate of divorce, then?" And Jesus makes a distinction they don't expect. Moses allowed — he didn't command. The concession was made because of the hardness of human hearts. Divorce was permitted as a mercy, protecting women in an ancient world that could have discarded them even worse without that certificate. But hard-heartedness was never the design. "From the beginning it was not so."
This is a passage that deserves gentle honesty from the pulpit. Many people reading this today are divorced, or the children of divorce, or in marriages hanging by a thread. Jesus is not ashamed of any of them. He is not throwing stones. He is painting a picture of what marriage was meant to be, in the hope that his people would take that picture seriously enough to fight for it before they give up on it. Marriage in the Christian vision is not a temporary arrangement maintained by feelings. It is covenant — a sacred joining that God himself is present in. That doesn't mean there are never hard, heartbroken endings. Jesus names one exception in verse 9, and the rest of the New Testament will name another. But it means a marriage is meant to be fought for, protected, nourished, and returned to again and again, not discarded at the first inconvenience.
And for our walk toward Sunday's lesson on the Christian home, here is the word: the modern world treats marriage as a contract you can exit. The God of the beginning treats marriage as a covenant that forms one flesh. A Christian household doesn't need to be afraid of this text. It can lean into it. You were joined by God. Keep showing up for each other. Get help when you need it. Forgive when you can. Repent when you should. And trust that the One who joined you is also the One who can heal you.
Thought for the Day: The world treats marriage as a contract. Jesus treats it as a joining. Fight for what God has put together.
Reflection: What is one thing you can do this week — whether you are married, single, or somewhere in between — to honor the covenant relationships in your life instead of treating them as disposable?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you take our relationships seriously, and you take us gently. For marriages that are strong, we thank you and ask you to protect them. For marriages that are struggling, we pray for counselors, friends, and your own healing presence. For those of us walking through the grief of divorce or the loneliness of a difficult home, comfort us — you have never once turned away from a broken heart. Teach us to love with covenant love, the kind that keeps its word when feelings fade. Amen.
This week we walk toward Sunday's lesson: The Christian Home in a Modern World.