One of the most misunderstood subjects the Jewish Jesus settled for Christians, is the issue of divorce and remarriage.
The Jewish Jesus was confronted in the face by Pharisees taunting him with questions to see if they could tangle him up; show his stupidity; or provoke him to answer questions to make him say something against the Laws of Moses.
If they could prove he was stupid they could easily laugh him to scorn and spread the word how ignorant he was. It was the effect of this upon the minds of his followers and the nation they desired. They plotted to make Jesus look stupid with foolish and unlearned questions.
The Pharisees wanted Jesus to be totally rejected.
When it comes to religious stand-outs, men of extraordinary talents in writing, teaching, and preaching: they are always looking for men to take down. They are seekers of head trophies on the walls of their imaginary.
The Pharisees saw the Jewish Jesus as a man they had to take down. He was becoming to popular, people were believing him: while they were individually unknown in the namtion and zealot hypocrites. They did not live the talk or walk the walk.
And so, the Pharisees framed their plot and then came to Jesus to see if they had at last found a take down issue that would destroy him and send him scooting back to Nazareth or maybe take a hike to come other country.
The take down of the Jewish Jesus came with this question:
"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" (Mat 19:3)?
Tempting him?
The Apostle Matthew saw in this question the Pharisees trying to cause him to make a gaff, a mistake in scriptural interpretation, and thereby give a wrong judgment.
It is like the devil tempting Jesus to turn stone to bread, jump off the pinnacle of the temple, and to bow and kiss his feet to get all the kingdoms of the world.
Temptation always has for its purpose to cause our judgment to fail. Thus, we judge all temptations and when we consider the consequences, the effect of the act, we judge if we should do it or not. Thus, tempting another person is an effort to cause them to sin or spiritually fall. And this was the whole purpose of the Pharisee plot of asking the Jewish Jesus about a man divorcing his wife.
Jesus was not talking about engagements or espousals:
I want to say up front that the question from the Pharisees was not about espousals or engagements as some pervert the Word of God.
This is about a man and a woman already united in a marriage covenant and if the man could put away his wife, that is divorce her for every cause.
Those who follow the Catholic church doctrine on marriage and divorce will not accept the doctrine of the Jewish Jesus on marriage and divorce. Many teach the Catholic church doctrine here and do not even know it.
Let me say to all of you, you can continue to pervert this text and say there is divorce only in the case of breaking espousal or engagement covenant, but you will be telling lies. And let me say additionally that I have NEVER met a preacher or Pastor who enforces the "divorce ONLY for only fornicating engaged persons." It is a perversion of this text to make marriage and divorce an option only for those espoused. Here is my test of that perversion.
If divorce and remarriage is for espoused men and women, and if a person can break the espousal ONLY BY FORNICATION, then anyone who was ever espoused and did not marry the man or woman are living in adultery.
I have met many preachers and pastors who held the espousal doctrine who NEVER applied this interpretation to themselves or members of the church. In fact many Pastors have told me they did not marry the first person they were espoused to. And did break it and marry another person and fornication was not the issue of the broken espousal. But they claim they are not living in adultery. This is a contradiction. These are the exact kind of hypocrites the Jewish Jesus was dealing with when he was challenged by the slithering Pharisees.
The Jewish Jesus was asked about a marriage union between a man and his wife. Anyone who rejects this is not honest.
The words they used to try and tangle him up on was "every cause." This troublesome question was a major difference between the Pharisees and Sadducee.
The Pharisees had invented all kinds of reasons a man could divorce his wife. The Sadducee held that Moses gave a law of divorce only for uncleanness (sexual immorality is here intended). The test question would polarize Jesus in one group or another or set him apart from both groups as a religious nut.
This is the exact procedure used today to call men a nut whose doctrine does not follow their traditions. Calling a man a "nut" is a way of saying he does not belong to my religious group or any other credible group. The Jewish Jesus was now in the midst of a proverbial double-jawed nut cracker. Yes, we have nut crackers today trying to overturn the doctrine of the Jewish Jesus. But, their shenanigans and their plots, together with the idiots who will follow them will all go down into hell. It is a dangerous thing to pervert the words and intent of the Jewish Jesus. He said clearly these words:
"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken , the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48).
I take great respect of these words therefore I will not pervert the word of Jesus or falsely interpret them as so many take the liberty to do. And I will not pervert the judgment that obeying his word would produce for those whose marriage has been wrecked by an unfaithful spouse.
I sit here at the keyboard clicking away to produce words of honesty and statements that would honor the Jewish Jesus and his doctrine. I may clash with men and women and with their perversions on this subject, but I have two goals with this study. The first is to verbally stand by the Jewish Jesus and the second is to reach out to those hurting and offer them the sympathy of Jesus for their broken marriage.
For every cause or for uncleanness? It all boils down to these two reasons to accept a divorce and remarriage. What was the answer of God?
The answer of Jesus proves he was talking about a married man and woman:
1.) He that made them in the beginning made them male and female (setting the first union based upon sexual orientation);
2.) The man shall leave his parents and cleave (be in marriage union) with his wife and they twain shall be one flesh (showing this is a marriage relationship and not an espousal);
3.) They are no more two (twain) but one, therefore what God has joined let not man put assunder (showing again a marriage union because espoused persons are not joined and they are not one flesh);
4.) The marriage union is not to be put asunder by man (meaning the two in union divided by a third party sexual affair or a religious or secular court);
5.) Let not man put asunder (meaning let no outside person divide this married couple);
6.) Moses allowed divorce and remarriage for "hardness of heart" and allowed divorce and remarriage but from the beginning it was not so (showing again a husband-wife relationship and not espousal);
7.) While it was not so from the beginning, Jesus did not condemn what Moses had done, he simply said "hardness of the heart" was not God's authorized reason a man could put away his wife. In other words, there are many things that can bring hardness of heart that was not tied to marital uncleanness. Jesus was saying hardness of the heart was not grounds for divorce or remarriage (again, this is about a husband and wife in marriage union);
8.) Whosoever shall divorce (put away) his wife except for the sin of fornication and marries another commits adultery (fornication is not just sex before marriage. Webster's says fornication is sexual immorality with anyone not a married spouse): to marry another certainly signifies this is not espousal but a marriage union is being dissolved to marry again. If there has been no sexual immorality, no fornication, no out of marriage sex act, a divorce is not possible;
9.) If there is a divorce and the cause is not sexual immorality, then the man or woman who marries another lives in the sin of adultery (this is very clear, however, for those who pervert this text into espousal divorce, then it means if any person does not marry the one to whom they were engaged, if they marry another they live in the sin of adultery);
Herein, the Jewish Jesus gives Christians their instructions on marriage and divorce. Divorce and remarriage and the grounds for it are clear to those who have no intentions of perverting the words of Jesus. And if you pervert his word, his word will judge you in the last day. Do not pervert the words of the Jewish Jesus on the subject of divorce and remarriage.
I would like to say this to all who read my study. There is a great amount of love and affection that develops between a husband and a wife. They become one. It hurts, really deeply hurts a marriage for one of the spouses to be unfaithful. The pains go deep. And it rightly should. Consider that Jesus said they would become "one flesh." It is as if they become one body. The faithfulness of the marriage keeps them united in love, deeply caring, sharing, and suffering together. The marriage makes the man and the woman feel each other's discouragements, hurts, sufferings, sorrows, and loss. The union is so powerful they can cry together and laugh together. And so when one or the other cheats, takes another man or woman for a lover, they cut the one flesh APART. They divide what God said no other person was allowed to do. An act of sexual immorality splits and divides the marriage union. Jesus said it did. The couple go back to being two people. They are "separated", they are "estranged", the holiness of the union is broken. The guilty put asunder what God had joined together. This is what Jesus intended for us to understand about fornication in a marriage union.
Under the Law, sexuality outside of marriage was punished by death. Death was the divorce. The innocent was free to remarry. In the New Testament the death penalty was abolished but the rights of the innocent party was not. There is no such doctrine in the New Testament of "once married always married regardless of the sexual immorality of a spouse."
The deep pain of being cut out of the love marriage, the deep hurt, to the spouse that is the victim and innocent party must be rectified, it must be righteously judged. Jesus God did this. He wanted to heal the hurt and sorrow, the grief, the loss of loving hands and arms, the destruction that has come upon the innocent man or woman. This is the purpose in the words of Jesus: "WHAT GOD HATH JOINED TOGETHER, LET NO MAN PUT ASUNDER."
The Jewish Jesus placed God's love within his doctrine about divorce and remarriage. Divorce and remarriage is the most tender hearted compassion God could grant. And he granted it.
A spouse who finds they have been lied to, cheated on, and reduced to nothing more than an object of trash: to be hurt and caused great sorrow by an unfaithful spouse; these deserved the compassion of God. And God is not ashamed to grant it.
The Jewish Jesus granted with compassion the right of divorce and remarriage to the innocent party of a union destroyed by sexual immorality.
Yes, there is one cause and one cause alone for Christians to divorce and remarry and that is for the act of sexual immorality (fornication).
The Jewish Jesus has spoken and given his word on this very important subject. Let those who value his doctrine, his love, and who respect his compassion. Let us all follow his example.
If you read this and you have been helped, you can email me at acts238church@gmail.com.
Bishop Reckart
A Man Who Has Compassion For Those Hurt By An Unfaithful Spouse
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