Marriage Today

Sunday, July 14, 2024

Matthew 19:1-13

Introduction

Marriage as a Social Construct means that cultural norms and expectations determine what marriage is, who can marry, and the roles each spouse plays. It's a social contract, which means that it's defined by a set of rules, expectations, and boundaries that can vary depending on the type of relationship. 

 God Created Marriage, Jesus Affirmed It, so Let’s Follow It

 Controversy on Divorce

v.3 – “And the Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”

 They came to ‘test’ Jesus because they wanted Jesus to incriminate himself through misinterpreting the law

 Rabbi Shammai – had interpreted this very strictly.

They had interpreted that unseemly thing that a man found in his wife as being fornication, or adultery. And so that became the only occasion for the giving of a bill of divorcement.

 Rabbi Hillel and his followers thought differently and interpreted very liberally. They thought that a man could divorce his wife for any cause. For example, if a wife did not prepare breakfast properly by burning the food, that was sufficient cause for divorce.

 Radical Statement on Marriage

v.4-6 – “He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So, they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

 This is a powerful and radical statement. It is a strong affirmation of the divine inspiration of the OT scriptures, because Jesus goes on to quote words from Genesis that are not attributed to any speaker but attributes those words to God.

 “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female…”

 Jesus doesn’t focus on divorce, but on marriage. Jesus takes them back to Genesis and in the beginning. God created man from the ground, and he created woman from the man.

 ‘Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?

“The law of God was not, that a man should forsake his wife whenever he had a mind to it, but that he should rather forsake his father and mother than his wife; that he should cleave unto his wife, living and dwelling with her.” Poole

 “According to the Bible, the marriage act is more than a physical act. It is an act of sharing. It is an act of communion. It is an act of total self-giving wherein the husband gives himself completely to the wife, and the wife gives herself to the husband in such a way that the two actually become one flesh.” Wayne Mack

 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Joined together: “Sunezeuxen, yoked together, as oxen in the plough, where each must pull equally, in order to bring it on.

 When you make a radical statement there is always a…Yeah BUT!!!!!

“They said to him, ‘Why did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?’

 “He said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”

 Conclusion