Good morning, dear ones.
Today, let’s take a look at Jesus’ teaching on divorce.
“And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.”
— Mark 10:2
We see that the Pharisees came to Jesus with a very specific intent. Mark tells us plainly that they were testing Him. This was not the first time they had done this; on several occasions, they approached Jesus with questions meant to trap Him rather than to learn from Him.
Their goal was to discredit Jesus as a true teacher of the Word of God. In John 8, in the account of the woman caught in adultery, we see this same pattern of testing. Their questioning was driven by a desire to bring a charge against Him.
“They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have evidence to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.”
— John 8:6
This shows us that their goal was not to understand God’s view on divorce, but rather to get rid of Jesus altogether. They were displeased with His teaching because it exposed them as false teachers.
Unfortunately, this is still the state of affairs today. There are many who approach Scripture—not with a desire to learn from God—but with an intent to do away with it. Some point out what they claim are inconsistencies or inadequacies in Scripture in order to declare it irrelevant to modern people and argue that it should be discarded altogether.
However, Scripture testifies concerning itself that it has been tried and tested:
“As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of Yahweh is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.”
— Psalm 18:30
It is perfectly fine to have questions about Scripture and to desire a deeper understanding of how its parts fit together. However, it is vital that we approach the Word of God with reverence, knowing that it is inspired by God and, at its core, meant to be understood by His people.
When we encounter passages that seem difficult or even confusing, we should approach them with humility. It is far more likely that we are removed from the original context than that the Creator of the universe erred in delivering His Word.
For this reason, we must be careful not to approach Scripture with the intent of poking holes in it so that we may dismiss it altogether. That posture often reveals something deeper—perhaps even unbelief in the Word of God itself.
The Pharisees’ line of questioning centered on divorce, and Jesus responds by directing them back to Scripture.
“And He answered and said to them, ‘What did Moses command you?’”
— Mark 10:3
There is much for us to learn from Jesus’ response. Instead of becoming defensive or immediately calling out their motives, He takes them straight back to Scripture. We see this same approach when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness—He consistently appealed to Scripture to combat the devil’s lies.
There is a clear application here for us today. Many theological debates would be resolved far more quickly if we simply appealed to Scripture as the ultimate authority.
When we attempt to argue theological matters using human reasoning alone, without grounding ourselves in Scripture, we inevitably place ourselves—or something else—above God as the authority. This will always leave us on the losing side.
Therefore, when confronted with the issues of this world, we must begin with what Scripture says. If we start there, we will arrive at a biblical understanding rather than one shaped by cultural pressure or the desire to please people.
Jesus continues by asking them what the Law of Moses commanded concerning divorce.
“And they said, ‘Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.’”
— Mark 10:4
In their response, their hypocrisy and ignorance are exposed. They isolate a single verse that appears to support their position, while ignoring the broader context in which Moses addressed divorce.
Had they considered the full passage, they would have recognized Moses’ intentional concern for protecting women from mistreatment—something that was common in that cultural context.
“If a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she goes out of his house and becomes another man’s wife, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before Yahweh, and you shall not bring sin on the land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance.”
— Deuteronomy 24:1–4
The Pharisees failed to note that Moses was emphasizing the seriousness and consequences of divorce. Once a man divorced his wife and she remarried, he could not take her back. Additionally, the certificate of divorce was descriptive, not prescriptive. Moses was not encouraging divorce; he was regulating an already broken situation to limit further harm.
Jesus then clarifies the true intent of the Law.
“But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote for you this commandment.’”
— Mark 10:5
Jesus exposes not only the hard-heartedness of the people at the time the Law was given, but also the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees themselves. In doing so, He reveals that they had fallen into the same spiritual condition as those who first received the command.
The Pharisees were attempting to trap Jesus because of the competing schools of thought in their day. Some permitted divorce for nearly any reason, while others allowed it only in cases of sexual immorality. They hoped that by aligning with one side, Jesus would offend the other and give them grounds to accuse Him.
Instead, Jesus does something remarkable—He sides with God.
This is the posture every believer must adopt. When faced with competing ideologies, we must always choose God. Our worldview, decisions, words, and actions must be shaped not by the philosophies of the day, but by the Word of God.
Jesus then grounds His teaching in God’s original design.
“But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.”
— Mark 10:6–8
Jesus appeals to the order of creation, affirming that God created humanity as male and female and that marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman. He emphasizes the unbreakable nature of this covenant by declaring that the two become one flesh—no longer two, but one.
By walking them through Scripture, Jesus shows that when our worldview is not aligned with God’s Word, the problem lies with us, not with Scripture.
Rather than appealing to cultural trends or popular philosophies, Jesus points them back to God’s original, good design—one that does not need to be altered.
He then draws His final conclusion.
“What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
— Mark 10:9
Instead of debating whether divorce is permissible, Jesus redirects the conversation to what truly matters: God’s design for marriage. If God is the one who joins a man and a woman together, then no human authority has the right to separate them.
From this passage, we learn that the issues of the day are never superior to the Word of God. Scripture is both sufficient and authoritative for all matters of faith and practice.
As believers, we will often face challenging questions that require wisdom and discernment. In those moments, we must remember that God’s Word is sufficient to guide us, shape our thinking, and help us live according to His will.
My prayer is that whatever challenge you face today, you will turn to Scripture—not to defend human opinion, but to uphold what God has said.
Grace and peace.
Leave a Reply