31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (Matthew 5:31-32 NIV)
Divorce and adultery
According to Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus corrected the Jews’ misunderstanding of divorce and reaffirmed the sanctity of marriage. Under the Mosaic Law, divorce was permitted with a written certificate, intended to prevent impulsive divorce. However, over time, the Pharisees misinterpreted this as permission to divorce for any trivial reason. Christ corrected this abuse by teaching that divorce, except for adultery, leads to committing adultery.
Aside from adultery, any other reason for divorce leads to more adultery. This is because if a man dismisses his wife to marry another woman, both the man and his new wife are guilty of adultery. And also the dismissed wife, if she remarries, has committed adultery, and the man who marries her is also guilty of adultery.
We have a perfect example of divorce and adultery in the family of Herod the Great. Herodias was the granddaughter of Herod the Great. She first married her uncle, Herod Philip I, with whom she had a daughter named Salome. Later, she left Philip and married another uncle, Herod Antipas. Both Herodias and Antipas are guilty of adultery. Moreover, Herodias, after divorcing Philip, put him in the position to commit adultery if he married another woman.
The marriage is so serious that those who break it through adultery essentially dissolve the bond by their own actions. Because of this, divorce in the case of adultery is not condemned but acknowledged as a rightful course for the innocent spouse.
Some argue that an adulterous spouse should not be permitted to remarry after a divorce. While this may seem just, such a restriction is not explicitly found in the Scriptures. It is unlikely that those who violate marital fidelity would remain celibate. Therefore, forbidding them to remarry might cause more harm than good. The fact that divorcing an adulterous partner was allowed also implies that the Old Testament law requiring the execution of adulterers was not an absolute requirement under the New Testament.
Jesus also made a point that it was because the people had a hard heart that led to the abuse of divorce laws. In ancient times, men would simply tell their wives to leave; considering that a quick word was sufficient for divorce, Moses required a written document to ensure a deliberate and legal process, giving time for anger to subside and for reconsideration. This requirement helped curb a widespread habit of rash divorces.
Modern laws may permit divorce for almost any reason, but in God’s eyes, marriage remains a sacred institution that should not be easily dissolved. Anyone who divorces for reasons other than adultery and remarries is guilty of adultery, regardless of human legislation.
Christ’s words affirm that God intends for marriage to be a lifelong commitment. Marriage is not to be redefined or undermined by human institutions. As believers, we must resist the temptation to conform to modern ideas that contradict God’s design. The wisdom of Christ surpasses that of any human reformer, and we must trust in His commandments rather than seek ways to alter them.