“God’s Best in Marriage”
Matthew 5:31-32
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” [Genesis 2:24]
We must go all the back to Genesis 2, before sin entered the world, for God’s best in marriage. God’s original design for marriage was pure and holy, and to be a blessing. The Father’s heart is to bless His children, and so He created the beautiful union of marriage. “It is not good that man should be alone,” and so He made him a helper “comparable to him.”
Everything in God’s creation was good and everything He had made “was exceedingly good.” [Gen 1:31]. The only thing that was not good was that Man was alone, without a wife.
The converse is also true; it is not good that woman should be alone. The desire for a wife and the desire for a husband is God given and fashioned all the way back in Creation. God created the desire for companionship. It is a God given desire for marriage.
Amid the Sermon on the Mount, right in the middle of the “You have heard it said…but I say unto you” declarations, Jesus spoke directly on marriage and divorce. There is the letter of the Law, and then there is its intent.
“Furthermore, it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”
Notice that the letter of the Law allows for divorce; but the intent does not.
Context is always important, especially when interpreting two brief verses on an important topic like marriage. Jesus had more to say on marriage in Matt 19. However, in this Sermon, He briefly mentions it within the flow of the “You have heard it said…but I say unto you” declarations. The greater emphasis is the whole of the context, which is the prominence of God’s intent of His Law.
In this Jesus discerned between the letter of the Law and the Spirit of the Law in marriage and divorce. God’s intent [His best] is marriage for life. Divorce should not be an option because of a mere change of mind or a change of heart. Because even a good heart can be deceived [ref. Jer 17:9], especially when emotions are involved. In the whole of this Sermon, Jesus discerns between the Letter of the Law and the Spirit of the Law [God’s best] in Marriage.
In the topic of marriage and divorce, we must be sure to focus on seeking God’s best in every situation.
