Jesus on Marriage
The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate. Matt. 19:3-6, NKJV.
Two of the greatest sources of Jesus' teachings are His responses to the questions of Peter and those to the queries of the Jewish leaders. It is in the context of an attempt by the Jews to trap Him that Jesus provides us with five central ideas on marriage.
First, God Himself designed marriage. It is a God-given institution, rather than a social contract. Second, marriage is an ordinance between the sexes. God "made them male and female." God's intention was not a unisex world. Michael Green notes that "there is a God-ordained difference and complimentary between the sexes. That is so obvious that it only needs to be stated in this late twentieth century when homosexuality has come to be seen as an equally valid alternative to marriage." Third, marriage is intended to be permanent: "the two shall become one flesh." The Creator never intended in His perfect creation that the marriage relationship should ever shatter. Unfortunately, in a less-than-perfect world every union does not fulfill God's goal. But divorce is never His ideal.
Fourth, marriage is exclusive. The two--not three, four, or five--are to become one flesh. One man and one woman form a marriage. That ideal rules out the convenient "affairs" of so many people today and the polygamy of the ancients. Apparently, God's allowance for polygamy in the Old Testament was a less-than-ideal concession to entrenched custom and human weakness. Fifth, marriage creates a nuclear family unit. It includes both leaving one's parents and uniting with a spouse. Thus marriage becomes the strongest and most important of all human relationships.
Today is a good moment to stop and thank God for marriage. It is also an excellent time for those who are married to renew their vows to each other and for those who are contemplating marriage to think seriously of the sacred implications of this divine gift. We have a God who desires to make good marriages even better, to heal broken relationships, and to forgive those who have fallen short of His ideal.
The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate. Matt. 19:3-6, NKJV.
Two of the greatest sources of Jesus' teachings are His responses to the questions of Peter and those to the queries of the Jewish leaders. It is in the context of an attempt by the Jews to trap Him that Jesus provides us with five central ideas on marriage.
First, God Himself designed marriage. It is a God-given institution, rather than a social contract. Second, marriage is an ordinance between the sexes. God "made them male and female." God's intention was not a unisex world. Michael Green notes that "there is a God-ordained difference and complimentary between the sexes. That is so obvious that it only needs to be stated in this late twentieth century when homosexuality has come to be seen as an equally valid alternative to marriage." Third, marriage is intended to be permanent: "the two shall become one flesh." The Creator never intended in His perfect creation that the marriage relationship should ever shatter. Unfortunately, in a less-than-perfect world every union does not fulfill God's goal. But divorce is never His ideal.
Fourth, marriage is exclusive. The two--not three, four, or five--are to become one flesh. One man and one woman form a marriage. That ideal rules out the convenient "affairs" of so many people today and the polygamy of the ancients. Apparently, God's allowance for polygamy in the Old Testament was a less-than-ideal concession to entrenched custom and human weakness. Fifth, marriage creates a nuclear family unit. It includes both leaving one's parents and uniting with a spouse. Thus marriage becomes the strongest and most important of all human relationships.
Today is a good moment to stop and thank God for marriage. It is also an excellent time for those who are married to renew their vows to each other and for those who are contemplating marriage to think seriously of the sacred implications of this divine gift. We have a God who desires to make good marriages even better, to heal broken relationships, and to forgive those who have fallen short of His ideal.
RSS Feed
