What was happening when Jesus talked about divorce in this passage?

Jesus had left the previous area and come into the region of Judea across the Jordan. As usual, crowds gathered around him, and he began teaching them again. In the middle of this, some Pharisees came with a question about divorce, not because they humbly wanted help, but because they wanted to test him and trap him in his words. After he answered them in public, he went into a house, and there his own disciples asked him more about this same subject in private.

Why did the Pharisees ask, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife"?

The Pharisees asked this question to tempt Jesus. They were not mainly seeking wisdom about marriage. They were trying to force him to take a side that would either seem to oppose Moses or upset the people who were used to easy divorce. At that time there was debate about when divorce was allowed. By asking if it was lawful for a man to send his wife away, they hoped his answer would give them a reason to accuse him or turn others against him.

What does Jesus mean by "for the hardness of your heart"?

When Jesus says, "for the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept," he is explaining why Moses allowed a bill of divorce. It was not because divorce pleased God, but because people’s hearts were stubborn and harsh. If there had been no allowance at all, some husbands might have treated their wives even more cruelly. So this permission was a concession to human sin, not God’s ideal. Jesus shows that a hard heart is the problem, and that God’s true will is seen in his design at creation, not in this temporary allowance.

What does it mean that husband and wife become "one flesh"?

When Jesus says that a man leaves his father and mother, cleaves to his wife, and the two become one flesh, he is quoting the creation story about the first man and woman. One flesh means a deep, close union, where husband and wife are joined together in a way that is not meant to be broken. They are no longer seen as two separate lives that can be easily parted, but as one joined life. This is why Jesus concludes that what God has joined together, people should not separate by casual or selfish divorce.

Why does Jesus say, "What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder"?

Jesus says this because he wants his hearers to see that marriage is God’s work, not just a human agreement. God is the one who joins a man and a woman in marriage. Since God has bound them together, people should not treat that bond lightly or break it for small reasons. His words challenge the common habit of divorcing a spouse for many causes. He pushes past human customs and goes back to God’s purpose, calling people to honor what God has done rather than using the law to excuse their own hardness of heart.

Why does Jesus call remarriage after divorce adultery in this passage?

In the house, when his disciples ask again, Jesus says that whoever puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and that if a woman puts away her husband and marries another she also commits adultery. He is saying that, in God’s sight, the first marriage bond still stands, so taking another spouse is being unfaithful to that first covenant. His words show how serious the marriage promise is. He exposes the sin that can hide behind legal papers, warning that a lawful divorce in human courts can still be adultery before God.

What does this passage teach about God’s design for marriage?

This passage shows that God’s design for marriage goes back to creation. God made humans male and female and joined one man and one woman so that they would become one flesh. A man is to leave his parents and hold fast to his wife. This union is meant to be close, exclusive, and lasting. Marriage is not presented as a human idea that can be changed at will, but as a work of God that should be honored. The passage teaches that God’s intention is lifelong faithfulness, not easy separation whenever people feel displeased.

How should believers today think about divorce in light of this passage?

This passage calls believers to take marriage very seriously and to see it as God’s joining, not just a personal choice. It shows that divorce comes from hardness of heart and that simply having a legal paper does not make everything right before God. At the same time, the passage explains why divorce was permitted in the past, to restrain greater harm in a sinful world. Believers today should honor God’s design for a man and a woman to become one flesh, seek soft hearts instead of stubborn ones, and treat the marriage promise as a holy commitment.

Mark.10.1

Mark 10:1

KJV

And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.

Cross References

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