Two views of whether Jesus distanced himself from the law of Moses regarding divorce:
No, since Deuteronomy 24:1 was part of the civil law, which worked within what was then generally permitted in the Near East: the sending away of a wife. The Israelites, being hard of heart, adopted this view, and the civil law improved things somewhat by saying that there may be no divorce in Israel unless, at the least, the formal requirements were properly met, but this was why the Pharisees were wrong, in response to Jesus’ appeal to the creation ordinance (which they knew), to appeal to Moses. Jesus did not criticize the Mosaic law, but condemned the sklērōkardia (hardness of heart) that made this law necessary.
Yes, for since the concession in Deuteronomy 24:1 is due to
hardness of heart,
he affirms that the situation regarding marriage changes once prophecies such as Ezekiel 11:19–20 and Ezekiel 36:26 are fulfilled.
Interpretation 1:
No, he did not. We must keep in mind that Deuteronomy 24:1 forms part of the civil legislation, which had to take into account what was practically attainable at the time. The sending away of a wife was considered generally permissible throughout the ancient Near East. The Israelites, being hard of heart, had followed the customs of their time and environment, and now the civil law at least introduced some improvement by saying that there may be no divorce in Israel unless, at the very least, the formal requirements have been properly met.
But for this very reason it was wrong for the Pharisees, in response to Jesus’ appeal to the creation ordinance—which they were familiar with—to appeal to Moses. Jesus in turn does not criticize the Law of Moses, but rather condemns the (still prevailing) sklērōkardia—the hardness of heart—that had made such a law necessary.1
Interpretation 2:
Yes, he did, for given that the concession in Deuteronomy 24:1 is connected to the hardness of heart,
he affirms that the situation regarding marriage changes once prophecies such as Ezekiel 11:19–20 and Ezekiel 36:26 are fulfilled.2
8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.