Jesus’ teaching about divorce in Matthew 19:1–12 again shows how he did not just reform the Mosaic law. He inaugurated a new dispensation of grace that transcended that law. People will now seek their fulfillment in the kingdom, with earthly desires subordinated to its higher calling. Jesus’ marriage ethic thus fits the new dispensation. The law is not stricter, but the perspective is altered, and believers’ behavior is reshaped through God’s grace. Jesus applies his own principle—that a person must take up his cross and lose his life in order to find it (Matthew 16:25)—to marriage, for those who can deny themselves on earth for the sake of God’s kingdom. In his confronting the Pharisees, recorded in this passage, he upholds marriage as an indissoluble creation ordinance, but at the same time he puts the matter on a higher plane by relating marriage to his kingdom, teaching that neither divorce nor abstaining from marriage is an ideal. The highest calling is to be willing to surrender all—even marriage—for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus can say all this because he is the Son of the Father, who is fulfilling the ceremonial purpose of the Mosaic law and re-establishing the creation order behind the civil code, so this passage also shows how matters should be arranged in the kingdom of heaven under the reign of God (see Matthew 18:5–14).
The passage concerning Jesus’ teaching about divorce (Matthew 19:1–12) shows once again that Jesus did more than just reform the law of Moses. He inaugurated a completely new dispensation that transcends anything found during the time of Moses. He does not merely replace one rule with another; he introduces a new and far-reaching dispensation of grace.
And what does this entail? People will now seek their fulfillment in the kingdom of heaven, with their earthly desires being subordinated to that higher calling. Those who expect the kingdom of heaven are willing to give up everything on earth.
Jesus’ marriage ethic is therefore suited to the new dispensation that had now dawned. The law does not become stricter, but the perspective is altered, and the behavior of believers is reshaped through the grace of God. Jesus here applies his own principle that a person must take up his cross and lose his life in order to find it (Matthew 16:25) to the realm of marriage for those who are willing to deny themselves on earth for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and its Creator.1
In his confrontation with the Pharisees recorded in this passage, Jesus upholds marriage as an indissoluble creation ordinance, but at the same time he raises the matter to a much higher plane by placing marriage in direct relation to his kingdom.
Jesus teaches that neither divorce nor abstaining from marriage ought to be pursued as ideal. The highest calling is this: that a person should be willing to surrender everything—even marriage—for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus can speak as he does because he is the Son of the Father. Through him, the provisional law of Moses, insofar as it was ceremonial, has lost its significance; and insofar as it was civil, he can reach behind it and re-establish God’s original creation requirements.
As such, in this passage we encounter exhortations that show how matters ought to be arranged in the kingdom of heaven under the reign of God (see Matthew 18:5–14).2
1 Lorsque Jésus eut achevé ces discours, il quitta la Galilée, et alla dans le territoire de la Judée, au-delà du Jourdain.