In Matthew 19:6, Jesus’ appeal to God’s institution of marriage at creation shows how marriage is more than a mere human contract. Since it is something instituted by God himself, no one has the authority to dissolve what God has joined together. Jesus not only refers to the divine institution as becoming one flesh,
but also stresses that this is what they have become. And since this is a divine institution, no man may separate it. Husband and wife are no longer independent of each other. To separate is unnatural, going against the creation ordinance.
In Matthew 19:6, Jesus appeals to the divine institution of marriage at creation to show that marriage is more than a mere human contract; it is something instituted by God himself. For that reason, no human being has the authority to dissolve that which God has joined together.
Jesus not only refers to the divine institution of becoming one flesh,
but also expressly emphasizes the resulting state of affairs: that this is what they have become. And because we are dealing here with a divine institution, no man may separate it. Husband and wife no longer have an existence independent of one another. To separate is something unnatural; it goes against the ordinance established at creation.1
6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”