Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Central to understanding Jesus’ words about divorce and remarriage is the meaning of “fornication” in Matthew 19:9a: “And I say unto you, ‘Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, committeth adultery.’” The Greek word translated “fornication” is a broad one, often translated “immorality.” Adultery is clearly forbidden. However, “immorality” is not confined to marital infidelity, for it can include any “indecency” (another good translation) that is inconsistent with the standard of being “one flesh” (Mark 10:8). Wrong behavior short of actual adultery is also prohibited. The focus is on anything that breaks the marital bond. The statement of Mark 10:9 is our guiding principle: “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” The phrase “joined together” is literally “yoked together” and pictures a pair of oxen pulling equally in the same direction. This powerful imagery informs the ideal of marriage and points us to the Savior, Jesus Christ, Who invites each of us to share in His eternal yoke (Matthew 11:28-30) – and we know Who is doing all of the work! Our Lord said, “I hate [choose against] divorce” (a literal rendering of Malachi 2:16b); those of us who either have been divorced or had someone close to us go through divorce well understand why God chooses against it. We can draw extraordinary comfort from the fact that He will never divorce us: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5b). A wedding ring is a good thing, but even better are “the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27) that encircle us, never to let even one of us go.