 The Proclaimer
Just One Just Cause
“But I say
unto you, that everyone that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of
fornication, maketh her an adulteress: and whosoever shall marry her when
she is put away commiteth adultery” (Matt. 5:32).
Having just
taught concerning lust and adultery in the heart (Matt. 5:27-30), Jesus now
turns His attention to a practice common among the Jews of the first
century: divorce for any cause and remarriage to another. For the most part
the Jews had taken a law (Deut. 24:1-4) that was originally given by God to
discourage and regulate the arbitrary dismissal of wives by their husbands,
and used it as license to put away their wives for any cause. Most of the
Jews overlooked the cause of “some unseemly thing,” choosing instead to
reason that any cause could force a man’s wife to “find no favor in his
eyes.” Then in an attempt to justify their action as “lawful” they
emphasized the proper civil procedure of writing “her a bill of
divorcement.” Consequently, regardless of the cause, as long as the husband
had given his wife a proper bill of divorcement prior to her dismissal, he
had followed the law and was free to marry another.
It’s important
that we understand and learn that “the cause of fornication” is the only
legitimate and divinely sanctioned ground for which a man may put away
his wife. Nevertheless, the weight of the statement of Jesus in Matthew
5:32 does not fall upon the exception, rather it is the one exception
that gives prominence to the illegitimacy of any other reason.
Jesus shows the
woman innocent of fornication who is unjustly dismissed by her husband to be
the victim of her husband’s sin, for he “maketh her an adulteress” (causeth
her to commit adultery,” KJV). It’s clear that when no fornication has
been committed by either party and the wife is unjustly dismissed,
“whosoever shall marry her when she is put away committeth adultery.” There
can be only one reason that God regards her remarriage as adultery: she is
still bound by God to her marital covenant. Even though dismissed by her
husband and released from her marital contract under civil law, she remains
bound by that marital covenant yoked by God (Matt. 19:6).
Both the personal
and civil action taken by the husband that dismisses a wife innocent of
fornication are without sanction of divine law, and therefore, are without
force in the accomplishment of their desired intent. Consequently, she
remains the wife of the man who unjustly dismissed her with all the
obligations and restrictions imposed by that divinely joined covenant still
in tact. Since neither party committed fornication, neither party is free
to marry another. Such was the case with Herod and Herodias. Although
Herodias had apparently divorced her husband Philip and married his brother
Herod, this action was “unlawful” so far as God was concerned and she
remained Herod’s “brother’s wife” (Mark 6:16-18).
Regardless of what human civil law sanctions or permits, when a divorce
takes place and no fornication has been committed, any marital relations or
any exercise of the privileges and rights of the marital relationship by
either party constitutes adultery. There is but one just cause for divorce
and remarriage: fornication, and only the innocent party has the authority
to remarry without committing adultery. Whatever the laws of men may
pronounce, this is the law of Christ and to it we must conform.
-- Clark Dugger
The Proclaimer
|
