Jesus did not condemn the Samaritan woman for having multiple husbands. When she understood Jesus was a prophet, she went to a theological question about keeping the feasts. The Pharisees, on the other hand, approached Jesus about the rules for divorce. Jesus moved the issue from marriage to the heart. The nature of mankind is to attempt to keep the letter of the law while avoiding the plain meaning of the Scripture. The goal of Christianity is forgiveness and peace.

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82: Jesus Speaks Concerning Divorce

Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12

Pharisees came to Jesus and asked, testing him:

            “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?”

       Jesus replied with a question, saying:

            “What did Moses command you?”

       The Pharisees replied to Jesus, saying:

            “Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement and put her away.”

       Jesus replied to the Pharisees:

            “For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh; so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

            Later, when Jesus was alone with his disciples, they asked him again about the matter of divorce. He replied, saying:

            “Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband and be married to another, she committeth adultery.”