Jesus on Marriage - Original Intent

In previous blog posts, I began telling the story of my brain tumor and the depression which followed it.  The second article in the series described my faith in God which sustained me through both trials.

Having recently started a word-by-word translation of Martin Luther’s Bible from German to English, I introduced the project and Matthew Chapter 1. Later I wrote commentary on Chapter 1, another article, and commentary on Chapter 2; my church background and theological training is added to my Patch bio.

My previous blog post included translation for Matthew Chapter 19.

Here is the text of what Jesus said about marriage:

The Gospel According to Matthew, Chapter 19: 1-12

           Word-by-word English translation from Martin Luther’s German, revised by the German Bible Society 1984

About Marriage, Divorce, Single Life

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these talks, He set out from Galilee and came into the region of Judea across the Jordan; and a great crowd followed after Him, and He healed them there.

Then Pharisees walked up to Him and tested Him and said, “Is it allowed that a man can divorce from his wife for any reason?”

But He answered and said, “Have you not read: He that created the human beings in the beginning made them as man and wife and said, (1. Moses 2:24) ‘Therefore will a man leave father and mother and fasten to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?’

So now they are no longer two, but one flesh.[i] What now God has joined together, that should the mortal not separate!”

Then they asked, “Why then did Moses command to give her a bill of divorce and separate himself from her?”

He said to them, “Moses allowed you to divorce yourselves from your wives because of the hardness of your hearts, but from the beginning it was not to be so.

But I say to you: whoever divorces himself from his wife, except because of adultery, and marries another, he breaks the marriage.”

Then His disciples said to Him, “If the circumstance of a man with his wife stands so, then it is not good to marry.”

However, he said to them, “Not all will comprehend this saying, but rather only those to whom it has been given.

For some are unfit for marriage from birth on; others are made incapable of marriage by people, and still others have made themselves unable to do marriage for the sake of the Heavenly Kingdom. Whoever can grasp it, he will understand it!”

[i] The Greek word that Luther translated word by word with “Fleisch,” has a considerably greater breadth of meaning than its German equivalent. First of all, “Fleisch” indicates the whole person as body-soul union. So are man and woman in their union “one flesh” (and not only one body; 1. Moses 2:24); “all flesh” means: all people (Joel 3:1). In the metaphorical sense it indicates:

1.       The domain of the perishable, human and material, that is subdued in transitoriness (for example, Isaiah 40:5-6), etc. (I’ve only included the part of the “flesh” footnote relevant to this passage.)

Translator’s notes and headings are in italics, while headings and bold text are in regular font as they appeared in the 1984 German Bible Society edition. Verse numbers and most cross references from the German version have been omitted for readability. Permission is granted to copy this freely for individual or group Bible studies as long as passages are quoted in their entirety and proper attribution is given. Copyright Dale Murrish 2013.

Commentary in plain font, Bible in Italics

After Jesus had finished teaching in parables about a loving God who pursues a lost sheep, the unmerciful servant (and the merciful King!) (Chapter 18), He healed those who were sick in the large crowds who followed Him. 

Some Pharisees walked up to Him and tested Him with a loaded question about marriage and divorce: “Is it allowed that a man can divorce from his wife for any reason?”

But He answered and said, “Have you not read: He that created the human beings in the beginning made them as man and wife and said, (1. Moses 2:24) ‘Therefore will a man leave father and mother and fasten to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?’

So now they are no longer two, but one flesh.[i] What now God has joined together, that should the mortal not separate!”

Original Intent

Jesus referred back to the Garden of Eden and quoted the Creator's original intent. (He also did not say it was allegory, and He was there with the Holy Spirit in the beginning, according to Moses' account.) This same passage is also quoted by the Apostle Paul in two of his letters, referring back to Genesis in Ephesians 5:31, and the profound mystery of Christ and the church in verse 32. This is specifically referenced in Revelation 19, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.

So from Genesis to Revelation, marriage is vitally important. A man leaves father and mother and fastens to his wife, the two becoming one flesh. The explanation about the body-soul union in the glossary describes the deeper meaning of the Greek word translated flesh.

Men and Women are Different

Contrary to popular opinion in many circles, men and women are different. We're wired differently; it's not just environment. A famous book, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" describes the differences in the way men and women think. Men think blue and women think pink; let's enjoy the difference!

Forshadowing Another Wedding Feast

The union between a man and a woman is a type of the union between Christ and His church. Collectively the church is the Bride of Christ.

I had heard the first part of this before, but not the connection to Revelation put as clearly as this past weekend at a Christian wedding. The minister explained what marriage is about and what a Christian marriage signifies to the world. A man and a woman drawn together just as Christ draws His church to Himself.

The Pharisees Argue with the Son of God

Then they asked, “Why then did Moses command to give her a bill of divorce and separate himself from her?”

He said to them, “Moses allowed you to divorce yourselves from your wives because of the hardness of your hearts, but from the beginning it was not to be so.

But I say to you: whoever divorces himself from his wife, except because of adultery, and marries another, he breaks the marriage.”

I think Jesus probably emphasized the word allowed as He replied in frustration at their misinterpretation of the Scripture. Moses didn't command it; he allowed it because their hearts were hard. Perhaps all the other deviations from the ideal (one man one woman marriage for love, where Adam delighted in Eve) that Moses and other prophets permitted were also because the people's hearts were hard. 

Nowhere in this passage or elsewhere in the Bible does it mention two men getting married, nor two women. They cannot become one flesh in the same way as a man and woman can, completing the other.

The Disciples Comment and Jesus Replies

Then His disciples said to Him, “If the circumstance of a man with his wife stands so, then it is not good to marry.”

However, he said to them, “Not all will comprehend this saying, but rather only those to whom it has been given.

For some are unfit for marriage from birth on; others are made incapable of marriage by people, and still others have made themselves unable to do marriage for the sake of the Heavenly Kingdom. Whoever can grasp it, he will understand it!”

Some Selfish Comments and a Mysterious Reply

Somewhat sexist comments to our modern ears but maybe realistic in that male-dominant culture, where women could be discarded as property. What about Jesus' reply?

Who is He talking about?