What God has joined together, let not man separate

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.   The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"  And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"  He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."

His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."  But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."

- Matthew 19:1-12

On Saturday, we read that Peter came to Jesus (after Jesus had given a system of mutual correction for the Church, in Friday's reading) and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  Up to seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.  Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.  The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'  Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.  But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'  So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'  And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.  So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.  Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant!  I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.  Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'  And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.  So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses."

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.   The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"  And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"  He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."    Jesus is now in the region just beyond the Jordan; He's come closer to Jerusalem and is in Judea.  We note that great multitudes followed Him.  The Pharisees come from Jerusalem to test Him.  Divorce was an important and contested question at this time, with the Pharisees even divided among themselves on the question of reasons for (easy) divorce.  The basis for the Pharisees' test is Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  God's condescension, my study bible says, or allowance for human weakness, does not override the original principle of permanent monogamous marriage as revealed in Genesis 1 & 2.  It is with this original understanding that Jesus begins His response.  As always, His emphasis is on the true aim and purpose of the Law.  He adds His own clear prohibitions here against divorce.   Jesus gives possible ground for divorce as "sexual immorality."  The permissible reasons for divorce were expanded in the ancient Church to include threat to a spouse's or child's life and desertion.  But in all cases, my study bible emphasizes, acknowledging the spiritual tragedy of such a situation.

His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."  But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."   My study bible says that Christ steers the disciples here toward an understanding of the holiness of virginity -- not as a rejection of marriage but rather as a special calling for those to whom it has been given.  Eunuchs were men who had been castrated, perhaps by birth defect, disease, or mutilation.  They were often employed to guard women of nobility.  This was a centuries-old custom in many cultures until rather recently in human history.  Here, Jesus also uses the term "eunuch" figuratively, as metaphor for those who choose freely to live in lifelong celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  This is a kind of consecrated virginity, which is not to be confused with self-mutilation (which was condemned at the First Ecumenical Council in 325).  See also 1 Corinthians 7:7, 25-38.

As is typical, when Jesus is challenged by those seeking an answer from Him, He does not reply in the same vein as the question demands.  In other words, if the Pharisees are asking Him for His perspective on a contested question of the time, Jesus does not simply reply as if their grounds for the question were reasonable.  Here, He doesn't really answer the question about divorce in the same perspective as the question is asked.  They ask Him about permissible reasons for divorce.  But Jesus instead emphasizes the nature of marriage itself; that is, its intended nature as a sacrament given by God in the first place.  Rather than answering the question with a list of permissible reasons for divorce, Jesus instead chooses to emphasize the essential importance of marriage as union intended by God in our very creation in the first place.  It is the purpose of physical gender, in the terms in which Jesus phrases His answer.   Even the concept of family takes on particular ramifications in Jesus' answer.  In the ancient world (and all over the world, even in the West until quite recently in historical perspective) marriage was arranged by parents.  The reverence for parents is built into the Law in the Ten Commandments.  But Jesus emphasizes what is written in Genesis:  "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."   And He concludes,  "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh."  In other words, the marriage bond to wife is meant to surpass the bond with father and mother.  We should keep in mind as we think about this passage that it wasn't possible for a Jewish woman to initiate divorce; Jesus is asked here about the divorce prerogatives of men.  He elevates the status of wife to one that is not simply somewhat higher than property to do with as one wills, but which is greater than the bond with father and mother, and is in fact inseparable from that of her husband, as "the two shall become one flesh" as commanded by God.   Moreover, the emphasis in both discussions with the Pharisees and with His disciples is on the bonds of commitment in a holy context.  First there is this supreme commitment that marriage calls from us, that "the two shall become one flesh."  But secondly, there is the commitment of celibacy for "those to whom it has been given . . . for the kingdom of heaven's sake."  Both are bonds of "marriage" that are given by God and consecrated as holy, unifying not simply by the power of human commitment but by the power of God.   What is not stated here, but which is evident in Jesus' teaching, is the hidden ground of love that forms the basis not only for the Law but for the type of bond which exists in a spiritual context.  As would become so clear for the early Church, "God is love" (1 John 4:8).  Ultimately, these teachings are related to the new commandment He will give (twice for emphasis) at the Last Supper:  "Love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34, 15:12).  Love is the basis for all the teachings Jesus gives, and most certainly it is so here, when He speaks of the bond of marriage -- so deep that "the two shall become one flesh" -- and also the bond of celibacy given by God to specific persons for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.   Rather than giving a list of reasons for divorce, Jesus instead emphasizes the purpose of the Law which is ultimately love, in many forms.   For this reason, Jesus isn't merely a lawgiver like Moses.  He fulfills the Law, but He leaves us with love as His command.   How we live that love is the mission of our faith and the way we fulfill its purpose, even -- in the historical view of the Church -- the way that we fulfill the mission of holiness.  One thing we know:  it always requires self-giving, a way of going out of ourselves as mediated by faith.   Such bonds ask of us humility, self-emptying, a foregoing of selfishness and self-centeredness and a practice of service, even on the most personal level.  But, as Jesus also indicates, sins against love, forms of abuse of relationships, can break those bonds.  Where is love and its work in you and in your life?  Let us consider the ways in which we are stretched to be more "like" our Creator, in whose "image" we are made.