What is the context?
Jesus continues His teaching about faithfulness by addressing divorce. The certificate mentioned in verse 31 comes from Deuteronomy 24:1–4. That law describes a woman who is divorced, marries another man, and then loses that second marriage. Its specific prohibition concerns her return to the first husband. It does not command husbands to divorce their wives.
Jesus brings attention to what divorce can do to the marriage relationship. Providing the document does not by itself settle the moral question. His warning connects sending a wife away and marrying a divorced woman with adultery, while including an exception concerning sexual immorality.
The word behind sexual immorality is πορνεία, porneia (por-NAY-ah). Thayer's Greek Lexicon gives the general meaning of unlawful sexual intercourse and includes adultery among its uses. The word identifies a sexual wrong; Christians differ over precisely what situation Jesus means here and how the exception affects divorce and remarriage.
The fuller discussion in Matthew 19:3–9 returns to God's joining husband and wife as one flesh. Jesus describes Moses' permission as a response to human hardness of heart. Mark 10:2–12 also records His teaching about divorce, addressing both husbands and wives. 1 Corinthians 7:10–16 discusses separation, reconciliation, and an unbelieving spouse's departure. These passages are important to the different Christian readings below.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians agree that Jesus treats marriage as a serious, faithful commitment. They differ over when divorce is permitted and whether a later marriage can be recognized.
The Catholic Church teaches that a valid marriage between baptized spouses cannot be ended by human authority once they have had marital relations. Its Catechism, 2382–2386, distinguishes separation or a necessary civil divorce from ending the marriage bond. Civil divorce may be accepted to protect certain rights or children; a new union while the marriage bond remains is regarded as adulterous. The Catechism also distinguishes an unjustly abandoned spouse from the person responsible for destroying the marriage.
In the Reformed tradition, the Westminster Confession, chapter 24.5–6, allows an innocent spouse to divorce and remarry after adultery. It also recognizes deliberate desertion that neither church nor civil authority can remedy as grounds for ending the marriage. This reading brings Matthew's exception together with Paul's discussion of desertion in 1 Corinthians 7.
The Orthodox Church in America's Holy Synod statement on marriage, section F, upholds lifelong marriage while allowing a bishop to consider a later marriage after civil divorce. It describes this as a pastoral response to a broken marriage, with repentance and the possibility of a new beginning, rather than treating divorce as the ideal.
The United Methodist Church's Social Principles, Marriage: Divorce, recognize divorce as sometimes necessary when a relationship has become destructive or cannot be repaired. They state that divorce does not rule out remarriage and that faithfulness does not require remaining in an abusive relationship. This is that church's stated approach; it should not be assumed to describe every Wesleyan church or teacher.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Marriage also becomes a way Scripture helps us understand Christ's love. Ephesians 5:25–33 calls husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. Paul repeats the creation account's words about becoming one flesh, then connects this mystery with Christ and the church.
That connection gives marriage a purpose beyond a legal arrangement: it can show faithful, self-giving love. Jesus' return to the Creator's purpose in Matthew 19:4–6 and Paul's description of Christ's care both direct attention to what God intends the relationship to express. The comparison does not supply a separate rule for every divorce situation; it shows why faithfulness and care matter within God's larger work.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.