Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” 4 He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ 5 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’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” 7 They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss [her]?” 8 He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” 10 [His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 He answered, “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted. 12 Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
The Pharisees approach Jesus with a question about divorce, but Matthew tells us that their purpose is to test Him. They ask whether a man may divorce his wife “for any cause whatever” (v. 3). The Law of Moses regulated the existing practice of divorce, and Jewish teachers later disagreed about the circumstances in which divorce could be permitted. Jesus does not begin by debating those circumstances. Instead, He goes back beyond the Mosaic regulation to creation itself. To understand whether marriage may be ended, He first shows them what God created marriage to be.
Jesus joins two passages from Genesis. God “made them male and female” (Genesis 1:27), and Scripture says, “a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Marriage, therefore, belongs to God's intention for humanity from the beginning.
When Jesus says that husband and wife become “one flesh,” He is describing the unique union established in marriage. A man and woman give themselves to one another and begin a shared life as husband and wife. Their bodily union expresses this personal union and is naturally ordered toward the generation and upbringing of children. They form a new family and share their lives through mutual love, fidelity, assistance, responsibilities, and care for one another. They remain two distinct persons, but marriage joins them in a communion of life that Scripture calls “one flesh.”
The early Church received this understanding from Christ and the apostles, treating marriage as a sacred and enduring union of husband and wife grounded in God’s purpose in creation. Later Christian traditions developed differing interpretations and practices concerning divorce and remarriage, but the early Christian witness begins with the same foundation Jesus gives here: husband and wife are joined by God as “one flesh.”
Jesus then draws the consequence: “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate” (v. 6). Husband and wife freely enter marriage, but Jesus teaches that God Himself joins them. The permanence of marriage therefore rests on more than the intention of two people to remain together. The marital union is part of God’s created order; therefore, human beings do not have authority simply to dissolve what God has joined.
The Pharisees then ask why Moses provided for a man to give his wife a bill of divorce and dismiss her. Their question assumes that the Mosaic law supports divorce. Jesus corrects this understanding: “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (v. 8).
The distinction between allowed and intended is important. Moses did not establish divorce as God's design for marriage. He regulated a practice that existed among sinful human beings. The required bill of divorce gave the dismissed wife clear legal status and freedom to remarry, providing an important measure of protection in a society where a divorced woman could otherwise be especially vulnerable. “Hardness of heart” describes the stubbornness produced by sin—the refusal or inability to live faithfully according to God's will. The Mosaic provision accommodated the broken condition of human relationships and placed limits around an existing practice. Jesus now directs His hearers back to the Creator's original intention: “from the beginning it was not so.”
Jesus continues, “whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery” (v. 9). Matthew’s exception clause has been interpreted in several ways within Christian tradition. One longstanding interpretation understands “unless the marriage is unlawful” as referring to a union that was not a valid marriage in the first place and therefore no valid marital bond existed to be dissolved. Another traditional interpretation allows separation because of serious marital unfaithfulness while the marriage bond remains and therefore does not permit remarriage. The precise interpretation of the phrase has been debated, but it does not overturn the teaching Jesus has given: a valid marriage is not simply dissolved so that one spouse may marry another while the other spouse is living.
The disciples immediately recognize how demanding Jesus' teaching is. They respond, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry” (v. 10). Their reaction shows that they understand Jesus to be teaching a permanence of marriage more demanding than the divorce practices familiar to them. Marriage is a lifelong commitment rather than a union that may simply be ended when difficulties arise.
Jesus does not answer by saying that marriage should therefore be avoided. Instead, He explains that remaining unmarried for the kingdom is a different vocation: “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted” (v. 11). Celibacy for the kingdom is not an escape from the demands of marriage. It is a gift and calling given to some by God.
Jesus then speaks of three situations. Some are “incapable of marriage because they were born so,” and others because “they were made so by others” (v. 12). His language reflects circumstances familiar in the ancient world. Some men were born with physical conditions that prevented normal marital intercourse, while others had been made eunuchs through castration, a practice found in parts of the ancient world. Such conditions could prevent marital intercourse and could also prevent the generation of children. Jesus’ words therefore also reflect what the creation account has already shown: marriage includes the one-flesh union of husband and wife and is naturally ordered toward the generation and upbringing of children. This does not mean that infertility makes a person incapable of marriage; the marital union remains naturally ordered toward new life even when a particular husband and wife are unable to conceive children.
Jesus then describes a third and very different situation: those who have “renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (v. 12). Here His language is figurative. These men and women are physically capable of marriage but freely give up married life so that they may devote themselves more completely to God and the service of His kingdom. Their renunciation is a genuine sacrifice precisely because marriage, marital intimacy, and family life are goods. They surrender those goods in response to a different vocation given by God. Jesus therefore presents marriage and celibacy for the kingdom as distinct callings, each requiring a generous self-gift and the grace of God to be lived faithfully.
Lord Jesus, give married couples the grace to live faithfully the union God has established, and strengthen those whom You call to give themselves entirely to the service of Your kingdom. Help all of us to receive God's will with faithful and generous hearts. Amen.
––––––––––––––––
Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Matthew 19:3–12.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. 40–42.
- Casciaro, Jose Maria, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. 112–13.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. 662, para. 117.
- Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010. 238–43.
- Aguilar Chiu, Jose Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. 947.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. 3rd fully rev. ed. London: T&T Clark, 2022. 1211–12.
Comments