Matthew 19:1-3 1And it happened that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3And Pharisees came up to him testing him and saying, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any reason?”
The friction between Jesus and the religious leaders continues to grow. The focus shifts south from the Galilean ministry to Judea. Jesus’ ministry in Galilee was now complete. He would not return to Galilee until after his resurrection. The kingdom had been proclaimed, but his ministry was not finished yet. In the next few chapters, he gives important teachings to his disciples, preparing them for the trials that awaited them in Jerusalem. The crowds continue to follow Jesus, but do they realize that discipleship requires a cost?
The Pharisees followed Jesus across the Jordan river. This was close to the general area of where John the Baptist preached. The Pharisees confront Jesus with a question about divorce in order to trap him. The Old Testament law allowed for divorce in some situations, and many Jews took advantage of this. The Pharisees were testing Jesus to see if he would go against their interpretation of the law. There were various interpretations of what would justify divorce. Based on an interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4, the power to divorce was always one sided: the husband could divorce the wife, but the wife could not divorce the husband.
The debated phrase in verse 3 was divorce for any reason. The rabbinic school of Shammai interpreted the law in Deuteronomy 24:1 to mean that divorce could be done only for adultery. The school of Hillel interpreted the verse to mean that a husband could divorce his wife for any indecency such as burning supper. The later school of Akiba interpreted this even more liberally to mean that a man could divorce his wife if he found another woman prettier. No matter what Jesus said, he would make someone angry. The issue of divorce is significant in many cultures of today. Is there ever a good reason to divorce one’s spouse? Jesus will answer the question in the following verses with clear kingdom principles.
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