Matthew
Chapter 19
When Jesus had finished this discourse, he left Galilee and came to the
district of Judea across the Jordan. Great crowds followed him and he cured them
there.
The Question of Divorce
Some
Pharisees came up to him and said, to test him, "May a man divorce
his wife for any reason whatever?" He replied, "Have you not read that
at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and declared, 'For this
reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the
two shall become one flesh. Therefore, let no man separate what God has
joined." They said to him, "Then why did Moses command divorce and the
promulgation of a divorce decree?" "Because of your stubbornness Moses
let you divorce your wives," he replied; "but at the beginning
it was not that way. I now say to you, whoever divorces
his wife and marries another commits adultery, and the man who marries a
divorced woman
commits adultery."
His disciples said to him, "If that is the case between man and wife,
it is better not to marry." He said, "Not everyone can accept
this teaching, only those to whom it is given to do so. Some men are incapable
of
sexual activity from birth; some have been deliberately made so; and some
there are who have freely renounced sex for the sake of /god's reign. Let
him accept
this teaching who can."
Matthew 19
and
Mark
Chapter 10
From there he moved on to the districts of Judea and across the
Jordan. Once more crowds gathered around him, and as usual he began to teach
them.
The Question of Divorce
Then
some Pharisees came up and as a test began to ask him
whether it was permissible for
a husband to divorce his wife. In reply he said, "What command did Moses
give you?" They answered, "Moses permitted divorce and the writing of
a decree of divorce." But Jesus told them: "He wrote that commandment
for you because of your stubbornness. At the beginning of creation God made
them male and female; for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and the
two shall become as one. They are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore
let no man separate what God has joined." Back
in the house again, the disciples began to question him about this. He told the,
"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against
her; and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another commits
adultery."
Mark 10