5:29,30
We now come to how Jesus expects us to deal with the situation. Now one or two people have taken His words here absolutely literally. That is not what Jesus wants us to do. What He has been doing in these past few verses is to get to the heart of the matter with the problem of sin. The roots of sin lie within us. It is not just about outward actions, but the condition of our heart (will, mind and emotions). And Jesus speaks of the reality of hell. We are to treat sin with the utmost seriousness, for it is something that has eternal consequences.
5:31,32
Jesus now talks about divorce, much more will be said about this in Matt 19. Our nature is to immediately look at this in terms of law. Is one allowed to divorce or not, is a divorcee allowed to remarry? The bit about a certificate of divorce comes from Deut 24. There were some who took this as a way of getting rid of their current wife and marry a younger woman, and then claim they were still living in accordance with the Law. Or if a man fancied a married woman he might somehow arrange for her husband to divorce her. Law cannot change men’s hearts, and sin will always find a way around laws, or even using them as a means of condoning evil behaviour. God knows our hearts and knows what we are doing.
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