Matthew 19:1-3 - Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

19:1,2

Jesus left Galilee and went into the region of Judea. As usual He was followed by large crowds, and He healed them. When Jesus was around people got healed. Even in places where there was little faith He still healed a few people. We seem to really struggle with healing. On the one hand we ignore it, tacitly or explicitly thinking it was just for Jesus’ day. On the other hand we get charlatans operating in this area. There was times when we do see miraculous healings, but we don’t seem to have got it together.

19:3

The religious leaders, this time the Pharisees, came to test Him, asking a question about divorce. They did this not because they wanted to benefit from His wisdom, but because they wanted to catch Him out. Divorce was a contentious issue, with two main schools of thought. One allowed divorce for almost any reason, the other was very strict, essentially allowing it only for adultery.