Jesus Tested by the Divorce Question (Matthew 19:1-12)
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Sermon Title: Jesus Tested by the Divorce Question
Sermon Text: Matthew 19:1-12
Scripture reading: Matthew 19:1-12
Sermon outline:
MAIN IDEA: SIX PRINCIPLES that must govern our understanding of singleness, marriage and divorce.
1. SUMBIT to Jesus as the Lord of MARRIAGE (19:1-3)
2. MAGNIFY God’s design and purpose for MARRIAGE (19:4-6)
3. Be careful about CONTEXT and MEANING (19:7-8; cf. Deut 24:1-4)
4. EMBRACE God’s grace to the INNOCENT (19:9)
5. Never MINIMIZE the level of commitment (19:10)
6. You must MARRY, unless you are a “EUNUCH” (19:11-12)
Sermon Questions:
1. Have you ever seen others (or fallen into the trap yourself) of having a self-willed understanding of marriage, divorce, and remarriage? What was the result? Has God's will/truth been brought to bear upon the results and outcomes? Has proper confession and reconciliation been pursued?
2. How has society in general abandoned God's design and purposes for marriage (there are many; don't spend too much time lamenting this reality)?
3. Are there other ways you have heard/seen that people misunderstand, or misapply, biblical passages in order to justify their actions (i.e., "we love [or no longer love] each other," etc.)?
4. Do you remember what the other biblical "exception" is made in Scripture for divorce? Do you remember the biblical reference? These are good things to know and understand.
5. How is commitment expressed and renewed in your marriage? How does commitment relate to other aspects of marriage (mutual affection, romance, feelings, dwelling together, etc.)?
6. Jesus said "only those to whom it has been given" can accept, and live successfully, in a state of singleness. The Apostle Paul said something similar (1 Cor 7). Why is singleness referred to as a "gift" from God (hint: 1 Cor 7:2, 32-34)?
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Matthew 19:1-12
19:1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” (ESV)