Permitted But Not Perfect

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

PERMITTED BUT NOT PERFECT

Matt 19:7-9

7 "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?" 8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery." 

NIV

 Hard or dark hearts are a result of the absence of Jesus, who is the light of the world. This is what Jesus was telling them regarding Moses permitting them to divorce their wives. It is interesting the law permitted this divorce as it still was the law given to Moses by God. However, once again the law was never intended to give them righteousness but to show their need for the Messiah. No one can live by the law successfully. No one can live perfectly by any form of rules and regulations.  Even though we have the knowledge of Jesus in our hearts and say that we love him and we have the Spirit dwelling within leading us to the truth, we still have sin within and are in need of the Savior. However, the difference is that our heart is not dark for our heart has been enlightened by the light of the world and, in fact, Jesus has told us that we are also the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Those who questioned the words of Jesus did not have that enlightenment, they were still in the dark, trying to live by the law and failing. Now there is that one exception that Jesus told them when it is permissible for a man to divorce his wife. It would seem Jesus is talking about the marital unfaithfulness of the wife. Why would Jesus not care about the marital unfaithfulness of the man? Jesus might not be making that distinction so that a man could divorce his wife if he had been unfaithful to her in the same way that if she had been unfaithful to him. However, the point remains, that divorce would be permitted under those circumstances, but that does not mean it has to occur, as forgiveness trumps all as it is one of the main ingredients of love. We are to love one another as Christ loves us. When we go back to Genesis, as we did with the preceding verses, we find that God said that when we are joined together, we become one flesh, a man and a woman become one, and how is it possible to separate one into two? Dividing one by two only produced two halves, not two whole people. Once again, although Jesus says it is permissible, it is not the ideal plan of God. Why would we not want to live in accordance with the ideal will of God?