It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Matthew 5:31-32).

People use these verses to formulate or justify their views on divorce and adultery and remarriage and that’s fine, because the verses address that,

but  

they’re really about so much more.

Remember, Jesus is talking to those of us who get caught up in the minutiae.  Those who want to dot the “I” and cross the “T” and thread the needle and ignore the big picture.

Jesus never ignores the big picture.

Jesus is the big picture.

Marriage is more than the relationship between husband and wife, as important as that is.  It is a picture of the relationship between Jesus and his Church. As such, it is eternal. Today’s society can be pretty flippant about marriage.  If a couple “falls out of love,” if they “grow apart,” they can get a divorce and go their separate ways. Jesus is making sure we understand that marriage is not something to casually toss in the wastebasket.  Two become one; tearing them apart is a kind of death.

Look, I know that divorce happens for a lot of reasons, and it’s not always an easy choice. Sometimes people are not given a choice. I’m not trying to minimize that, nor am I throwing blame on anyone.  We live in a world that is broken, and that brokenness shows up in relationships. When it does, it brings pain and fear and loneliness and aching emptiness.

In a way, I think those who have suffered divorce can come closest to identifying with Jesus on the Cross.  The relationship that is closer than any other has been ripped from you, often without your desire or consent.  You are left broken and exposed and very, very alone, wondering

Why have you forsaken me?

Take comfort, Beloved, in the fact that there is One who will never leave you, never forsake you, never divorce you. He chose you long ago, and he never makes mistakes or changes his mind. You are his, and he is yours, now and forever.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.