Matthew 19:3-12
Chapter 19
Jesus replied:
“Have you not read that in the beginning, the Creator made them male and female?
And the Creator said: Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
So, they are no longer two, but one body. Let no one separate what God has joined.”
They asked him:
“Then why did Moses command us to write a bill of dismissal in order to divorce?”
Jesus replied:
“Moses knew the hardness of your hearts, so he allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not so in the beginning.
Therefore, I say to you: whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another, commits adultery.
The disciples said:
“If that is the condition of a married man, it is better not to marry.”
Jesus said to them:
“Not everyone can accept what you have just said, but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others. But some have given up the possibility of marriage, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who can accept it, accept it.”
Commentaries
On Divorce.
During Jesus’ time, the debate about divorce centered around two main viewpoints: one, very lenient, allowed divorce for any reason; the other, strict, held that the exception in Deuteronomy applied only to adultery. The Pharisees presented this as a trick question. Jesus shifts from a positive law—a concession rather than a command—to the original order established by God (Gn 1:27; 2:24; 5:2). The disciples are surprised by the demand for an unbreakable bond, and the Pharisees no longer intervene. Jesus does not reverse his statement but goes further by suggesting another acceptable option in his community: voluntary celibacy (12). Christian celibacy can only be understood in light of the mystery of the kingdom. That is why Jesus adds, “Let anyone accept this who can” (12).