I was taught that you have to look at who’s talking and who they are talking to. In Matthew 19, Jesus was talking to the Jews, and the Law of Moses was given to the Jews and not the Gentiles, even though Matthew is a New Testament book, so the law on marriage and divorce was given to the Jews only.<\/p>\n\t
It is also important to know the audience to whom the books were written. Each of the gospels was written after Jesus’ death, which had brought about the end of the Old Law (Ephesians 2:13-16; Colossians 2:13-14). Jesus’ recorded teachings were not significant to the Jews seeking to remain under the Old Law, but to the Christians longing to understand the New Law. As Mark opened his account, “The\u00a0beginning<\/strong>\u00a0of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God<\/em>” (Mark 1:1). If Jesus’ teachings were exclusive to the Jews, then there would have been no need for the Holy Spirit to remind the apostles of Jesus’ words later. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you<\/em>” (John 14:26). These memories were not recorded to teach the Jews, but to lay the foundations of Christianity.<\/p>\n It is true that Jesus lived among the Jews, for the most part, during his brief stay on the earth. His audience was primarily Jewish people, but it was not exclusively Jewish (e.g. the Samaritan woman (John 4:4ff), the Canaanite woman in Phoenicia (Matthew 15:21ff), the Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5ff), Greeks (John 12:20ff), etc.).<\/p>\n What Jesus taught was the New Law, preparing people for the change that would take place with his death. For example, he explained the change in how worship would be conducted, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth<\/em>” (John 4:23-24). He taught the disciples how to resolve conflicts in the church (Matthew 18:15-17). He established the apostles’ authority. “And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” <\/em>” (Matthew 19:28). He established the need for baptism as an entrance into the church (John 3:5-8) and practiced it with his disciples (John 3:22-4:2).<\/p>\n Then there is the fact that Paul references Jesus’ teachings on marriage. “But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:10-11). Paul is referring to the teaching that appears in Matthew 19:1-9; Mark 10:1-12; and Luke 16:18. Though in three different gospels, they all concern the same event. Consistency would require that if Mark and Luke’s accounts are for the Gentiles, then Matthew’s account equally applies. Yes, different details about the same event appear in the different gospels, but that does not mean those differences in details are because some only apply to a limited audience. Paul’s reference to this same event shows that the teachings apply to all Christians.<\/p>\n Jesus came to remove the barrier between Jew and Gentile. “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:14-16). In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek (Galatians 3:28). There is no difference in the rules to which Gentiles and Jews must adhere.<\/p>\n What you are really doing is trying to remove one law of Christ that you don’t like. “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all<\/em>” (James 2:10). It is not for any man to declare that one book in the New Testament does not apply, nor one chapter, nor one teaching.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I was taught that you have to look at who’s talking and who they are talking to. In Matthew 19, Jesus was talking to the Jews, and the Law of Moses was given to the Jews and not the Gentiles, even though Matthew is a New Testament book, so the law on marriage and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[167,606,177,708],"class_list":["post-53407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-divorce","tag-gospels","tag-law","tag-matthew"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24402,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-we-cite-matthew-regarding-divorce-since-jesus-lived-under-the-old-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":53407,"position":0},"title":"Why do we cite Matthew regarding divorce since Jesus lived under the Old Law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As I understand Matthew 19:9 and Matthew 5:32 concerning divorce, Jesus is answering the Pharisees (Jews)\u00a0as they were tempting him on this question. His answer was the same as the law that they were under (except for fornication).\u00a0Such as in the case that Joseph thought Mary was in. Why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32449,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-matthew-mention-the-exception-to-divorce-but-mark-and-luke-dont\/","url_meta":{"origin":53407,"position":1},"title":"Why does Matthew mention the exception to divorce but Mark and Luke don’t?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why is the exception clause \"except it be for fornication\" in Matthew 19:8 regarding the teaching of Jesus on divorce and remarriage not included in Mark's account of this teaching (Mark 10:2-10) or in Luke's account (Luke 16:18)? Answer: Each gospel account was written to different audiences with different\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37394,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-divorce-only-allowed-during-the-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":53407,"position":2},"title":"Is divorce only allowed during the engagement?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding\u00a0How could a woman in an adulterous marriage have the right to remarry after a divorce?\u00a0I believe there is something very important you are missing. Matthew was written to a\u00a0Jewish\u00a0readership, Mark and Luke were written for a\u00a0Gentile readership. As you know from the nativity story, Joseph was betrothed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38902,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-jew-had-divorced-and-married-another-prior-to-jesus-death-would-he-have-to-put-away-his-new-wife-before-being-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":53407,"position":3},"title":"If a Jew had divorced and married another prior to Jesus’ death, would he have to put away his new wife before being baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for taking my question. If there had been Jewish men on the day of Pentecost who had previously given their original wives a Bill of Divorcement and were now married to other women, would they have to put away the new wives before they were baptized? Thank\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56576,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-gospels-and-the-covenants\/","url_meta":{"origin":53407,"position":4},"title":"The Gospels and the Covenants","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Roger Blackwelder It has been observed that the traditional divisions we use to describe the Bible are inaccurate. Genesis through Malachi are called the Old Testament or Old Covenant. Matthew through Revelation are called the New Testament or New Covenant. The titles are problematic for at least two reasons:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67117,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-matthew-5-only-for-the-jews\/","url_meta":{"origin":53407,"position":5},"title":"Is Matthew 5 only for the Jews?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, A friend of mine who is against divorce and remarriage says that Matthew 5 has a \"Jewish element,\" that is, the word \"council\" in Matthew 5:22, so it is a chapter only for Jews and not for Christians.\u00a0 What do you think about that? Thank you. Answer: This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}