Divorce Sermon Summary:  Gill Khoury - 9^Th October 2016 

Luke 22:25-26
And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called 'Benefactors.' "But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.

 

Divorce is prevalent in our society and was so in Jesus day but he had some radical ideas.

 

Matthew 5:31-32 Amplified Bible (AMP)

31 “It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife is to give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on grounds of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.

 

Does this mean that people have to stay in a bad marriage until someone commits adultery?

 

Matthew 19:3 Amplified Bible (AMP)

3 And Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

 

Jesus was fighting the injustice of frivolous divorce. Women had no rights and could be treated like possessions. Jesus always fought against injustice

The Jews misused Deuternomy 24

Deuteronomy 24 Amplified Bible (AMP)

Law of Divorce

24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she loses his favor because he has found something indecent or unacceptable about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house,

 

Indecent meant fraudulent, not just because he got tired of her.

 

Just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should do it. Jesus Fought against injustice

 

Divorce is a legal process that ends a relationship and the result of a long string of sin that has gone before. It can be from one side or both sides. Divorce is caused by sin but is not sinful by itself.  But can we only divorce for adultery?

 

1 Corinthians 7:12-16 New International Version (NIV)

If an unbelieving husband leaves, the Christian spouse is not bound.

Sometimes Christian mates behave in a way that indicates they want to end the marriage, therefore if this happens the spouse is not bound and can divorce and remarry. Not a time for us to judge and condemn but support.

 

The Bible never promotes divorce but understands that it happens.

 

Injustice in relationships is caused by abuse of power. By either party. Jewish men had total power.  Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.

All relationships should be handled with love and accountability. Just because something is legal, it doesn’t mean that it’s right.

As Christians we should ensure that justice prevails in all our relationships.

Examples: pastors and children, minimum wage, govt ministers, gogos and grandchildren etc

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