URC Daily Devotion for 7-02-2026
St Matthew 19: 1 – 8
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
Reflection
This difficult reading does not resonate with current Western culture where divorce is not seen as extraordinary and where grounds are not limited to infidelity. In the New Testament world Jewish women had a fairly high status – they could own their own homes, serve as patrons, had their own court in the Temple, had use of their own property and some could be rich (think of the woman who anointed Jesus with costly nard.) Jesus, here, seems to be following a more conservative rabbinic school which restricted divorce to adultery. I could defend Jesus by saying that he challenged the rights of men to discard their wives for only producing daughters or not being able to produce children or any other reason bar adultery but women were already reprotected financially by their marriage contracts.
Jesus does seem to depart from mainstream Jewish thought, which strongly encouraged marriage and procreation, with his words about ‘living like a eunuch for the sake of the Kingdom’. This Gospel was written by someone several decades after Jesus’ death and we don’t know what was in the author’s mind when he wrote it. There was a belief the Kingdom was coming soon, even within their own lifetimes, so possibly marriage was a secondary consideration compared to proclaiming the Kingdom. We know the Gospel was written at a time of growing tension between Christians and Jews and the conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees outlined in the Gospel should be read in the light of those tensions.
If Jesus were here today I am certain he would not have been quoted as saying anything remotely as stern sounding or judgemental as this – if he did, in fact, say it in the first place. What we do know is that Jesus’ message is one of unconditional love, forgiveness, peace, and compassion; it is about loving and caring relationships that reach out to all regardless of status, wealth, age or gender and is without any prejudice whatsoever.
Prayer
Loving and compassionate God,
Jesus teaches us that love transcends all divides.
By Jesus’ life we see his uncompromising
and irrepressible love freely given for all people,
never giving up even on those who opposed him.
Let us today learn to love as Jesus loved!
And open our ears and eyes to those who need our love today.
Amen