Matthew 19:23

“Some of the Pharisees came to him to test him.”

I note that the questioners were Pharisees who believed in strict textual accuracy and absolute authority of the Scriptures. Scriptures must be taken literally, no matter what.  The Sadducees, unlike them, tended to spritualize Scriptures where they could. The question that the Pharisees asked reflected their way of viewing Scripture literally – quite unlike the more spiritual approach of the Sadducees.

Matthew noted that the intent of the Pharisees was not to be taught by Jesus but “to test him.”  I suppose they wanted Jesus to side with them on a current hot issue that divided the Jewish community, the matter of divorce and remarriage.

They asked Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”  I suppose the hook in the question had to do with what is meant by “any and every reason.” This was obviously a contentious issue at the time. Any way that Jesus might answer their question would have landed him in trouble.

Jesus’ response was straight-forward. He first reminded them that the Creator made male and female. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife.” v 5  The two become “one flesh.”  His critics then asked why Moses allowed divorce. This led Jesus to the core of the issue. He replied, “Because your hearts were hard.”  That is what is wrong!  It is a matter of hardness of heart. No laws will help if the heart refuses to repent and break before God.

So Jesus left it at that. He had no problem with Moses who had to deal with some people with hard hearts. Jesus was dealing with the hard hearts of the Pharisees who were right there before him.

It is little wonder then that he welcomed little children to come to him.  Their hearts were soft. He explained, “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” v 14