3 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?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 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’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 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.” Matthew 19:3-12

The religious leaders showed up once again to test Jesus. As usual, they wanted to ask “gotcha!” questions. They had little desire to hear what He had to say because He wasn’t one of them, in so many senses of the word. Today the issue was marriage and divorce; tomorrow it would be the Sabbath.

Notice in verse 10, Jesus didn’t say “Moses permitted us to divorce…” If they had been paying attention, they would’ve noted that He really hadn’t lumped Himself in with leaders or lay people. That could have sent them in the atmosphere.

He was one of us but He was also distinct. He knew what they were trying to do and how to counter them. He knew their hearts all too well. They thought they were going to catch him, but remember, He wrote the Book.

He was the Book, the Word of God.