Matthew 19:10 Commentary and Bible Study

(Synoptics: Matthew 19:10-12)Matthew’s records that in response to Christ’s very clear statement – ‘Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery’ – that the disciples said in effect, ‘Well, Lord, if this is true, and marriage cannot conceivably be dissolved, except for something like adultery, then nobody should get married!’ They thought it was most unreasonable that you had no get-out, if it turned out that your wife displeased you, or your husband displeased you in some way. That was a very bad state to be in; it would be better not to marry. They too had to be rebuked quite sharply. They had absorbed the popular teaching about light divorce.