And I tell you that every man who divorces his wife without the reason of sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery. And the man who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery” (Matt. 5:31).
Here Jesus summarizes God’s exact position regarding divorce, pointing to only one exception in which separation and remarriage are not considered sin: sexual immorality (marital unfaithfulness). If a man divorces his wife without such a serious reason, then both he and the next husband with whom she enters a new relationship commit adultery, that is, they break God’s commandment. This saying displays the strictness and deep morality of Jesus’ teaching. He condemns not only divorce, but also new relationships when they are built on the unlawful breaking of the former union. In this way it is affirmed again that the marriage covenant is holy, and separation can be permitted only when it has already been violated by sexual immorality. In this manner Jesus prevents a custom widespread at the time, when men divorced their wives for almost any pretext. He restores the idea of marriage as something sacred, answers all possible manipulations of the Pharisees, and shows that what is legal can still be sinful before God if it does not correspond to His holy will.