Back when I was reading through the Bible and making comments here on one thread, I noted how women seemed to have no value. On first sight this seems to be another of those verses...
From the Ten Commandments we learn that adultery is sin. I think we all agree on that.
According to the law back in the days when Jesus walked the earth, women were not allowed to own property. So if a man left a woman, she really was left without home and hearth. She would forced to live with another man. Even today, if a woman leaves a marriage, she is very likely to become homeless.
These verses also remind me of a discussion that went on a few years back about just how strict we should be with the interpretation of these verses. If a man just looks at a woman, has he committed adultery. Some women are just stunning.... men can't help but look. I've seen some very handsome men in my life. Sometimes you just have to look. Some people are so amazing that it's like looking at nature at it's finest. Some religions require the wearing of a burka and keeping the eyes to the ground to avoid adultery.
I don't think Jesus was saying keep your eyes down or where a burka. In fact, I don't think Jesus was talking about adultery and divorce alone. In my opinion, a person who strives to live in the beatitudes would be more likely to deal with adultery or divorce as they would with murder. It would make more sense to me that Jesus was using these to teach another lesson.
Back in the late 60's I made a horrible a mistake. I married a man I should have never given a second glance. He was a horrible man. At the wedding ceremony I vowed to stay with this man for better or for worse. Three years into the marriage I learned things about him that no woman should ever have to learn. I stayed with him though because walking out was just not something I could do. I made a vow before God to stay with this man even if I could hate the things he did so much that I could grow to hate the man himself.
Then after a few years of marriage, I had children to consider. Splitting up a family would cause irreparable damage. I was stuck.
What was worse, the Christian life I had considered the norm was slowly slipping away. This man was so horrible, the nature of his sins were being absorbed into my life. Life no longer could be black and white, right or wrong. The lines were beginning to blur because in order to stay with this man, I had to allow some things that I would have never allowed had I never married him.
One thing I did demand, I would take my children to church. Even though they were all in diapers, I believed [and still do] that they needed to be in a place where they would hear the Word. I believed [and still do] even hearing the Word when they were too young to comprehend it... would guard them from harm and lead them to the Lord. I took my children to the little Baptist Church around the corner. It helped, I must add, that the man I was married to learned that if I went to church, the church would give us food and clothes. He didn't like to work, so this was the key to his allowing me to go.
The Baptist Minister only visited my home once. Once was enough though. He planted a seed that later saved me and my children. He asked me why I stayed in this marriage that he could plainly see was leading me a way from the Lord. I told the preacher that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said I had to stay. The preacher pointed out other verses in the Bible that seemed to change the meaning of these verses. [we'll get to them later if we continue to read].
I learned that if staying would put the faith of my children in jeopardy. I learned that I should consider leaving. It took several more years for me to make the move, babies in diapers and having nowhere to go tends to slow down a fresh start, but the seed and the advice were planted on fertile ground.
I was [and still am] committed to a relationship with the Lord. It was [and still is] important to me that my children enter a relationship with the Lord as well. To allow the man I married to come between the Lord and me [and my children] would be the same as adultery on my part.
I tried to explain this to my mother when I told her I was divorcing my first husband. The stigma of having the first child in the history of the family name to be divorced was something she never quite recovered from.... so I hope that I did a better job explaining it to you here.
So, getting back to these verses.... I believe that Jesus was saying, there is a higher law than the earthly vow to stay with someone for better or for worse. There comes a point when staying in a marriage or keeping an earthly vow may lead you away from the Lord.
Entering into a relationship with Jesus Christ is a commitment greater than any earthly vow.
