Matthew 19:4-5 - And he answered them, "Have you not read that the one who made them from the beginning made them male and female? He added, "For this reason a man will leave behind his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh."
I struggled with this for a long time - as a divorced woman. Yet, I think it is good to remember here that women were completely dependent on men. To divorce a woman was not only to disgrace her or make her life more difficult, it could mean death. There's a reason God commands us to take care of widows after all. Casually ruining another's life for one's own gain is cruel and of course the Pharisees knew this.
They were trying to trap him into coming down on one side or the other; yes or no. Yet Jesus sides with God always. God sides with the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, the downtrodden. In this case, the wife, whose life is in the hands of her husband. So, in reminding them that God created us all and God meant for men and women to procreate together, divorce was not only an action against a vulnerable person but against God's very self. Thus, Jesus makes the Pharisees asking the question look bad. Well, they do it to themselves but Jesus underlines the point. He is asking them why they are pretending not to know the Law.
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