How Did Jesus Define Marriage?

Matthew 19:4-5

“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?”

There are some people who claim that Jesus said nothing about the definition of marriage. They use this argument to suggest that the traditional view of marriage is not necessarily supported by Scripture. Former President Jimmy Carter had quite a bit to say on this. Asked about same-sex marriage and whether it conflicted with his profession of Christianity, he said, “That’s no problem with me. I think that everybody should have a right to get married, regardless of their sex.” However, he had no Scriptures with which to back this up.

However, Jesus stated that not the slightest part of God’s moral law was to be overturned by His teaching. He would, therefore, have assumed that marriage meant one man and one woman. For example, in Matthew 19, He said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” This is clearly referring to marriage, as it should be. And Jesus maintained that this was the pattern of marriage “from the beginning” – a phrase which refers to the beginning of the world, not just the beginning of human history.

It is popular today to attempt to rewrite Scripture in the light of contemporary social mores. However, Jesus frequently cut across society’s morality, and He does so today, maintaining that God’s way is correct.

Prayer: Help us, Father, to conform to Your ways and not the ways of the world. Amen.

Ref: Ham, K. (2018), Jimmy Carter: Jesus Would Approve of Gay Marriage, < https://answersingenesis.org/family/homosexuality/jimmy-carter-jesus-would-approve-gay-marriage/ >, accessed 8/27/2018. Image: Adobe Stock images, licensed to author.

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