Jesus’ condemnation of divorce appears for the second time in Matthew’s Gospel. The Pharisees ask a sophisticated question, not about whether divorce is possible (this is entirely self-evident for them, by the Law), but about the reasons and their definition. Jesus rejects their question with a radical reference to God’s will: divorce is inherently a wrong solution, even if it is legally possible. Not everything the law allows is right. In this way, Jesus primarily protects a woman who has found herself in a difficult situation through divorce within a patriarchal society. The Pharisees wanted to make all kinds of zigzags, to lead a debate about where the boundaries are, what is still allowed and what is no longer – it was not about the woman and her life, but about some legal possibility on the part of the man to release her, to put it bluntly, to get rid of her – and perhaps marry different, prettier, wealthier… That’s how it went in Roman society.
The disciples are shocked by this. When they see Jesus’s demands on marriage, they find it easier to avoid it. Jesus rejects this. Not entering into marriage (apart from reasons of physical incapacity – wedding necessarily included handing over life) is meaningfully possible only when doing so really serves the Kingdom of God, i.e., others. In this way, Jesus does not place celibacy above marriage, which was one of the self-evident moral obligations of man (one can say an obligation), but shows this path as fully equal to marriage when it becomes a service to others, to the growth of God’s kingdom. Jesus and then Paul do not recognize celibacy as something morally and spiritually higher than marriage but as a way of service that is equally valuable and important. In their view, celibacy is not an ascetic exercise or an escape from responsibility but a service for the benefit of the whole.
