I’m sure you and many more have worked through this part of Scripture in far more depth than I have. But each time I’ve read and re-read these verses, the context is hard hearted and hard headed individuals, those who have difficulty finding a repentant and contrite approach to a resolution. Jesus points to the core problem of the heart yet emphasizes a compassionate understanding. He draws each of us to Himself as His beloved, wanting us to surrender our whole being into His love.
“We seek to know truth and we teach others: There is a God. This is his world, and we with it. This God is totally good and totally competent. He comes to us in Jesus Christ, whom we can totally trust. He gives us a book and a history, through which his Spirit will lead us to all we need to know about him and about us. Respecting the priority of the mind in spiritual formation means that we seek to understand these things and to help others understand them. We work in depth. We can choose to turn our minds toward these truths. Belief will come as God’s gift within the hidden depths of our lives and will grow under the nurturing of the Word and the Spirit. That is what is going on in a local congregation that is following God’s plan for spiritual formation.” - Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ
“This statement of Jesus shows why it is important to take the whole counsel of God on any given topic. If this were the only passage on divorce and remarriage in the Bible, then we should say that if anyone divorces for any reason, they then commit adultery and therefore God never permits remarriage in the case of divorce. But taking the whole counsel of God into account, it is impossible to say this.” - David Guzik Enduring Word Commentary
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