How Jesus Responded to the Divorce Debate

Sermon on the Mount E13 – In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus offers a quote from the Torah about when it is lawful to divorce, and then he shares his perspective. But what is the context of these words, and how would Jesus’ original audience have heard them? It’s easy for modern readers to miss, but Jesus is entering a longstanding debate concerning a passage about divorce in Deuteronomy 24—and his take is surprising. In this episode, Jon, Tim, and special guest Jeannine Brown discuss the story surrounding divorce in ancient Israel, the Bible’s ideal of covenant loyalty, and the wisdom we can find in Scripture to navigate divorce in our culture today.

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Timestamps 

• Chapter 1: The Context of Jesus’ Words on Divorce (00:00-11:51)
• Chapter 2: Divorce in Ancient Jewish Culture (11:51-23:06)
• Chapter 3: Divorce Compared to the Genesis 1-2 Ideal (23:06-42:49)

Referenced Resources

• Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series) by Joel B. Green, Jeannine K. Brown, Nicholas Perrin
• The Gospel of Matthew (New International Commentary on the New Testament) by R.T. France
• The Gospel of Matthew (New International Greek Testament Commentary) by John Nolland 
• Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• Original Sermon on the Mount music by Richie Kohen 
• BibleProject theme song by TENTS

Show Credits

Jon Collins is the Creative Producer for today’s show. Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer; Cooper Peltz, managing producer; Colin Wilson, producer; and Stephanie Tam, consultant and editor. Tyler Bailey, Frank Garza, and Aaron Olse are our audio editors. Tyler Bailey is also our audio engineer, and he provided our sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Special thanks to Jeannine Brown. Today’s hosts are Jon Collins and Michelle Jones.

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