"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?"
Matthew 19:5
Part 1
“And said, For this cause.”
For what “cause?” To discover the “cause” Jesus is speaking of, we must go back two verses.
“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female” (Matthew 19:3).
Jesus had just been asked by the Pharisees a question about divorce. Not because they wanted to know especially, but they desired to test Him, trip Him up so He might be caught in between the teachings of the two leading Rabbis of the day. On the one hand, if He says “no” to divorce, He appears to disagree with Moses, the “lawgiver.” If He says “yes” to divorce, He seems to agree with those looking for an easy out of their marriages.1 Jesus’ wise answer begins with the Creator’s work, in the beginning, dealing with marriage. By “Divine appointment,” Human beings are made either male or female (Genesis 1:27). There is much meaning packed into those words. Men and women are different. Each person’s gender is assigned by the all-wise Creator. There are no accidents here.
Jesus taught, that for “this cause,”
“Shall a man leave father and mother,”
Jesus uses nearly the exact same words that Moses used,
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
When a man and woman are brought together by God (Genesis 2:21-22), and joined in the marriage covenant (Matthew 19:6), the principle of the “one-man” with “one woman” relationship is clearly expected by God (Genesis 2:22). This new relationship between a groom and his bride call for some necessary changes in residence. They “leave” their father and mother. “Leaving” means that neither the bride nor the groom continues to live with either set of parents. They now live with their new spouse, and they begin a new Christ-honoring “home.”
God has good reasons for wanting the newlyweds to “leave their father and mother.” What other changes are needed in a newly married couple? Come back tomorrow and let’s talk more about it.
1. Rabbi Hillel was teaching divorce was available for whoever wanted it and for pretty much any reason (prevalent with the people). Rabbi Shammai was serious about the Law of Moses and did not favor divorce (disliked by the people). If the Pharisees could get Jesus to agree with one side or the other, He would be discredited with those who disagreed. See Guzik on Matthew 19:1-5.