Luke 16:16-18: “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.  Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.”

Jesus spoke these words both right after, and right before, rebuking covetousness in relation to money. It should be obvious anyways that He was not teaching something which the Law and the Prophets didn’t already teach (the entire Bible is His Word given by the inspiration of His Spirit).  Even so, the story Jesus immediately goes on to tell of the rich man who died and afterward burned in hell (in Luke 16:19-31) stresses that the Law of Moses and the Biblical Prophets who had already spoken had made it clear that one cannot serve God and mammon.  Those who do not repent of attachment to riches and neglecting the truly needy will burn in hell.

In preaching the kingdom of God as the forerunner to Jesus, John the Baptist spoke consistent with the Law and the Prophets.  Though obvious, Jesus made that clearer yet in Luke 16:17 by saying “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”

Rather than saying that the revelation involved in establishing the New Covenant changes the morality of the Old Covenant, Jesus instead emphasized here that everything which John the Baptist spoke, everything which He Himself spoke in His public ministry, and everything which His Spirit would inspire going forward would be utterly in line with the morality of the Old Covenant.  Amazingly though, some use these verses to teach the very opposite.

The harder thing to understand about this passage is why Jesus inserts a very brief comment about divorce and remarriage where He does.   

Jesus taught in His public ministry that the Law’s allowance for divorce and remarriage in Deuteronomy 24 did not supersede the clear teaching of Genesis (Genesis is also part of the Law of Moses).  Deuteronomy’s allowance for divorce and remarriage was only valid when moral uncleanness in one of the marriage partners made it necessary for the other to divorce them so that sin did not reign in their home.  

The Pharisees who were contending with Jesus’ warning about covetousness were rather commonly putting away their wives specifically so they could marry another while making this switch look socially acceptable.  This was totally against the original intention for God allowing divorce and remarriage in the Law of Moses.  That is what Jesus was rebuking in the Gospel accounts- not the righteous allowance for divorce and remarriage itself found in the Law of Moses.  Otherwise, the principle set forth in Luke 16:17 would be violated.

By inserting this comment about divorce and remarriage in the middle of a controversy related to rebukes of covetousness which He gave, Jesus proved that the covetous Pharisees had twisted God’s law in other ways besides their justifications for their love of mammon.  Therefore, they were not reliable teachers nor impartial experts in the Law of Moses like they proclaimed themselves to be.

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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