“One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong…”
That’s a little ditty from Sesame Street. But it was running through my head as I was studying for Luke 16:14-31 this past Sunday. The whole chapter has money and resources as a theme. But then in verse 18 we read this:
Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
What does divorce have to do with anything preceding or following? Why did Jesus all of a sudden start talking about divorce in the context of money? Was it that divorce was expensive? Was it because their greed was causing the religious leaders to overlook the Law on divorce? Or was this simply source material that Luke was using and in his source material there was a statement about divorce so he included it? These were some of the options I was faced with as I wrestled with this text. I came up with something different and I will propose it to you.
What if Jesus isn’t giving an instruction about divorce here as much as he is using it as an illustration? What if this verse isn’t so much about divorce in the way we typically think of it, but rather it’s all about divorce in another way?
The Context
There are two themes that emerge in both 14-17 and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in 19-31. There is an obvious discussion of wealth. The rich man can pretty clearly be seen a portrayal of the Pharisees who were “lovers of money”. And there is an obvious connection between verse 16’s “Law and the Prophets” and the rich man’s brothers not listening to “Moses and the Prophets” in verse 31. In both instances (the rich man in the parable and the Pharisees) there is a casting aside of the law.
This entire section, I believe, is meant to drive us to verse 31. If you aren’t responding to what you have right now, if you cannot see Messiah right in front of your face, then you aren’t going to respond with even further revelation. They are so blinded by money and the present kingdom that they are ridiculing the One who is proclaiming, as well as bringing, the Kingdom of God.
So what does divorce have to do with any of this?
Why Mention Divorce?
I believe Jesus mentions divorce because this is precisely what they are doing with God’s Law. They are casting it to the curb and shacking up with power, prestige, and possessions. If they were really listening to God’s Law—in a covenant relationship—then you wouldn’t have someone like Lazarus uncared for. If they were really treasuring their relationship with God’s Law then you would see them rejecting Jesus or the kingdom in which Jesus was proclaiming.
Consider verse 16 and 17. Verse 16b is a little confusing as to its meaning. Does it mean that people are pressing into the kingdom? Does it mean that the kingdom is being passionately proclaimed? I’m not certain, but it doesn’t really impact our meaning in this discussion. Only note that Jesus moves from the Law to the gospel. And verse 17 is his way of showing that in His Kingdom the Law isn’t tossed aside to the curb it is actually fulfilled. They are making the law void and thus committing adultery with possessions and such. But the gospel is fulfilling the Law.
Warrant in Paul
I believe we may have some warrant for this way of thinking in Romans 7. Remember that Paul and Luke were friends. So it wouldn’t be surprising to find some similarities. In Romans 7 Paul argues this:
Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
It’s not exactly the same as here, but I believe this gives us warrant to say that divorce/remarriage can be used as an illustration of the Law/Gospel relationship. And I believe that is precisely what Luke is doing with Jesus’ words here in Luke 16.
The Pharisees, because they are rejecting Jesus and the new life in him, are still married to the Law. They have not died and been given new life. Instead they’ve divorced themselves from the Law. They’ve kicked it to the curb. And there is now a great chasm between them and righteousness.
Conclusion
None of this is to say that the Bible is silent on the issue of divorce. I believe Jesus is clearly and directly speaking on the issue. And I think Paul speaks to the issue as well. But here in Luke 16, I do not believe that is the main topic at hand. Rather it is divorcing ourselves from the Law—or to apply that a bit differently—we are divorcing ourselves from God’s claim upon our lives.
