It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’“It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
3 sermons cite this verse
… All right, here's another one of those hard sayings. It was said, whoever divorces his wife must give her a divorce certificate. Now, this isn't one of the 10 commandments, but it's sort of tied into that in how Jesus interprets it. but it was said whoever divorces his wife must give her a divorce certificate. But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual unfaithfulness, forces her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. A couple of things to note about this passage. This is a really hard passage. And, you know, I don't know what percentage in our congregation, but I'm thinking, you know, maybe 30% of our people have been divorced. And so, you know, what's he saying? And, you know, what happens when you're in a marriage that's broken or a marriage that's painful? Is marriage a life sentence to misery? What happens if, I mean, you know, if you have an abusive spouse? I mean, Jesus doesn't talk about any of those exceptions. He gives one exception, and that is adultery. Why is this that he's speaking this way? You need to understand in Deuteronomy chapter 24, verse 1, Moses says, really in essence, gives permission for a man to give a certificate of divorce for a woman when she's done something that he finds unacceptable. …
a reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew Chapter 5, verses 17 through 37. Jesus said to his disciples, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill. Amen. I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, you shall not kill, and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. …
It is wonderful to be back at Duke Chapel. I was beginning to think that I was not going to be able to get back. Over the last few years, I've been scheduled several times to preach here on Sunday, but it was always one of those February weekends when the snowflakes flew, but the airlines didn't, and I wasn't able to get here. I began to fret a little bit that they were inviting me in February, confident that the weather would wipe me off the schedule. But the weather has held this weekend, and the greetings and hospitality have been very warm indeed, and it's always a joy to be in worship with you here. Will you join me in prayer? O God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. On a warm April night in Memphis, Tennessee, nearly 52 years ago now, Dr. Martin Luther King, even though he did not know it at the time, gave what was his last speech. …