Tony and Susan had their wedding all planned out — a beautiful location for a perfect June outdoor ceremony. They had been dating about nine months and both families were happy about the wedding. About a month before the ceremony, Tony was eating breakfast with his coworkers one day and mentioned that he and Susan had had an argument the night before. After stating that it was all Susan’s fault, he said, “Well, if this marriage doesn’t work out, we can just get a divorce.” By September of that first year (three months after the wedding) they filed for divorce. It was over.

            To be sure, we can all think of other couples who, despite early arguments and hard times, have celebrated many years together. We’re glad to know of couples who are in their marriage for the long haul, but divorce is so common in our society that a couple separating after only a few months together doesn’t really surprise us.

Is it lawful?

            Obviously, the topic of divorce is not new, and neither is controversy surrounding divorce. It’s not surprising that when the Pharisees wanted to “test” Jesus (and the implication is that they wanted to find fault with him), they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” And why not? No matter what he says, they thought, he’s going to upset some people. There was no downside for the Pharisees in asking the question ... or so they thought.

            The question really was about the law regarding divorce. While there were competing ideas about the circumstances that would lead to divorce, most everyone agreed that divorce was legal. Again, the Pharis

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