IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

Marriage Belongs to the Lord

Date: Jul. 23, 2026

Passage

Matthew 19:1-15

Teaching About Divorce

19:1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Let the Children Come to Me

13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: Matthew 19:6

So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Some Pharisees came to Jesus with a tricky question about divorce. Can a man divorce his wife for any and every reason (3)? Their intention was to make Jesus offend those who followed Moses’ law. Moses allowed a man to divorce his wife by giving her a certificate of divorce (7, Dt 24:1), and the teachers of the law developed traditions for divorce for “any” reason, such as burning dinner; in fact, anything that displeased a man.

Jesus responded to their challenge by reminding them of the fundamentals of marriage. The institution of marriage was given by the creator God from the beginning for a man and his wife to be united as one. They become one flesh, as a family joined by God (6). Moses’ permission to divorce was not a command but a concession in response to their hardened hearts, and those who divorce according to their feelings would be held accountable for their actions (9).

Even the disciples had a hard time accepting the level of commitment required in a marriage (10). Entering marriage takes faith in the creator God, who put us together as one with his good purpose. This faith is like little children who recognize and trust those who love them (14).

Prayer: Father, you are the head of my family. I pray to glorify your name through my marriage, rather than pacifying my own desires.

One Word: The marriage belongs to God

Daily Bread

True Greatness

Matthew 20:17-34

Key Verse: 20:28

even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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