On Adultery and Oaths

On Adultery and Oaths
Matthew 5.27-37

As I was getting ready to write this section, an email arrived from an old friend in another country. His church, he said, was facing a question that troubles a great many churches in our day. What did Jesus really mean in his teaching about divorce? I decided to write this section first, thinking the question through as I did so, and then reply.

Clearly, this is a painful and pressing issue for many people around the world. Almost any large congregation these days will have at least some divorced people among its members. Many will have couples who have remarried after divorce. Not many years ago most clergy were unable, in conscience, to give Holy Communion to such people; yet now most churches, of whatever sort and in most parts of the world, receive remarried couples as full members, even if they continue to regard divorce as a great evil. Indeed, many clergy themselves, in many Christian denominations, have been through divorce and remarriage. As I write, I think not only of today’s correspondent, but of some very close friends, and some members of my own family, who are in this situation. What must we say? What did Jesus mean? How practical is his teaching today?...

Taken from Matthew for Everyone – by Tom Wright