Entering New Territory

 

Matthew 19:Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 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’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Often as we read scripture we are so intent on getting into the main theme of the passage, we miss the cues that help us understand it. The chapter begins with such a clue: Jesus had now changed his place of ministry from Galilee to Judea.  We are now much closer to Jerusalem and the "core of power" of the Pharisees. Their theological attacks (and bad theology) will become much more obvious. We will find Jesus talk again about the faith of children (interestingly located right after this section on divorce), but also deepen His instructions to His disciples through interactions like the rich young man at the end of this chapter.  There is always something more to learn from Him.