Biblical Marriage Has Always Been Controversial

 

Biblical marriage has always been controversial.

The Pharisees went away to conspire to destroy Jesus, Matthew 12:14, “But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.”

So, they go away and hatch a plan to kill him, and what do they come up with? Some come up with this:

Matt. 19:3, "3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?”

They try to get him to publicly talk about the biblical standard of marriage. The Jews of Jesus' day, and the Greeks, had such a low view of marriage, that they knew Jesus was bound to offend somebody by publicly advancing the Bible's position on marriage. After all, what happened to John the Baptist when he called out one of the depraved Herods on his unlawful marriage?

I don't think there has ever been a time when the Bible's view on marriage wasn't controversial in some way. And countercultural in some way. If there was such a time, it was not very long, existed at the peak of a society, and quickly faded away into sexual immorality.

Having a broken view of marriage is the norm for humanity, not the exception. This should encourage us to be fearless in presenting the biblical view of marriage.