Sunday January 4, 2009 | Greg Boyd
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and people are forcing their way into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Jesus teaches that “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” What this meant in the first century helps us understand what it means for us today.
Today’s sermon unfolded through the development of 5 points which are important background for arriving at the conclusion. The conclusion is the primary understanding of how to read Luke 16:18 in today’s world where roughly half of all marriages end in divorce.
Greg started out with three texts:
Luke 16:16-17
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and the people are forcing their way into it [or being urged into it]. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of the pen to drop out of the law.”
Here we see that the law will not be undermined. So, whatever the new law is, it must fulfill, not negate the old law.
Romans 13:10
“…love is the fulfillment of the Law.”
Here we see that the new law is love, and that it fulfills the old Law.
Luke 16:18
“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
This is the difficult text that we’ll be exploring today. Consider the development of the following bits of background information:
Conclusions: