Matthew 19:8
“He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.”
What does Matthew 19:8 mean?
Jesus is responding to a question about divorce by pointing out that God's original design was for marriage to be permanent and binding. When he says Moses "allowed" divorce because of hardness of hearts, he's explaining that the Old Testament law on divorce was a concession to human brokenness, not God's ideal. It's like saying: because people were going to be cruel and resistant to God's better way anyway, Moses permitted divorce as a harm-reduction measure. But Jesus is calling his followers back to something deeper, to recognize that from creation onward, God intended marriage as a lifelong covenant. For many today, this might feel complicated or even painful, especially if you've experienced divorce yourself. What matters is that Jesus speaks with awareness of human struggle while still pointing toward the redemptive vision God has for commitment and love.