Luke 16:18

Luke 16:18, in plain English

Jesus gives a specific example: anyone who divorces and remarries commits adultery. The standard hasn't gotten easier in the new era — if anything, it's higher.

Why it's here

This isn't a random topic change. Jesus just said the Law still stands, and now He gives a concrete example of what that means for everyday life.

Who's speaking

Jesus applies His teaching about the Law's permanence to a real-life issue that affects everyone.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus makes it personal and practical: the kingdom of God doesn't lower the bar on faithfulness — it raises it.

The scholarly reading

Jesus applies the Law's enduring authority to marriage: divorce and remarriage constitutes adultery (moicheuei). This absolute statement reflects the Law's moral demands in the kingdom era.

Language and setting

This saying, placed between the permanence of the Law (v.17) and the rich man/Lazarus parable (vv.19-31), may serve as a concrete example of how the Law's demands intensify rather than relax in the kingdom age.

Voice

Jesus applies the principle of the Law's endurance to a specific ethical case, demonstrating that kingdom living demands higher, not lower, moral standards.

Significance

As an example of the Law's continuing authority, Jesus teaches that divorce and remarriage constitutes adultery — the Law's standard hasn't been relaxed.

16The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

17But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

18Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

20And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores

Read all of Luke 16 — A shrewd manager, a rich man in torment, and Lazarus at his gate. Jesus draws a straight line between how you handle money and where you end up.