Religion, paradoxically, can become a tool of the selfish: a way of justifying self-will.  The Pharisees came to trap Jesus with a question about divorce from Deuteronomy 24:1-14 (Mark 10:2).  But Moses' law was after the Fall; it was for sinful, selfish people.  Jesus took the religious leaders back to basics, first by reminding them that divorce was allowed by God's permission to provide some comfort and dignity through the pain of a dysfunctional relationship.  But it was only for hard-hearted people who could not be soft enough to reconcile their lives with God's design.  Then He explained the original purpose of marriage from Genesis 2:24, where the first man and woman became one 'flesh'.  Something organic happened, fusing the souls of two people.

Jesus then explained further: the married couple should not be considered as two separate individuals, because God has put them together in such a way that they should be interdependent.  God's style of joining people together around Himself as the stable core is unique (Ecclesiastes 4:12) and makes separation as difficult as forcing apart two pieces of wood that are joined by strong glue ... as the glue is much stronger than the wood, disturbing the joint inevitably breaks off parts of both pieces.

God's original Creation design for marriage, by powerfully welding two individuals, should be obvious enough: it is intended to be permanent until death intervenes.  It is intended to be the united framework for raising children and encouraging each other through bonds of love (Ephesians 6:1-4).  But in the face of hard-hearted relationships, Jesus adds another comment.  Because it is God who has done the joining, nobody has authority to mess around with that joint!  Matthew 19:6 says, "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate."  Jesus was saying that it is no wiser to disturb the bonds of a marriage - than to interfere with any other creation design.  If issues around global warming are alerting us to the stupidity of upsetting the balance of the natural world (because once we lose it we cannot get it back), should we not also value marriage more highly, and take whatever steps are needed to build and refresh it?

The workplace (with its hectic and mobile lifestyle), as well as the leisure club, are the places where we spend most of our time with people who are likeminded.  They are potent breeding grounds for marital unfaithfulness.  Less time at home reduces the bond-nurturing necessary to protect the marriage against meltdown (Ephesians 5:1-7).  Less time praying together means more opportunity to forget the preciousness of the gift we have received, and the God who gave it to us.  So, for those who are married, this means an obligation of culturing marriage: and for everybody - a severe warning against disturbing another marriage.