STICKABILITY
Some more words of Jesus, equally plain, and which can only mean that marriage is indissoluble, are found in Matthew 19:4-6. In reply to a question by the Pharisees on putting away, Jesus says, "Have ye not read, that he which made them at (Greek `apo' — 'from') the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." The fact that the Greek word "apo" is used means that what God said back in Genesis, applies not just to the first pair, but to all subsequent marriages of Adam's descendants.
The Greek word translated "cleave" is "proskollao", and means "to be glued together". This gluing together is God's doing! He takes a man and a woman, and glues them together, and they become "one flesh". In Eph 5:30 Paul says, "For we are members of his body", and quotes the passage from Gen 2:24, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined ('proskollao') unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the ecclesia". The Christ body is made up of Christ (the head), and his Bride (the body). If the body were separated from the head it would die, but we know that Christ and his Bride are to be glued together for ever in glorious immortality. Christ will never put away his Bride, the ecclesia, once the marriage of the Lamb has taken place. Now a man and his wife are glued together by God to become one body, typifying the immortal relationship between Christ and his Bride. To divorce one's partner is to destroy what is perhaps the most marvellous of all the types.
Jesus says, "They are no more twain" (Matt 19:6Matt 19:6 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.). In Greek there are two negatives. "Me" is the conditional negative. For instance, in the words of Jesus, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow", the negative is "me", because we should take some thought for the morrow, but we should not take anxious thought for the morrow. The other Greek negative "ou" is unconditional, and means "absolutely no". It occurs in 1 Pet 2:22, where it says of Jesus, "Who did no sin". He was absolutely sinless, with no conditions attached. Because the word "ou" is used here, there is absolutely no possibility of Jesus having committed even one sin!
"Ouketi" means "absolutely and unconditionally no more"The word "ouketi", translated "no more" in Matt 19:6, comes from the Greek "ou", the unconditional negative, and "eti", meaning "more". "Ouketi" means "absolutely and unconditionally no more". "Ouketi" is used twice in Rom 6:9, "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth NO MORE; death hath NO MORE dominion over him". If the conditional negative "me" had been used here, it would raise the possibility of Christ dying again. He would not be immortal. The unconditional negative "ouketi" is used, because there is not the remotest possibility of Christ dying again! He is alive for evermore! We must, therefore, accept that the use of the unconditional negative "ouketi" in Matt 19:6, means that there is absolutely no possibility of a man and wife, once glued together by God, becoming "twain" again. Jesus has said that once a man and woman are married, they are married for life, full stop. Whatever the circumstances of their marriage, there is no exception. That is why he follows his unequivocal statement with the words, "What therefore God hath joined (yoked) together, let not man put asunder".
It would have been difficult for Jesus to have made a plainer, more definite, or more straightforward statement. But the Pharisees refused to accept such a sweeping statement, because it ran completely counter to their own teaching and practice. There are brethren and sisters who also refuse to accept it. Let us beware, lest we fall into the same condemnation as the Pharisees — lest we, too, are found to have closed our eyes and ears on this matter! The Pharisees then appealed to the Law of Moses, in a vain attempt to justify themselves before the people, and discredit Jesus. We will return to this narrative later, but first some more plain statements.