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The Pharisees come to Jesus with a question designed to test Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” The common teaching of the Rabbis of the time, was that men were free to divorce their wives for virtually any reason. But John the Baptist’s outspoken criticism of Herod’s behaviour had resulted in John’s death. What would Jesus say in reply? Jesus took His listeners back to the original reason for God permitting divorce – the hardness of the hearts of men and women. But it is God’s standard that men and women once married should stay that way unless death or extreme events change it.