Was Jesus wrong when he said except for sexual immorality?
Of course not. Here is why the Protestants who think they found a loophole allowing them to divorce and remarry and thereby justify their perpetual state of adultery is demonstrably fallacious.
There are two problems with the Protestant loophole. The first is that it make Jesus contradict Himself,
as He is explicit that divorce and remarriage is adultery in all four Gospels. Secondly, there is a reason why only St. Matthew quotes Jesus using this so-called allowance. The reason being is that
St. Matthew's Gospel was written to a Jewish audience. (This is the key to understanding and destroys the Protestant loophole belief.)
The word St. Matthew uses for "sexual immorality" is
porneia (πορνεία). This word does NOT mean adultery. It is better translated as
fornicate. The word for adultery is
μοιχεύω and it is used explicitly and exclusively for adultery both in St. Matthew's Gospel and throughout the New Testament. For example...
---> "He saith unto him, 'Which?' Jesus said, 'Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery (
μοιχεύω), Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness..." (Mt. 19:18)
St. Paul also distinguishes
μοιχεύω from
πορνεία in his epistles both to the faithful at Corinth and Galatia...
---> "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither
fornicators (πόρνος), nor idolaters, nor
adulterers (μοιχός), nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind..." (1 Cor 6:9)
---> "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;
Adultery (μοιχεία), fornication (πορνεία), uncleanness, lasciviousness..." (Gal 5:19)
So what is Jesus saying as recording by St. Matthew? We know that
spouses, by definition, cannot fornicate,
unless we are speaking of "spouses" as used in Jewish antiquity. I
n Jewish antiquity, a betrothal was considered a marriage contract, even though the parties were not yet officially married. Thus St. Matthew's reference to the law of Moses and Deuteronomy (v. 31), and the use of fornication (porneia) by our Blessed Lord
describe this Jewish betrothal period. A "spouse" can only commit fornication in a betrothal period, which again is how the Jews contracted marriage in antiquity. This is explicitly demonstrated by St. Matthew in the story of St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary, who while not yet married, were betrothed and thereby "spouses". Thus Joseph was going to "divorce" Mary quietly. (cf. Mt 1:19)
Sorry Protestants, but there is no justifying adultery (divorce and remarriage), no matter how hard you try.