Those who were witnessing the spectacle must have become keen and attentive at this moment as they waited to hear how Jesus was going to stay clear of entangling himself. No one in his/her right mind would dare go against Moses. Moses was the lawgiver. If he said it was okay to divorce, then it was okay to divorce. But Jesus didn’t seem to agree. He pointed to the Genesis creation account to disprove what they were saying: “From the beginning of creation, God intended a man and woman to come together and form a sacred institution. God did not wish for them to be apart. And so, it is wrong for a man to divorce his lawfully married wife.” In other words, to those who were brandishing Moses as THE authority in such matters, Jesus countered them by pointing to God. God is the ultimate authority in everything. If Moses says YES and God says NO, one should take the side of God. But this is not to say that Jesus was pitting Moses against God. He was not saying that Moses erred by allowing for divorce. Moses did what he had to do because of the stubbornness of his brothers and sisters: “ Moses allowed you to write a bill of divorce to your wives because of the hardness of your hearts.”
The hardness of the hearts of the sons and daughters of Israel had become a cancerous wound in their covenantal relationship with God. It had become a sad setback in the living out of their responsibility as partners with God in the covenant. They were yet to realize their full potential as a people who had the Lord as their God. Their stubbornness had estranged them from God and from God's commandments. Because of the hardness of their hearts, they did not see in God’s commandments a path to fullness of life. Because of the hardness of their hearts, they regarded God’s commandments as mere interference by God in their “private” lives. Moreover, they saw the commandments of God as burdensome and deserving to be circumvented. Because of their [mis]understanding of the commands of God, most of the time, they ended up replacing God’s commandments with their own. The legislation on divorce with which they wanted to trap Jesus is just one among the many examples that can be pointed out. In challenging their stance on such matters, Jesus was inviting them to allow God to be their teacher. In reminding them that the Lord was the premier lawgiver, Jesus invited them to let God be the chief interpreter of their laws. “ When in doubt, check with God first,” Jesus told them.