“Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder today.”

That’s right, we went there. We went all the back to 1980s and quoted some Princess Bride because who doesn’t love that movie (if you haven’t seen it, you should totally check it out). Although the Princess Bride is a great piece of cinema that shouldn’t be missed, the movie doesn’t offer a whole lot of insight into what Jesus said about marriage.
Maybe you’re married, or thinking about getting married or just a romantic hopeful, praying that one day your time will come. Regardless, marriage is a big topic. And it tends to be one of those areas that is full of excitement, skepticism, fear and uncertainty.
So, what did Jesus say about marriage? The short answer — He says a lot.
The first thing you should know is that Jesus designed marriage, and He intended for the union of two people to have a purpose. In fact, the first reference of marriage goes all the way back to the beginning — to the first book of the Bible, called Genesis. In Genesis, God created the world and everything in it. He also created a man named Adam, but then He decided that Adam needed a companion — a helpmate. So, Eve was created literally from one of Adam’s ribs.
Jesus had more in mind for marriage than just companionship. For example, Jesus also designed marriage for the following reasons:

• Sex. Yup, you read that correctly. God designed marriage for sex. In the eyes of Jesus, sex is a good thing, especially between married couples. (As a side note, the church has spoken so many rules around sex that we have forgotten to celebrate it.) Sex is good, and God made it to be enjoyed. The reason God designed sex to be enjoyed within the context of marriage is so you can enjoy it to its fullest extent, without the risk of consequences (i.e. unwanted pregnancy, heartbreak, STDs, etc.) Married sex is sex to the fullest. We should probably do a separate blog post on this topic alone. Stay tuned.
• Children. God also designed marriage to grow the population. Although, some are not able to have children naturally, but caring for children in other forms is also part of God’s plan for marriage.
• An example. Jesus said that marriage should also be an example of God himself. That’s probably a little confusing, but if we boil that down and remove the Christian-ese from it – that simply means that marriage, according to the Bible, is a sacred union between two people that is actually designed to reflect Jesus’ love for the world. Jesus encourages husbands to “love your wives, just as he has loved the Church. He gave up his life for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Just that one verse alone shows us what the bond between spouses should be like.

Here some other things Jesus said about marriage:

• “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?” – Ecclesiastes 4:9
• “With all humility and gentleness, with patients, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” – Ephesians 4:2-3
• “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” – Genesis 2:24

Whether you’ve been married for a few years or are preparing to tie the knot, now you have a better understanding of what Jesus said about marriage. Overall, He says that marriage is good. It’s not perfect and it won’t always be happy times, but marriage is designed to help you.