Men are better off being eunuchs than divorcing their wives

Jesus teaches men that they are better off making themselves eunuchs than divorcing their wives.

It is so easy for those of us who are married and have never wanted a divorce to look down on those who have been through one.  We might think we did a better job of picking out our spouse or perhaps we work harder at our marriages or .... we could think of a million reasons to feel prideful.  But in reality, we might be better off just being grateful.  Why some people stay in love for a lifetime and some don't isn't really explainable.  Why some people stay together who are no longer in love is also inexplicable.  Does God play a role in this?  Of course.  Does praying together help?  Absolutely.  Does being in a community that supports your marriage matter?  For sure.  But it is complicated at best.  And divorce is probably one of the most painful things a human being can go through.

Marriages in Jesus' time didn't resemble a modern day marriage in a lot of ways.  Marriage was pretty much ruled by the male.  It varied within the different "denominations" of Jews, but some allowed the male to pretty much divorce at will while others did not allow it except for unfaithfulness.  The female, on the other hand, couldn't choose to get a divorce.  She was more like property.   The institution of marriage when upheld served to protect her and her offspring from becoming homeless.  Jesus tells the men, those in charge, those with all the rights, that they'd be better off not marrying than to marry and divorce.  In fact, he says they'd be better of being eunuchs. 

I think Jesus said this out of love and concern for the woman and her children.  I think he wants these men to see how hurtful their divorces were - how discarding their wives and children is not the way in his kingdom.  I guess, in modern language, Jesus would say, "real men take care of their families."

Matthew 19:3-12 3 Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?" 4 He answered, "Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' 5 and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." 7 They said to him, "Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?" 8 He said to them, "It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery." 10 His disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." 11 But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can."

Do we ignore Jesus' teaching that men would be better off being eunuchs than divorcing their wives?  What would Jesus say about marriage today given laws and rights have changed and women are as powerful as men?