Elder Bruce R. McConkie described who the Savior here was speaking to and how it applies to us today:
“This strict law governing divorce was not given to the Pharisees, nor to the world in general, but to the disciples only, ‘in the house,’ at a later time as Mark explains. Further, Jesus expressly limited its application. All men could not live such a high standard; it applied only to those ‘to whom it is given.’
“… It may have been in force at various times and among various people, but the Church is not bound by it today. At this time divorces are permitted in the Church for a number of reasons other than sex immorality, and divorced persons are permitted to marry again and enjoy all of the blessings of the gospel” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:548–49).
It would appear that one of the purposes of the Savior’s words was not to condemn those who marry divorced people, but to teach the people not to turn to divorce as the solution to all the minor irritations that come up in marriage. In speaking about divorce, President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) has taught:
“Of course, all in marriage is not bliss. Years ago I clipped these words from a column written by Jenkins Lloyd Jones:
“‘There seems to be a superstition among many thousands of our young who hold hands and smooch in the drive-ins that marriage is a cottage surrounded by perpetual hollyhocks to which a perpetually young and handsome husband comes home to a perpetually young and ravishing wife. When the hollyhocks wither and boredom and bills appear the divorce courts are jammed. …
“‘Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed’ (“Big Rock Candy Mountains,” Deseret News, 12 June 1973, p. A4). …
“… Among the greatest of tragedies, and I think the most common, is divorce. It has become as a great scourge. The most recent issue of the World Almanac says that in the United States during the twelve months ending with March 1990, an estimated 2,423,000 couples married. During this same period, an estimated 1,177,000 couples divorced. (See The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1991 [New York: World Almanac, 1990], p. 834.)
“This means that in the United States almost one divorce occurred for every two marriages. …
“Selfishness so often is the basis of … problems. …
“Too many who come to marriage have been coddled and spoiled and somehow led to feel that everything must be precisely right at all times, that life is a series of entertainments, that appetites are to be satisfied without regard to principle. How tragic the consequences of such hollow and unreasonable thinking! …
“… The remedy for most marriage stress is not in divorce. It is in repentance. It is not in separation. It is in simple integrity that leads a man to square up his shoulders and meet his obligations. It is found in the Golden Rule. …
“There must be a willingness to overlook small faults, to forgive, and then to forget.
“There must be a holding of one’s tongue. Temper is a vicious and corrosive thing that destroys affection and casts out love.
“There must be self-discipline that constrains against abuse. …
“There may be now and again a legitimate cause for divorce. I am not one to say that it is never justified. But I say without hesitation that this plague among us, which seems to be growing everywhere, is not of God, but rather is the work of the adversary of righteousness and peace and truth” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1991, 94–98; or Ensign, May 1991, 72–74).