cont'd

Jesus replied:  "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning."  He went on:  "I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

This was no hyperbole.  In fact, it is perfectly logical.  Jesus is telling us that divorce is impermissible in the sight of God, so much so that a man procures a "divorce", he is not divorced in the sight of God.  The marriage remains intact --- so much so that whichever of the spouse later marries and has sexual relations with the new spouse, that person commits adultery.  All of this sounds like metaphor to you?  

You ask:  "How do you think they would have reacted when someone they knew, someone who had followed the law, was called an adulterer?"  That depends on who they thought Jesus was.  
cont'd