Matthew, chapter 19, comments

 Matthew 19:1 ¶  And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; 2  And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there.

 

Matthew 19:3 ¶  The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 4  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 9  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. 10  His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. 11  But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. 12  For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

 

Here is an important passage on divorce, a point of contention in most conservative Baptist churches today. The Jew under the Law could put his wife away. There was a school of the Pharisees, according to some sources, that believed you could divorce your wife for any reason as the Romans did. Please note this passage in the Old Testament under the Law.

 

Deuteronomy 24:1 ¶  When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2  And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. 3  And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; 4  Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

 

Once released from the marriage bond from a man by his own actions she could never be married to him again. When she was divorced she was not married to her original husband nor ever could be.

 

Jesus and Paul gave specific foundations for divorce. Fornication, which includes adultery with a person who is not your spouse which would include your child, of course, in the cases of incest, is grounds for divorce. Paul included abandonment due to one of the spouses becoming a Christian and one rejecting them because of it although he forbade leaving your spouse because they stayed a heathen when you were converted. Paul’s admonition must be taken in the context of Jesus’ reason of fornication.

 

1Corinthians 7:10 ¶  And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: 11  But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. 12  But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him

not put her away. 13  And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 14  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 15  But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. 16  For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

 

There is another thing of note here that has application to our modern world. God made mankind male and female. There are only two genders. Yes, there is a very rare anomaly called hermaphroditism where a baby displays what look like both male and female genitalia and there are people who insist that they were born the wrong sex biologically. God made mankind two genders, male and female, two sexes, male and female. This is the fact whether you or society chooses to acknowledge a person self-identifying as one of over a dozen different sexual identities as many modern people insist there are.

 

In addition, a eunuch is someone who cannot reproduce, referring to a male. Some are born that way, some have been made that way by men who use them for everything from Medieval Roman Catholic choirs to household servants who can be trusted around the master’s harem, and some choose to not have children for their service to God. The context of this passage is about not getting married, not having a wife. This does not justify self-mutilation as that is clearly understood as a sin. Commentators such as John Gill affirm this is so as this is not necessarily a reference to the sin of self-mutilation but of a commitment to chastity in the service of the Lord. See the 144,000 Jewish virgins in Revelation.

 

I think Jesus basically tells His disciples here that if you can’t stay faithful to your spouse and remain married it is best that you do not get married at all.

 

Matthew 19:13 ¶  Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14  But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15  And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.

 

Here it is worthwhile to go back to chapter 18 and read the chapter and my comments. I suggest again that one possibility for this emphasis on children is that we will all be children in Heaven. It makes a lot of sense as in not being given in marriage and some of the statements in Matthew in particular.

 

Notice how suffer is used by contrasting it with forbid them not? It means to allow, to permit.

 

Matthew 19:16 ¶  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

 

Verse 16 underscores that there was an understanding that eternal life, life after death, was a possibility but had to be received somehow. Clearly not a Sadducee who did not believe in eternal life he used the phrase Good Master which John Gill said was much used when speaking to teachers, called Rabbis.

 

Jesus quotes back at him from what I think may be 1Samuel 2:2;

 

1Samuel 2:2  There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

 

He then tells the person that he should keep the commandments if he wants to inherit eternal life.

 

Deuteronomy 6:25  And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

 

This teaches us that while eternal life might not be specifically promised in the Old Testament, under the Law given to Moses, it was implied as understood by the Jews. I’ve already gone over how frequently the resurrection from the dead was mentioned in the Old Testament.

 

See this verse on a physical resurrection from Job, written between 1500 to 2000BC.

 

Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

 

And a thousand years later see this verse on a physical resurrection from Isaiah.

 

Isaiah 26:19  Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

 

And then, a few hundred years later, as Daniel writes under the reigns of the last Babylonian emperors and the first Persian.

 

Daniel 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

 

Jesus then restates some commandments, teaching us that the following is a reference to murder of an innocent person not killing in self-defense.

 

Exodus 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.

 

The young man swears that he has been fastidious in observing those principles. However, Jesus tells him to go one step further and to give all that he has to the poor. This was specifically said because the young man had great wealth. This isn’t saying that every Christian must make himself impoverished and be a beggar to follow Christ. This is a statement about how the wealthy love their wealth and will do almost anything to keep from parting with it. Follow along as Jesus continues and explains to His disciples what was just stated to the wealthy man.

 

Matthew 19:23 ¶  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. 27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 30  But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

 

Jesus says to His disciples that it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. This has often been distorted in evangelical circles to refer to some kind of door in the gate of a city that a camel would have to get down on its knees to pass through, being unburdened of its load. Unfortunately, there is no proof that the first century Jews called any door a, “needle’s eye,” and this fantasy is based on a 15^th century, or maybe 9^th century, myth about this door.

 

The fact is that a camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle. It is an absurdity. Jesus makes a very important point here. While that is impossible, nothing is impossible with God. The lesson taught here is that wealthy people tend to rely on their wealth and not God. They are not likely to give up their comforts to follow Christ and will typically make excuses that they can have their wealth and be good Christians at the same time. What Jesus is saying here is that nothing can be more important than God or you cannot enter into God’s kingdom, which makes it of a much smaller population than we would normally think.

 

It is Peter then that makes the statement that unlike the young man in the last passage, a wealthy person, he and the disciples have left all to follow Jesus. Jesus’ final statement is that these disciples who have forsaken all they had in the world will receive abundant reward and have everlasting life to enjoy. This can only be referring to the people who were listening to Christ speak rather than to us as to apply this to the church would be a contradiction to the standards for our treatment of our families that the Holy Spirit has given us.

 

1Timothy 5:8  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

 

Certainly, then, this is not a warrant for a new Christian to abandon his or her responsibilities to their family and justify it by their new-found faith. Jesus is talking to a select few disciples who are to follow Him to see His death on the Cross and to witness the aftermath of His Resurrection from the Empty Tomb and even to suffer martyrdom themselves.

 

He tells Peter and the other Apostles that they will be judging the twelve tribes of Israel which gives us a hint as to who some of the following people are.

 

Revelation 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

 

What does it mean to inherit everlasting life? We are granted this inheritance by virtue of God making a gift of it to us as we trust and believe in the righteousness of Christ, His deity, and in His resurrection.

 

Those who are first in this world will typically be last in the world to come. The beggar who belongs to Christ is far better off than the rich man who has rejected Him.