January
28th Matthew 19 Divorce
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. 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.
Who
will enter the kingdom?
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.
The
rich young man
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. 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.
Many people believe that divorce is
impossible yet here we have the religious leaders coming to Christ to discuss
the conditions of divorce according to the Mosaic Law. Divorce is the
dissolution of marriage. This is a test question for Christ. The question is,
can a man divorce his wife for any reason? Christ goes back to ‘first mention’
that is the original description of marriage. And he speaks of the union of two
people in marriage, however they come back to him saying that Moses allowed a
‘writing of divorcement’ and divorce to follow. But Christ returns with the
statement that this was allowed because of the hardness of their hearts. What
Christ meant was that some men could be so unfeeling toward their wives that
they were allowed to divorce their wives to prevent an uncaring and
insufferable marriage relationship. But he says in the beginning this was not
Gods intension. Christ having his eye on innocent wives, who are being treated
very poorly by hard hearted husbands, concedes that divorce is possible but
points out that divorce it to be restricted to cases of proven unfaithfulness
in their wives. Otherwise the divorce though it might be legal before men still
has the same charge of adultery before God. The Disciples say who would want to
be married? Christ says this word is specific to those who to whom it applies.
At this time little children are brought to him that he might bless them. The
disciples think this is an interference but Christ said No allow them to come
to me because the kingdom
of God is made up of
little children. Next we have the interesting case of the Young man who wanted
to obtain eternal life. Here we have a divergence from teaching for Israel
and teaching for the church today. Christ points him to the Law of Moses which
promised resurrection to eternal life in the kingdom, to those who kept the
Law. Christ said simple ‘if you want to enter into life keep the commandments’.
This is the promise of resurrection not salvation. When the young man asked,
which law? the Lord recited the commandments. However the young man still felt
that something was missing so he stated confidently that he had kept the law
since he was a child. Christ does not say no you haven’t kept the Law, rather
he invited hi to become one of his disciples and the main condition in becoming
a disciple was to sell what you have a give it to the poor. This made the
disciple totally dependant on the hospitality of Israel
which was the way in which Israel
responded to the message that they brought. He says go and sell all that you
have a give it to the poor and then come and follow me. Charity to the poorest
is the height of law keeping for a Jew. This was too much for him because he
had great wealth. Christ had pin pointed the young mans one problem – the love
of money. He went away sorry that he had come. Christ then commented to his
disciples on how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God.
The Disciples are amazed, none the least because they had retained their
fishing boats when they followed Christ. They say who can be saved? But Christ
said with man it is impossible but it’s not impossible for God. Peter says we
forsook everything, so what will we get in return. Never has legalism under the
law been stated more clearly! Christ promises that the twelve disciples will
sit on twelve throne judging (Administrating) the twelve tribes of Israel
in the Kingdom. And everything they had lost will be restored a hundred times
and they will inherit eternal life. In contrast, the salvation that christians
receive is not a reward for righteous living nor is it a deal stuck with God in
which he blesses us if we do certain things. Rather it is a gift given to
unworthy, it is salvation given on the basis of grace not reward.
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