God does not permit Scripture to be thus used without losing its force, its beauty, and the grand object for which it was written. One of the great problems of Jewish divorce lies within the Mosaic enactment. That will not be the way for the ordinary man, but the world would be a poorer place were it not for those who accept the challenge to travel alone for the sake of the work of Christ. and if not under this circumstance, surely under no other; for any other ground must be always less serious than adultery. What Kind of Place Is Jesus Preparing for Us? You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. And He came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them." Nothing is said of man's relationship to God. The law of Moses, in this case, was a political law, which God gave, as the Governor of that people; and it was for reasons of state, that divorces were tolerated. 5. t Euseb. But when the Lord was here, no matter what the unbelief of others, it was only an opportunity for the grace of Jesus to shine out. And they said unto Him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? w Lib. The young man asks what kind of commandments Jesus means. This episode of the Bible Study Podcast is part of the, What Does This Passage Mean? series. It probably was no more than a grave though passing difficulty, which he desired to have cleared up with all fulness for their sakes, as well as his own. I divorce you". Oh, no, no, that old Irish temper died when the old man died and you became a Christian. It is not that riches are a sin--but they are a danger. And when the devil was come out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel." The difficulty is--and there is no escaping it--that Mark and Matthew report the words of Jesus differently. Such a high and restricted view of marriage would account for the disciples remonstrance, It is not good to marry. For it is, written in the law: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; and. The Greek word is constantly so used as an expression of contempt, "This [fellow] doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." (2.) I. Those who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heavens sake. It is true, Moses was faithful to him that appointed him, and commanded nothing but what he received from the Lord; but as to the thing itself, what they call a command was only as allowance (Deuteronomy 24:1), and designed rather to restrain the exorbitances of it than to give countenance to the thing itself. 1. There could never have been a doubt about this subject had it not been for the difficulty in interpreting the parenthetical clause. 1 Corinthians 7:9; 1 Corinthians 7:28). Matthew 19 If a person has to remain unmarried after he divorces, it would be better if he never married in the first place. Thus early we must note that it is not a law; it is a principle, which is a very different thing. He now takes His place of rejection; for Him it is manifest even now by their inmost thoughts of Him when revealed. It is enough to meet a difficulty which many feel by the simple plea that the reason assigned is in my judgment a valid explanation, and in itself a sufficient solution of the apparent discrepancy. 7:10 this word means to divorce). Matt. Christ allowed what the disciples said, It is good not to marry; not as an objection against the prohibition of divorce, as they intended it, but as giving them a rule (perhaps no less unpleasing to them), that they who have the gift of continence, and are not under any necessity of marrying, do best if they continue single (1 Corinthians 7:1); for they that are unmarried have opportunity, if they have but a heart, to care more for the things of the Lord, how they may please the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:32-34), being less encumbered with the cares of this life, and having a greater vacancy of thought and time to mind better things. You got to struggle. Matthew 19:9 Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." Accordingly, notice that, in the manner in which the Holy Ghost introduces it, there is no statement of time whatever. You've got to come as a little child and be converted and just simply trust in Jesus. If God was there, what else could He, would He do? The failure of this greatest of women-born only gives Him the just occasion to show the total change at hand, when it should not be a question of man, but of God, yea, of the kingdom of heaven, the least in which new state should be greater than John. After this, dismissing the multitudes, He retires alone, to pray, on a mountain, as the disciples toil over the storm-tossed lake, the wind being contrary. Peter, the good confessor of chapter 16, cuts but a sorry figure in chapter 17; for when the demand was made upon him as to his Master's paying the tax, surely the Lord, he gave them to know, was much too good a Jew to omit it. When Premanand became a Christian his family cast him off, and the doors were shut against him; but sometimes he used to slip back to see his mother. There are two reasons. The Father and the Son have their appropriate part, even as we know from elsewhere the Spirit sent down from heaven in due time was to have His. But nonetheless, Jesus said, "that they will be sitting upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel". 9, 10. WebMatthew 19:12. What does Matthew 12:19 mean? | BibleRef.com Life had been imparted to, the sleeping maid of Zion the blind men call on Him as the Son of David, and not in vain. Some scholars who believe that Jesus meant to discourage remarriage in Matthew 19:9 interpret the disciples statement in Matthew 19:10 as evidence that they understood Him in this light. What feelings at such a time! The disciples sound as if they were rough and stern; but, if they were, it was love that made them so. None the less does the Lord uphold it, purged of what accretions had come in to obscure its original and proper character. . (On the subject of divorce and remarriage, see comments on 1 Cor. My object, of course, is to point out as clearly as possible the structure of the gospel, and to explain according to my measure why there are these strong differences between the gospels of Matthew and the rest, as compared with one another. Lk 16:18). If the wife play the harlot, and make herself one flesh with an adulterer, the reason of the law ceases, and so does the law. He is talking not about some little gate that you can, by a lot of effort, and grunts and groans squeeze and get through. Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular. 3. Matthew 19 7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? When the young man heard that saying, he went away in sorrow, for he had many possessions. JEWISH GROUNDS OF DIVORCE ( Matthew 19:1-9 continued). sclerosis, and from kardian comes the Eng. (Read Matthew 19:16-22) Christ knew that covetousness was the sin which most easily beset this young man; though he had got Parallel Commentaries And whosoever marrieth her which is put away, Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular. but it was far too much for the young man. [Note: E.g., Francis J. Moloney, "Matthew 19, 3-12 and Celibacy. . Marriage was not to be entered into carelessly or lightly. When He reaches the house, minstrels were there, and people, making a noise: the expression, if of woe, certainly of impotent despair. There is a vivid instance of this in the letter to the Church of Laodicaea in the Revelation. The only relaxation was that, whereas all other facts needed the corroboration of two witnesses in Jewish law, one witness was enough to prove the death of a partner in marriage who had vanished and not come back. It brings me to the real crisis; that is, the final presentation of our lord to Jerusalem. It appears to me, that the nature or aim of Mark's gospel demands this. Those who can accept this counsel should do so. Am I going to be the greatest? In this instance, Jesus does not hesitate to respond to a request for physical healing. Jesus says the healthy do not need a physician while the sick do, that he has come to call not the righteous but sinners (9:13). First, in the eyes of Jewish law a woman was a thing. Israel must give full testimony in the bright day of His coming. To the end the events are put together, just as in Matthew 8:1-34, without regard to the point of time when they occurred. The Jewish doctors themselves observe such limitations in that law, that it could not be done without great deliberation. Note, That condition is best for us, and to be chosen and stuck to accordingly, which is best for our souls, and tends most to the preparing of us for, and the preserving of us to, the kingdom of heaven. She was laid waste by an earthquake in A.D. 60. The violent man, Herod, guilty of innocent blood, then reigned in the land, in contrast with whom goes Jesus into the wilderness, showing who and what He was the Shepherd of Israel, ready and able to care for the people. He only dealt with man's relationship with man because this man was a moralist. In Matthew 13:1-58 we have the well-known sketch of these new ways of God. 1 Corinthians 9:5). Therefore the essence of eternal life is not a carefully calculated keeping of the commandments and the rules and the regulations; eternal life is based on an attitude of loving and sacrificial generosity to our fellow-men. He was to answer it in a way which came as a staggering surprise to both parties in the dispute, and which suggested a radical change in the whole situation. This, then, I apprehend to be the reason why we End two demoniacs mentioned; whereas, in Mark or Luke for other purposes, the Spirit of God only draws attention to one of the two. "Where your treasure is," said Jesus, "there will your heart be also" ( Matthew 6:21). But only Matthew says that he was young ( Matthew 19:20); and only Luke says that he was a ruler ( Luke 18:18). Probably from the base of ginomai; a woman; specially, a wife. There were two; but the Spirit of God chose out, in Mark and Luke, the more remarkable of the two, and traces for us his history, a history of no small interest and importance, as we may feel when we come to Mark; but it was of equal moment for the gospel of Matthew that the two demoniacs should be mentioned here, although one of them was in himself, as I gather, a far more strikingly desperate case than the other. Some say this meaning of porneia is found in Acts 15:20, 29 (cf. [2.] In the chapter that follows we have a companion picture, carrying on, no doubt, the lord's presentation to Israel, but from a different point of view; for inMatthew 9:1-38; Matthew 9:1-38 it is not merely the people tried, but more especially the religious leaders, till all closes in blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. The bill of divorcement was a simple, one-sentence statement that the husband dismissed his wife. In any home, especially where there are children, there has to be a certain amount of work. And Peter said, "Hey, wait a minute. What does Matthew 9:19 mean? There is a strange difference between Jesus and many a famous preacher or evangelist. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it." This, of course, is not the moment to unfold it. You remember the old Romish legend, which contains a great truth. Click on the different category headings to find out more. Get rid of the empty gods; follow me, the true and living God.". It often happens that the things which wreck marriage are in fact the things which the law cannot touch. If everything a man desires is contained within this world, if all his interests are here, he never thinks of another world and of a hereafter. Matthew says that the question was: "Why do you ask me about what is good? Those that were priests in the house of God would not they at least receive their own Messiah? And a couple guys behind him pushing, and one guy in front of it pulling, to get it to squeeze through this eye of the needle in the gate. They confess their faith, and He touches their eyes. Jeremiah 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. Ishot, c. 2. sect. What does Matthew 19:9 mean? Who could touch the leper save Emmanuel? It may well be said that here we have the loveliest incident in the gospel story. Jesus, let thy Word penetrate our hearts and give us O God a spirit of obedience and a spirit of forgiveness. (2.) In this Bible study, Wes McAdams is joined by Jordan and Priscilla Gray. This bond is a higher calling than the parent-child relationship, for a man is to leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife in a one-flesh relationship (Gen. 2:24). Note, Continence is a special gift of God to some, and not to others; and when a man, in the single state, finds by experience that he has this gift, he may determine with himself, and (as the apostle speaks, 1 Corinthians 7:37), stand steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but having power over his own will, that he will keep himself so. Why are they postponed here? But nothing turned aside the purpose of God, or the activity of His grace. He is saying, "It's impossible." Luke 16:18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery. His father was not by any means handsome, and had few social and surface gifts and graces. Somerset Maughan tells of his mother. You called me good, because I am God. What does Matthew 19:12 mean? | BibleRef.com He refused the challenge, because he had great possessions. Eusebius records that Origen emasculated himself (History of the Church, VI, chapter 8). Why have you conspired in your heart to lie against the Holy Spirit? This is the law of God; and by the same law, all marriages which take place after divorce, where adultery is not the cause of divorce, are adulterous. Matthew did not record the Pharisees reaction to this teaching. His mission on earth included healing God's people and freeing them from demon possession. It is always thus. The law of Moses allowing divorce for the hardness of men's hearts, and the law of Christ forbidding it, intimate, that Christians being under a dispensation of love and liberty, tenderness of heart may justly be expected among them, that they will not be hard-hearted, like Jews, for God has called us to peace. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. Does this scribe offer to follow Jesus? Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. Their citing Moses (Deut 24:1) and the bill of divorcement in opposition to Jesus showed their misunderstanding of that regulation. Now He brings out not the kingdom merely, but His Church; and this not merely in view of hopeless unbelief in the mass, but of the confession of His own intrinsic glory as the Son of God by the chosen witness. This passage has been the source of much debate, confusion, and heartache. No matter what the great purpose might be, He was there for faith. He may feel that he must accept some missionary call to a place where he cannot in conscience take a wife and beget children. And there are always those who want to do some work to obtain God's blessing upon their lives. WebMatthew 19:12 - For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. relieve, release, dismiss, or let die, pardon or divorce. It was precisely because He was Himself untouchable by sickness and infirmity, that He was free so to take up each consequence of sin thus. WebThis is to be understood of God considered essentially, and not personally; or it is to be understood, not of the person of the Father, to the exclusion of the Son, or Spirit: who are one God with the Father, and equally good in nature as he. He is the Lord of the harvest. It was compulsory for adultery. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? That he should ever repeat his sin is the least likely thing in the world. (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command. And they add a third sort; those who make themselves eunuchs, abstain from marriage, c., that they may give themselves UP to the study of the Divine law. Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray for them: and his disciples rebuked them. No one has left these things, forsaken these things for my sake. If there was desertion, death must be proved. Matthew was a tax collector, one of the most despised people in Israel. 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. Jesus left Galilee for the last time and headed for Jerusalem through the region of Judea to the east side of the Jordan River. It does not seem exactly as a pictorial view of what the Lord was doing, or going to do, but rather the repeated pledge, that they were not to suppose that the evil He had judged in the elders of Jerusalem, or the grace freely going out to the Gentiles, in any way led Him. This tested their thoughts of the glory of Jesus. p. 8. Kiddushin meant sanctification or consecration. With God, as nothing is impossible, so no one, small or great, is despised: all is seen and put in its just place; and grace, which rebukes creature pride, can afford to deal divinely with the smallest as with the greatest. WebOnly one offence was to make divorce lawful. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. True, it had its implicit rebuke in the parable which followed; but Jesus did not scold Peter. The next chapter (Matthew 18:1-35) takes up the double thought of the kingdom and the Church, showing the requisite for entrance into the kingdom, and displaying or calling forth divine grace in the most lovely manner, and that in practice. He said to them, "It was to meet the hardness of your heart that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives; but in the beginning that was not the state of things which was intended. But it is quite certain that adultery is not intended, and ante-nuptial unchastity is not even hinted. If the wife became insane, the husband could not divorce her, for, if she was divorced, she would have no protector in her helplessness. 5:32). The majority of the Fathers from Hermas and Justin Martyr downwards affirm this. Of the Sabbath the Bible says, "In it you shall not do any work" ( Exodus 20:10). Pharisees came to him, trying to test him. This statement certainly casts no reflection upon marriage; rather it concludes a discussion in which marriage was exalted to its original pure state. His mission on earth included Man cannot save himself. The delivered demoniacs are, to my mind, clearly the foreshadow of the Lord's grace in the latter days, separating a remnant to Himself, and banishing the power of Satan from this small but sufficient witness of His salvation.