Matthew, Chapter 19

Matt. 19:1-12

Matt. 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. 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."

"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?" Once again we see the Pharisees come to Jesus trying to catch him in an error in what he said or to find cause to accuse him of violating the law. The Pharisees knew what the law said and posed situations trying to trap the Lord by his answer. What the Pharisees did not understand is that the Lord is the very God of glory and knows all things and has all knowledge and wisdom and it is impossible to trick the Lord or trap him with their tricks.

Despite the fact that the Pharisees were trying to trick or trap the Lord, he still answered their questions and answered with such wisdom that bewildered the Pharisees. The question the Pharisees posed was, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause." No doubt, the Pharisees thought that if he answered yes, then they could accuse the Lord by asking him to cite a law to that effect. If the Lord answered no, then they would pose situations in an effort to try to trap the Lord.

"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." By his answer the Lord showed that marriage was designed to be a lifelong commitment until one or the other died. God instituted marriage as an ordinance in the garden of Eden when he created Adam and formed Eve from Adam's rib. While there are many lessons taught in the above quote, we will restrict our discussion to the main subject.

The Pharisees responded to what the Lord told them with another question: "They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?" What we have recorded for us concerning the writing of divorcement in which Moses gave instruction did not pertain to every cause, but pertained to fornication: Deu. 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."

The uncleanness is defined for us in Num. 5:19 "And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: 20 But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: 21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell." Thus the uncleanness by which Moses gave a writing of divorcement was for fornication. This was contrary to the way that the Pharisees were wrongly interpreting the writing of divorcement. They were interpreting uncleanness to mean just any little minor flaw or something small that they did not like in the woman. They had polluted to the law to mean what they wanted it to mean and not what it truly taught.

"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." In the beginning God gave no writing of divorcement for any cause. It was only because of the hardness of man's heart that God allowed for divorce and then only for the cause of fornication. Once again the Lord reiterates to us that put away a spouse except for fornication and to marry another makes one an adulterer. Likewise to marry one that is put away by divorce makes one an adulterer.

Controversy arises over the meaning of the word, fornication. In just about any good dictionary there are multiple meanings of the word, fornication. One meaning applies to the act of sexual intercourse before marriage. Another more broad meaning applies to all sexual infidelity including adultery. Scriptural application is found in the more broad definition in Jer. 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."

"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." The word eunuch means a castrated man. The Lord points out three situations in which you can have eunuchs. One is the case of a man being born a eunuch from his mother's womb. The second is that of a man being made a eunuch of men. The third is a voluntary condition in which the man is not literally castrated, but remains unmarried and sexually inactive for the kingdom of heaven's sake. None of these should be married, but for most men it is good to marry.

Matt. 19:13-15

Matt. 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."

Sometimes the question is asked, "How old must one be to join the church?" There is no set answer concerning chronological age for this question. First, no one will come to Jesus to enter the church kingdom who has not been born of the Spirit. A person who is 90 years old, but has not been born of the Spirit will not come to Jesus to enter his church kingdom, as he has no desire to do so. At this advanced age, he is not young enough to join the church. However, a little child who has been born of the Spirit who comes with love in his heart desiring to follow Jesus and be his disciple is old enough to join the church.

Even the elderly must become as little children in order to follow Jesus and become a part of this church kingdom on earth. Some characteristics of little children include being dependent on their parents and being humble and looking to others for their help. These are the same characteristics that God's children regardless of age must have in order to seek the Lord and to enter and be a part of his church kingdom. They come humbly before God and the church, and recognize themselves to be poor ruined sinners saved by the grace of God. They recognize themselves to be poor in Spirit and unable of themselves to provide for their spiritual needs. They recognize their dependence upon the Lord for both their eternal salvation and their timely deliverances.

Matt. 19:16-26

Matt. 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.
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."

Accounts of the Lord's interaction with this young man are also found in Mark chapter 10 and Luke chapter 18. He is said to be a ruler in Luke chapter 18 and is called a rich man in all three accounts. In Mark's account we are told, "then Jesus beholding him loved him." Thus, this man is one of God's chosen children and embraced in the covenant of redemption set forth in Rom. 8:29, 30. His interest in spiritual things indicates that he had been born of the Spirit of God.

This rich young ruler's question is one that most children of God ask during their lifetime: "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Once a person is born of the Spirit and he begins to see himself as a sinner, he thinks he must do something in order to get eternal life. He sees eternal life as a reward for good works. It was on this basis that the man came to Jesus.

The Lord answered his question at the beginning but he did not understand the answer. The Lord said, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." Since only God is good, can a sinner become good by doing good works? Our good works do not change our nature nor do they atone for our sins. For us to have eternal life then our sins must be atoned for and our nature must be changed. Only God can do this.

While we can not get eternal life by good works, we can enter into the enjoyment of the eternal life that has already been given us by doing good works. To this the Lord said, "but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." The young man still thought he could get eternal life by keeping the commandments so he asked, "Which?" To this the Lord responded, "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." These are readily recognized as the second part of the ten commandments that pertain to man's relationship with man.
The young man said, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" If this young man is truly honest and had observed these commandments from his youth and up, then no doubt he had put forth a great effort to try to keep the commandments. Personally, I doubt that he had truly kept all of these commandments without fail from his youth, but he apparently thought he had.

The problem with keeping the works of the law as a means to obtain eternal life is that despite all of our efforts to do so, we still transgress the law. The law convicts us as we read in Gal. 3:10, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."

Despite this young man's efforts, he still felt he had come short of obtaining eternal life through his efforts to keep the law as he said, "What lack I yet?" Our conviction of sin and our sin nature will not go away regardless of how hard we try to keep the law.
Again, we remind that the Lord was not telling the man how to get eternal life, even though he thought the Lord was telling him that. The Lord was telling the young man how to enter into the enjoyment of eternal life. The Lord answered the young man's question with: "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." The Lord requires perfection under the law and only the Lord has ever kept the law perfectly. If we are to enjoy the benefits of the church kingdom of God here on earth, then we must seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. We cannot live selfishly and at the same time enjoy the blessings of living in the kingdom of God. Enjoying the blessings of the kingdom of God here in time requires living unselfishly.

"But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." The young man was sorrowful for he realized that he could not do enough to merit eternal life and he was not willing to part with his possessions to enjoy the benefits of the kingdom of God. His riches became a stumbling block for him.

The Lord addressed the stumbling block of wealth as he said, "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." Additionally, we read about the pitfall of seeking worldly riches in 1 Tim. 6:9 "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." Riches can blind the heart and mind of the child of God and lead them down destructive paths and away from the joy of the kingdom of God. This was the case of the rich young ruler. Even though he was a child of God and the Lord loved him, yet he missed out on the enjoyment of the blessings of the kingdom of God while he lived in this life. This is also true of many of God's people today.

"When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?" The disciples had heart the ruler's question and also thought that the Lord was telling how that one was to keep the law in order to get eternal life. They realized that they had not kept the law perfectly and questioned if anyone could keep the law perfectly, therefore, they said, "Who then can be saved?" The Lord's answer put to rest the question of anyone being able to do something in order to get eternal life: "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." It is impossible for any man to be able to do anything in order to get eternal life. Thus all the man made religious systems that require man to do something in order to get eternal life are merit-less work systems that cannot bring eternal life to anyone.

Thankfully, eternal life is not based on what we do, but on what God does for "with God all things are possible." Getting eternal life is not something we do, but rather it is something that is given us from God. Once we have eternal life we can enter into the joy of that eternal life through our good works. Praise be to God's grace and mercy.

Matt. 19:27-30

Matt. 19:27 "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."

"Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" Peter is asking the Lord, "What is the reward of service?" Truly, the apostles when the Lord called them had left homes, wives, parents, children, and lands to follow the Lord. They had forsaken all to follow the Lord. The Lord told 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." Many have thought that the Lord was telling them that in the glory world the apostles would sit on thrones and judge the natural tribes of Israel.

The key to understanding what the Lord told the apostles is the phrase, "in the regeneration." Often we associate regeneration with the new or spiritual birth. However, the word, regeneration literally means rebirth. The context suggests that it is used to indicate the rebirth of the kingdom.

God had made a covenant with the nation of Israel and reigned over Israel in a natural kingdom. With the coming of the Kingdom of heaven, the Lord made a new covenant of worship as promised in Jer. 31:31. This covenant reads, "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

This new covenant of worship is restated in Heb. 8:8-12 and Heb. 10:16, 17. This new covenant of worship no longer embraced the natural house of Israel, but embraced Spiritual Israel (which includes both Jews and Gentiles). That the apostles would rule in judgment was also prophesied in Is. 32:1 "Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment." In the 21st chapter of Revelation, we are given a view of a city which had twelve foundations. This city is the Lord's church kingdom on earth. It is built on twelve foundations. According to Eph. 2:19, the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

Based on the above we see the apostles reigning in judgment over the spiritual house of Israel (church) with their writings and works which were given them of the Lord. Thus, they are sitting on twelve thrones and judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

"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." I have proved this statement to be true. Every time that I have left home and gone away from brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, etc. I have found a hundredfold brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, children, and lands where I have gone. He also said that we would inherit everlasting life. The common meaning of the word inherit is possess. When we do the Lord's bidding we take possession of the eternal life which the Lord has already given us in the new birth.

"But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." There are numerous times this or a similar statement is found in the New Testament. It refers to the order of things. In the spiritual kingdom of heaven, things are often reversed from the way they are in the world. Things that are first in the world are often last in the Kingdom of heaven. Things that are last in the world are often first in the Kingdom of heaven. We quote several passages of scripture that show this lesson:

1. Mat. 20:16 "So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen."
2. Mark 9:35 "And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all."
3. Mark 10:31 "But many that are first shall be last; and the last first."
4. Luke 13:30 "And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last."
5. 1 Cor. 15:45 "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit."