lon ger two, but one flesh. There fore what God has joined to geth er, let no one sep a rate.”
7
“ Why then,” they asked,“ did Mo ses com mand that a man give his wife a cer tif i cate of di vorce and send her away?”
8
Jesus re plied,“ Mo ses per mit ted you to di vorce your wives be cause your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the be gin ning. 9 I tell you that any one who di vorc es his wife, ex cept for sex u al im mo ral i ty, and mar ries an oth er wom an com mits adul tery.”
10
The dis ci ples said to him,“ If this is the situ a tion be tween a hus band and wife, it is bet ter not to mar ry.”
11
Jesus re plied,“ Not ev ery one can ac cept this word, but only those to whom it has been giv en.
12
For there are eu nuchs who were born that way, and there are eu nuchs who have been made eu nuchs by others— and there are those who choose to live like eu nuchs for the sake of the king dom of heav en. The one who can ac cept this should ac cept it.”
The Little Children and Jesus
19:13-15pp— Mk 10:13-16; Lk 18:15-17
MattheW 19:22 | 1569
14
Jesus said,“ Let the lit tle chil dren come to me, and do not hin der them, for the king dom of heav en be longs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
19:16-29pp— Mk 10:17-30; Lk 18:18-30
16
Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked,“ Teach er, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17
“ Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus re plied.“ There is only One who is good. If you want to en ter life, keep the com mand ments.”
18
“ Which ones?” he in quired.
Jesus re plied,“‘ You shall not mur der, you shall not com mit adul tery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false tes ti mo ny, 19 hon or your fa ther and moth er,’ a and‘ love your neigh bor as your self.’ b”
20
“ All these I have kept,” the young man said.“ What do I still lack?”
21
Jesus an swered,“ If you want to be per fect, go, sell your pos ses sions and give to the poor, and you will have trea sure in heav en. Then come, fol low me.”
22
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, be cause he had great wealth.
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13
Then peo ple brought lit tle chil dren to Jesus
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for him to place his hands on them and pray for |
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them. But the dis ci ples re buked them. |
a
19 Exodus 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20
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b
19 Lev. 19:18
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19:7“ Why then,” they asked,“ did Moses command” At first, Jesus seems to be prohibiting all divorce, so the Pharisees invoke Moses’ law as justification for divorce. See Dt 24. 19:8 hearts were hard Jesus is saying that Moses made a concession due to the sinful attitude of their Jewish ancestors. 19:9 except for sexual immorality Jesus allows for divorce— the tearing of a union made by God( Mt 19:6)— when someone is sexually unfaithful. To Jesus, divorce is never desirable. However, Jesus( and Moses before him) recognized that human sinfulness can irrevocably damage a marriage. In the Greek text, Jesus speaks only about men because, in the patriarchal culture of ancient Israel, only men had this type of legal right. It seems that Jesus’ overall intention is not to specify every possible exception for divorce, but rather to emphasize the importance of keeping marriages intact. marries another Jesus seems to be addressing Dt 24:1, which speaks of a wife losing favor in her husband’ s eyes and then being divorced. Men might have been misusing this passage in Jesus’ lifetime, as the Pharisees’ questions seem to imply( Mt 19:3,7). Thus, Jesus likely is speaking about divorces that are based on the wrong reasons— such as a man choosing to divorce his wife so that he can be with another woman without committing adultery. The purpose of Jesus’ statement is to emphasize that divorce goes against God’ s intention for marriage. He likely means that divorce for sinful reasons is the equivalent of adultery. 19:12 eunuchs who were born that way Refers to men who cannot reproduce due to a physical defect. who have been made eunuchs by others Refers in this instance to castration, whether intentional or accidental. In the ancient Near East, some slaves or palace officials would be castrated so that they could not sleep with the master’ s wife( or wives) or women in his harem. See note on Est 1:10. choose to live like eunuchs Refers metaphorically to a voluntary decision to remain single and sexually abstinent. Jesus is not prescribing mutilation of the genitalia, as that would involve destroying God’ s creation. Compare 1Co 7:8 – 9.
19:13 – 15 In this short scene, Jesus welcomes children and lays his hands on them in prayer as a sign of blessing.
19:14 kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these Compare Mt 18:3 – 4.
19:16 – 30 Jesus uses this encounter with a wealthy young man to teach his disciples about the dangers of wealth. He also gives a glimpse into what awaits those who have left everything to follow him.
19:16 eternal life Describes life in the kingdom of the Messiah, which starts now but extends forever( compare Jn 3:16 – 17). 19:17 Why do you ask me about what is good God already had defined what is good when he gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments. One who is good Refers to God, the giver of the commandments. 19:18 Which ones Jesus responds with a representative sampling of the Ten Commandments( see Ex 20:2 – 17), to which he adds the command about loving one’ s neighbor( Lev 19:18). 19:21 perfect Describes being complete or mature. sell your possessions Jesus sees the young man’ s attachment to his possessions as a hindrance to faith. He commands the man to rid himself of whatever prevents him from making a total commitment to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ instructions suggest that the man has not truly kept the commandments, beginning with the first one— the command to have no other gods except Yahweh( Ex 20:3). The man’ s wealth is his god, and he is unwilling to part with it. 19:22 he went away sad The only instance of someone declining to follow Jesus after a direct invitation.