©2003 Pastor Tom Miles

Matthew 19:3-6 As always it seems the Pharisees were right there ready to do all they could to trap Jesus.  The Pharisees were always in opposition to Jesus.  They came this time asking the question “is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for any cause at all?”  The Jewish leaders sought after the teachings of Hillel, which basically said that a man could divorce his wife for just about any reason.  A man could divorce because of the bread being scorched by the wife or because of the wife's manners.  Many taught and believed that the man could just marry and divorce as he saw fit.  Jesus though disagreed with this teaching because it went against the Spirit of God.  Jesus quoting from the Old Testament (Genesis 1:27; 2:24; 5:2) told them that God Made [them] male and female. In the beginning of time, God made male and female and united the two by an everlasting bond.  It was a bond of marriage one man to one woman.  And because of this everlasting bond “For this cause,” the union of husband and wife is stronger than that of children and parents.  The union of one man with one woman as husband and wife makes them one flesh.  In other words two lives joined into one!  Many today try to keep their lives separate after marriage.  They don't want the total union but this is wrong and is also cause of many broken homes and many quarrelsome marriages.  And if God joined them together, in other words if they were joined together in marriage ordained by God they have become one and nothing should separate them or have the right to separate them.

Matthew 19:7-9 And now the Pharisees ask Jesus why Moses did what he did in according to Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  They believe that Jesus is being contradictory to what Moses said.  And Jesus responds to them saying that Moses suffered some hardships he should not have suffered because of the hardness of their hearts.  Moses permitted divorce because of the heart of the people.  In the beginning there was no such thing as divorce.  Christ is giving to them His law of divorce and He says unless it is for fornication there is no cause for divorce.  And if a man marries another woman he commits adultery because he is still in the eyes of God married to his first wife.

Matthew 19:10-12 Now we see the disciples saying to Jesus it is not good to marry.  They felt the marriage laws were too strict for the Jewish way of thinking.  No one could live up to those standards.  And if a man were to tire of his wife and was not able to get rid of her it was simply better not to marry.  We must remember that the disciples were also brought up with the Jewish ways.  Jesus says that only those receiving His truth can accept this way of life.  In other words for Christians, those truly believing, it should be easy to accept the marriage laws defined by Jesus for anyone else it would be difficult to understand.   Jesus goes on to say there are some that need not marry. These are eunuchs ones that are physically unable to complete the sexual part of marriage either due to birth defects, physical mutilation by self or by their master, and the other group are those choosing a life of celibacy even though they are capable of performing the sexual part of marriage.  Many say Paul was an example of one that dedicated his life to celibacy.  Others believe Paul was once married and his wife died or something happened in some way to her and he decided not to remarry but instead to marry himself to the work of Christ. And yet others feel Paul was married but chose not to have marital relations with his wife because he wanted Christ to be first in his life.  The only thing we truly know from the Word about Paul is that he had great control and desired others to be like him concerning marriage.  1st Corinthians 7 which, talks about marriage also and where many get their idea of Paul’s marital status, does not make its self perfectly clear because it address both widowers and unmarried meaning Paul could be a widower and it is best for a Believer that is a widower to remain that way and for the unmarried or never married if God is first and foremost in their life it might be better for them to not marry so nothing takes the place of God in their life.

Matthew 19:13-15 Here Jesus shows His great love for children and how they rank in the eyes of God.  The disciples felt the people bringing the children before Jesus were interrupting His teaching but Jesus set them straight.  In Mark 10 and Luke 18 we also read about the children being brought to Jesus.  And one translation says He held them close to Him.  It was a Jewish custom to bring children to the Rabbi for blessing on their first birthday.  We are not sure exactly why the disciples felt it wrong for the people to bring their children before the greatest Rabbi of all time but Jesus told them not to hinder the bringing of the children in any way.  They might have felt it was a put down or another trick set up by the Pharisee's or they might have felt it was interrupting the good works and teachings of Jesus.  Jesus though made it quite clear that the little children should never be hindered in coming unto Him.  Jesus had already shown it was desired for old to come to Him and now He was showing that He desired all to come to Him and not to be hindered  whether young or old if they wish to come to Christ give them encouragement not discouragement.  I also believe that Jesus is showing that the earlier a child comes to know Him the better it is for that child.  And Jesus is also showing that it is good for a parent to bring up their child in the ways of the Lord from birth!  And then Jesus blessed them.

Matthew 19:16-17 When we look at the parallel verses in Mark 10 and Luke 18 we find that this person coming to Jesus was a young man, most likely a ruler of some sort, very rich, perhaps had inherited riches and his office from death of his father at a young age, and we also see he was very hungry for it says he came running to Jesus and fell to his knees before Him.   The man then asks of Jesus how to get to Heaven.  He desires eternal life.  He also calls Jesus Teacher, some versions say he called Him “Good Master” or “Good Teacher,” and he says to Jesus what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?  And Jesus responds to him wanting to know why he calls him good, why he wants to know what good things he must do for there is only one that is good.  This could refer to the physical nature of Christ not the spiritual nature meaning that there is only one God before Him and that is the divine nature Christ, not the man Jesus who this person was coming to.  I believe Jesus knew his heart before he spoke and that is why He spoke the way He did.  Jesus knew He was being addressed simply as a teacher not as a divine person.  So Jesus tells him the only way is to keep the commandments.

Matthew 19:18-19 The young rich man responds back to Jesus saying, “which ones?”  Over the years the religious leaders had added many new commandments to the original ten.  They did this for many reasons, mostly though to give a strong pious definition of righteousness.  Jesus simply replied quoting from Exodus 20:12-17 mentioning the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th commandment.  Jesus mentioned all the commandments dealing with human nature and relationships with one another.  These are also the commandments that for sinful man are the hardest to keep and for Christians are the easiest to fall into.

Matthew 19:20-22 The rich young man says to Jesus, hey, I've done all these things since birth what else is there I need to do?  The simple fact that the man is asking what else tells us that he was lacking in something.  His life was not fulfilled even though he had great riches and most likely a high social position he still was not complete and Jesus says to him, if you wish to be complete you must go and sell all you have and give to the poor then come follow me. Now we have a problem.  This man is very rich and has most probably idolized wealth all his life.  I'm sure he probably looked at Jesus with an expression to say, “you've got to be kidding!” And I'm sure the look and tone of Jesus’ voice assured him that Jesus was not kidding so the man left in great sorrow for he knew he could not give up his wealth.  He wanted to be a disciple of Jesus but he just couldn't get past giving up his material possessions.  How many of us have material possessions of some type that we are just unwilling to give up?  This passage tells us if we don't give them up we will be unable to follow Christ and if we cannot follow Christ we won't inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:23-26 Jesus says to His disciples that is very difficult for a rich man to enter heaven. He compares it to a camel passing through the eye of a needle saying it is easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.  The disciples looked at Jesus with amazement saying who then can be saved and Jesus seeing their astonishment said with man, people it is impossible with God all things are possible.   Now this does not mean that rich person cannot enter heaven but that it is only with great difficulty that the rich person enters heaven.  This is because of the great wealth they have and its power over them.  It is easier for a man to trust his wealth than to trust in something not yet seen and for that man heaven will never be his.  So what we really find in this verse is that for any one trusting in wealth heaven will not be theirs.  In other words our trust must be in Christ not wealth.  Money will not buy your way to heaven or to anything in the kingdom of God.  But through God who can do all things  all things are possible!

Matthew 19:27-30 Peter now says to Jesus, hey we've forsaken all things.  The disciples had all left everything they had behind for Christ.  And Christ says to them, yes and you will be rewarded for that.  Jesus says, Ye, the apostles or disciples will at the second coming of the Lord sit on thrones with Him.  Jesus says they will sit at thrones with Him.  All those that leave behind this life as we know it and follow the life of Christ will receive the reward of God’s kingdom.  And Christ says the first shall be last and the last shall be first meaning that many that were last in life will be first in heaven because of their testimony and life for Christ on earth.  Many that think they will have high seats in heaven because of their high standing on earth may be surprised to find themselves seated behind the lower standing Believers.

Father, reveal Your Word unto us and let us never forget that the only way to truly find You is to lose this life and take on the new life You offer us through Christ in Jesus name I pray amen.

Where Jesus is Lord!
Living Vine Ministries
Pastor Thomas Miles

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