Matthew 19: 1-12

Matthew 19

Matthew 19: 1-12

Jesus is moving from Galilee to Judea. This is putting him closer to Jerusalem and to his crucifixion. He goes about the crowd continuing to heal people and witnessing. The Pharisees again are trying to trap Jesus on a biblical point. Marriage and divorce is a complicated subject and it would be easy to offend someone. There is no intention on my part to offend anyone. If two Christians married with Christian terms most likely divorce will not happen. I have not experienced a divorce but my Grandparents separated for 9 years and it caused enormous problems within the families that followed. They eventually got back together but a lot of damage to the family had been done. They most likely were not Christians when they separated. Later in life they started to attend a church and I hope they accepted Christ.

Mat 19:1 When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; Mat 19:2 and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. Mat 19:3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?"

 Mat 19:4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, Mat 19:5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? Mat 19:6 "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let no man separate." Mat 19:7 They *said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?"

This is a reference Deuteronomy 24:1-3, there was a way that the Israelites had created for divorce. It is in the Pentateuch therefore it was written by Moses. Divorce is common in this day and age. What is not common is that the people marrying are both born again Christians. Born again means that you were once born of water, your mother’s womb, and born with the Holy Spirit being instilled upon accepting Jesus as your savior.

 Mat 19:8 He *said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. Mat 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

From the LANTC.1.: "In Moses’ time, as well as in Jesus’ day and today, the practice of marriage fell far short of God’s intention. Jesus said that Moses permitted divorce only because of people’s hard-hearted wickedness, referring to a stubborn, willful attitude. Many refused to follow through with their marriages as God had intended, so God allowed divorce as a concession to their sinfulness. Jesus turned the Pharisees’ “test” question back on them by using it as an opportunity to review God’s intended purpose for marriage and to expose their spiteful motives in testing Jesus."

1.Life Application New Testament Commentary 

As you can see there was a sinful attitude within their hearts and they were living outside of God’s will. There was a way God allowed divorce and that was for infidelity.

Mat 19:10 The disciples *said to Him, "If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry." Mat 19:11 But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. Mat 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. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it."

Agape

Dave