MATTHEW 19 The values of the world system and the teaching of Jesus are very different. In fact, the “Community Discourse” Jesus had just taught His disciples in the previous chapter, turn the values of the world upside down. In the world system today, it is no different than it was when our Lord Jesus Christ was here. Very few well-known and powerful people, got where they are by being humble and gentle, let alone self-effacing.
People push and shove others aside to get ahead in society, government, business, and even in the military. Children in many families vie for first place to get the favor of parents and friends, even if they have to lie to get that recognition. In the coming day, the last will be the first.
It will be necessary to accept disapproval from people now to have divine approval in the future. Willing sacrifices made now in the interests of the kingdom of God will bring blessings of lasting reward at a later time. Whether in marriages, families, or personal life, the wise person will look beyond difficulties, discomforts, and disappointments in living for the Lord, in order to further kingdom interests. The future is where lasting benefits and interests are waiting.
Marriages and consequences, v.1-12 When our Lord Jesus Christ was here, He was tested by those who opposed Him on many diverse subjects to try to get some legal charge against Him, or at least some inconsistency. Pharisees considered their interpretations of scripture to be the right and final word. However, in the commitment of one person to another in marriage, they had different schools of thought. The Shammai group considered the first four verses of Deuteronomy to be a command of Moses in which the cause of divorce was only sexual immorality. The Hillel group believed divorce could take place for almost any conceivable cause.
Jesus’ answer did not align with either position. He opposed all divorce. His answer went back to the original purpose of marriage. It included marriage being “one flesh” between one man and one woman for life. Monogamy was God’s intention. Any disruption of marriage by one person entering another person’s body illicitly is forbidden. It is only on this basis that a divorce could be granted. Some people interpret this to mean during the period of engagement only. That opinion is based on the comment the disciples made that marriage would be an intolerable burden.
The Lord’s reply to that statement of the disciples was that marriage is not always a good idea. Singleness and celibacy are an allowable state for those who for one reason or another could not, would not, or should not marry. However, not all are able to be abstinent. Some are able to be abstinent because of physiological limitations. Others are able to be abstinent because of injury or castration for some reason. Some choose to abstain from sexual practice because they want to be free from the responsibility of having a family. The Lord indicated that was permissible when the interest is that they may give themselves without any restraints to the work of God.
None of these reasons indicate marriage between one man and one woman is wrong, but it raises the understanding of marriage to God’s original and pure estate in which “marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled but whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge.” God does hate divorce [Mal.2:15-16] and His desire is that marriage is to be permanent and unbroken. There are always sad consequences that are unavoidable when a divorce takes place.
Children and blessing, v.13-15 The disciples must not have really understood the message the Lord Jesus just previously had given about children. To give children and women much thought as to the equality of their personhood, was in great contrast to the religious leaders who allowed their religion, education, and sophistication to come in the way of faith. Simple faith in Christ is not as hard for children and child-like people, and women who have a different emotional makeup as men, as it is for those who think they have to be able to “figure out what it means to believe.”
Jesus was always interested in children and weak people. Those who were disenfranchised for some reason, be it age, status in society, or infirmity, are persons of great concern to the Lord. Such people have to live by faith in others to survive. They are not independent, or in a position to reject what is given to them. That is what people must be like in order to be saved and enter the kingdom of God. Faith in Christ to do for us that which we cannot do ourselves is the response of a person who knows their need for God’s grace.
Young Man and Values, v.16-30 The starting point to getting eternal life is to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, not to do some “good thing.” Probably one of the greatest deceptions in the “Christian religion” and all other religions, is to “do the best you can.” That indicates one is independent, and if they do what they think they should; God is obligated to them and will have to accept them into heaven after they die, because of what they have done. They think they earned their way there.
The young man who came to Jesus thought eternal life was earned by his personal performance and good deeds. In reply, the Lord Jesus made him review how he estimated Jesus and what God had to say in the law. He quickly clarified to that young man that no one is good but God. Did that young man believe He was God? Salvation and the gift of eternal life are based on God’s goodness, not ours. It doesn’t appear like the young man was speaking as a self-righteous, brazen narcissist, but as one who thought external law-keeping would be what was needed. In spite of his morality of life, something was missing in him, and he knew it.
The six commandments the Lord told the young man deal with our relationship with people and can be kept in an outward sense. Obedience to the law is more than outward actions. To give God unreserved obedience and loyalty, meant giving up anything that has a prior claim, or perceived more important claim, on us. In the case of this young man, money had a claim on him. His choice, in spite of the sorrow it brought him, was to keep for himself what kept him from getting eternal life. Anything a person allows to keep them from Christ will cause them to be lost forever because of their own choice, not because God didn’t love them and want them to be saved forever.
The Lord Jesus Christ used that as a teaching moment for His disciples. No one who loves riches will enter the kingdom of God. Any person, ambition, possession, or perceived important obligation, that claims first place in your life; will keep you out of the kingdom of God. It is impossible to be saved unless there is an unreserved surrender to the Lord, and faith placed in Him alone for salvation.
Spiritual maturity comes when one can see the necessity of faith. That happens when our possessions, skills, intellect, or anything we might claim as making us worthy of acceptance into the kingdom of God, are gone or set aside as that which has no lasting value. All one has then is their personal faith in Christ. The problem of wealth is not that a person has a lot of possessions, but that the false trust in wealth has a tendency to give.
The camel and the eye of the needle are meant to be literal, making it plain that only God can overrule false trust in riches and provide salvation and true righteousness. Apparently up until this time, the disciples had thought there was some virtue in riches that indicated God’s favor and blessing. The Lord Jesus plainly stated that only God can provide the righteousness necessary to enter the kingdom of God. False trust in riches has no value at all.
The disciples had done what the rich young man was not willing to do, so they asked a question that was appropriate to the situation. The Lord’s answer was that rebirth will occur in the nation, society, and creation when He shall sit on the throne of His glory in the millennium. There is a new world order that will come when Christ returns, and just judgment will be administered across the whole world. Those who had lost everything for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ will receive far more than they have ever lost, as well as eternal life. God’s gifts are not earned by how long or how energetically we have served Him, but rather by how faithfully we followed Him.
Any sacrifice that has been made for the Lord Jesus Christ will be amply rewarded on that coming day. But there is a warning that many, not all, who are first, shall be last and the last first. An attitude of presumption in the sense that the Lord has an obligation to those who came into the kingdom first is given warning that it should never make us think we deserve the grace our gracious God has extended to us. May we always be thankful for every way He has guided and blessed us in this life.