Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #30 - 19:1-15)
XVII. 19:1-2:16 DIVORCE, CHILDREN & KINGDOM ENTRANCE
A. 19:1-2 JESUS HEALS: FROM GALILEE TO JUDEA
Kai eGEne-to HOte eTEle-sen [5655] ho IeSOUS tous LOgous TOUtous,
And it came to pass when :Jesus had finished these :words,
meTEren [3332]aPO tes Ga-liLAIas kai ELthen eis ta HOri-a [3725]tes IouDAIas
he departed from :Galilee and came into the borders of :Judaea
PEran tou IorDAnou; kai e-koLOUthe-san [2323]auTO OCHloi polLOI; kai e-theRApeu-sen auTOUS eKEI.
beyond the Jordan; 2and great crowds followed him; and he cured them there.
B. 19:3-12 FORNICATION: THE ONLY GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE
a. 19:3 PHARISEES TEST JESUS
Kai proSELthan [4334]auTO Pha-riSAIoi [5330], peiRAzon-tes [3985]auTON, kai LEgon-tes,
And Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying,
Ei Exes-tin [1832] a-poLUsai [630] ten guNAIka auTOU kaTA PAsan aiTIan [156]?
Whether it is lawful to put away one's :wife for every cause?
b. 19:4-5 THE WISDOM IN JESUS' REPLY
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen, Ouk aNEGno-te [314], HOti ho KTIsas [2936]
And he answered and said, Have you not read, that he who created
ap' arCHES [746]ARsen [730]kai THElu [2338]ePOIe-sen auTOUS, kai EIpen,
from the beginning made them male and female, 5and said,
Ene-ka TOUtou ka-taLEIpsei [2641] ANthro-pos ton paTEra kai ten meTEra,
For this cause shall a man leave :father and :mother,
kai kol-leTHEse-tai [2853]te gu-naiKI auTOU; kai Eson-tai hoi DUo eis SARka [4561]MIan?
and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall becomeone flesh?
c. 19:6a So that they are no more two, but one flesh.
HOste ouKEti eiSIN DUo, alLA sarx MIa.
d. 19:6b What therefore :God has yoked together, let not man put asunder.
ho oun ho TheOS suNEzeu-xen [4801], ANthro-pos mecho-riZEto[5563].
e. 19:7 THEY QUESTION JESUS FURTHER
LEgou-sin auTO, Ti oun Mo-uSES e-neTEIla-to [1781] DOUnai
They say to him, Why then did Moses command to give
bibLIon [975] a-po-staSIou [647], kai a-poLUsai [630]?
a bill of divorce, and to put away?
f. 19:8 AN INSIGHTFUL ANSWER
LEgei auTOIS [HOti], Mo-uSES pros ten skle-ro-karDIan [4641] huMON
He says to them [that], Moses for your hardness of :heart
ePEtre-psen [2010] huMIN a-poLUsai tas guNAIkas huMON: ap' arCHES de ou GEgo-nen HOUtos.
suffered you to put away your :wives: but from thebeginning it has not been thus.
g. 19:9 A SERIOUS APPLICATION
LEgo de huMIN [HOti] hos an a-poLUse ten guNAIka auTOU,
And I say unto you [that] Whoever shall put away his :wife,
me ePI porNEIa [4202], kai gaMEse [1060] ALlen, moiCHAtai [3429].
except for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery.
h. 19:10 THE CONCERN OF HIS DISCIPLES
LEgou-sin auTO hoi ma-theTAI, Ei HOUtos esTIN he aiTIa [156] tou anTHROpou
The disciples say to him, If the case of the man is thus
meTA tes gu-naiKOS, ou sumPHErei [4851] gaMEsai [1060].
with the woman, it is not expedient to marry.
i. 19:11 But he said to them, Not all receive the saying, but theyto whom it is given.
ho de EIpen auTOIS, Ou PANtes choROUsi [5562]ton LOgon, all' hois DEdo-tai.
j. 19:12a UNDERSTANDING ON EUNUCHS
eiSIN gar euNOUchoi [2135] HOIti-nes ek koiLIas [2836] meTROS e-genNEthe-san [1080] HOUtos:
For thereare eunuchs who were thus born from theirmother's womb:
kai eiSIN euNOUchoi HOIti-nes eu-nouCHISthe-san [2134] huPO ton anTHROpon:
and thereare eunuchs who were made eunuchs by :men:
kai eiSIN euNOUchoi HOIti-nes euNOUchi-san he-auTOUS diA ten ba-siLEIan [932] ton ou-raNON.
and thereare eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of the heavens' sake.
k. 19:12b Who is able to receive, let him receive it.
ho duNAme-nos choREIN [5562], choREIto.
C. 19:13-15 JESUS RECEIVES AND BLESSES LITTLE CHILDREN
a. 19:13 THE DISCIPLES LACK UNDERSTANDING
TOte pro-seNECHthe-san [4336] auTO paiDIa [3813],
Then were brought to him little children,
HIna tas CHEIras e-piTHE [2007] auTOIS, kai proSEUxe-tai: hoi de ma-theTAI e-peTIme-san auTOIS.
that he should lay :hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
b. 19:14 JESUS CORRECTS THEM
ho de IeSOUS EIpen, Aphe-te [863] ta paiDIa, kai me koLUe-te [2967] auTA,
But :Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not,
elTHEIN pros me: ton gar toiOUton esTIN he ba-siLEIa [932] ton ou-raNON.
to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of the heavens.
c. 19:15 And he laid :hands on them, anddeparted from there.
kai e-piTHEIS tas CHEIras auTOIS, e-poREUtheeKEIthen.
NOTE: 19:3-12 seemingly has been forgottenby the church today! Dr. G. Campbell Morgan of England said many years ago, “Watch what is taking place in the world; within ten years it will start coming into the church!” How true! Divorces in the church today equal divorces in the world, and trivial reasons other than fornication are the cause!
It is important to note that “fornication” (porNEIa) covers all types of sex sins, including homosexuality and sex with animals. “Adultery” (moiCHEIa) is but a part of fornication, and specifically applies to sexual relations apart from the married partner. This means that all typesof sex sin under the head of fornication, are Biblical grounds for divorce. But legitimate divorce stops with this. As Jesus plainly stated, adultery takes place for divorce on any other grounds than fornication. The disciples of Jesus understood the seriousness of His words, and also understood the reason that some choose to become eunuchs.
Note also Jesus' explanation to the lax Pharisees concerning Moses' reason for granting divorces on other grounds than fornication. But with the coming of Jesus and the Kingdom of the heavens, He took the Pharisees back to God's purpose for marriage in the beginning. What Moses allowed for Israel in OT times, no longerapplies today!
In 19:13-15 Jesus againpoints out the importance of children in the Kingdom of God. Child-likeness (not childishness) should be the goal of everydisciple, linked with the same humilitythat we observe in the life of Jesus. In the beginning, Jesus' disciples missed this important insight. But after Pentecost, when Jesus by the indwelling Holy Spirit lives out His life through disciples, children again came into the importance in which God places them. J.A.W.