CHAPTER 19

(A.D. 33)

JESUS SPEAKS CONCERNING DIVORCE

¹And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, He departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts (borders) of Judaea beyond Jordan (He would not come back; it was His farewell to the scene of most of His Miracles and Ministry);

²And great multitudes followed Him; and He healed them there (the multitudes trusted Him; the Pharisees tempted Him).

³The Pharisees also came unto Him, tempting Him (trying to trap Him), and saying unto Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? (The question of divorce and remarriage was the overriding question in Israel of that particular time.)

⁴And He answered and said unto them, Have you not read, that He (God) which made them at the beginning made them male and female (destroys the theory of evolution; Jesus was actually the Creator [Jn. 1:1-3]),

⁵And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? (Proclaims God as the founder of marriage, which makes it a Divine institution.)

⁶Wherefore they are no more twain (two), but one flesh (God looks at a man and his wife not as two, but instead one). What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (the Will of the Lord is to be sought regarding marriage; however, God recognizes the institution of marriage whether His Will or not).

⁷They say unto Him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away (Deut. 24:1-2)?

⁸He said unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so (divorce is not the Will of God; regarding a Christian husband and wife, there are no true grounds for divorce if both conduct themselves Scripturally, there will never be a need for divorce).

⁹And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication (an adulterous lifestyle), and shall marry another, commits adultery: and whoso marries her which is put away doth commit adultery (if the marriage is dissolved for Scriptural grounds fornication or desertion [I Cor. 7:15], remarriage is Scripturally allowed).

¹⁰His Disciples say unto Him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry (their thinking was wrong [Prov. 18:22]).

¹¹But He said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given (in effect, Christ is saying that all should marry, save the few who are called of God to do otherwise; the next Verse tells us what that is).

¹²For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mothers womb (accident of birth no sex drive whatsoever): and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men (castrated, in order to serve the State, which was a custom then): and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heavens sake (personal resolve, were not castrated, as the Apostle Paul). He who is able to receive it, let him receive it (refers to the last group, and speaks of those called of the Lord for such a task, which would be few).

JESUS BLESSES LITTLE CHILDREN

¹³Then were there brought unto Him little children, that He should put His hands on them, and pray: and the Disciples rebuked them (a number of women, hearing the teaching on the sanctity of marriage as given by Christ, brought their children to Jesus for Him to Bless them; their intelligence was higher than that of the Disciples, who tried to prevent this action).

¹⁴But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me: for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven (children are dependent on parents; Believers are to be totally dependent on Christ, of which children are an example).

¹⁵And he laid His hands on them, and departed thence.

THE RICH YOUNG RULER

¹⁶And, behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master (addressed Him merely as a teacher), what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? (Doing is not the answer, but rather, believing [Jn. 3:16].)

¹⁷And He said unto him, Why do you call Me good? (You dont recognize Me as God.) there is none good but One, that is, God (Jesus wasnt saying that He wasnt good; in fact, He definitely was good, because He is God): but if you will enter into life, keep the Commandments (is meant to answer the man on the same grounds which he has asked the grounds of good works! He will show him that he, in fact, cannot attain to eternal life by keeping Commandments, i.e., good works).

¹⁸He said unto him, Which? (A ridiculous question!) Jesus said, you shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness (Jesus didnt say keep one Commandment, but rather all of them, which the man had not done, nor any other man for that matter except Christ),

¹⁹Honour your father and your mother: and, you shall love your neighbour as yourself (this latter Commandment is taken from Lev. 19:18; it was not a part of the original Ten, but actually summed up all the Commandments, which dealt with ones fellowman).

²⁰The young man said unto Him, All these things have I kept from my youth up (he was mistaken; he had not): what lack I yet? (This question proclaims the fact that something was wrong.)

²¹Jesus said unto him, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven: and come and follow Me (Jesus put His finger on the two great Commandments of the Law and said: If you love your neighbor as yourself, then share your wealth with him; and if you love Jehovah your God with all your heart, then follow Me, for one only is good, that is God, and I am He).

²²But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions (the Gospel makes mad, sad, or glad; Naaman went away in a rage; the rich ruler went away sorrowful; but Zacchaeus received Christ joyfully).

A WARNING TO THE RICH

²³Then said Jesus unto His Disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (this was contrary to Jewish doctrine, for they taught that riches signified Gods approval).

²⁴And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God (it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, and it is equally impossible for the most deeply religious man to enter Heaven on the principle of merit).

²⁵When His Disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? (Entrance into the Kingdom of God by man as man, however cultivated and moral, is here declared by the Infallible Judge to be impossible.)

²⁶But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible (so then what cannot be obtained by merit may be received by gift; for the Gift of God is eternal life [Rom. 6:23]).

REWARDS FOR CONSECRATION

²⁷Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed you; what shall we have therefore? (This proclaims the fact that it is just as hard for the poor man to leave his little house as it is for the rich noble to forsake his great palace.)

²⁸And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That you which have followed Me, in the regeneration (the Millennium) when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory (during the coming Kingdom Age Jesus will reign Personally from Jerusalem and, in effect, govern the entirety of the world), you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (this graphically answers the question posed by Peter; they had exchanged a little fishing boat for a Kingdom; it pays to live for God).

²⁹And every one who has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My Names sake, shall receive an hundredfold (Mark added, now in this time [Mk. 10:30] Christ meant exactly what He said, but we must take everything into account), and shall inherit everlasting life (this is freely given on acceptance of Christ [Rom. 6:23]).

³⁰But many who are first shall be last; and the last shall be first (Israel was first and the Church is last in relation to time, but in respect to position the last shall be first).