(Matt Koerber)
Matthew 19:1-12 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
10The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
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We see at the beginning of our passage that Jesus is moving closer to Jerusalem, and the Gospel of Matthew is moving toward its climactic conflict. We see the hostility of the religious leaders when they approach Jesus with a test question (v. 3). They chose the topic of marriage/divorce, which remains a challenging test question to this day.
There are a whole bunch of things that we learn from this interaction. To keep this blog entry from stretching too long, I will present them in abbreviated form.
1.) Jesus interprets the OT. Jesus believes that some things in the Law of Moses (in this case, divorce law), were less that ideal. The reason God allowed for divorce in the Mosaic Law was because it was a less than ideal compromise with the reality of human sin and hard-heartedness. (v. 8) This does not mean that the Law is the problem. The problem lies in the human heart. Given the hardness of the human heart, the Law allows for things that were not part of God’s design from the beginning. Overall, the Law moves sinful humanity closer to God’s pattern, but in some places the accommodation becomes evident.
2.) Instead, Jesus goes back to the original intention of marriage. He grounds his argument in Genesis 2. In doing so, Jesus clearly affirms that marriage should be monogamous (polygamy was another example of a less than ideal practice that was regulated by OT law). He also clearly affirms that God’s purpose for sex is in marriage between a man and a woman.
3.) Jesus further clarifies that going forward, the OT compromises will no longer be allowed. Similar to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tightens the commands found in the OT. In this case, he shows that “divorce for any reason” is no longer permissible. Instead, Jesus lists the only permissible reason for divorce as sexual immorality. The other exception to this in the New Testament is Paul’s apostolic word in 1 Corinthians 7, where he lists the unfaithful abandonment of a spouse as grounds for divorce. The Reformed tradition therefore lists “adultery and desertion” as grounds for divorce. (In some cases, forms of abuse may necessitate separation and fit the criteria found in 1 Cor. 7).
4.) The response of the disciples shows that Jesus is tightening the law. If marriage is so permanent, they exclaim, “Why would anyone get married?” Jesus does not try to argue with them. Instead, he affirms that God’s plan for marriage is indeed hard. Instead of trying to lower the bar, he simply acknowledges that not all people will marry. It seems that he uses the term “eunuch” as a metaphor and not necessarily a literal description of a person who has damaged sexual anatomy. Following this metaphor, there are many reasons why a person would not marry. Some have to do with physical features associated by birth or which developed through some life circumstance. (This might include people who were literally, physical eunuchs with damaged sexual anatomy). However, some people will choose a path of celibacy for the sake of the kingdom. In this sense, the term eunuch is clearly metaphorical.
In conclusion, Jesus teaches that God has a design for marriage. It is a good design, but this conflicts with the hardness of the human heart. Our response is to remember our need for a savior and double down on our commitment to him. Marriage is a great tool to teach humans about the hardness of their hearts and the grace of their savior. Strong law drives us to a strong savior. But we also see that while marriage is good, it is not everything. In addition to celebrating God’s plan for marriage, Jesus also celebrates the goodness of singleness. He celebrates those who choose this for the sake of the kingdom. Those that embrace this calling find that they honor their Lord, and their singleness can have great purpose in the kingdom. On one hand, our Lord will one day return for his church in a reunion described with marital language. He is the bridegroom of the church. On the other hand, in his earthly life Jesus did not marry. For the sake of the kingdom, he had to forsake actual, literal marriage. In his single-minded devotion to the purposes of God, we find our life and our salvation.
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An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.