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Bible - NT - Matthew: Sermon notes, Sunday after Epiphany

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INTRODUCTION

After a long sojourn in Galilee, Jesus returns to Judea (cf. 4:12), and immediately the Pharisees put Him on trial (19:3) by posing a legal question. As they do later in Jerusalem, the Jewish leaders want to trap Jesus to accuse Him (22:15-46).

THE TEXT

“Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. The Pharisees also came to Him. . . .” (Matthew 19:1-15).

FROM THE BEGINNING

The Pharisees’ test question concerns divorce, a controversial issue in first-century Judaism. Their question presumes the lax view of marriage widely held among Jews (v. 3: “any cause at all”). Jesus quotes from the Torah, not the divorce provision of Deuteronomy 24:1 but the creation of marriage in Genesis (v. 4 with Genesis 1:27; v. 5 with Genesis 2:24). The creation account establishes the pattern for marriage as a lifelong union between one man and one woman. Man and wife become “one flesh” (vv. 5-6), yoked together (v. 6) in labor and service. If God has joined them, men ought not separate (v. 6). Jesus instructs us to follow God’s original design for marriage, particularly since He has come to bring in a renewal of creation.

HARDNESS OF HEART

In response, the Pharisees point to Moses’ “command” (v. 7) of divorce. Jesus regards this as “permission” rather than command (v. 8), and goes on to state both a rationale for the law and an interpretation of it. Divorce is a concession to hardness of heart (v. 8). God’s original design was lifelong union, but He made adjustments to sin. Torah assumes Adam’s fall; its provisions don’t necessarily express God’s ideal, but express His will for a hard-hearted people. (Incidentally, Jesus accuses the Jews of Pharaoh’s sin – hard-heartedness, cf. Exodus 4:21; 7:3; etc.) Jesus still permits divorce in cases of porneia (v. 9), which refers to adultery and other sexual sins. A man may separate from his wife for other reasons, but if he remarries he commits adultery, since the first marriage still exists before God (v. 9).

BETTER NOT TO MARRY

The Pharisees disappear, and the disciples protest that such stringent requirements for marriage make it unbearable (v. 10). Better, they imply, to be a eunuch. Jesus corrects their anti-marriage conclusion. He tells them that some are “eunuchs,” unmarried, for the sake of the kingdom (v. 12). (Eunuchs appear in the Old Testament primarily in Esther, where they are attendants of the queen. A eunuch for the kingdom gives up his own bride to serve the bride of Jesus.) But Jesus has already said that God yokes people in marriage (v. 6). He doesn’t give preference to either marriage or celibacy.

BLESSING CHILDREN

The family theme continues in the episode with the children. The disciples think marriage a burden, and regard children as a nuisance. Jesus doesn’t. He lays hands on them, prays for them, and tells His disciples His kingdom consists of children. Like Jacob, Jesus confers an inheritance on children (cf. Genesis 48-49).

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, January 5, 2009 at 6:27 am

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Bible - NT - Matthew: Sermon notes, Sunday after Epiphany

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