Like a child
Matthew - People of the Last Days • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction...
1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
This is where Jesus started his ministry, where he was baptised. This is the region where John the Baptist preached and baptised. This is Herod Antipas’s territory. This is where Herod imprisoned John the Baptist and subsequently had him killed. A shadow hangs over this location… but more than that, John was imprisoned, for preaching against Herod’s adulterous marriage to Herodias… and now Pharisees come asking Jesus about marriage…
Marriage (19:3-12)
Marriage (19:3-12)
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
This is a test, it is a trap… Are they hoping Jesus gets in trouble with Herod too? Maybe Herod is the solution to the Pharisees problem with Jesus?
But more, the Pharisees are testing Jesus’ understanding and commitment to the law… and they are using a current debate about divorce for the test.
If Jesus says, “yes, you may divorce for any reason,” then the Pharisees can say, “Jesus is too lax. He is not strict enough!”
If Jesus says, “there is no reason for divorce,” then the Pharisees can say, “look, Jesus is too strict!”
Jesus’ answer...
The original purpose of marriage...
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Jesus goes back to creation to, just as all the New Testsament writers do when dealing with questions of marriage, sex, relationships between the genders.
Male/female… basic fundamental biological complementarity
Leave… new family unit
Unite/cleave… bound to one another, “to death do us part”
One flesh… a new mutual complementary existence bigger than the sum of the parts.
Not merely two people making a commitment together, but what “God has joined together, let no one separate”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
1 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, 2 and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Two schools of thought...
The House of Hillel (Beit Hillel) and House of Shammai (Beit Shammai) were, among Jewish scholars, two schools of thought during the period of tannaim, named after the sages Hillel and Shammai (of the last century BCE and the early 1st century CE) who founded them. These two schools had vigorous debates on matters of ritual practice, ethics, and theology which were critical for the shaping of the Oral Law and Judaism as it is today.
The School of Hillel allowed the “concession” to swell to any and every reason.
The School of Shammai took a stricter stance, but Jesus goes even stricter again...
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
The Pharisees had transormed Moses concession into a command!
Jesus would prefer people do not divorce, like Moses, because marriage was designed to be lasting… till death, or until Jesus returns!
However, Jesus allows for hardness of heart, holding to a strict understanding of Deuteronomy 24.
So, divorce only for sexual imorality… it is a bucket term that includes adultery, but there are many other forms of sexual immoratlity!
We can summarise Jesus’ response to this marriage question with these statements:
Marriage precedes civil or religious recognition, (not my marriage, but marriage in general) because it is built by God into creation as the one flesh union of a man and a woman.
Broadening divorce fails because it is a Pharisaic attempt based upon a law that was written to restrict it.
Sexual Immorality/Porneia is the only exception Jesus grants, but even then, he merely recognises what has taken place, namely the destruction of the one-flesh bond through sexual sin. Apart from this, no matter what a court decides, the marriage remains intact.
So, divorce, unless because of sexual immorality / porneia, can produce adultery, and adultery breaks the 7th commandment and under the original law would have meant death for those involved.
What about other matters that lead to divorce?
Firstly, according to Jesus, there are no other matters. Mark & Luke report that Jesus gave no room for divorce.
Secondly, we do need to remember the allowance of divorce to protect women in Deuteronomy. So, in light of the abuses that can come upon those in marriage, we need to carefully consider ‘unfaithfulness’ and the breaking of marriage vows, and the potential for at least separation in marriage, if not divorce. But we must do this carefully, not flippantly. We can’t open the door for divorce for any reason.
A note about same-sex marriage: Jesus never mentions same-sex marriage, either positively or negatively, however, he does uphold and reinforce what was from the beginning, that marriage is between a man and a woman. Just because he didn’t refer to this with his own lips, does not overide what is upheld in scripture elsewhere… remember “all scripture is God-breathed!”
And on that… in the eyes of God, same-sex marriage is not marriage. They may have a legal document, but it is not marriage as is defined in scriptures… let teh gospel/word change hearts, people come to repentence, make changes in accordance with scripture.
10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
What was the disciples worry here?
It wasn’t what we think about as we here this… a loss of freedom to do as I please, but the knew that adultery led to divorce, now Jesus has taught that divorce leads to adultery… to them this is new and difficult. It wasn’t new according to the law, but it was new to their understanding… which was influenced by the likes of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.
So, their question is more an assertion… if the risk is so great, it is better not to marry.
Jesus’ response goes against their culture and ours, because we often elevate marriage over singleness, and we push sexual fulfilment above holiness.
What about his single life?
A ‘eunuch’ here is “anyone who finds marital life impossible.”
born that way
forced to become that way at the hands of others
chosen to live like eunuchs… for the sake of the kingdom
“The one who can accept this should accept it.” Jesus says, there are those who for the sake of the kingdom, should choose singleness.
Like a child (19:13-20)
Like a child (19:13-20)
Little children
14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Such as these...
3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Child… a picture of complete depenence… depenence upon Jesus!
The kingdom of heaven belongs...
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
Grown up hang ups
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
