The In-Crowd

Last week, in speaking of contrasts, I missed an important verse: In Luke 11:23, when facing those who accused Him of operating in the power of Beezebul, He stated, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not scatter with me scatters.”

What is left, we are either for Christ or against Him! There is no middle ground. By their fruit we will know them!

Jesus’ final journey - less miracles recorded - more teachings recorded.

April of 2021 we preached on Jesus’ teaching about divorce and covered Matthew 19:1-10 there.

I want to recap the end of that to set up today’s message:

Matthew 19:8–12 ESV

8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” 10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For 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.”

Jesus confirms the covenant of man and woman before God in marriage

Again, He is addressing an issue current to His day, which is current in ours as well.

People are getting divorced for any and every reason, and God never ok’d that.

Like sin - this destroys people. It destroys the couple, their children, any future people they become involved with, and erodes society.

Jesus’ condemnation of divorce is for “any cause”

There is provision for divorce and the freedom to remarry when a spouse is abusing and/or neglecting their spouse - that’s not what the Pharisees were asking about and that’s not what Jesus was addressing.

But the disciples recognized the difficulty and what was at stake!

If I fail to keep my covenant with my wife then I have failed to keep my covenant with God!

I love the honesty and transparency of the disciples in these passages. They are very relatable:

What? We need to forgive no matter what? Lord, Increase our faith!!

What? It’s not ok to divorce my wife if she cooks my breakfast wrong? Why would anyone get married?

Jesus stays real with them: “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.”

It is very important to note that Jesus isn’t saying we should all become Shakers and never marry.

He says this is difficult and it is only for those who are called to it.

He says, “to whom it is given.” Only by grace given us can we live to such a high calling as to forsake even marriage to chase after Him!

Then He talks about 3 kinds of “eunuchs”:

Those who are born that way

Those who are made that way

and Those who choose that way (for the kingdom of heaven)

Eunuchs were court officials and those appointed to positions of high importance.

The word eunuch literally means “keeper of the bed”

Eunuchs were castrated males appointed to watch over and care for a king’s harem.

Esther 2:3 ESV

3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them.

This was to help ensure a pure bloodline.

Jesus here speaks of those born that way - birth defects - and those made that way.

Such are mentioned in

Deuteronomy 23:1 ESV

1 “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

That’s very interesting in contrast to Jesus’ saying that some choose to be eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom.

We can tell from the context here that Jesus is not talking about emasculating oneself, but refraining from marriage, and refraining from having sex.

Paul explains in 1 Cor 7:32-35

1 Corinthians 7:32–35 ESV

32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

Circumstances that would previously have disqualified someone from worshiping the Lord are now a preferred option for greater service (true worship)!

Deut 23:1 is very clear - but so is Is 56:3-5

Isaiah 56:3–5 ESV

3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

In contrast to the Old Testament rejection, we see Old Testament prophecy of acceptance - in fact a greater acceptance!

People are mutilating themselves today - becoming eunuchs.

How will the church respond?

Let’s look at how Phillip responded in Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26–40 ESV

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Phillip was told to go by an angel (or messenger) of the Lord

and he rose and went

[He obeyed immediately and completely]

There was a Eunuch - from a foreign country

He was most likely a Jew or a proselyte.

And he traveled all the way to Jerusalem to worship---yet he wasn't even allowed in the inner courts of the Temple!!!

That's faith! Phillip sees him but he hears and follows the voice of the Holy Spirit!

He runs toward this man who is considered not a whole man.

This Jew who is not a whole Jew.

Decisions he or someone else had made had restricted him from being on the inside - the accepted.

How will we respond? What does it take to get on the in-crowd of this church? Our personal lives?

We all have different 'levels' of intimacy and acquaintance.

Most likely, there's no room in your in-crowd.

It's already full. Maybe there's room if there's someone special.

Phillip didn't see an important or influential person, or a reject. He saw a soul and heard the voice of the spirit and obeyed.

How will the church respond to the eunuch?

Phillip ran toward him. Phillip didn't wait for the eunuch to come to him.

Phillip ran toward him. He didn't wait for him to attend a meeting.

He ran to him and inserted himself into the man's business! He asked the 1st question.

Well what do I say? I don't know what to say Lord!

Phillip just asked a question and the Eunuch asked Phillip questions. Phillip just had to answer.

Phillip got into the man's chariot.

Sometimes we don’t know how to reach or help people because we're too isolated and insulated from their problems.

We need to get into their chariot, their lives, their shoes, and experience life from their perspective and show them how God will work on their behalf!

The eunuch was reading from Isaiah 53, not something he would have heard a lot of sermons about.

But it was a passage about someone he could identify with. About someone who had no offspring because His life was cut short.

The opportunity was there to share the good news about Jesus and that's what Phillip did.

When we accept people as they are and run towards opportunities to help them and when we sit with them in their situations, we get the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with them.

As the Eunuch asked, "What prevents me from being baptized?"

Deut 23:1 no longer applies because a greater redemption has come!

Greater provision has been made! A greater name awaits for the eunuch.

Jesus said “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.”

This must have sounded like an oxymoron.

Jesus was talking about those who choose to remain single and give their whole lives and all of their attention in service to the kingdom of heaven!

This message of salvation is for everyone who will receive it, no matter their past!

Even children, in fact become like them. Even eunuchs, in fact, it is good to become like them - not physically - but in priority!