Kingdom Marriage
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Kingdom Marriage
Kingdom Marriage
Passage
1 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. 3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 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.” 13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.
Chapter 19 begins the final Narrative/Discourse section in Matthew. We have seen Matthew take us on a journey in Jesus’ life from the prologue/introduction where we get to be a fly on the wall during Jesus’ birth.
From there we moved to the first narrative/discourse section with the narrative of Jesus’ baptism, temptation and calling his disciples, to the discourse known as the sermon on the mount.
The second narrative/discourse section showed Jesus as the miracle-working son of God, and then Jesus taught his disciples about his mission, and sent them on mission as emissaries of His, warning them of the opposition, and encouraging them with the future reward for participating in His mission.
As Jesus and His disciples disseminated His Gospel message, the third narrative reveals the opposition to that message grew as it became apparent that Jesus wasn’t coming to support the religious establishment, but to call His people back to the original intent of the covenant relationship with God. Matthew shows that Jesus is the final interpreter of the law of God, not the religious leaders of Israel. Discourse #3 goes along with the third narrative as Jesus tells parables in fulfilment of prophesy that people will hear Jesus, but won’t understand.
The fourth narrative section is parts of Matthew 13-17. Jesus has stated his mission and sent his disciples to spread His message, and people respond in several different ways, but we see that Peter’s response is finally the correct response, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! Once that all-important fact is delivered, Matthew shows that even the mighty Peter falls flat on His face not 6 verses later and proclaims the Gospel of Satan; glory without suffering. the Kingdom without the cross. Matthew 18 is the fourth discourse and focuses on the need to live with humility. This new Kingdom with be one based, not in pride, but in humility, not in strength, but in surrender, not in greed, but in service. Forgiveness based in humility will be a regular rhythm and practice of this Kingdom whose primary ethic is love; all based in the person of Christ Himself.
Matthew 19-26:2 is the 5th and final narrative/discourse section in Matthew. Matthew starts off the narrative with a geographical point, reorienting His readers to the historical and geographical reality of the life of Christ. This is not a story that takes place to reveal a teaching underneath like a parable. The life of Christ is a reality we are to orient our lives around as we seek to live as Jesus lived. Real place. Real events.
The real place Jesus starts from is back in Matthew 17:22 “22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”
‘Show first map up in Galilee.
from Galilee Jesus moves south and east, crossing the Jordan river to the place also referred to as Perea. From there he will head south and up in altitude to Jerusalem. Here is a recreation of the final trip of Jesus from Matthew 17-27.
Show second map of the movement of Jesus
The phrase appears somewhat confusing because politically, Perea was never actually part of Judea, belonging instead to the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, who also controlled Galilee.1 Matthew’s reference to this area as “the region of Judea beyond the Jordan” likely indicates the portion of Perea that was Jewish in population, even though it wasn’t politically part of Judea proper.
In Jewish tradition, the land was divided into three distinct countries: Galilee in the north, Judea proper in the south, and the region beyond the Jordan.2 The area beyond the Jordan lay on the east bank of the river3, making it geographically separated from the main territory of Judea by the Jordan River itself.
As Jesus is pushing the boundaries of being in Israel, he is still followed by large crowds, whom He heals. As Jesus is in this geographically far-off place across the Jordan river he is approached by the Pharisees for the first time since chapter 16. It is Jewish tradition that Deuteronomy 24:1 commands divorce, and Jesus teaching in Matthew 5:31–32 contradicts that law by interpreting it differently than the majority of the Israelite people at the time
Jesus intends that kingdom marriage be between one man and one woman as long as they both shall live.
1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house,
How do you see the marital relationship?
From creation how long has marriage been intended to last? Is this different than you see marriage?
to Whom does the kingdom of heaven belong?
