Matthew Chapter 19 "Pharisees; Discipleship, Little Children." This Bible
Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location is provided by http://www.theseason.org/plough.htm Matthew 19:1 "And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, He departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan;" Jesus is moving on now toward Jerusalem. Matthew 19:2 "And great multitudes followed Him; and He healed them there." Jesus entire time of teaching was spent in teaching and healing the sick. Through the healing, the sick came to repentance, and to the Savior. The healing hadn't been done before, and it was a new thing. In the past, you went to the priest with a couple of doves, and then followed the process of following the law. But Jesus was different. Matthew 19:3 "The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause.?" Here is the head of the religious community trying to tempt Jesus again. The Kenites are back in action. They were trying to trap Jesus and trip Him up. To understand what it was that the Pharisees were trying to do, we first must look at what the law of Divorcement was at that time. Matthew 19:4 "And he answered and said unto them, "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female," Remember in Genesis 1:27; "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; man and female created he them." Matthew 19:5 "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?" Jesus is quoting here from Genesis 2:24; Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." So these two people become one flesh. Matthew 19:6 "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." There are two aspects to follow in teaching this lesson; the spiritual sense, or the saving blood of Jesus Christ, and also by the law of Moses. This misunderstanding exists today in the religious community, just as it did in the days of Jesus Christ. It is inexcusable for the guilt trip that the religious community tries to lay on men and women, and make them second class citizens for troubles of the past that have caused them to go through a divorce. We will look into each of these directions in this study. The offspring of a marriage becomes one flesh developed from the two parents, in that child. In the spiritual sense this is also true. Christ has a bride, and when you become one in Christ and Christ is in you, then you become one also with Christ. All of the members of the body of Christ become one body, which is the many membered body of Christ. When Christ returns at the end of this earth age, He will return for His bride. In the book of Hosea, God had a wife in Israel, "the House of Israel" and because of her whoredoms, God divorced Israel. Judah, or the House of Judah was a separate nation made up of the two nations to the south of the House of Israel. God did not separate Himself from the House of Judah. All this happened in this earth age; however there is another great wedding coming when Jesus Christ returns for His bride, the Church, the many membered body of Christ. Matthew 19:7 "They say unto him, "Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?" This verse is a continuation of verse three, and notice in verse three the phrase, "for every cause." This is how Satan works, and it is also one of the ways that the Kenites operate. They are of their father the devil, and thus they take liberties with God's Word in distorting that Word, that is one of the marks of the devil. The law of Moses does not say what these demonic Pharisee Kenites say that it says, because they lie. This law is stated in Deuteronomy 24:1, 2; "When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house." [1] "And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife." [2] The cause is "uncleanness", and in the Hebrew text, it is "ervah", or # 6172 in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary. It is, "disgrace and blemish by nudity and shame, it is the cause of fornication or adultery." This is the cause, so you can see how these so-called religious leaders are truly of their father the Devil, when they twist the law. Matthew 19:8 "He saith unto them, "Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so." This is how Jesus answered them. Notice here that Jesus is not giving His answer relating to men of the past, but this pack of Kenites that are facing them at this time. "Because of the hardness of your hearts..." Jesus is directing His answer to the Kenites that are asking the question, and trying to put Christ on the spot. Jesus is telling this demonic tribe of Pharisee Kenites that from the beginning, God did not intend it to be so. This was not part of God's plan, but came from the sin nature of man, and mans yielding to the temptations of Satan. Matthew 19:9 "And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." Jesus is telling them; This is what I am saying as the Christ, Jesus is stating what Moses said, only He is going one step beyond, and closing the door that Moses left open in Deuteronomy 24:2; "she may go and be another man's wife." Now apply this to the spiritual application, of Christ and His bride. Jesus said I'm going away for a long while, and I will return for my bride in that day. Then in Matthew 24:19; "And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!" Jesus is directing this verse to His bride, those that call themselves Christians, and say that they are part of the many membered body of Christ. They are supposed to be the wife, and the husband is gone; Christ is not here now, but in heaven. Christ is with us and in us spiritually, but His physical presence will not come until the seventh trumpet. That is the Second Advent. No, this verse is not directed to the young woman that has just given birth to a baby, or is pregnant with a child, but to those who claim the name of Christ, and then will run out at the arrival of the Antichrist, Satan, and worship him as the true Christ, in ignorance. Jesus is telling you, Woe to you, if you should be the one. There are many who teach that divorce is the unforgivable sin, and it is an act that you just can't do that. They want to pass this act off to you, as something that God will not forgive, and that is just as much a lie, as the distortions given by the Kenites. Some churches just love to beat up on the poor divorcee and make him or her as scum, and a second class citizen. This is like saying that God can not be God because He divorced Israel. How stupid. That is what repentance and freedom in Christ is all about, When you fall, and you see you are wrong, you repent, you ask God for forgiveness in Jesus Christ's name. Jesus went to the Cross, and gave His blood for you to have your right to call out to Him in repentance. Friend, don't let any self-righteous hypocrite Pharisee deacon or preacher take that right from you. If they want you to carry that burden of a forgiven sin around, run from them. You don't need them, then start praising the Lord, and looking ahead in the Word of God. God has a plan, and this is all part of that plan. God is the Father, and we are His children. The subject spiritually is that Christ is the husband, and the saved person is part of the bride of Christ. When that bride sins and seeks repentance, Christ forgives. When we have offended others, we are compelled to forgive, and in Matthew 18:22, Jesus compelled us to forgive those that repent, and ask our forgiveness 490 times a day. When you refuse to allow that sin to be forgiven when the sister or brother in the Lord seeks forgiveness, then that sin is on your head. If both repent from the heart, not this play acting stuff, then they are free to remarry, and are new creatures in the family of God. The law of Moses has nothing to do with what Jesus is stating here, in the sense that the teaching of the law was for a school master, and it taught its lesson. No man can keep the law, all of it, and when you break one part, then you have broken all of it. That Law was to show us that we are hopeless under the law, and that is why Christ came to die on the cross. From that shed blood that Christ gave, their is forgiveness from the shackles of the law, and we become new creatures in Christ. Divorce is not good, and should be avoided when possible, and in some cases is next to death on a family; yet there times when it is a necessity, and should be used. God is a loving and understanding Father, and He offers forgiveness for all sin, and in God's forgiveness, there is peace of mind. Matthew 19:10 "His disciples say unto Him, "If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry." Here comes the disciples again, they jump right on the wagon that it is better then not to marry. They jump off the deep end in the other direction. Matthew 19:11 "But he said unto them, "All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given." This is true. Not every man can apply this to themselves, because they just cannot see it. They will not understand it, because their minds are made up, and they are set on following the advice of those that find joy in others misery. These types usually come out of the finer seminaries. You know, the developers of the self-righteous. The Holy Spirit does not lead in the congregation that misleads the people, and teaches against the teachings of Christ. The Holy Spirit works in a wonderful way, and those that are open to Him, and willing to receive his teaching, He will come into them in a miraculous way, and give discernment in the correct understanding of His Word, and there will be no confusion. There will be a peace in your understanding. It is the Holy Spirit that opens your mind, or you just will not see it. Matthew 19:12 "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." First lets understand what a eunuch is; it is a man that either by natural or unnatural means simply cannot have children. Jesus is saying that some of these eunuchs are just born that way, their body was formed that way within their mothers womb. The kings of the ancient times had many wives. We are told that Solomon had his thousand wives. The eunuchs that "were made eunuchs of men", were castrated, or physically altered to make them harmless sexually to women. The eunuchs were the guards of the kings wives, for in this way, there could be no accidents, or affairs to bring in unwanted children to the king. Then the third form of eunuch are those that become so for the "kingdom of heaven's sake". They have placed themselves in that position, in the dedication of themselves to the service to Christ. There is one king [Christ], and He has a many membered virgin bride, and there is a certain spiritual lesson to be learned here. There are those that have made themselves guardians over the virgin bride of Christ [self appointed eunuchs] that present themselves as the guardian of the King's virgin brides [Christians]. Others became eunuchs over the brides by the King's direct appointment, however, at the coming of the King [Christ's return], those eunuchs will all be held accountable for the condition that the virgin brides are found to be in. Are you starting to get the picture? The eunuchs are the pastors, and teachers that lead over Christ's virgin bride, the church. When Christ returns, and finds that many of His bride are with child, he is not going to be pleased with those eunuch guards left in charge of His virgin brides that have allowed Christ's bride to marry the wrong husband, and that wrong husband is Satan the Antichrist. The eunuchs of the kingdom of heaven's sake, in the spiritual sense for the Lord, would die rather then allow one of his master's [Christ's] bride to take the wrong husband. They will make positively sure that the bride of Christ which are under their care, will not be molested by the deception of the Antichrist, when he comes to steal the bride of Christ away for himself. If this is confusing, don't worry about it. Matthew 19:13 "Then were there brought unto Him little children, that He should put His hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them." Once again the disciples are trying to protect Christ, and have the people move their children back, and away from Jesus. Matthew 19:14 "But Jesus said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Jesus loved the little children, and He taught that to enter the kingdom of heaven, you must enter as a little child. We discussed this in the last chapter, remember, "My daddy can do anything", My mommy can fix any thing.". That is the faith and love, and the mindset of most children, and they believe it. This is the same attitude that you must be in, and mental state, to enter God's kingdom. Matthew 19:15 "And He laid His hands on them, and departed thence." Jesus healed the children, and departed. Matthew 19:16 "And, behold, one came and said unto Him, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" This one that came was one well to do, he came to Jesus in his self-righteousness, and asked Jesus just what it was that he should do to have this eternal life. Jesus could see right through these person, and the intent that he had, just calling Jesus good. Matthew 19:17 "And He said unto him, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but One, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Jesus is calling this persons attention that the only person that is good is God Himself, and to call Jesus "good Master", is to call Jesus God. Then Jesus turns the table on the man, and tells him that if he wants to have eternal life, continue through his whole life, by keeping all the commandments. This is like a test that Jesus is giving this man. Put the test on yourself, do you think Jesus was God, and that He was good? Do you think Jesus was perfect, and without a flaw in any way? If you answered yes, then you are right on track. The only way that the blood of Christ was capable of paying the price for another man's sin, was that He be perfect, and without a flaw. That is what made Jesus the worthy sacrifice, and the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Matthew 19:18 "He saith unto Him, "which?" Jesus said, "thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness." This self-righteous person answered Jesus and said, There are ten of them, which one are you talking about? Jesus then answers him with the ten commandments. Notice that the first commandment is translated properly here. It is the only place in the whole Bible where it has the correct translation; Thou shalt do no murder. There is a lot of difference between killing and murdering. In the Law of Moses it expands on this commandments, for it says that you should "kill the murderer". Murder is a criminal act of planning to take another man's life with criminal intent. We left one of the commandments out that were in the listed order given to Moses, by God. We will get to it later. Matthew 19:19 "Honour thy father and thy mother: and, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Matthew 19:20 "The young man saith unto Him, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" Matthew 19:21 "Jesus said unto him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." Keep in mind that this is exactly what the disciples had done, when they made their total commitment to follow Christ. Some gave up commercial business, and fishing, and even tax collection. In fact, Luke was a medical doctor. Today men feel that the more successful they are gives them some credibility to their faith. Jesus saw the heart of this man that came to Him, and though he tried to keep all the laws, and he felt that he had. Jesus is telling him that he must be willing to give up his interest in the world, and turn his full attention into serving almighty God. In that case you would have eternal life. Remember what is addressed here, the subject is attaining eternal life by keeping the law. That is impossible for natural man, for all are born in sin, and with a sin nature. This man had many earthly gains, and much of it could be ill-gotten gains. This isn't to say that all gains are ill-gotten, and when you do things God's way, He blesses those that do. Those earthly gains are derived from heaven, for they are given you God for obeying God. There is nothing wrong with gains from God's blessings. Matthew 19:22 "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." The tenth commandment got this young man. It is given in Exodus 20:17; "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, or his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." Wherever your priorities are in the workplace and world, that is where your heart is also. Matthew 19:23 "Then said Jesus unto His disciples, "Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." The point that Jesus is expressing here is that this young man's riches are paramount to his focus on life. When these riches become the only thing that you live for, then they become your God, and hold a higher place in your mind then the Heavenly Father. The business takes up all of the man's time, and attention. However, riches from the blessings of God, doing things God's way, is something you can take great pleasure in. Matthew 19:24 "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Once a prosperous young man gets entangled with business affairs, or whatever it is that has caused his accumulation of wealth, that also hold the highest place of his priorities. Once wealth has been obtained, it becomes a greater job to maintain it, then it was to obtain it. The riches of God's kingdom take second place to the physical life that he is enjoying temporarily with his riches. The term, "the eye of the needle" is in reference to a small door that is in the gate of a city, and this is the only door that is allowed to be opened after dark. For a camel to pass through the gate and enter the city, the camel must be completely unloaded, and forced through. Thus the comparison of the difficulty of the rich man. This rich man must first unload his wealth, thus we have this proverb that is quite common in the East. In the Babylonian Talmud, they use an elephant, rather then a camel. This young man is definitely seeking the advantage of man's world, and the kingdom that this world gives, rather then coming to God through Christ as a small child, with his complete love for the Father. Matthew 19:25 "When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, "who then can be saved?" The disciples wanted to know then, if it was that hard for this young man to enter heaven. Jesus has just presented an impossible situation physically for this event to happen. Matthew 19:26 "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, "with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." As a matter of fact, this "camel" and "the eye of the needle" was a figure of speech for this area, during the time of this writing. This again shows that the weights of the world that the rich men pick up, so weight them down that it becomes impossible for them to focus on God. However, when we learn to place those weights on Jesus, and focus on him, then those riches become secondary, and in fact, a tool to help in the advancing of the Gospel of Christ. The peace of mind that a person has in Christ, when all his sins are repented, leaves him with a clear conscience, and freedom from guilt. Then your priorities are focused on Christ, and the souls of others. Jesus is telling His disciples that with men, it is impossible to focus on Christ when you are relying on yourself and carrying the load of wealth, however all things are possible with God. This is true because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and the freedom we have through the forgiveness of our sins. Many people have problems trying to figure out what is right and wrong in the eyes of God. To the ladies; Should I wear jewelry, make up, fancy clothes, and on and on? To a man it could be the car, house, boat, etc; at what point is worldly wealth wrong. The answer is that it is all right in all these cases, as long as you don't worship the item, and place it before God. To worship something means it becomes your God, and becomes your idol; it becomes the focus of all your attention for vanity and pride. Matthew 19:27 "Then answered Peter and said unto Him, "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?" The time is starting to get near the crucifixion, and Jesus is preparing the disciples for that time. We can start to see how the disciples are starting to put things together, and prepare for the time when Christ is gone from them. They are asking Jesus what rewards are in this for us, after we have forsaken everything to follow you. There is nothing wrong with this question. Matthew 19:28 "And Jesus said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." This is given in Ezekiel 44, and also in Revelation where it concerns the twenty four elders. I feel these twenty four elders are the twelve patriarchs of the tribes, and the twelve disciples. However the word "regeneration" here should read "rejuvenation". This time is the making of "all things" new again. It is the restoration of Acts 3:21, it is the "new coming age" which is the time of rewards, and is not referring to the time that they are living in. Today we refer to that future time as the Millennium age. This has nothing to do with the church age, nor the "mystery" as revealed in the prison epistles. This time starts at the coming of Jesus Christ, when He comes to set up His kingdom on earth. Matthew 19:29 "And every on that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." The qualifier in understanding this verse is the term, "for my name's sake". This is a very poor translation to the original text in the Greek. "Hath forsaken", should read, "love less". In other words, if you love Christ less then your wife or these items, then you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. God must come the number one love of your life, if you intend on having your inheritance to everlasting life, and all the rewards that goes with it. What Jesus is saying here, is that if you have to leave family, or give up wealth for Jesus Christ's sake, your rewards will be hundredfold of what you gave up. The applying factor of what is right and wrong, is whether Christ name is at stake, and what you are required to do when it is. Did you do what you did, and give up that relationship because of your love for Christ, and in accordance with His Word? Matthew 19:30 "But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." This verse is not part of this chapter, but should be attached to the chapter that follows. This verse attaches to a parable that will get into the three earth ages, and we will start with it in Matthew 20.
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