Matthew 19 Study Notes

19:1 For the importance of when Jesus had finished, see “Structure” in the Introduction to Matthew.

19:2-3 First-century Pharisees who associated themselves with Hillel’s school were liberal toward divorce. They permitted it for virtually any reason, including such ridiculous grounds as the wife burning her husband’s supper or having physical defects like bushy eyebrows.

19:4-6 God ordained marriage both by creation and command. He created two complementary genders, male and female, and commanded one man and one woman to unite in marriage. Since God ordained marriage, human efforts to dissolve it constitute an attack on God’s own work.

19:7-9 Although the Pharisees described divorce as something Moses commanded, Jesus described it as something Moses merely permitted. No provision for divorce was given at the beginning. Only after human hearts became hardened by sin was divorce permitted. The hearts of Jesus’s disciples are transformed (5:8), enabling them to be faithful to their marital covenant. Jesus permitted divorce and remarriage for marital unfaithfulness because sexual infidelity effectively destroys the one-flesh union of marriage.

19:10-12 The disciples rashly concluded that if marriage covenants are permanent, lifelong celibacy is the wisest option. Jesus upheld the value of marriage, but in this case he affirms those who chose celibacy in order to devote themselves wholly to God. Eunuchs who have made themselves that way are those who voluntarily abstain from marriage. Jesus did not condone self-emasculation.

19:13-15 On Jesus’s blessing of children, see note at 18:1-5.

19:16-17 This story is related by Mark and Luke. Matthew identifies the man as “young” (v. 22). Luke notes he was a “ruler” and “very rich” (Lk 18:18,23). Thus the story is often labeled “The Rich, Young Ruler.” This man’s question wrongly assumed that eternal life can be earned through good deeds. The statement there is only one who is good was intended to shatter the man’s deluded notion of attaining a personal goodness that merited salvation.

19:18-22 Jesus’s command to sell your belongings . . . Then come, follow me was designed to show the young man that (1) his covetousness defied the spirit of the tenth commandment, (2) his neglect of the poor defied the commandment to love his neighbor, and possibly (3) his love for his possessions surpassed his love for God, thus breaking the commandment against idolatry.

19:23-26 The image of the largest animal in Palestine, a camel, passing through a small opening was an oft-used metaphor for impossible events. The salvation of rich people (tempted as they are to trust themselves and their possessions) is possible only by divine miracle.

19:27-30 The renewal of all things will take place when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, reigning over the new heaven and new earth. The reign of the twelve disciples over Israel demonstrates that Jesus’s disciples constitute the new Israel, the chosen people of God who will benefit from his covenant with Abraham. In a great divine reversal in which the first become last and the last become first, those who made personal sacrifices for Christ will enjoy enormous blessings, and those like the rich young ruler, who loved wealth more than Christ, will be punished.