Matthew 19

Mt 19:1-12.

FINAL

DEPARTURE FROM

GALILEE--DIVORCE.

Mr 10:1-12;

Lu 9:51).

Farewell to Galilee

(Mt 19:1, 2).

1. And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he

departed from Galilee--This marks a very solemn period in our Lord's

public ministry. So slightly is it touched here, and in the

corresponding passage of Mark

(Mr 10:1),

that few readers probably note it as the Redeemer's Farewell to

Galilee, which however it was. See on the sublime statement of

Luke

(Lu 9:51),

which relates to the same transition stage in the progress of our

Lord's work.

and came into the coasts--or, boundaries

of Judea beyond Jordan--that is, to the further, or east side of

the Jordan, into Perea, the dominions of Herod Antipas. But though one

might conclude from our Evangelist that our Lord went straight from the

one region to the other, we know from the other Gospels that a

considerable time elapsed between the departure from the one and the

arrival at the other, during which many of the most important events in

our Lord's public life occurred--probably a large part of what is

recorded in

Lu 9:51,

onward to Lu 18:15,

and part of

Joh 7:2-11:54.

2. And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there--Mark

says further

(Mr 10:1),

that "as He was wont, He taught them there." What we now have on the

subject of divorce is some of that teaching.

Divorce

(Mt 19:3-12).

3. Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?--Two

rival schools (as we saw on

Mt 5:31)

were divided on this question--a delicate one, as DE WETTE pertinently remarks, in the

dominions of Herod Antipas.

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--or better,

perhaps, "He that made them made them from the beginning a male and a

female."

5. And said, For this cause--to follow out this divine appointment.

shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and

they twain shall be one flesh?--Jesus here sends them back to the

original constitution of man as one pair, a male and a female; to their

marriage, as such, by divine appointment; and to the purpose of God,

expressed by the sacred historian, that in all time one man and one

woman should by marriage become one flesh--so to continue as long as

both are in the flesh. This being God's constitution, let not

man break it up by causeless divorces.

7. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of

divorcement, and to put her away?

8. He saith unto them, Moses--as a civil lawgiver.

because of--or "having respect to."

the hardness of your hearts--looking to your low moral state, and

your inability to endure the strictness of the original law.

suffered you to put away your wives--tolerated a relaxation of the

strictness of the marriage bond--not as approving of it, but to prevent

still greater evils.

But from the beginning it was not so--This is repeated, in order to

impress upon His audience the temporary and purely civil character of

this Mosaic relaxation.

9. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife,

except, &c.--See on

Mt 5:32.

10. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his

wife, it is not good to marry--that is, "In this view of marriage,

surely it must prove a snare rather than a blessing, and had better be

avoided altogether."

11. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save

they to whom it is given--that is, "That the unmarried state is

better, is a saying not for everyone, and indeed only for such as it is

divinely intended for." But who are these? they would naturally ask; and

this our Lord proceeds to tell them in three particulars.

12. For there are some eunuchs which were so born from their mother's

womb--persons constitutionally either incapable of or indisposed to

marriage.

and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men--persons

rendered incapable by others.

and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the

kingdom of heaven's sake--persons who, to do God's work better,

deliberately choose this state. Such was Paul

(1Co 7:7).

He that is able to receive it, let him receive it--"He who feels this

to be his proper vocation, let him embrace it"; which, of course, is as

much as to say--"he only." Thus, all are left free in this matter.

Mt 19:13-15.

LITTLE

CHILDREN

BROUGHT TO

CHRIST.

Mr 10:13-16;

Lu 18:15-17).

For the exposition, see on

Lu 18:15-17.

Mt 19:16-30.

THE

RICH

YOUNG

RULER.

Mr 10:17-31;

Lu 18:18-30).

For the exposition, see on

Lu 18:18-30.