Matthew 19 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

‘And it came about that when Jesus had finished these words, he departed from Galilee, and came into the borders of Judaea in Beyond Jordan, and great crowds followed him, and he healed them there.'

Once Jesus had completed His ministry in Galilee He set off for Jerusalem for the last time, coming into the borders of Judaea. He had made a number of previous visits to Jerusalem, as we know from John's Gospel, but this would be His last. During this visit He will present Himself to the Jews as the Coming King for those who have eyes to see. As usual great crowds followed Him. They also would be going up to the feast. And He continued His ministry towards them, healing them in both body and soul (compare Matthew 8:17). For similar closures as this (‘when He had finished') following selections of His teaching see Matthew 7:28; Matthew 11:1; Matthew 13:53; Matthew 26:1.

‘Beyond the Jordan.' The areas around the Jordan on both sides of the river were called ‘Beyond the Jordan' (compare our description Transjordan). If this entry was into Judaea proper it would necessarily be in Beyond Jordan on the west side of the Jordan. On the other hand Jesus' entry into Jerusalem via Jericho indicates that at some time stage He went East of Jordan into Peraea, finally crossing the Jordan from east to west in order to take the Jericho road. But Matthew's concern is to emphasise the entry into Judaea, leaving his native Galilee.

‘And there came to him some Pharisees, putting him to the test, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” '

This particular group of Pharisees (no definite article) in Judaea clearly saw this question as an acid test of a prophet. Let Jesus now adjudicate on this fundamental disagreement that they had among themselves. Then they would see what He was made of. (Up to now their knowledge of Him was mainly only by hearsay from their northern brethren. We must not make the mistake of seeing the Pharisees as one strong united body. While they shared similar beliefs they belonged to their own separate groups). It was the beginning of a series of tests that would end when He had been thoroughly grilled and when all His opponents had been confounded (Matthew 22:46) with their favourite ideas disposed of. Their question was as to whether it was lawful (within the Law of Moses) that a man put away his wife ‘for every cause'. In other words on any grounds that suited them.

It may be asked why this would be seen as ‘a test'. And the answer is because the question was one on which there was great division between different teachers, even between those two great past exponents of Pharisaism, Shammai and Hillel. It thus caused division among the Pharisees. It was a question on which the influence of Hillel was seen as strong (for his view suited the menfolk), but which was strongly contested. (The Qumran Community did not, in fact, believe in divorce at all, for they saw themselves as a holy community). Thus by His reply Jesus would indicate which party He was throwing His weight behind, or might even come up with some compromise solution.

Note that in true Jewish fashion the assumption is that only the man can initiate divorce. (Matthew leaves out the alternative possibility for the sake of his Jewish readers). It was the teaching of the Scribes who followed Hillel that divorce was allowable to a man for any ‘good cause'. But as that included burning the dinner it will be observed that what he saw as a good cause was simply the man's displeasure at his wife. This was based on his interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1 ‘some unseemly thing/something indecent in her (literally ‘the nakedness of a matter)'. He argued that it meant anything by which a wife displeased her husband.

The opposing view was that of Shammai. Emphasising ‘the nakedness' he argued that its meaning was restricted to something grossly sexually indecent. He was always much stricter in his interpretations than Hillel and in this case, probably to everyone's surprise, it brought him much nearer to Jesus' position.

Neither, however, were interpreting the Scripture correctly. For primarily the purpose of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 was not in order to permit divorce as such, but was in order to safeguard a woman, on her being divorced according to general custom, so as to ensure that she was given a bill of divorce. This was in order that she might be able to prove that she was not officially committing adultery with any second husband, thus becoming subject to the death penalty for both him and herself.

It was also in order to limit what was allowable once a divorce had taken place. It was so as to prevent a remarriage of the same two persons once the wife had subsequently married another man. For to then go back to her first husband would have been seen as a kind of incest, and as committing adultery twice. It would have been seen as making a mockery of marriage and as a way of mocking God's ordinance. It was indeed seen as so serious that it was described as ‘an abomination before the Lord'. The original purpose of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 was therefore in order to prevent a bad situation getting worse. That was why Jesus said ‘for your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to put away your wife' (Matthew 19:8). His point was that divorce had not strictly been given God's permission, even though it might happen in cases of gross indecency on the part of the wife (which was also not with His permission). For it was in fact a sin against the very roots of creation.

The Testing Of Jesus Begins. The Pharisees Challenge Jesus About Divorce (19:3-6).

Jesus is now approaching Jerusalem through Judaea, and whatever route we see Him as taking Matthew's emphasis is on the fact that He has left Galilee and has entered Judaea (Matthew 19:1). Furthermore it is made clear that He is doing so accompanied by Messianic signs (Matthew 11:5). The crowds follow Him and He heals them (Matthew 19:2).

But the inevitable result of His public entry into Judaea, headed for Jerusalem, where He will deliberately draw attention to Himself in the triumphal entry and cleansing of the Temple, is that He will be challenged by all aspects of Judaism, and this will enable Him to lay down the foundations of the new age which He is introducing. His previous visits to Jerusalem had been on a quieter scale, but now He was forcing Himself on the notice of the differing religious and civil authorities, and pointing to the signs of the new age.

The first challenge made to Him is on the question of divorce. It was a burning issue among many in Jerusalem and it was one that had caused the death of John the Baptist, something which would not have been forgotten by the common people who had flocked to John. Perhaps the Pharisees hoped by this question to stir Him into speaking against Herod. However, at the very least it was intended to land Him in the midst of religious controversy.

We should note that there was no question that brought out the way in which the Scriptures had been distorted by the Pharisees more than this question about divorce. The majority freely allowed divorce on the basis of a ruling of Moses, which had sought to regulate the custom of divorce prevalent among the people at the time. His purpose had been firstly in order to safeguard a woman rejected according to custom, by ensuring that she had a ‘bill of divorce', and secondly in order to prevent divorced people (who were divorced on the basis of custom, not of the Law, which made no provision for divorce) from again remarrying after the wife had first been married another (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). But on the basis of it a large group of Scribes and Pharisees (who followed the teaching of the great Hillel) allowed divorce almost literally ‘for any cause' (such as burning the dinner, or not being pretty enough). It was the most flagrant misuse of Scripture. It had not necessarily resulted in wholesale divorce in Jewish society because of the strength of family feeling and of custom, and because on divorce the marriage settlement had to be handed back, but there was probably a superfluity of divorce in Pharisaic circles (Josephus blatantly tells us how he put away his own wife for displeasing him), and if it once ever did become prevalent it would attack the very roots of their society.

Indeed the right to be able to divorce was something that Jewish men could be depended on to feel strongly about, for it probably gave them a hold over their womenfolk and made them feel superior. Thus to challenge these Pharisees on this question of divorce would be for Him to challenge the very basis of their own authority. Then once His views became known the crowds would have to decide who was most right. But one thing they knew, and that was that whichever side Jesus came down on He would offend a good number of people. What they probably did not expect, for to them divorce was simply a relatively unimportant matter which all accepted, and about which there was only disagreement concerning the grounds for it, was that Jesus would introduce a whole new aspect to the matter that would cut the ground from right under their feet. They may also have hoped that He would say something unwise about Herod, like John had done before Him. That would certainly have given them a lever for getting rid of Him. But instead Jesus reveals a totally new view of marriage, which He points out has been true from the beginning, thereby indicating the coming in under His teaching of a new world order.

Furthermore Jesus will in fact, in His dealings with His disciples, turn their argument round in order to demonstrate that the Kingly Rule of Heaven is here, and that marrying and having children is no longer to be the sole basis of society (a view held by the main religious teachers of Judaism).

Analysis.

a There came to Him Pharisees, putting Him to the test, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” (Matthew 19:3).

b And He answered and said, “Have you not read, that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4).

c “And said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?' ” (Matthew 19:5).

b “So that they are no more two, but one flesh” (Matthew 19:6 a).

a “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6 b).

Note that in ‘a' the question was the grounds on which a man could put away his wife, and in the parallel the reply is that what God has joined no one can put asunder. In ‘b' the stress is on the fact that God made them male and female, and in the parallel that once they are married they are therefore now one flesh. Centrally in ‘c' is God's stated purpose for a man and a woman.

Marriage And Divorce In The New Age (19:3-12). .

Having in chapter 18 laid down the principles on which His new congregation was to run Jesus will now begin to lay down the foundations of life in the new age in relation to marriage, divorce, and celibacy, humility as a basis for life, and attitudes towards wealth and family. He commences with the question of the basis of true marriage. 

A Period of Testing - Jesus Prepares For The New World Order - Journey to Jerusalem - Triumphal Entry - Jesus Is Lord (19:3-22).

Having entered Judaea on the way to Jerusalem for His final visit, Jesus enters into a period of testing as to His status as a Prophet, a process which comes to completion in Matthew 22:46. This commences with a visit by the Pharisees to test Him on His views on divorce (Matthew 19:3 ff). In reply to this He reveals that marriage is not something to be treated lightly, nor is it something to be manipulated by men, but is permanent and unbreakable, and that a new day is dawning when marrying and having children will not be the main focus of the Kingly Rule of Heaven.

The testing will then continue on as He is approached by various combinations of opponents concerning various contentious issues, as He Himself enters Jerusalem as its King. These include:

The Pharisees (Matthew 21:3 ff).

The Chief Priests and the Scribes (Matthew 21:15 ff).

The Chief Priests and the Elders of the people (Matthew 21:23 ff; Mark includes Scribes).

The Chief Priests and the Pharisees (Matthew 21:45-46; Luke has the Scribes and the Chief Priests).

The Pharisees with the Herodians (Matthew 22:15-22; Mark the Pharisees with the Herodians, Luke ‘spies').

The Sadducees (Matthew 22:23-33).

The Pharisees, including a lawyer (Scribe) (Matthew 22:34 ff; Mark has Scribe; Luke has Scribes).

These testings go on until they recognise the futility of testing Him any further because He always has an unassailable answer (Matthew 22:46). Thus all the main political and religious elements in Jewry were included in the opposition (the Essenes and the Qumran Community would have no particular reason for attacking Jesus. They were separatists and looked to God to deliver them from their enemies).

The combinations described by Matthew are deliberately intended:

To demonstrate how all the opposition were getting together one by one in order to bring Him down (note that no combination is repeated).

To indicate the widescale nature of the opposition.

To bring out how even hereditary enemies were being brought together for the purpose (Chief Priests and Scribes, Chief Priests and Pharisees, Pharisees and Herodians).

As can be seen the Chief Priests are mentioned three times, and the Pharisees are mentioned four times, the former around the time of His purifying of the Temple, when He has drawn Himself specifically to their attention and has shown up their dishonesty in their dealings in the Temple, and the latter all the way through, for the Pharisees, who were to be found throughout Judaea and Galilee, had dogged His footsteps from the beginning. It must be remembered in considering the parallels that most, although not all, of the Scribes were Pharisees (there were Scribes of the Sadducees and general Scribes as well).

Brief note on the Pharisees; Scribes; Chef Priests; Sadducees; Elders and Herodians.

The Pharisees were a sect of Judaism. They were in all around seven thousand in number but their influence far outweighed their numbers. They laid great weight on what distinguished Judaism from the world around them such as the keeping of the Sabbath, the payment of tithes and the various daily washings for the constant removal of uncleanness. They saw themselves as responsible to preserve the purity of Judaism. They did not run the synagogues but had great influence in them, and their Scribes (Teachers) were influential in teaching the people. They believed in the resurrection and in angels, strove for ‘eternal life' by obedience to the Law of Moses and the covenant, and sought rigidly to keep the covenant as they saw it, but often with a great emphasis on externals as is man's wont when enthusiasm has died down. This involved them in a rigid intent to observe the Law in all its detail, in which they were guided by the Traditions of the Elders and by their Scribes. In general they looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, although with various viewpoints concerning him, and to God's final deliverance of His people, when Pharisaic teaching would triumph. They waited patiently, but restlessly, for God to step in and remove the occupying forces as He had done in the time of their ancestors. Meanwhile they accepted the need for passive obedience to their conquerors.

The Scribes were the Teachers of Judaism. As well as Scribes of the Pharisees, who were by far the greatest number, there were Scribes of the Sadducees and general Scribes. The Scribes of the Pharisees laid great stress on the Traditions of the Elders which included secret information which they claimed was passed down orally from teacher to teacher from the past, and these especially included past dictates of former well known Scribes such as Shammai and Hillel. This teaching in general formed the basis of religious observation by the common people, although they did not conform to all its particulars, and were in general seen as ‘sinners' because of this. The Scribes of the Pharisees were generally looked to by the people as the authorities on religious matters. Their influence in Judaea outside Jerusalem was paramount. While accepting the authority of the Chief Priests over the Temple and compromising with them on various matters they generally conflicted with them at every turn. They were bitter opponents.

The Chief Priests ran the Temple and its ordinances which provided them with a source of revenue and great wealth. At their head was the High Priest. There was strictly only one functional High Priest, but as far as the Jews were concerned the appointment was for life, and when the Romans replaced one High Priest for another, religiously the earlier High Priest remained High Priest (thus Annas, the father of Caiaphas the High Priest, was still High Priest in Jewish eyes, as were any others who had been High Priest and were still alive). The Chief Priests also included the high officials of the Temple such as the Temple Treasurer, the leaders of the courses of priests, and so on. It was their responsibility to supervise and maintain the cult with its many offerings and sacrifices. They were pragmatists and maintained a steady if uneasy relationship with the secular state, (they were despised by them and despised them in return), favouring the status quo. Their influence was mainly restricted to Jerusalem, except cultically, for the whole of worldwide Jewry looked to the Temple as the centre of their religion and contributed their Temple Tax to the Temple authorities.

The Sadducees were a small but important sect, mainly, but not exclusively, restricted to Jerusalem and its environs. They were on the whole wealthy. They included the chief priests and their wider families. We do not know much about them for they died out with the fall of Jerusalem, and the information that we have about them has mainly come from their opponents who survived. Seemingly they did not believe in angels or in the resurrection. They accepted the teaching of the Law and, to some extent at least, the Prophets. But they rejected the traditions of the Elders. They were antagonistic towards the Pharisees, and were not favoured by the people.

The Elders of the people were the lay rulers and wealthy aristocrats connected mainly with princely families. Along with the Chief Priest and Pharisees their leading members formed a part of the Sanhedrin, which was from the Jews' viewpoint, the governing body of Judaism in Jerusalem. As the Romans tended to leave local government to the locals, only intervening when it was considered necessary, they were very influential at this period. The Roman prefect/procurator lived away from Jerusalem in Caesarea, although coming to Jerusalem for the feasts in case of trouble.

The Herodians were members of Herod's court (Herod ruled Galilee and Peraea, while the Roman prefect/procurator ruled Judaea and Samaria) or supporters of Herod. They may have been mainly a secular group, in as far as a Jewish group could ever be secular, favouring the status quo. Little else is known about them, but they would have political influence at Herod's court which was why they were useful to the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus.

All of these would gather in Jerusalem for the Passover.

End of note.

During this period in Judaea and Jerusalem Jesuswill be called on to deal with some of the main questions of the day, which will mainly be used, either as a means of seeking to entrap Him into exposing Himself as a false prophet, or in order to get Him into trouble with the Roman authorities. These included questions on divorce (Matthew 19:3-12); on prophetic authority (Matthew 21:23-27); on tribute paid to Caesar (22-15-22); on the afterlife (Matthew 22:23-33); on what is central in the Law (Matthew 22:34-40); and on how the Messiah relates to David (Matthew 22:41-45).

We should not be surprised at the opposition that Jesus faced for He was now publicly approaching the very centre of Judaism in order to make clear Who He was and why He had come. While in Galilee and its surrounds He had been a distant figure as far as the authorities of Jerusalem were concerned, apart from previous visits to Jerusalem, only affecting them when the northern supporters of the Scribes called on them for assistance (there were not many Scribes in Galilee). But once He approached Jerusalem and began to assert His claims more forcefully than before it was inevitable, either that Jerusalem would flock to Him, or that they would bitterly oppose Him. And the latter in general proved to be the case. On the whole Jerusalem did not welcome Him (His popularity was among the visitors to Jerusalem for the Passover). It was a very religious city and very much bound up with the cult. Few of them would accept Him. His views overthrew too many of their treasured views, and threatened to upset the status quo.

Intermingled with this description of opposition is a clear emphasis in Matthew on the fact that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem to claim His heavenly throne, and, through His death and resurrection, is about to set up a new world order.

This process began at His birth when He was established as and proclaimed as King of the Jews (Matthew 19:1-2), and continued on with His being introduced by His forerunner (Matthew 19:3). That was followed by a period of consolidation and establishment of His authority, until the moment of His ‘official' recognition as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God by His followers (Matthew 16:16). His heavenly royal status was then verified by the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5) and His payment of the Temple Tax from heavenly resources (Matthew 17:25). At the same time He prepared for the establishment of His new ‘congregation' (of Israel) (Matthew 16:18; Matthew 18)

Now, taking up the thought found in Matthew 16:16; Matthew 17:5; Matthew 17:25 that He is the Messiah and His Father's Son, enjoying royal authority, we will find:

1) That He sets up a totally new standard for marriage based on the principles of His Kingly Rule, which involves monogamous and unbreakable marriage, while at the same time indicating that marriage and having children will no longer necessarily be the prime function of man, an idea which was revolutionary to normative Judaism, in view of the arrival of the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Matthew 19:4-6; Matthew 19:12).

2) That He turns the world order upside down by declaring that life under the Kingly Rule of Heaven must be based on childlike trust and humility (compare Matthew 18:1-4), and not on riches and wealth, because God is at work doing the impossible (Matthew 19:13-26).

3) That He declares that in this soon coming new world order He will sit on the throne of His glory in the presence of the Ancient of Days, while His Apostles will reign on earth on His behalf, sitting on ‘the thrones of David' in Jerusalem, and establishing His new congregation of Israel, while all who serve under His Kingly Rule will enjoy multiplied blessing (Matthew 19:28-29).

4) That all His disciples are called to work in His Father's vineyard with the promise of equal reward and blessing (Matthew 19:30 to Matthew 20:16).

5) That after His death and resurrection (Matthew 20:17-19) His disciples are not to vie for earthly advancement or honour (Matthew 20:20-23), but are rather to be zealous of being servants and slaves like He is (Matthew 20:24-27), following His example of sacrificial zeal in that through His death He will have bought redemption for many (Matthew 20:28). Thus the ministry of the Servant (Matthew 8:17; Matthew 12:17) will be cut short by death, but this will lead on to resurrection.

6) That while He is rejected by the seeing, the blind will acknowledge Him as the Son of David (Matthew 20:29-34).

7) That He will enter in humble triumph into Jerusalem on an ass in fulfilment of Zechariah's prophecy of the king who is coming (Matthew 21:1-11) and will reveal His authority over the Temple and His disagreement with the old order (Matthew 21:12-13).

8) That the blind and the lame (the lost sheep of the house of Israel) will then cry ‘Hosanna to the Son of David' (Matthew 21:14-15).

9) That, as the withering of the fig tree reveals, the old order is dying, so that all good men must face now up to His authority, and be like a repentant son who says, ‘Sir, I am ready to go' (Matthew 21:16-32).

10) That as the beloved Son, having been killed by the previous workers in the vineyard, He will be made the head of the corner with a new nation replacing the old (Matthew 21:33-43).

11) That as the King's Son His marriage feast is coming as a result of which those who are in the highways and byways will be called to His feast, while those who refuse to wear His insignia will be cast out and destroyed (Matthew 22:1-14).

12) That men must now recognise their duty to God as well as to the state, and must begin in a new way to render to God the things that are God's (Matthew 22:15-22).

13) That when the new age comes to its finalisation in the Resurrection, marriage and reproduction will no longer be central matters of concern, for they will have no application to their new resurrected state (Matthew 22:23-33).

14) That the basis of His coming rule is that men must love God with their whole beings and their neighbour as themselves (Matthew 22:34-40).

15) That He is not just the son of David but is also declared by Scripture to be David's Lord (Matthew 22:41-45).

Thus having in Galilee mainly (although by no means solely) stressed His presence as the Servant Messiah, in His approach to Jerusalem He is deliberately turning their thoughts towards Himself as the Coming King, something which the disciples appear to recognise, even if incorrectly, for their thoughts are still being shaped as they are wooed from their own false ideas. They have yet to learn that the advance of the Kingly Rule of Heaven will take place in a very different way than they anticipate. See Matthew 20:20-22; Matthew 20:24-27; Mark 9:34; Luke 22:24.

So, far from this section depicting Jesus as offering Himself as the King and being refused, it reveals how He is in fact in process of turning the world upside down, and firming up the Kingly Rule of Heaven, preparatory to its massive expansion when He has been enthroned and crowned (Matthew 28:18).

Analysis Of The Section Matthew 19:3 to Matthew 22:46.

This whole Section may be analysed as follows:

a Jesus' testing commences with a question about divorce.

b Jesus questions the Pharisees about what the Scriptures say. Scripture has demonstrated that God is the Creator and Lord over all, and that man cannot change what God has in His sovereignty declared, that a man and woman are to cleave together and become one flesh, which no man is to put asunder. Their relationship is unique. Thus His coming and His Kingly Rule introduce a new sanctity to marriage (Matthew 19:3-6).

c Jesus deals from Scripture with the question of the permanence of marriage on earth, and insists on an unbreakable oneness in the family (Matthew 19:7-9).

d Jesus indicates the great change that has now taken place with regard to marriage in the light of the presence Kingly Rule of Heaven. Marriage is no longer to be seen as the central basis of the new Kingly Rule or as all important (Matthew 19:7-12).

e Jesus receives the little children and declares that of such is the Kingly Rule of Heaven. This is what being in the Kingly Rule of Heaven is all about. It is those who are like little children who reveal the image of God. And this in direct contrast with a rich young man approaching maturity who rejects eternal life because of his riches, raising the whole question of what must be given to God. The lesson is that those who have childlike hearts will gather to Jesus under His Kingly Rule while the worldly wise will go away sorrowful (Matthew 19:13-22).

f Men are now therefore faced with a choice about how they will view riches, and should consider that shortly He will sit on the throne of His glory with His Father, at which point His Apostles will take up their royal responsibilities on earth, overseeing the new ‘congregation' of the new Israel, when all who have followed Him on His terms, forsaking all for the sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven, will be richly rewarded, firstly in this life and then by receiving eternal life (Matthew 19:23-29).

g He declares the parable of the householder who send out labourers into his vineyard (compare Matthew 9:37-38), whose labours would gradually build up until evening comes, and then those who have faithfully worked in His vineyard will be rewarded equally (Matthew 19:30 to Matthew 20:16).

h Jesus declares that He will face death as a result of the machinations of the Chief Priests and Scribes and this is contrasted with the perverse reaction of ‘two sons' who are seeking glory (the sons of Zebedee), but who will learn instead of the suffering and humble service that awaits them. They have misunderstood His teaching about the thrones (Matthew 20:17-23).

i The twelve hear of the attempt of the two sons of Zebedee to obtain precedence, and react with indignation. They are all advised that if they would have precedence it will not be by seeking thrones but by seeking who can serve to the greatest extent, something of which He is the prime example as He gives Himself for the redemption of ‘many' (Matthew 20:24-28).

j Jesus heals the blind men who call Him the Son of David (Matthew 20:29-34).

k Jesus enters Jerusalem in humility and triumph and purifies the Temple (Matthew 21:1-13).

j The blind and the lame are calling Him the Son of David and He heals them (Matthew 21:14-17).

i The twelve see what happened to the fig tree and react by marvelling. They are advised that if they have faith nothing will be impossible to them. Here is how they can truly have precedence, by the exercise of true faith. It is now up to them (Matthew 21:18-22).

h Jesus' authority is questioned by the Chief Priests and the Elders of the people and in return He challenges them in terms of ‘two sons' who reveal what the future holds (Matthew 21:23-32).

g The second parable of the householder and in which those who had faithlessly worked in His vineyard, slaying His servants and His Son, will be ‘rewarded' accordingly. They too will be treated equally (Matthew 21:33-46).

f The parable of the wedding of the King's son, when those who are His, coming from the highways and byways will share His blessing, while those who refuse to come on His terms and wear His insignia will be cast into outer darkness and will weep and gnash their teeth, for ‘many are called but few are chosen' (Matthew 22:1-14).

e Jesus is faced with a question about whether to pay tribute to Caesar and declares that it is now time that they remembered that they were made in the image of God, and that they give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. They marvel, and leave Him, and go their way (Matthew 22:15-22)

d Jesus deals from Scripture with the question of the lack of marriage in Heaven and the certainty of the resurrection. In the final analysis marriage will be no more (Matthew 22:23-33).

c Jesus testing finishes with a question about what is central in the Law and He cites Scripture in order to declare that love of God, together with love of neighbour, binding all together as one, is central to all Law, and basic to His new Kingly Rule, and thus seeks to inculcate an unbreakable oneness (Matthew 22:34-41).

b Jesus questions the Pharisees about what the Scriptures say. Scripture has declared the Messiah to be David's Lord, and He cannot therefore merely be David's son. His relationship to God is unique. Thus man must not oppose what God has sovereignly declared about the Messiah (Matthew 22:42-45).

a Jesus testing finishes with no one daring to ask Him any more questions (Matthew 22:46).

Note that in ‘a' Jesus begins to be tested, and in the parallel He ceases to be tested. In ‘b' He questions the Pharisees about what the Scriptures say and declares that mankind cannot oppose what God has sovereignly declared about the oneness of man and woman in marriage, and their unique relationship, and in the parallel He questions the Pharisees about what the Scriptures say and declares that mankind cannot oppose what God has said about the Messiah, and His unique relationship with God. In ‘c' Jesus deals with the permanence of marriage on earth and its importance in ensuring the unity of the family, and in the parallel He deals with the question of loving God and neighbour, thus ensuring the unity of His people. In ‘d' He reveals that marriage is no longer incumbent on all and that it is permissible to refrain from it for the sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven, and in the parallel He deals with its non-existence in Heaven and its significance as regards the resurrection. In ‘e' the attitudes of young children and of a worldly wise young man to the Kingly Rule of Heaven and to God are described, especially in relation to wealth, and in the parallel the attitude of those who question about the tribute money, who are also worldly wise, is challenged. Both raise questions as to what to do with wealth, and status in the Kingly Rule of Heaven. In ‘f' men are faced with a choice about riches, but should consider that one day He will sit on the throne of His glory when all who have followed Him on His terms will be rewarded and will finally receive eternal life, for ‘those who are last will then be first, and those who are first will be last', while in the parallel we have described the parable of the wedding of the King's son when all those who are His will share His blessing, while those who refuse to come on His terms will be cast into outer darkness and will weep and gnash their teeth, for ‘many are called but few are chosen' In ‘g' we have the parable of the householder and the faithful workers in his vineyard, ‘the last will be first', and in the parallel the parable of the householder and the faithless workers in the vineyard, the first will very much be last. The latter are being replaced by the former. In ‘h' the attitude of the Jewish leaders towards Jesus is described and two sons are used as examples in order to bring out what the future holds, and in the parallel the attitude of the Jewish leaders towards Jesus' authority is described, and two sons are cited as examples of what the future holds. In ‘i' we have the reaction of the twelve to the rebuking of James and John, and what they should rather do in order to gain precedence, seek to serve, and in the parallel we have their reaction to the cursing of the fig tree, a parabolic rebuke of Israel, and what they are to do in order to gain precedence, demonstrate their outstanding faith. In ‘j' the blind men call Him the Son of David and are healed (their eyes have been opened), and in the parallel the blind and the lame have called Him the Son of David and are healed (it is His enemies who are thus blind). Centrally in ‘k' Jesus enters in humble triumph into Jerusalem, which stresses the central feature of the section, the revealed Kingship of Jesus which is about to burst on the world (compare Matthew 28:18-20).

‘And he answered and said, “Have you not read, that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

‘Have you not read?' Jesus then turned their attention to what the Scriptures did say, and that was that God had made man ‘male and female'. The two were to be seen as one. Genesis 1:27 says, ‘God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.' In other words God's image was reflected and revealed among other ways (e.g. their spiritual nature) in the oneness of the male and female. A man was thus incomplete without his female counterpart, and once they were joined together they were reunited as one. This was the basis and purpose of the creation of mankind.

‘From the beginning.' That is, from Genesis 1:1 and what followed. There was never a time when it was not so, however primitive man was. Marriage was always intended to be monogamous and permanently binding, and had been from the beginning.

“And said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?' ”

Indeed that was the only ground on which it was right for a man to leave his father and mother. It was so that he might cleave to his wife with the result that the two became one flesh, united and indivisible. Even filial obedience and family unity, which were so important in Israel, were nevertheless subservient to the fact of the uniting of a male and a female ‘as one flesh'. And by it they became one being in God's eyes (compare Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 6:16). A man's wife was to become to him more important than anything else apart from God, for she would be a part of himself. (Of course this would not destroy filial obedience and family unity, for it would almost always be done in full agreement with both).

We should note that the verbs are strong ones. ‘Forsake (desert) his father and mother' and ‘cleave closely to (be glued to) his wife'. It was a violent and fundamental change, and resulted in a fundamental alteration in both their lives. From that moment on they had a new focus of concentration, their oneness with one another.

“So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

And once the two have been joined in this way they are ‘one flesh'. They thereby reflect the image of God, the image of God's own unity. Thus what God has joined together man must not try to separate. To break such a unity would thus be to sin grievously against God. This is not ‘just another sin'. It is to offend God drastically. It is to destroy His purpose in creation. It is to tear apart what He has put together.

The idea of ‘one flesh' comes from the fact that woman was seen as originally taken out of man. She was ‘bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh' (Genesis 2:23). Thus by sexual union they were seen as again becoming ‘one flesh'. They formed ‘one man' made up of two necessary parts. To separate them once they were thus united was therefore to be seen as the same thing as decapitating a man and destroying God's handywork.

We should note from this Jesus' emphasis on the inviolability of the marriage bond. For Jesus it was not something that was under the man's control, and that could be kept or broken to order. The union was sacred, and any breach of it a travesty. It was sealed in the sight of God, and there was no breaking it without it involving a deep sin against God. The man and woman who have had sexual relations before God are thereby bound together by Him with a heavenly tie that cannot be broken. That is why the act of adultery is such a great sin. It breaks God's handywork and attacks His very purpose in creation. Like the Israelites did, we look around for some way in which we can break it ‘lawfully'. But there is no way. It can only be done by an act of deep sin.

People talk as though if Jesus was alive today He would somehow be soft on sexual sin. They argue that if He had lived now He would have seen the error of His ways and would have agreed with them (is it not strange how people always think that He would take their side of the argument?). They argue that He was simply a child of His times. But here we learn differently. In a society where Hillel was seen as proclaiming the norm in allowing easy divorce, and where Shammai was seen as the tough one who tended to be a little hard, Jesus was in fact very much tougher than either of them. He was far from being a child of His times. Rather He leaned on the authority of Scripture. For while Shammai was certainly more strict than Hillel, he nevertheless accepted the divorces of those who were divorced under Hillel's precepts and allowed them to remarry without it being seen as wrong. Jesus, however, declares that such a marriage is adultery and therefore forbidden. Jesus sees no place for broken marriages, or for the remarriage of the one who has broken the original marriage, within the purposes of God.

Jesus was thus introducing a ‘new' concept of marriage which was to be observed under the Kingly Rule of Heaven. By it He was indicating that a new state of affairs was beginning. This was a sign that the Kingly Rule of Heaven had now commenced, making demands upon people the like of which had not been known before.

The quotation reveals traces of the Septuagint. This confirms that at least some of what Matthew was saying was taken from Mark, for when Matthew ‘goes LXX' it is usually due to the influence of Mark.

Brief Note on Divorce in the Old Testament.

There is nowhere in the Law of Moses any specific dealing with the with the question of an ‘allowable' divorce in a marriage between two of God's people, that is, of two people within God's favour. The Pharisees had sought one and had made use of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 for that purpose. But that was because they had failed to see what Jesus had now brought to their attention, and that was that in God's eyes anything that caused a separation between a man and woman who had been united in God's eyes was not permissible under any circumstances. They were made one by the sexual act and must remain one until death broke the bond. That was why adultery had to result in death. It was to break that oneness. And the only remedy for that was death so as to maintain the principle. Having destroyed what God had put together they too must be destroyed.

Deuteronomy 24:1-4 was therefore describing a position which was unallowable in God's eyes and yet which had to be legislated for because it happened. In it God was not giving approval for divorce, but was seeking to legislate for two things. Firstly the protection of a woman who, as a result of the custom which was against His purpose, had been thrown out by her husband, and secondly the prevention of something that was abhorrent to Him. In the first case she was to be given a bill of divorce so as to protect her from false accusations which might be made in the future. In the second she must never remarry her first husband once she has been married to another, even if her second husband has died. That would be to treat lightly the unbreakable oneness of the initial marriage. It would be to make a mockery of marriage as though it was something to be entered into haphazardly. It would slight God, Who would not unite again what man had put asunder against His will.

What can be said about this case in Deuteronomy is that the only grounds on which divorce was even explicitly allowed to stand (without all guilty parties being put to death) was in the case of a situation where the woman had been divorced because of ‘the nakedness of a matter'. It was this that Moses had allowed because of the hardness of men's hearts. But it was not giving explicit permission for it, it was legislating for what should be done once it had happened ‘by custom'. And it was the definition of that phrase ‘the nakedness of the matter' that caused the disagreement between Shammai and Hillel. However, in the Law of Moses ‘nakedness' is usually associated with sexual sin, which was Shammai's contention, and was probably how Jesus saw it in view of His ‘except in the case of porneia (sexual sin)'.

The point about sexual sin was that it, as it were, cancelled out the marriage bond because it had interfered with the oneness sexually between a man and a woman. What was meant by sexual sin is open to question, but it would seem that it was something that was seen as grossly indecent. While adultery was supposed to result in the death sentence for both parties there were probably many cases where that course was not pursued, especially when they had not been caught in the act, and in the cases of suspected adultery the woman may have chosen divorce rather than trial before the sanctuary, and been allowed it by her husband (compare how Joseph was willing to put away Mary privately for her then supposed sexual misconduct). This may thus be what was mainly in mind here. Or it may have included other sexual behaviour which was seen as exceptionally disgraceful and as destroying the oneness between the man and the woman.

God's true view of a divorced person was made clear in that a priest was not to marry a divorced person, for a divorced woman was seen as ‘defiled' and ‘unholy'. They were displeasing to God and outside His sphere of holiness (Leviticus 21:7; Leviticus 21:24; etc.). However, the fact that divorced women were allowed to live and remain within the camp demonstrates that they could be tolerated at a distance from the Sanctuary, something which could be seen as a concession on God's part. It did not, however, give them His permission to divorce.

There were, however, certain circumstances in which ‘divorce' was permitted, and these were to do with cases of marriages between someone under God's covenant and someone outside that covenant (see Deuteronomy 21:10-14; Ezra 10; Exodus 21:7-11, see our commentary). That was why Paul later had to ‘legislate' to allow for such marriages to continue in the case of a Christian (1 Corinthians 7:12-15). But concerning marriages between two persons within God's covenant God declared ‘I hate divorce' and forbade it (Malachi 2:15-17).

End of note.

‘They say to him, “Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put her away?” '

The Pharisees then triumphantly challenged Jesus on the basis of Deuteronomy 24:1-4. They could not deny what He had said about the creation ordinances in Genesis, but if He was right why had Moses ‘commanded' that in the case of divorce a bill of divorce should be given and she be put away? They had Moses' authority on their side.

The Pharisees Try To Argue Him Down About Divorce (19:7-9).

The Pharisees were clearly taken aback by Jesus' words. They had expected Him to come down either on Shammai's side or on Hillel's. They had not expected Him to bring out that divorce was forbidden from the very beginning of creation. They felt that He must have overlooked Moses' words on the matter. What of Deuteronomy 24:1-4? Notice in Jesus' reply the difference between the Pharisees use of ‘command' and Jesus use of ‘allowed'. His specific point is that Moses had not given permission for divorce, he had simply allowed it to happen without his approval. Far from being commanded by him it was allowed under sufferance, and only then because he had to cater for the hardness of men's hearts.

Analysis.

a They say to him, “Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put her away?” (Matthew 19:7).

b He says to them, “Moses for your hardness of heart allowed you to put away your wives” (Matthew 19:8 a).

c “But from the beginning it has not been so” (Matthew 19:8 b).

b “And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery” (Matthew 19:9 a).

a “And he who marries her when she is put away commits adultery” (Matthew 19:9 b).

Not that in ‘a' the question is concerning Moses' command that a divorced woman can be ‘put away', and in the parallel Jesus points out that someone who marries a wife who has been ‘put away' commits adultery. In ‘b' the putting away was allowed due to the hardness of men's hearts and in the parallel if the man remarried he then committed adultery. Centrally in ‘c' is that from the beginning divorce was not allowed.

‘He says to them, “Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.”

Jesus' reply was that Moses had not ‘commanded' the putting away of wives, but had simply ‘allowed' it. And that had only been because of the hardness of men's hearts. Men's hearts had been so hardened against the will of God that they had established customs to allow divorce under certain circumstances. Moses had then simply sought to control the customs which they practised so as to prevent worse sin arising. But ‘from the beginning' it had not been so. Custom could not replace God's stated will and purpose, and that was that marriage was inviolate. Man's customs were in fact against the will of God. Nor did the Law permit them. It simply legislated for what happened after men had disobediently followed their customs.

‘And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery, and he who marries her when she is put away commits adultery.” '

Thus in God's eyes if a man puts away his wife and marries another he commits adultery. And anyone who marries the wife who is divorced also commits adultery. Both are sinning grievously against God. Note the, ‘I say to you' (compare its repetition in chapter 5). This dictum has the authority of Jesus behind it.

There is, however, one exception to the rule, and that is where porneia has been committed. This word is wider than just fornication and adultery and is used to cover different kinds of sexual misbehaviour (see 1 Corinthians 5:1; 1 Corinthians 5:13; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5). Thus if there has been fornication of one of the parties to a marriage with an outside party before the marriage was finalised that would justify divorce, for strictly from God's viewpoint that person would be seen as married to that other. It would include adultery, for such adultery would break the marriage bond, thus releasing from it the ‘innocent' party in the same way as the death of the guilty party would (which was strictly required according to the Law). It could include bestiality (lying with an animal) for that too would break the marriage bond. It would probably include acts of lesbianism or homosexuality.

We should note that this ‘exception' actually strengthens the significance of marriage. The exception arises because one of the parties has sinfully broken the marriage by an act which has made them in God's eyes liable to die. Thus the idea is that the ‘innocent' party can treat them as being ‘dead' in God's eyes. They are ‘cut off'. They are no longer within God's covenant. Divorce from them therefore maintains the sanctity of marriage.

This exception was especially important for Matthew because a Jew (and therefore often a Christian Jew) saw adultery not only as a grounds for divorce but as actually requiring divorce. Adultery was seen as an unredeemable blot on the marriage. For Mark and Luke in writing to Gentiles it did not have quite the same importance and they therefore do not refer to it. They wanted rather to stress the permanence of marriage. But all would have agreed that adultery destroys a marriage for it is the equivalent of an act of remarriage (1 Corinthians 6:16).

But in all our discussion about divorce we must not here lose sight of the fact that Jesus is laying down a new ‘interpretation of the Law' under the Kingly Rule of Heaven (compare on Matthew 5:27-32). He is beginning to introduce His new world. And this radical change with regard to marriage is a first step in the process.

‘The disciples say to him, “If the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” '

This comment was probably made by the disciples after the Pharisees had left the scene, the latter no doubt justifying their own position loudly as they went. It may well actually have been based on what the Pharisees were arguing, although out of earshot of Jesus, for they would not want to give Him another opportunity of showing them up. Indeed the Pharisees may well have considered this a clinching argument against what Jesus had said, that if people took Jesus seriously marriage would cease. Thus Jesus must be wrong, for marriage was God's ordinance and there was no alternative.

They were, of course, not able to cite any alternative, for, to a respectable Jew, apart from celibacy, there was none. ‘Living together' without marriage would not have been acceptable. And as most of them saw marriage and childbearing as a duty from God (some Essenes were an exception, but that was precisely because they saw the times as so threatening) that meant that in their eyes marriage must be encouraged, while they saw what Jesus was teaching as discouraging marriage. The disciples also clearly saw the logic in this and wanted to know what Jesus' answer to this problem was.

The importance that male Jews placed on their right to divorce their wives, even if they did not often do so, comes out in this reaction of the disciples. It appeared to the disciples also that this statement of Jesus would make it inexpedient to marry, something that went against all that they had been brought up to believe. For the idea of marriage being a binding and lifelong commitment clearly appalled them. This was, of course, a reaction based on the ideas that they were used to (and demonstrates how male Jews looked on marriage as something under their control. They did in fact consider that the woman's commitment should be lifelong unless ended by the man). So the idea that divorce was not acceptable to God put a whole new perspective on marriage, and gave it far greater substance and permanence. And yet for that very reason it appeared to be going too far (they did not consider the fact that for the woman it had always been so). Surely then what Jesus had said would make marriage unattractive to men and something best avoided. It was only a theoretical argument, for it was unlikely that many would abstain from it, but it sounded logical.

Jesus Offers The Opportunity Of Remaining Unmarried Like Himself For the Sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven (19:10-12).

At this point there is a change of scenery. The Pharisees have probably departed and the disciples are now probably walking along with Jesus and following up on what He has said. It has shaken them as well as the Pharisees. They suggest that as far as they can see, if a man can never divorce his wife in spite of any problems that arise, perhaps it would be better for him not to marry in the first place. This hardly intended this to be taken as a serious suggestion. It was rather a counter-argument against what Jesus had said about the inviolability of marriage (a counter-argument possibly suggested by the Pharisees). Their point was that to make marriage such a hardship was to discourage the Jews, who looked on marriage and the production of a family as a duty as well as a privilege, in accordance with God's command to ‘be fruitful and multiply' (Genesis 1:28), from actually marrying. Thus it appeared to them that Jesus' teaching would result in the opposite of what was intended, the not to be thought of alternative of no one marrying at all.

We can compare with this startled question a similar startled question in Matthew 19:25. They are slowly beginning to be made aware of what the presence among them of the Kingly Rule of Heaven involves.

Jesus takes up this suggestion and replies that the alternative is in fact not quite so out of the question as they might think. History in fact demonstrated that God had decreed that many men were unable to marry. There were, for example, those whom the later Rabbis described as ‘eunuchs of Heaven'. Due to genetic problems at birth, or a later accident, their sexual organs did not function properly. Thus they were unlikely to marry. It was clear from this therefore that God, Who had allowed this situation to occur, did not require all men to marry. Furthermore there were men who had been rendered impotent at the hands of other men, eunuchs (castrated servants) who served in royal palaces and rich men's houses. These were what the later Rabbis described as the ‘eunuchs of men'. This treatment had been carried out on them so that they would be more dedicated and less belligerent as servants, sometimes even having the privilege of watching over a monarch's wives in the harem, and this too regularly meant that they did not marry.

Furthermore now, with His coming, there was a third alternative to be considered. Those who became virtual eunuchs ‘for the sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven'. One partial example of this could be found in Jeremiah 16:2 where God had said to Jeremiah, ‘You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons and daughters in this place.' Jeremiah had been forbidden to do what every Jewish man should do as a testimony to the dreadful things that would soon be coming on other people's wives, sons and daughters. So this was one case where marriage was forbidden in order to get over the message of God's sovereignty and purpose in judgment.

But now an even more important situation had occurred in the arrival of the Coming One and the establishing of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. Thus in this new emergency situation there was a call for those who were able to do so without sinning, to abstain from marriage for the sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven so that they might be servants unfettered by the ties of wife and family, who were thus the better ready to face what the future held (compare 1 Corinthians 7:29-32). This was the only other grounds which could justify remaining single, as both Jesus and John the Baptist had. But such a change in men's perspectives indicated the new situation which had now arisen. The Kingly Rule of Heaven was here. And God was, as it were, looking for ‘eunuchs' to serve in the King's house and do His bidding.

The case of Jeremiah may suggest that Jesus was indicating that by deliberately remaining single in order to advance the Kingly Rule of Heaven they too, like Jeremiah, were giving a warning to the nation of the times of judgment that were coming, when Jerusalem itself would be destroyed. But certainly we may see in it an indication of the urgency of the times in the light of the fact that the new world was beginning.

Analysis.

a The disciples say to him, “If the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry”, but he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given” (Matthew 19:10-11).

b “For there are eunuchs, who were so born from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs, who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs, who made themselves eunuchs for the kingly rule of heaven's sake (Matthew 19:12 a).

a He who is able to receive it, let him receive it” (Matthew 19:12 b).

‘But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.” '

Jesus replied, “Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.” There has been much dispute as to whether ‘this saying' refers to the disciples' saying in Matthew 19:10, “if the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry,” or whether it refers to Jesus' earlier sayings about the permanence of marriage on the basis of the creation ordinance.

It would not, however be in accordance with Jesus normal method to compromise on straight teaching and He never elsewhere suggests that the clear teaching of Scripture need not be followed. Indeed He stresses that it must be followed, and in Matthew 5:18 He speaks with disapproval of those who compromise on the teaching of the Law. Had He said not all ‘will receive it' that might have been possible in line with Matthew 5:18. But He would not have agreed that they were ‘unable to receive it'. So there can really be no doubt that He would have seen all who heard Him as able to receive His teaching, especially as it was taken directly from Scripture. Furthermore on the basis of His reason for teaching in parables He would not have taught it openly if He had thought that they were unable to receive it.

On the other hand, as Matthew's intention in citing these words is in order to lead in to what follows that would seem to solve the problem, for the application of these words must surely be determined on the basis of the ensuing argument, simply because it was these words that led into that argument. Thus on that basis ‘this saying' must be referring to the expediency or otherwise of not marrying. The idea is that Jesus will now point out that rather than what the disciples have said being a clinching argument against what He has stated, (His silence as to the matter indicating that it was nothing of the kind as subsequent generations of disciples would demonstrate), it does rather certainly hold within it a certain degree of truth, and that is that marriage is not always expedient, and that it is no longer to be seen as the be all and end all of life (indeed one day it will disappear - Matthew 22:30). This is the new truth that has been ‘given to them' (compare Matthew 13:11), as demonstrated by what they have said. For the idea that a man did not need to marry, and that not doing so might be expedient for him, was almost as revolutionary an idea as the previous one.

For to most Jews marriage was seen as a God-given duty as well as a privilege. Thus Jesus was taking the one case introduced by the Pharisees, the permanence or otherwise of marriage, and possibly their argument against it, which they considered clinching because marriage was the duty of all men, and demonstrating that it did indeed justify some men in not marrying, and that the disciples had therefore rightly gathered from it a truth given to them by God. He is saying that they are right in suggesting that sometimes, contrary to popular thought, it is not expedient to marry, and that that is therefore a truth that has been ‘given' to them (it is as important as that!). And He then give three examples where it would not be expedient, one brought about by nature (or by ‘Heaven'), one brought about by men, and one brought about by the requirements of the Kingly Rule of Heaven.

Note Jesus' stress on the fact that all men cannot receive this saying, but only those to whom it is ‘given', that is, those under the Kingly Rule of Heaven. The Pharisees and the Jews in general thought that such a statement was self-evidently wrong. Thus the fact that His disciples now see it as a possibility indicates that God has ‘given' them understanding as to its truth. He is pointing out to His disciples that while for many celibacy is not an option (Paul put it this way, ‘it is better to marry than to burn with unrelieved desires' - 1 Corinthians 7:9), for others it is actually a requirement for the sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. It had been true for John the Baptist. It was true for Him. In the future it would be true for many. A man who marries does not fall short of the glory of God (1 Corinthians 7:28; 1 Corinthians 7:36 with Romans 3:23), but neither does a man who does not marry (this was the new idea). It is simply that the former will have extra cares loaded on him which may hinder his service for God. On the other hand men must remember that not to marry might result in thoughts and behaviour that rendered their service to God void. Many who have embraced celibacy have sinned grievously against God and men, and have brought disgrace on the name of Christ. And even worse sometimes there are those who cover up their sins and allow them to continue for the sake of appearances, which makes them guilty of all their sins and more. Thus while each must choose to marry or not to marry according to what God reveals to him as his duty, and either is an open option, everything needs to be taken into consideration. Better the ‘burdens' brought about through marriage, than sinful failure caused by not being married. Each must therefore decide before God what he can cope with.

“For there are eunuchs, who were so born from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs, who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs, who made themselves eunuchs for the kingly rule of heaven's sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”.

This view of Matthew 19:11 is confirmed now by what He says in Matthew 19:12. For here Jesus is demonstrating that the practise of non-marriage has in fact been true for some throughout the ages, and is now even more true in the light of the coming of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. He is pointing out that there have always been some who could not marry, (even if they wanted to), and that that situation has now widened, and has become desirable for some, by the coming of the Kingly Rule of Heaven.

The basic idea of a eunuch was that he was someone who totally abstained from sexual activity. In the official sense only the middle type was a eunuch, for a eunuch was someone who had been castrated so that his whole attention would be concentrated on serving his master, often, although not necessarily, involving him in having responsibilities in the harems of great kings (as a eunuch he would not be a sexual threat to the women). Eunuchs were often looked on as men of unique devotion to their masters and as such deserving of high office, even though they could also be looked on with ridicule.

However, a considerable number of men were also ‘natural eunuchs' (or to utilise a Rabbinic phrase ‘eunuchs of Heaven'). This arose either because of genetic defects at birth, or because of some accident or act of violence that rendered them so (consider the seriousness attached to the possibility of a woman interfering with a man's genitals during a fight, the only crime in Israel which warranted the amputation of the hand - Deuteronomy 25:11-12). The description may have also been intended to include slaves forbidden by their masters to marry. For all such people marriage was usually not an option. Heaven had thus decreed otherwise. To all intents and purposes they were eunuchs, and no doubt sometimes insultingly called such. For no woman could be expected to marry a man who could not produce children. It is an open question as to whether such people were originally intended to be excluded from the assembly of the Lord by Deuteronomy 23:1, or whether that simply referred to the deliberate castration practised in Canaanite religion. But they could certainly not be priests active in the sanctuary (Leviticus 21:20-21). On the other hand, if born to priestly families, they could eat ‘the bread of their God (Matthew 19:22). What they could not do included approaching the altar and going within the inner sanctuary behind the first veil (Matthew 19:23). The corollary of this, in view of their views on marriage, would be that no man should minister to God who was not married and did not pass on the seed of life. This treatment of maimed priests suggests, however, that such people were not wholly excluded from the assembly of the Lord, and that it was only those whose defect arose from idolatrous religion that were originally to be so excluded.

So Jesus' argument is that there have always been at least two types of men for whom it was inexpedient to marry, natural ‘eunuchs' and man-made eunuchs (It was known for some of the latter to ‘marry'. Strictly, however, it would not in Jewish eyes be a true marriage for it could not be consummated. Consider possibly Genesis 39 where Potiphar was ‘a eunuch of Pharaoh' but married. Although the question then is whether the word translated ‘eunuch' had come to mean ‘high official'). The Rabbis later in fact clearly distinguished between the two, they spoke of ‘eunuchs of Heaven' and ‘eunuchs of man', and the idea was therefore almost certainly prevalent in Jesus' day. This clearly demonstrated that God had made allowances for some who could not marry due to natural reasons (due to Heaven) or violence done to the person (due to man). It had not therefore, even in ancient days, always been the duty of a man to marry under all circumstances, for God had made the world otherwise.

That being so He then adds a third type who need not marry, a type resulting from the fact that the Kingly Rule of Heaven has come, and that is of those who deliberately refrain from marriage and from sexual activity ‘for the sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven'. That indeed is in mind as a possibility in Matthew 19:29, and we should always allow the context to speak for itself. But such abstinence could only at that stage have had the purpose of enabling that person to serve the Kingly Rule of Heaven with full devotion, in the way that eunuchs did in the case of their masters, and in the way that both John the Baptist and Jesus Himself had (although both died while comparatively young, certainly young enough still to marry, which had possibly, although not necessarily, saved them both from the charge of failing in their duty to God, and this was especially so with Jesus as He had had younger brothers to bring up and provide for). For in fact all priests, including the High Priest, along with all Jewish males, considered it their duty to marry and bear children, demonstrating that none saw marriage as hindering a man from being holy. Thus this exception that Jesus proposed would appear to Jews to be an unusual exception. We can compare with this Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 7:8; 1 Corinthians 7:27; 1 Corinthians 7:32. His point was that from now on devotion to God and the production of spiritual children could replace the normal duty to marry and bear children.

There is no question of this indicating a higher form of service or something to be reserved for a certain class of ministry. Peter was married, as were others of the Apostles. It is rather a matter of their being able to serve the Kingly Rule of Heaven in the best possible way. For some that would be by bearing children and bringing them up to serve Him (it is largely this ministry that has often perpetuated the church at times when love for Him has grown lukewarm), for others it would involve being free from cares and responsibilities so that they could minister better in an itinerant ministry or in difficult situations (1 Corinthians 7:29). Each should determine what was God's purpose for him or her, and serve Him accordingly.

This is further evidence that Jesus saw the Kingly Rule of Heaven as now a present reality. It was precisely because that was so that He could introduce the idea of ‘eunuchs'. For all knew that that the term ‘eunuch' regularly signified someone with particular loyalty to a monarch. Here then it signified someone with a particular loyalty to the cause of the Kingly Rule of Heaven and its King (an idea prominent in this section). It was one of Jesus' vivid illustrations. He did not intend that they would physically become eunuchs, only that they would behave like eunuchs.

‘He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.” Jesus recognises that not all men will be able to recognise this truth, for it went against all that most of the Scribes and Pharisees taught and practised concerning marriage. Nevertheless, Jesus says, it is a truth open to those who will receive it, to those to whom it has been ‘given', and that includes His disciples. Let them therefore now receive it. These words emphasise what a revolutionary idea this was seen to be, and that it should therefore have awoken His disciples to recognise the new situation that was coming. So the whole passage stresses that the Kingly Rule of Heaven is now entering a stage of extreme urgency. The world is about to be turned upside down with the result that marriage is no longer to be seen as a man's first priority. It was very much a practical wake up call. The new age was here.

‘Then were there brought to him little children, that he should lay his hands on them, and pray, and the disciples rebuked them.'

The practise of mothers taking their children from one to twelve years old to the Scribes for God's blessing at certain feasts such as the Day of Atonement was well known in Israel. There the Scribes would lay their hands on them and pray for them. Thus these women are treating Jesus as a Prophet and on a par with the Scribes.

The words used for ‘little children' can in fact signify children of various ages up to twelve. We should not therefore see these as babes in arms. It was not babes in arms that the Scribes blessed. These were thus simply children of various ages.

But the practical disciples, knowing that Jesus is tired, and not counting the blessing of little children as very important, rebuke them (their mothers) for seeking to break in on their Master for such a petty reason. Perhaps they were aware that He was on the point of departing (Matthew 19:15) or perhaps they had their minds set on larger matters, the things that awaited them in Jerusalem about which Jesus was speaking so mysteriously. Or perhaps they were repudiating the idea that ‘blessing' could just be passed on by the laying on of hands. Whichever way it was they saw the children as an intrusion. For to them more important matters were at hand. Indeed matters so important that all their ideas about marriage had just been turned upside down. And yet all these women could think of was having their children blessed and prayed for! It was just not acceptable. So they sought to turn them away.

The Basis Of The New Kingly Rule Is To Be Humility - Jesus Calls Young Children To Him To Be Blessed, For They Are An Example Of Those To Whom The Kingly Rule of Heaven Belongs (19:13-15).

A change of view about marriage has indicated that the Kingly Rule of Heaven was now present among them, and Jesus now further emphasises this latter fact by welcoming young children to Him to be blessed. This balances out the message of the last passage. There some were called on to abstain from marriage for the sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven, because important matters are now in hand, but now He reminds them that they must never forget that it is the products of such marriages who form an important part of that Kingly Rule of Heaven that they are to serve. Let those who abstain from marriage not get above themselves, and see themselves as the important ones. For, as He has previously done, He now again points out that the Kingly Rule of Heaven is for those, and only those, who will come to it with the humility and openness of children (compare Matthew 18:1-4), and that applies to them as well.

However, as well as balancing off the previous passage, this incident is also preparatory to the one that follows. For in that incident a ‘not so small' and rather worldly-wise child will be found to be so taken up with his riches that he has no time for the Kingly Rule of Heaven. In his case he is not prepared to come to Jesus as a little child and thus receive the blessing he seeks, and so he goes away without it. Because his attitude is not that of a little child he is not open to receive Jesus' blessing.

Analysis.

a Then were there brought to Him little children, that He should lay His hands on them, and pray (Matthew 19:13 a).

b And the disciples rebuked them (Matthew 19:13 b).

b But Jesus said, “Allow the little children, and forbid them not to come to Me, for of such is the Kingly Rule of Heaven” (Matthew 19:14).

a And he laid his hands on them, and departed from there (Matthew 19:15).

Note that in ‘a' young children are brought so that He may lay His hands on them, and in the parallel he does so. In ‘b' the disciples rebuke them, but in the parallel Jesus welcomes them.

‘But Jesus said, “Allow the little children, and forbid them not to come to me, for of such is the kingly rule of heaven.” '

Jesus' however, immediately disabuses them and tells them to allow the children to come to Him, and not to forbid them. The indication is that they are to be always ready to receive those who come humbly and with an open mind. Indeed He points out, it is to those who come to Him with the humility and openness of little children that the Kingly Rule of Heaven belongs. ‘Of such is the Kingly Rule of Heaven'. That is what the Kingly Rule of Heaven is all about. For all who would enter the Kingly Rule of Heaven must come in humble submission like a little child.

There was in this a gentle rebuke to the disciples themselves. Even yet they had not learned to have the humility and openness of a little child. If they had they would have welcomed these children as He did, and would not have sought to turn them away. Their problem was that they were still involved in great plans, indeed too involved in them to consider what was really important. Thus they were not in themselves fulfilling the potential of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. Had they had eyes to see it at the time they would have recognised that they were not thinking correctly about what was coming. Their eyes were on the coming struggle that they considered to be ahead, but Jesus' eyes were on all who in humility and openheartedness were open to receiving and following Him and His ways. These children whom He welcomed were already a sign of the blossoming of the Kingly Rule of Heaven (as depicted in chapter 13).

‘And he laid his hands on them, and departed from there.'

Having given His disciples this further lesson Jesus then laid His hands on the children, and no doubt prayed for them (as they had asked), before ‘departing' and going on His way towards Jerusalem. The children are thus made an important part of His journey to Jerusalem. How different His reception will be there, from those who should have known better, as compared with His reception here. The lost sheep of the house of Israel are flocking to Him. The false shepherds are waiting to destroy Him.

The purpose of the laying on of hands was always for identification and to indicate mutual participation. We can compare Genesis 48:14; Numbers 27:18; and the regular practise of laying hands on offerings and sacrifices. When the Scribes performed this act on the Day of Atonement their purpose was that God might bless each child whom they had identified before Him. Here therefore Jesus was identifying Himself with these children before His Father and seeking God's blessing on them as those identified by Him.

‘And behold, one came to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” '

In Mark 10:17 this is rendered, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' But that is simply a difference in emphasis in translation from the Aramaic. The young man had the idea of true goodness, the goodness which is God's, in his mind. And he wanted this prophet, Whom he saw as having something of that goodness, to explain it to him. (He may well have said, ‘Good teacher, what good thing must I do --', but trying to decide what Jesus said in the Aramaic is always a little dangerous, for we quite frankly never know. We should note that the dropping of ‘good' before Teacher would be in accordance with Matthew's abbreviating tendency. It may well therefore have originally been there. But once he dropped it he clearly had to slightly rephrase what followed in terms of what Jesus had said).

One reason for the different way in which Matthew presents it may well have been his awareness of the Jewish reluctance to apply the word ‘good' to men when speaking in terms of God (compare how he mainly speaks of the Kingly Rule of ‘Heaven' rather than God, even where the other Gospels use ‘God'). But in view of Matthew 28:19 he is clearly not avoiding the term for his own theological reasons. For that verse demonstrates that he is quite clear about his own view of the full divinity of Jesus. Nor is he toning down Mark for the next verse makes quite clear that the word ‘good' is still to be seen as connecting Jesus with God. Thus, assuming that he has Mark's words before him, and probably the original Aramaic that Jesus spoke, which some would certainly have remembered even if he did not himself, he must have had some other motive. And that can surely only have been in order to emphasise that what the young man is really concentrating on is the question as to how he himself can become ‘good'. Matthew is not arguing about wording, he is conveying an idea.

The young man is clearly well aware that only the good can have eternal life (compare Daniel 12:2-3, especially LXX). But he is also aware that he himself is not good. He knows that somehow there is something that keeps him from being able to be described as ‘good'. What supremely good thing then can he do so as cap off all his efforts and so ensure that he will have eternal life? In the way he phrases it Matthew has the ending in mind. He knows what ‘good thing' the young man must do, trust himself wholly to Jesus. And he knows that he will refuse to do it.

For the idea of eternal life in Matthew compare Matthew 7:14; Matthew 18:8-9; Matthew 19:17 b, Matthew 19:29; Matthew 25:46.

The Rich Young Man Who Did Not Have The Humility And Openness Of A Little Child Because He Was Too Caught Up In His Riches And Thus Could Not Enter Under His Kingly Rule (19:16-22).

In total contrast to these receptive children who have nothing to offer but themselves was a rich young man whose heart was seeking truth, and who coveted the gift of eternal life. And it is this young man who now approaches Jesus. But sadly in his case there are other things that take up his heart. He does not come in humility and total openness. He is hindered by other things that possess his heart. And so when the final choice is laid before him, instead of coming openly and gladly to Jesus as the little children had done previously, he goes away sorrowfully, unable to relinquish the things that gripped his soul. He was thus unable to come with the simplicity of a little child. He had discovered that he could not serve God and Mammon (compare Matthew 6:24).

Analysis.

a Behold, one came to Him (Matthew 19:16 a).

b And said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16 b).

c And He said to him, “Why do you ask Me concerning what is good? One there is who is good” (Matthew 19:17 a).

d “But if you would enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17 b).

e He says too Him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness. Honour your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 19:18-19).

d The young man says to Him, “All these things have I observed. What do I still lack?” (Matthew 19:20).

c Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21 a).

b “And you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21 b).

a But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions (Matthew 19:22).

Note that in ‘a' he comes eagerly seeking eternal life, and in the parallel he sorrowfully relinquishes eternal life because of his great possessions. In ‘b' he is eager for eternal life, and in the parallel he is offered treasure in Heaven, which assumes eternal life. In ‘c' he speaks of true goodness and in the parallel Jesus calls him to true goodness. In ‘d' he is told that if he would enter into life he must keep the commandments, and in the parallel he claims to have done so but says that he knows that he is still lacking something. Centrally in ‘e' Jesus summarises the sermon on the mount in terms of the commandments and Leviticus 19:18.

‘And he said to him, “Why do you ask me concerning what is good? One there is who is good.” '

Mark has here, ‘why do you call me good?' But both are again conveying the same idea, the one writing mainly for Gentiles, the other for Jewish Christians. It has the same reasoning behind it as Matthew's expression ‘the Kingly Rule of Heaven' as compared with Mark's ‘the Kingly Rule of God'. It is a way of saying the same thing while avoiding something which might be regarded as using the idea and name of God too lightly. But to ask someone of ‘what is good' indicates the view that that person is ‘good' without actually saying so. Only a supremely good person could know what was supremely good.

And that is clearly the implication that Jesus takes from it, for He says, “Why do you ask me concerning what is good? One there is who is good.” He is asking the young man why he applies to Him a concept that only applies to God. And He is suggesting that he think through the implication of what he has said. He has recognised a unique goodness in Jesus, that is why he has come to Him and not to the Scribes. Let him then consider the implications of that. Jesus is not denying that He is good. He is asking him to think what, if it is true, that then indicates.

“But if you would enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Jesus then points out to him in what true goodness consists. It is found by wholly keeping, from the heart, all the commandments of God without exception (contrast James 2:10). Let a man but do that and he will enter into life (eternal), for it will indicate a full relationship with God. It will be to be God-like. The idea may specifically have in mind Amos 5:4; Amos 5:6; Amos 5:14 where life is to be found both by seeking God and by seeking His goodness. The two are thus seen as equated. The idea is that no man can seek true goodness without seeking God, and vice versa. And it is through truly seeking God that men find goodness. We can compare with this Jesus' indication that those whom God blesses will seek righteousness (Matthew 5:6), and as a result will be ‘filled' with righteousness as He Who is the Righteousness of God, and His salvation, come in delivering power. Jesus is not, of course, telling him that he can earn eternal life by doing good works. He is saying that anyone who would enter into life must be truly good, a goodness which they cannot achieve in themselves, a goodness which they must find through Him. Paul says the same, ‘Do you not know that the unrighteous will not enter the Kingly Rule of God?' (1 Corinthians 6:9). And then Paul lists the kind of people who cannot hope to do so, and goes on to explain that it is only be being washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God that it becomes possible (1 Corinthians 6:11). Jesus has in mind that if the young man would enter into life he must be willing to come with the humility and openness of a little child and receive from God through Him what pertains to goodness.

But He is very much aware that the young man's mind must be disabused of all its wrong ideas. This young man before Him wants, as it were, to climb into Heaven on the stairs of some wonderful ‘goodness'. He wants to enter it proudly as the trumpets blare about his great achievements (Matthew 6:2). He wants the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). The last thing that he is thinking of is humbling himself as a little child. So Jesus knows that He must first bring his high opinion of himself crashing down. He knows His man. And He knows that unless he learns that his righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, he cannot enter under the Kingly Rule of God (Matthew 5:20).

‘He says too him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness. Honour your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” '

The young man is delighted with the answer that he must keep the commandments. This is what he is looking for. So the question now is as to which commandment will enable him to do the one good thing that will surmount all the other good things that he has done. How can he achieve the pinnacle that he is seeking?

Jesus replies, with what can only be seen as a brief summary of Matthew 5:21-48, by citing the commandments which relate to behaviour towards men, and includes within them Leviticus 19:18, that he must love his neighbour as himself. This was especially pertinent when considering the action and attitude of heart of a wealthy young man. It summarised all the other commandments. In a sense it was the pinnacle of all manward commandments (Matthew 22:39).

Note that Jesus is doing here the same thing that He has commanded His disciples to do. He is teaching men to obey all God's commandments to their fullest extent (compare Matthew 5:17-20). That is what, in the end, salvation is all about. It is to bring us holy, unblameable and unreproveable into His sight (Colossians 1:22) through the imparting of His own mighty righteousness (Matthew 5:6). It is that we be made like Him (1 John 3:2). Nothing less than this will do. Never listen to anyone who says that you can be saved without wanting to be righteous, for the one will result in the other.

The order in which He pronounces the commandments is logical. First He pronounces four of the last five commandments in order, and then He personalises the whole in terms of parents and ‘neighbours', thus covering all aspects of social life. No sphere remains untouched.

(Matthew is probably here summarising a wider description of what was required. Comparison with Mark and Luke reminds us that each writer gives us the pith of what was said without pretending to record the whole. It is giving us the truth of what was said. They could not record whole conversations, any more than newspaper reports do, otherwise the writers would soon have run out of space).

‘The young man says to him, “All these things have I observed. What do I still lack?” '

However, the young man is now disappointed. He had had such high hopes. But all that Jesus had told him was what he had heard before from others. And yet it had not been enough. He did not stop to consider whether he had genuinely kept all these commandments (and Matthew intends us to read them in terms of the sermon on the mount). With the presumption and limited experience of a young man he was convinced that he had. And yet he knew that what he had done was not enough. He was still aware of a great lack. There was still hope for him, for at least he recognised that he was not good enough. (Once a man begins to think that he is nearly good enough, and has but a little further to go, he has lost hope. For the first principle of salvation is that a man recognise his own total inability to be good enough. That indeed was why Jesus had begun by emphasising that true goodness was of God).

‘Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.” '

So Jesus now gives him his answer, the answer to which He has been aiming. He has claimed to love his neighbour as himself, so let him become like a little child in his response to Jesus. Let him show his love for his neighbour. Let him sell all that he has, and give it to his poor neighbours (in the same way as, if he had been poor, he would have wanted others to do to him). And then let him come and follow Jesus. Here was the ‘good thing' that he could do. And if he did it he would inherit eternal life, for no one could ever come wholly to Jesus like this and be disappointed. Jesus would do the rest. We should perhaps note that implicit in the idea of ‘following Jesus' is listening to Him and responding fully to His words. Jesus is not just saying ‘sign on and join the ranks'. He is saying ‘respond to Me and to all I am and to all I say like a little child would, and leave the consequences to Me' (compare John 10:27-28). He is saying ‘believe in Me and follow Me'.

For if he does this he will be being ‘perfect' (complete) like his Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48) because he will be distributing all that he has on the undeserving (Matthew 5:45) and then following the great Life-giver Himself, the One sent from God, the source of all truth. He will be ‘letting go, and letting God'. Furthermore by doing this he will lay up his treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6:19), (a confirmation that the contents of the sermon on the mount really are in mind in this passage). Thus if he is genuine in seeking goodness he now knows how it can be brought about, by wholly following Jesus, with all his temptations and burdens laid aside, and thus being open to all that Jesus can give him. Then the way to eternal life will have opened before him.

The later Rabbis taught that no one should immediately give away more than one fifth of their wealth. And there was wisdom in what they said. For men should give time for thought concerning such things. But Jesus' very point is that the case was different at this point in time. For this was another indication (like the idea of possibly not marrying because the Kingly Rule of Heaven was here) that the Messianic age was here. The Kingly Rule of Heaven is among them, and is about to burst on the world. Now is the time to press forcefully into it. Now is the time for a man to put all else aside and throw in his lot with Jesus. It was neck or nothing time.

‘But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions.'

At these words the young man was stopped short in his tracks. Up to this point he had been convinced that he would do anything that Jesus suggested. But he had not expected this. It was unfair. Jesus wanted him to take the commandments literally! He actually wanted him to do what they said (compare Matthew 7:21-27). But he knew that he could not forego his riches. And he now also knew that he could not follow Jesus while being unwilling to yield up his riches. (And he also knew that he had not after all kept all the commandments). So he was now at an impasse. And he went away sorrowfully. And Jesus let him go. For He knew that until the hold that the riches had on his heart had been broken that young man could never receive eternal life. He could never come responsively like a little child to Jesus. We may perhaps note that this young man was the first person we know of who actually openly rejected Jesus call to ‘follow Me' (but compare Matthew 8:18-22). Soon almost the whole of Jerusalem (in contrast with the pilgrims) would do the same.

The growth in the idea of ‘following' Jesus in Matthew is interesting, and in fact Matthew has two concepts of following. The first is the following that demands everything. The four brothers left their nets and their boats and followed Him (Matthew 4:18-22). The unknown Scribe was reminded that following Him would involve having nowhere to lay his head (Matthew 8:19-20). Another disciple was warned that he must immediately leave all the affairs of home behind to follow Him (Matthew 8:21-22). Matthew was called on to instantly leave all his business interests behind (Matthew 9:9). See also the ex-blind men in Matthew 20:34; and the women in Matthew 27:55. Indeed all who would be His disciples must take up their cross and follow Him (Matthew 10:38; Matthew 16:24). In each case this was to leave all and follow Him (Matthew 19:27). So this young man was being called on to follow in a goodly line. In contrast are those who follow because they want to learn and want to be healed, some of whom would continue to follow while others turned back (Matthew 4:25; Matthew 8:1; Matthew 8:10; Matthew 9:27; Matthew 12:15; Matthew 14:13; Matthew 19:2; Matthew 20:29, compare John 2:23-25; John 6:66). So in a sense the young man was not the first to turn back, simply the first who did it so blatantly, not recognising the crisis point at which the call had come to him.

It is often customary at this point to explain why this only applied to the rich young man. And in a sense it does, for each of us have our own idols that have to be dealt with. But we make a mistake if we think that Jesus' demands are any less on us. For in the end it is only as, like a little child, we relinquish all that we have and come humbly to Him that we too can find life. That we too can be ‘saved'. We may do it in different ways. We may not understand all that is involved. But if there is some particular thing that has a hold over our lives then we can be sure that we cannot come like a little child to receive salvation until we are willing for that thing to be dealt with. We cannot bargain with Jesus. We cannot make a trade with Him. We must come just as we are leaving everything else behind. What He offers us is free, but it costs everything, even though we may not consciously be called on to relinquish it all at once. In this young man's case we must remember that a crisis decision was necessary, for Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, and He knew what lay ahead. Thus for the young man it was in a sense ‘now or never'. Never again could he be given this unique opportunity. When we are moved to seek God we should beware. It could be our last special opportunity too.

‘And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingly rule of heaven.” '

As the young man walks away Jesus recognises the conflict that is taking place in his mind, and then turns to His disciples and says sadly, “It is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingly Rule of Heaven.” The reason behind His statement is quite clear from the young man's dilemma. Riches prevent a man from being willing to follow fully in His ways. And the implication of it is that if a man would enter the Kingly Rule of Heaven he must first deal with the question of his riches. For to be under the Kingly Rule of Heaven means that all his riches must be at God's disposal. And for a rich man that is very hard.

Here was one who could have become ‘a son of the Kingly Rule of Heaven' (Matthew 13:38) but he had turned away from it. Some see ‘the Kingly Rule of Heaven' here in Matthew 19:23 as signifying the eternal kingly rule beyond the grave. (It cannot mean a millennial kingdom, for rich men will not find it hard to enter that). But Jesus has made abundantly clear that the Kingly Rule of Heaven has in fact ‘drawn near' (Matthew 4:17), and that it is among them (Luke 17:21) and has ‘come upon them' (Matthew 12:28), and is therefore there for all who will respond to it. And the impression given here is surely that the young man has been faced with that choice and has failed to take his opportunity. For the Kingly Rule of Heaven is not a place, it is a sphere of Kingly Rule, and a sphere of submission which is past, present and future.

That the Kingly Rule of Heaven, which initially was intended to result from the Exodus (Exodus 19:6; Exodus 20:1-18; Numbers 23:21; Deuteronomy 33:5; 1 Samuel 8:7), has in one sense always been open to man's response comes out in the Psalms and is especially emphasised in Isaiah 6 (see Psalms 22:28; Psalms 103:19; Psalms 93:1; Psalms 97:1; Psalms 99:1; Isaiah 6:1-11). That it is now present among men in a unique way is made clear in Matthew 11:12; Matthew 12:28; Matthew 13:38; Luke 17:21. That it will be taken out and offered to the world is made clear in Acts 8:12, where it parallels taking out the name of Jesus; Acts 19:8, where it parallels the proclamation of ‘The Way'; Acts 20:25; Acts 28:23; Acts 28:28 where it refers to ‘the things concerning the Lord Jesus'. Paul would have had no reason for trying to persuade and teach the Jews about something that they believed in wholeheartedly, the future Kingly Rule of God. What he was seeking to bring home to them was that the Kingly Rule of God was now open to them in Jesus. Compare also how he will say in his letters that ‘the Kingly Rule of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit' (Romans 14:17) and that we (believers) have been ‘transported into the Kingly Rule of His beloved Son' (Colossians 1:13). To Paul as to Jesus the Kingly Rule of Heaven (God) was both present and future, present in experience and future in full manifestation. It can thus be entered now,

The Basis Of The New Kingly Rule - The Impossibility Of Salvation Without God Being At Work (19:23-26).

In Matthew 5:3-6 it was those who had been ‘blessed' by God who were poor in spirit, repentant, meek, and hungry after righteousness. In Matthew 11:6 it was those who had been ‘blessed' by God who would not be caused to stumble at the way in which Jesus was carrying out His work as the Messiah. In Matthew 11:25-26 it was the Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, who had hidden things from the wise and prudent and had revealed them to ‘babes'. In Matthew 13:16 it was because the disciples had been ‘blessed' by God that they saw and heard. In Matthew 16:17 it was because he had been ‘blessed' by God that Peter had recognised Jesus' Messiahship. Now we learn that it is only those who have been so blessed by God who can be saved. In the end, therefore, the reason that the young man had gone away was because he was not one of those ‘blessed by God'. For without that it is impossible for a man to be saved. This is a constant theme of Jesus, and of Matthew. No man can come to Him except it be given him by the Father, that is, unless the Father draws him (John 6:37; John 6:39; John 6:44). For it is those who have been blessed by God who believe and who consequently have eternal life (John 6:40).

Analysis.

a Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingly Rule of Heaven” (Matthew 19:23).

b “And again I say to you, “It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingly Rule of God” (Matthew 19:24).

c And when the disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25).

b And Jesus looking on them said to them, “With men this is impossible” (Matthew 19:26 a).

a “But with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26 b).

Note that in ‘a' we have described for us how hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingly Rule of Heaven and in the parallel we are informed that all things are possible with God. In ‘b' the impossibility of a rich man entering the Kingly Rule of God is described, and in the parallel Jesus confirms that it is indeed impossible for men. Centrally in ‘c' comes the question ‘who then can be saved'. And the answer is clearly ‘all whom God chooses to save'.

‘And again I say to you, “It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingly rule of God.” '

Jesus then seeks to make the position even clearer by the use of a well known saying. “It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingly rule of God.” By this He is saying that it is not only hard, but will require a miracle (which is what He then goes on to point out). There is absolutely no reason for not taking the camel and the needle's eye literally. The camel was the largest animal known in Palestine, the needle's eye the smallest hole. The whole point of the illustration lies in the impossibility of it, and the vivid and amusing picture it presents is typical of the teaching of Jesus. Jesus no doubt had in mind the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees, who considered that rich men were rich because they were pleasing to God (compare Psalms 112:3; Proverbs 10:22; Proverbs 22:4), and that through their riches they had even more opportunity to be pleasing to God (and mocked at any other suggestion - Luke 16:14). They taught that riches were a reward for righteousness. But Jesus sees this as so contradictory to reality that He pictures them as by this struggling to force a camel through the eye of a needle. In other words they are trying to bring together two things that are incompatible. So in His eyes their teaching was claiming to do the impossible, as the example of the rich young man demonstrated, it was seeking to make the rich godly. And the folly of this is revealed in the fact that it is ‘the deceitfulness of riches' which is one of the main things that chokes the word (Matthew 13:22). In this regard the Psalmists regularly spoke of those who put their trust in riches, and thereby did not need to rely on God (Psalms 49:6; Psalms 52:7; Psalms 62:10; Psalms 73:12; Proverbs 11:28; Proverbs 13:7). This was not to say that rich men could not be godly. It was simply to indicate that it was unusual.

‘The Kingly Rule of God.' It is difficult to see in context how this expression can be seen as differing in significance from ‘the Kingly Rule of Heaven' in Matthew 19:23, for both are indicating a similar situation. It may simply therefore have been changed for the sake of variety. But we must consider the fact that Matthew's purpose here might well be in order to emphasise the contrast between ‘man' and ‘God' in terms of the impossibility of entry. The camel cannot go through the eye of a needle, for the two exist in different spheres sizewise, how much less then can a RICH MAN enter into the sphere of GOD's Kingly Rule. The idea is to be seen as almost ludicrous.

‘And when the disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” '

The disciples, who had been brought up to believe that the rich were prosperous because of their piety, were also ‘greatly astonished'. After all the rich could also give generous alms to the poor, could make abundant gifts to the Temple, could afford to offer many offerings and sacrifices, and had the opportunity of doing so much good. And by such they made a name for themselves (compare Matthew 6:1-2) Surely none were in a better position to please God than the rich. So if they could not ‘be saved' what hope was there for others?

They had similarly been greatly astonished at Jesus' ‘new' teaching about marriage (Matthew 19:10). They were awaking to the fact that Jesus was introducing a new world.

In context ‘being saved' indicates ‘having eternal life' (Matthew 19:16) and ‘entering into the Kingly Rule of Heaven' (Matthew 19:23). Those who ‘are saved' enter into a sphere which will result in eternal blessing, both in this world and the next.

‘And Jesus looking on them said to them, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” '

Jesus now points out that the age of impossibilities has arrived. He simply points out to them that God can in fact save both rich and poor. For while doing this is impossible with men, with God all things are possible. By this He first makes clear that salvation is a miracle that only God can accomplish, and secondly He draws special attention to its source. It is those whom God has chosen to ‘bless' who will be saved. The idea that God can do the impossible is firmly imbedded in the Old Testament. See Genesis 18:14; Job 42:2; Zechariah 8:6. And now it has begun to manifest itself.

‘Then answered Peter and said to him, “Lo, we have left all, and followed you. What then shall we have?” '

Peter's question reflects the growing desire and expectation among the disciples of a future that is unfolding which will shortly result in their receiving their ‘reward' for following Jesus. At this stage it is constantly reflected. See for example Matthew 20:20-24; Mark 9:33-35; Luke 9:46; Luke 22:24-27; and even after the resurrection in Acts 1:6. They were looking, in accordance with the beliefs of the times, for a triumphant Messianic campaign which, once God had reversed the tragedy of His betrayal and death, would result in glorious victory, freedom for the Jews, and eventual worldwide domination. And they saw themselves as being an important part of it. Thus we can understand Peter's eager question. The glittering prize was in front of their eyes, and accordingly they were looking forward to ruling Israel, exercising authority over the nations, enjoying great riches, and taking part in the Triumph of Christ. And that is why Jesus then has to point out to them that the way in which they must do this is by vying among themselves to be the servants of all (Matthew 20:25-28; Luke 22:26-27). The greatest in the Kingly Rule of Heaven will be as a little child (Matthew 18:4). Whoever is great among them must be their servant (Matthew 20:27; Matthew 23:11). And do we think that such attitudes will change in Heaven? In Heaven men will not be seeking thrones. They will spurn thrones (Revelation 4:10). They will be eagerly asking, ‘how can I be of service'? Just as Jesus Himself will be doing (Luke 12:37; Luke 22:27). In the light of the perspective of Heaven a literal significance to Matthew 19:28 would have no meaning. It would be a totally foreign concept. In Heaven and the new earth we are not all to be behaving like kings, but are all to be seeking to be the servants of all. And the rewards will not be physical, but spiritual.

The Basis Of The New Kingly Rule - Jesus Now Explains The Future For All Who Fully Follow Him (19:27-29).

In order to fully appreciate what Jesus now says here we need to consider the similar words spoken at the Last Supper as described in Luke 22:24-30. There the context is specifically that of the disciples having false ideas about their future role, and Jesus is warning them that such ideas are to be quashed because they are dealing with something totally different than they know. There it is in the context of Him stressing that it is those who want to lord it over others (by sitting on their thrones) who are the ones who are least like what the disciples are intended to be. He stresses that in the case of the disciples it is the ones who seek to serve all, like servants serving at table, who are really the greatest, and He then points out that that is precisely what He Himself has come among them to be (compare Matthew 18:4; Matthew 20:25-28). And it is in that context that He cites the picture of the apostles as destined to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel and expects them to understand it  in terms of what He has just said  (Luke 22:30).

Now taken at face value the ideas are so mutually contradictory that it is incredible. At one moment He appears to be warning them most severely against seeking lordly glory, and at the next moment He seems to be promising them precisely that and encouraging them to look forward to it, knowing that they are expecting His Kingly Rule soon to be manifested. In other words in this view He is depicted as promising them the very thing that He is at the same time trying to root out of them, and making both promises within seconds of each other. He is seemingly inculcating the very attitude that He is trying to destroy. We find this quite frankly impossible to believe. It suggests therefore that in fact Jesus meant something very different than He appears to be saying at face value, and that He expected His disciples to understand it, so that we thus need to look a little deeper at its parabolic significance in order to appreciate its significance (in the case of Luke see for this our commentary on Luke 22).

The second thing that we need to take into account in this regard is Jesus' love for parabolic representation. Regularly in His parables His servants are pictured as men of great importance who are called on to serve faithfully. They are pictured as people placed in great authority, and that on earth for the purpose of a ministry on earth (Matthew 18:23-24; Matthew 25:14; Luke 12:42; Luke 16:1; Luke 19:12-13). They are seen as given positions of great splendour. But in contrast we have already been warned about how they must carry out that service. They are to carry it out by serving humbly (Luke 12:36-37; Luke 22:26-27; see also Matthew 18:4; Matthew 20:26-27). Thus He pictures His servants as on the one hand having great authority and power, and yet on the other as needing to be meek and lowly and menial in serving others. And He pictures the latter as the greatest service that there is, so great that it is what He Himself is doing while on earth (Matthew 20:26-28; Luke 22:26-27), and is also what He will do for them in the future Kingly Rule (Luke 12:37). For He is one Who Himself delights to serve, and is among them as One Who serves, and will go on serving into eternity for God is a God Who delights to serve and to give. He is the very opposite of what we naturally are. That is what He has done through history (note Exodus 20:1-2). So although His authority is total and His power omnipotent he continually serves His own.

Can we really think that the One Who sets such a picture before them of service is going to encourage them by presenting them with a goal that contradicts all that He has said at a time when they are vulnerable to such ideas? If there was one problem that the disciples had at this time above all others it was wrong ideas about their future importance, ideas which were making them almost unbearable (Matthew 20:20-24). Would Jesus really have been foolish enough to feed those wrong ideas by saying, ‘Don't worry, you are going to lord it over everyone in the end'? Quite frankly it is inconceivable.

The third thing that is to be taken into account is that the promises then made to other than the twelve relate mainly to this life (Matthew 19:29). What they are promised is that whatever they lose for His sake they will gain the more abundantly  here on earth  (this is even clearer in Mark 10:30), as well as eternal life. If He wanted to encourage His disciples by pointing to their future glorified state, why did He not do the same openly with the others? Thus the obvious conclusion is that what He promises to the disciples is parallel with what He promises to the others, and that both therefore  relate mainly to this life.

The fourth point to be considered is that these words are followed immediately by a parable that warns against presumption, in which it is emphasised that God promises to deal with all men equally when it comes to ‘reward'. But this sits very uneasily with the idea that twelve of those to whom He has spoken have already been promised thrones as a reward! (Even given that the context is Matthew's arrangement).

And the final point that has to be considered is that when James and John did take Jesus' words here too literally and made their bid for the two most important of the twelve thrones (Matthew 20:20-22) Jesus immediately pointed out what their real destiny was, that they were not to seek thrones, but were to share His baptism of Suffering and to be servants of all as He was (Matthew 20:23-28), and this immediately following the parable where all were to receive equal. If He was really offering them literal thrones He should have been praising their ambition.

Let us now summarise the arguments:

1) The superficially obvious meaning is unlikely in view of Luke 22:24-30 where it contradicts the whole passage (see our commentary on Luke).

2) Jesus regularly speaks metaphorically of His disciples pictured in terms of high status (Matthew 18:23-24; Matthew 25:14; Luke 12:42; Luke 16:1; Luke 19:12-13), although serving in lowliness (Luke 12:36-37; Luke 22:26-27; see also Matthew 18:4; Matthew 20:26-27).

3) What is offered to the ‘others' in Matthew 19:29 relates to a metaphorical picture of blessing on earth prior to their going on to eternal life, depicted in an exaggerated fashion. We would therefore expect that the parallel offered to the Apostles would also refer to a metaphorical picture of blessing on earth depicted in a similar exaggerated fashion.

4) The parable that immediately follows in chapter 20 refers to all receiving equal reward which sits ill with the Apostles having just been promised thrones in a future life.

5) When James and John then take what Jesus has said too literally and seek to get the best thrones they are informed that they are rather being called on to suffer and to serve, and are not to think in terms of enjoying literal thrones (Matthew 20:20-28), and this in similar terms to Luke 22:24-30.

But what then can Jesus mean by the words ‘You who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel' without it giving the disciples too great a sense of their own importance? What could He be trying to signify to His disciples? In the light of our criticisms above we would expect the obvious solution to be that He was indicating to them their prominent positions of service in regard to their future task on earth. Having that in mind as a possibility let us continue the phrases used and see if they at all fit in with that idea.

This first raises the question as to what Jesus means by ‘the regeneration' (palingenesia). Now in dealing with this question the tendency is to go to apocalyptic passages in the Old Testament as interpreted in the light of Jewish apocalyptic (neither of which used palingenesia) and then to translate them in that light. But if there is one thing that is clear about Jesus it is that He is not tied in to such ideas. Rather He takes them and reinterprets them in His own way in the light of God's programme as He sees it to be. For that is what He has come to bring, regeneration, a new creation (Romans 6:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15).

What then is the ‘regeneration' (palingenesia)? The word can simply means ‘a becoming again' or a ‘being born again'. But how is it used elsewhere? It is used by the Egyptian Jewish philosopher Philo of the renewal of the earth after the flood. It is also used by Paul of the ‘renewal' of the Holy Spirit in men's lives when they come to Christ (Titus 3:5). Now if, as seems probable, the dove in Matthew 3:16 was symbolic of the dove returning after the flood, indicating the issuing in of a new age (Genesis 8:11), and thereby indicated the coming of a new age in the coming of the Messiah along with the deluge of the Holy Spirit, this ties in with both Philo's use and Paul's use. Here therefore it will indicate the new age that Jesus is introducing as begun in His ministry and consummated in the coming of the Holy Spirit. A new nation is being brought to birth. Thus it is the time when the Holy Spirit comes to renew men and women (Isaiah 44:1-5; Joel 2:28-29

Reward Under The New Kingly Rule - God Will Reward Men As He Wills Not Accoding To Their Deserts (19:30-20:16).

All this is now applied in parabolic form to all the servants in God's vineyard. None who heard the story would doubt that God's vineyard was Israel, for Israel is regularly pictured as God's vineyard in the Old Testament (Isaiah 5:1-7; Isaiah 27:2-6 compare Matthew 21:33-42). Thus it includes those who will serve as judges and overseers over the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28), and those who for His sake will forsake land and loved ones in His service (Matthew 19:29). It includes all who are called to work as labourers in His vineyard (Matthew 9:37-38). And here Jesus emphasises the need for none to be presumptious. While He will reward them they should not be looking for rewards. They should be looking for God to deal graciously with His own. For the owner of the vineyard of Israel (Matthew 20:1; Matthew 21:33) will pay all His workers equally, whatever their labours, as long as they have laboured faithfully once called upon to do so. And that is because the reward is not of deserving, but is of grace. Thus none has any right to more than any other.

But we may ask, if all are to be paid equally, what about Jesus warning elsewhere concerning grades of reward (Matthew 5:19; Matthew 6:1-20; Matthew 18:4; Matthew 25:14-25)? The answer probably lies in the type of reward in mind. The denarius was what each man required for his family to live on. It represented a day's wage. It indicated equal sufficiency and provision for the daily needs of all. The idea in the end is that all the ‘saved' will eat at His table. All will have sufficiency. All will enjoy the light of His presence (Revelation 21:22-23; Revelation 22:5). The extra ‘rewards' are really rewards which result from our dedication and obedience, and these will result in the production of a more fulfilled person, resulting in our being the ‘great' and the ‘least' (Matthew 5:19). Our reward will be in what we have become in ourselves through the working of the grace of God as a result of our continual responsiveness, even though this is often depicted in earthly terms for our appreciation and as our incentive. In fact the reward is often depicted in terms of being put into a position where greater service can be offered. We will have been made more like Him the more we have responded (1 John 3:2). And yet all will be presented holy, unblameable and unreproveable before Him (Colossians 1:22). Here is the divine paradox. All will be wholly satisfied, but some will have a greater capacity for satisfaction than others.

We should note here that in fact Matthew has only one parable which speaks of differences of reward, and that is found in Matthew 25:14-30, and even then it is not the main lesson of the parable. Thus while we must certainly take heed to that message we should not refine on it too much in Matthew. (In fact the majority of such parables come in Luke). To Matthew rewards are only a small part of the larger picture (although unquestionably there). It is the power of God at work and man's final destiny which is his greatest emphasis (see chapter 13; Matthew 18:23-35; Matthew 21:33-41; Matthew 22:1-13; Matthew 25:1-46).

Analysis.

a “But many will be last who are first, and first who are last” (Matthew 19:30).

b “For the kingly rule of heaven is like to a man who was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1).

c “And when he had agreed with the labourers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard” (Matthew 20:2).

d “And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing in the marketplace idle, and to them he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same'. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing, and he says to them, “Why do you stand here all the day idle?” (Matthew 20:3-6).

e They say to him, “Because no man has hired us.” He says to them, “You also go into the vineyard” (Matthew 20:7).

f ‘And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard says to his steward, “Call the labourers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last to the first” (Matthew 20:8).

e And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a denarius (Matthew 20:9).

d And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, and they likewise received every man a denarius. And when they received it, they murmured against the householder, saying, “These last have spent but one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat” (Matthew 20:10-12).

c But he answered and said to one of them, “Friend, I do you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?” (Matthew 20:13).

b “Take up what is yours and go your way. It is my will to give to this last, even as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?” (Matthew 20:14-15).

a So the last will be first, and the first last (Matthew 20:16).

Note that in ‘a' many will be last who are first, and first who are last, and in the parallel the last will be first, and the first last (Note the reversal of the order). In ‘b' we have the man who owns the vineyard and seeks labourers, and in the parallel the description of Him as the One Who does His own will and is good, with the right to do what He wants with what belongs to Him. In ‘c' is the agreement to work for a denarius, and in the parallel the statement that they had agreed to work for a denarius. In ‘d' we have the description of the passing of the day, with all its ramifications, from the owner's viewpoint, and in the parallel the complaint of the original workers concerning that passing of the day from their viewpoint. In ‘e' the workers said no man had hired them, and in the parallel they were hired. Centrally in ‘f' is the call to account of all the workers in the vineyard.

“But many will be last who are first, and first who are last.”

After referring to the blessings that His disciples will enjoy as they labour for Him Jesus adds a warning to make all beware of presumption. Presumption is to be avoided because all will be rewarded equally, and God will deal with each one as He wills. This statement would sit very strangely if He had already just promised thrones to the Apostles as a guaranteed future blessing after they had performed their labours, and especially so as one of whom would certainly not receive one. But it does sit very well if those thrones signified their time of working in the vineyard.

Jesus' point is that their walk in the Spirit (Matthew 12:28; Matthew 3:11) must be maintained. For many who get in early, and develop quickly, but find the going hard, will finish up last, because their attitude is poor. While many who start slowly and develop more gradually will end up first. For each of us progress must thus be continuous if we are to receive the fullest blessing, whether we commence at the first hour or the eleventh hour. This is what the ensuing parable is now all about as Matthew 19:16 makes clear.

But it is also about something else, and that is the pure goodness of the owner of the vineyard. It make quite clear that he represents God. Only God would show such goodness in such a fashion. For His concern was not only to get the harvest in, or the work done, but also to give full satisfaction even to those who did not deserve it.