Matthew 19 explained: Marriage, Children and a Rich Man

A test about divorce (vv. 1-6)

Pharisees, a respected movement of strict religious teachers, test Jesus on a live debate: some rabbis allowed a man to divorce his wife for almost any reason, others only for serious sexual wrongdoing. Jesus goes behind the debate to Genesis, where God makes man and woman 'one flesh', a bond he says people should not break (vv. 4-6).

Moses' rule and one exception (vv. 7-9)

They cite Moses' rule (Deuteronomy 24) that a husband give a written divorce notice, which freed the wife to remarry, and Jesus calls it a concession to hard hearts, not the original design. He allows one exception, translated 'sexual immorality' or 'fornication', and some translations add a line about marrying a divorced woman because ancient manuscripts differ here. Churches widely agree this teaching does not require anyone to stay where they are being harmed.

Those who do not marry (vv. 10-12)

When the disciples say it might be better not to marry, Jesus speaks of eunuchs (castrated men, often royal servants) in three senses: those born that way, those made so by others, and those who choose it for God's kingdom. Most Christians read the last group as a freely chosen single life, which Jesus says is not for everyone (vv. 11-12).

Jesus welcomes children (vv. 13-15)

People bring children for Jesus to lay hands on them and pray, a familiar way of blessing, and the disciples scold them, perhaps because children counted for little in that world. Jesus welcomes them and says the kingdom belongs to people like them, often read as pointing to their trust and dependence.

The rich young man (vv. 16-22)

A man asks what good deed earns eternal life, and Jesus lists commandments about treating others, then tells him to sell everything, give to the poor and follow him, and he leaves sad. Christians differ on whether this call is for everyone, for some who choose it (as Catholic and Orthodox traditions hold for monks and nuns), or aimed at what held this one man back.

Camel, needle and reward (vv. 23-30)

A camel through a needle's eye pictures the impossible, which stuns disciples who may have seen wealth as a sign of God's blessing, but Jesus says God can do what people cannot (v. 26). He promises his disciples thrones 'judging' Israel's twelve tribes when all things are renewed (v. 28), and promises everyone who gives up home or family for his sake a hundred times more and eternal life, yet many who are first will be last (vv. 29-30).

Key verse: Matthew 19:26

Where Christians differ

Christians differ over the exception in verse 9: many Protestants read it as allowing divorce and remarriage after adultery, Catholic teaching holds that a valid marriage cannot be dissolved and reads the exception more narrowly (for example as a union that was never valid), and Orthodox churches permit remarriage in some cases as a concession to human weakness.

Something to think about

What is something you own or rely on that you would find hardest to give up, and what does that tell you about the place it holds in your life?