Mat. 19:10-12 “Married or Single, Make Room for Jesus’ Word”

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 17 Feb. 2013

Translation

19:10 His disciples say to Him,
“Since the matter is thus concerning the man with his wife, it doesn’t bear together to get married!”

19:11 Then He said to them,
“It’s not all men but rather the ones to whom is has been given who make space for this word,

19:12 for there are eunuchs, some of which were born thus from their mother’s womb,
and there are eunuchs, some of which became eunuchs by the agency of men
and there are eunuchs, some of which made eunuchs of themselves for the kingdom of the heavens. The one who has the ability to make space for [this], let him continue to make space for [it].”

Introduction

I was not expecting to have enough material on being a eunuch to preach a whole sermon on the topic, but that’s how it’s turned out. This sermon is on just three verses, Matthew 19:10-12.

 

Context: Jesus has just been upholding God’s ideal of marriage, telling the Pharisees that they shouldn’t be looking for excuses to divorce and shouldn’t be separating couples that God put together in marriage. Jesus just finished that discourse by stating in v.9: …I’m telling y’all that who ever shall divorce his wife – not on the grounds of sexual immorality – and shall marry another commits adultery, and the man who married a woman who has been divorced is committing adultery.”

Exegesis

19:10 His disciples say to Him, “Since the matter is thus concerning the man with his wife, it doesn’t bear together to get married!”

Λεγουσιν αυτω-p25,א ‘οι μαθηται αυτου-א,Β,Θ Ει ‘ουτως εστιν ‘η αιτια του ανθρωπου μετα της γυναικος ου συμφερει γαμησαι.

 

19:11 Then He said to them, “It’s not all men but rather the ones to whom is has been given who make space for this word,

‘Ο δε ειπεν αυτοις Ου παντες χωρουσιν τον λογον τουτον-B,f1 αλλ’ οις δεδοται

 

19:12 for there are eunuchs, some of which were born thus from their mother’s womb,
and there are eunuchs, some of which became eunuchs by the agency of men
and there are eunuchs, some of which made eunuchs of themselves for the kingdom of the heavens. The one who has the ability to make space for [this], let him continue to make space for [it].”

εισιν γαρ ευνουχοι ‘οιτινες εκ κοιλιας μητρος εγεννηθησαν ‘ουτως
και εισιν ευνουχοι ‘οιτινες ευνουχισθησαν[3] ‘υπο των ανθρωπων
και εισιν ευνουχοι ‘οιτινες ευνουχισαν ‘εαυτους δια την βασιλειαν των ουρανων.
‘Ο δυναμενος χωρειν χωρειτω.

Conclusion

So we’ve seen Jesus make a statement about giving up the option of divorce and a statement about giving up the option of marriage for the sake of His kingdom. Two equally challenging courses. The question is, do you accept – and will you continue to make room for – one or the other? Will you refuse to divorce or will you refuse to get married for the sake of the kingdom?

 

Jesus concludes v.12 saying, “the one who has the power to receive/accept literally “make space for” this, let him do so.” This idea of making space for something reminds me of a situation I found myself in yesterday: My wife and I went out on a double-date with our friends Rob and Susannah at the new Texas Roadhouse. The restaurant was packed, and the hostess waded through a sea of lunch customers to the far end of the restaurant to show us to our booth. As we approached the booth, we realized we had a challenge on our hands: There were six of us (including two babies), but the booth was clearly made to hold only four people. My wife and I were having trouble figuring out how to make enough room on our side of the table to fit the two of us plus our winter jackets and her purse. Rob had a bigger problem because he had two children that he had to figure out how to cram in there in addition to himself and his wife. Well, being the take-charge kind of guy that he is, Rob grabbed the infant carseat with a look of determination on his face and wedged the gigantic piece of plastic with the baby in it between the wall and the table. It was a really tight fit. Now, with the carseat taking up half his side of the table, there was now only room left for Susannah. Undaunted, Rob sat past the edge of the seat and leaned over the corner of the table to be part of the conversation, and then pulled up a high chair for the toddler, and so all six of us managed to wedge in. We had a delicious lunch, but we had to make room for ourselves first!

 

Can you make room for these teachings that Jesus handed to us in His word?



[1] Quoted loosely from William Hendricksen’s Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew, p.717.

[2] Notice that pantes and ois are both plural masculine, matching the plural verb chwrousin, and that the only singular noun to which dedotai can refer is logon.

[3] The analytical lexicons of W&H and Pershbacher insist that this is an active spelling.

[4] Hendriksen, p.719.