A Progression of Companionship
February 28, 2023
Matthew 19:1-12 | Genesis 2:15-25 | Gospels in Lent Track: Mark 15-161
Wow. There’s a lot here today.
Let’s just consider the progression of companionship for a moment. In Genesis, the Lord God saw it wasn’t good for a human to be alone. So God first gave the animals. But then a woman was found to be better suited than any animal. And it ends with the note that at this point, the nakedness of bodies was nothing to them.
Then in Matthew, Jesus explained the arise of divorce, certainly not within the original intentions for the marriage covenant, yet given allowance considering certain circumstances (sexual unfaithfulness). Beyond scripture, many (but not all) corners of the Christian Church have gone even further in understanding divorce than those circumstances provided by Jesus.
As we journey through Matthew, we continue to see that as sinfulness widens beyond the preconceived boundaries of the Law, God’s grace abounds even further.
In the midst of it all, Jesus tosses out a difficult teaching concerning eunuchs that many corners of the Church have barely even begun to touch.2 He says that men have lost or been without genitalia for a variety of reasons: they were born that way, became so due to the hands of others, or made themselves that way by their own decision…for the sake of the Kingdom! Perhaps “being born that way” isn’t as clear cut as I might have thought.
Again…the grace of God abounds beyond our preconceived boundaries. So help us to accept it indeed, God.
Matthew 19:1-12
When Jesus finished saying these things, he left Galilee and came to the area of Judea on the east side of the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them. Some Pharisees came to him. In order to test him, they said, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
Jesus answered, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the creator made them male and female? And God said, ‘Because of this a man should leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife, and the two will be one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, humans must not pull apart what God has put together.”
The Pharisees said to him, “Then why did Moses command us to give a divorce certificate and divorce her?”
Jesus replied, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because your hearts are unyielding. But it wasn’t that way from the beginning. I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him, “If that’s the way things are between a man and his wife, then it’s better not to marry.”
He replied, “Not everybody can accept this teaching, but only those who have received the ability to accept it. For there are eunuchs who have been eunuchs from birth. And there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by other people. And there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs because of the kingdom of heaven. Those who can accept it should accept it.”
Genesis 2:15-25
The Lord God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it. The Lord God commanded the human, “Eat your fill from all of the garden’s trees; but don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because on the day you eat from it, you will die!” Then the Lord God said, “It’s not good that the human is alone. I will make him a helper that is perfect for him.” So the Lord God formed from the fertile land all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky and brought them to the human to see what he would name them. The human gave each living being its name. The human named all the livestock, all the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals. But a helper perfect for him was nowhere to be found.
So the Lord God put the human into a deep and heavy sleep, and took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh over it. With the rib taken from the human, the Lord God fashioned a woman and brought her to the human being. The human said,
“This one finally is bone from my bones
and flesh from my flesh.
She will be called a woman
because from a man she was taken.”
This is the reason that a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife, and they become one flesh. The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they weren’t embarrassed.
Prayer
God,
I can be a truly bigoted person. Honestly, I feel like it’s kind of your fault though. You’ve set boundaries. Or at least, I’m pretty sure you have. I believe that you are a holy God, detesting any sinfulness that would harm your creation (not the least of which is humans). There are things I deem as harmful to humanity that you have allowed for one reason or another (perhaps even to reduce further harm?), be it divorce or sickness or natural disaster. I often just do. not. get. it.
I’m not sure I could handle the totality of your perspective on these things. I think my heart would be rendered asunder into a million pieces. So instead of full understanding, I ask for your full grace.
Give me your grace for situations I do not understand and for decisions others make that I wouldn’t. I don’t just want grace though, God. Help me to love, to see as equal, to accept as human.
I guess I’m asking for you to help me be like Jesus.
By your Spirit & in his name,
Amen.
Congratulations for making it through the first gospel!
A eunuch was a male who had been castrated.