What did Jesus mean when .......

It doesn't matter what He meant because some here have seemingly discarded the book of Matthew in deference to Paul's Epistles, in particular, Verse 9. :BangHead:

I looked out on the Internet and this passage is used by the homose***l crowd to justify their lifestyle. Of course, we know this is not what Jesus meant.

Okay, back to the laundry....

 

John Calvin

 

A couple of things He is saying, divorce is because of the hardness of heart, and either party remarrying is adultry. Unless one wants to be guilty of adultry before God then they can not marry another after a divorce.

 

Consider Origen (c.185-c.254AD) of
Alexandrian. People who think they take
the Bible more literally than others condemn
Origen for saying that there is much in the
Bible which can only be understood
on a spiritual level.

1 Co 2:14 (KJV1611 Edition):
But the naturall man receiueth not the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishnesse
vnto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.

Back in his day, a person prosessing faith
in Messiah Yeshua were trained in The Faith
for two years before they were Baptized
(some were martyred prior to Baptism, blowing
the concept you have to do the Work of Baptistm
to get saved.) Origen was a Training Mentor for
new Converts.

When Origen came of age, he literally took
these verses:

Mat 18:89 (KJV1611 Editiion):
Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foote cause thee
to offend, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better
for thee to enter into life, halt, or maimed, then hauing
two hands, or two feete, to be cast into euerlasting fire.
9 And if thine eye cause thee to offende, plucke it out,
and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter
into life with one eye, then hauing two eyes
to be cast into hell fire.

See also this scripture:
Mat 19:11-12 (Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition)
But he sayd vnto them, All men cannot receiue this thing, saue they to whom it is giuen.
12 For there are some eunuches, which were so borne of their mothers belly: and there be some eunuches, which be gelded by men: and there be some eunuches, which haue gelded them selues for the kingdome of heauen. He that is able to receiue this, let him receiue it.

We are talking about a sacrifice here - not an offering! 'Geld' means physical castration. 'Eunuch' means a male who has been physically castrated.


Origen had his sexual members surgically removed
so he would be more interested in Serving
Messiah Yeshua than chasing women.
I really think Origen is condemned for being
way to literal but the words used to condemn
him say things like this passage from the Dictionary
of Premillennial Theology (Kregel, 1996):

 

Good post, Ed. :thumbs:

 

IMHO the more important phrase is the last one "some have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of God". It doesn't mean take a scythe and hack the thing away, otherwise Jesus might as well said Go as they do for Molech with your children.

It means there are those who have sacrificed earthly pleasures for the sake of service in the kingdom of God. This is where the Catholics base their "vow of celibacy" and I think they have the zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

Paul was able to make himself a eunuch by beating his body (a phrase he used in one of his letters).

Unfortunately the numbers of people willing to do that (deny themselves their normal biological desires for the sake of service to God) are dwindling especially in our times when it's basically "my, me, mine, and I, myself, number one" that counts, and all the feel good about yourself because God loves you preaching doesn't help any.