Chapter 19

Chapter 19. — On Those Who Asked Whether it is Lawful to Put Away One’s Wife. On the Rich Man Who Questioned Jesus

¹ And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that he departed from Galilee, and came into the borders of Judea beyond the Jordan; and great crowds followed him, and he healed them there. Again he sojourns in Judea, that the unbelievers among those in Judea might have no excuse to say: “He did not dwell among us more constantly, but among the Galileans.” Again, then, after the teaching and the finishing of the discourses, the miracles follow. For we must both teach and also act; but the foolish Pharisees, having seen the miracles, when they ought to have believed, rather tempt [him]; for listen.

² And the Pharisees came to him, tempting him, and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said to them: Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female? and he said: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Oh, the folly! They sought to silence Christ by their questions; for if he should say that it is lawful to put away one’s wife for every cause, they would be able to say to him: “How then did you say that no one is to put away [his wife] except [for] adultery only?” But if he should say that it is not lawful to put away one’s wife, they would slander him as legislating against Moses. For that man commanded that the hated [wife] be sent away, even without a reasonable cause. What then does Christ do? He shows that monogamy is the work and the legislation of him who formed us from the beginning. For from the beginning, he says, God joined one [man] to one [woman]; so that one man ought not to be joined to many [women], nor one [woman] to many [men], but, as they were joined from the beginning, so to remain, not rending apart the cohabitation without reason. And he did not say, “I made them male and female,” lest he wound them, but indefinitely, “He who made them.” Thus, then, he says, is the good of marriage so earnestly sought by God, that he even permitted [men] to leave their parents and cleave to their wives. But how is it that in Genesis it is written that Adam spoke the [words], “For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother,” whereas here Christ says that God said, “For this cause shall a man leave,” and so forth? We say, then, that what Adam said, he said from God; so that Adam’s word is the word of God. Since, then, those who are joined become one flesh both through their union and through natural affection, just as it is unholy to cut one’s own flesh, so also to rend apart those who are joined. And he did not say, “Let not Moses put asunder,” lest he disturb them, but simply, “man,” showing the difference between God who joins and man who dissolves. And understand this also, that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit, and a marriage comes to be for the believer with Christ. For we are all become of one body with him, and are members severally of Christ. Rightly, then, can no one separate such a union, according to the word of Paul, who says: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? What therefore God has joined together, neither man, nor any other creature, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, as Paul says, are able to put asunder.

³ They say to him: Why then did Moses command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He says to them: Moses, because of your hardness of heart, permitted you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you that whoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is put away commits adultery. The Pharisees, seeing that the Lord had silenced them, were then constrained, and they bring forward Moses as legislating against Christ, and they say: “How then did Moses command that a writing of divorcement be given, and that [a man] put away [his wife]?” The Lord, then, turning the whole of the accusation back upon their own head, makes a defense on Moses’ behalf, and says: “Moses, in giving this legislation, does not say it in opposition to God, but he legislated this with a view to your wickedness; that, wishing through licentiousness to be with others, you might not do away with your former wives. For being savage men, they would have murdered their wives, had they been compelled to keep them. But now he commanded that a writing of divorcement be given to those wives who were hated by their husbands. But I say to you,” he says, “that it is good to put away the wife who has committed fornication, as an adulteress; but if one puts away her who has not committed fornication, he becomes the cause of adultery in her.”

⁴ His disciples say to him: If the case of a man with his wife is so, it is not expedient to marry. The disciples are troubled, and they say that “If they were joined together for this purpose, that they might be one and remain inseparable throughout the whole of life, so that even if the wife should otherwise be wicked, [a man] should not dare to put her away, it is not expedient to marry; for it is lighter not to marry, but to fight and wrestle with natural desires, than to endure a wicked wife.” For by “the case of a man with his wife” he means the inseparable union. But some understand it thus also: that “If the case of the man is so”—that is, if the man is going to incur a charge, namely blame and accusation, as putting away his wife unlawfully—it is not expedient to marry.

⁵ But he said to them: Not all receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. Since the disciples had said that it is better not to come to marriage, the Lord says that virginity is indeed a great thing, but not achievable by all, but only by those whom God helps. For the [word] “it is given” stands here for “those whom God helps.” And it is given to those who ask. For ask, he says, and it shall be given to you. For everyone that asks receives.

⁶ 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 sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it. Of few, he says, is this achievement of virginity. For there are some eunuchs from their mother’s womb—that is, there are some who, from their natural constitution, remain unmoved toward union, and who are chaste without [any] gain [of merit]. And there are those made eunuchs by men; but those who make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven are not those who mutilate themselves—for that is accursed—but those who exercise self-control. And understand it also thus: there is the eunuch by nature, who because of his natural constitution is not easily moved to sexual things; and one is made a eunuch by men who, through human teaching, cuts off the burning of fleshly desire; and one makes himself a eunuch who is taught not by another, but by himself, and of his own learning inclines toward chastity. This one, then, is also the best—he who is guided to the kingdom of heaven not by another, but by himself. And wishing virtue to be wrought in us by [free] choice, he says: He who is able to receive it, let him receive it. For he does not compel [men] to be virgins, nor does he abolish marriage, but he sets virginity before [them].

⁷ Then little children were brought to him, that he might lay his hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them; but Jesus said: Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Mothers were bringing their children, that they might be blessed through the touch of his hands. But they came in a disorderly and tumultuous manner, and for this reason the disciples forbid them, at the same time also supposing that the dignity of the Teacher was diminished by the bringing of little children. Christ, then, showing that he rather welcomes the unpretentious, says, Suffer the little children; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. He did not say “of these,” but “of such”—that is, of those who have simplicity, who are guileless, who are without malice. And even if someone is teaching, and some come to him asking childlike questions, let him welcome these, and not forbid them.

⁸ And having laid his hands on them, he departed thence. And behold, one came and said to him: Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said to him: Why do you call me good? None is good, save one, God. This man did not come as one tempting, but as one wishing to learn, and thirsting for eternal life; but he came to Christ as to a mere man. For this reason the Lord says: “Why do you call me good? None is good save one, God”—that is, “If you call me good as [you would call] one of the teachers, you speak ill; for no man is good in the strict sense; partly because we are changeable, turning away from the good; and partly because human [goodness], when compared to the goodness of God, is reckoned as wickedness.”

⁹ But if you would enter into life, keep the commandments. He says to him: Which? And Jesus said: You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The Lord refers the questioner to the commandments of the law, that the Jews might not be able to say that he despises the law.

¹⁰ The young man says to him: All these have I kept from my youth. What do I yet lack? Some accuse this man as a boaster and braggart. For how had he achieved the love of his neighbor, if he was rich? for no one who loves his neighbor as himself is richer than his neighbor; and every man is [our] neighbor. But some understand it thus: “Suppose,” he says, “that I have kept all these; what do I yet lack?”

¹¹ Jesus said to him: If you would be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. But when the young man heard the saying, he went away grieved; for he had many possessions. “When you said that you had kept [these things],” he says, “you kept them in the Jewish manner; but if you would be perfect—that is, be my disciple and a Christian—go, sell what you have, and give it all at once together, holding nothing back, that you may make your almsgiving unceasing.” For he did not say, “Give to the poor,” but, “Give once for all and strip yourself bare.” Then, since there are some who give alms, yet have a life full of all filth, he says: “And come, follow me”—that is, “Have also all the rest of virtue.” The young man, however, was grieved; for he did indeed desire [it], and the earth of his heart was deep and rich, but the thorns of riches were choking it; for he had, it says, many possessions. For he who has little is not held fast by them in the same way; for in great [possessions] the bond is more tyrannical. And since the Lord was conversing with a rich man, he says, “You shall have treasure in heaven,” because he was a lover of money.

¹² And Jesus said to his disciples: Verily I say to you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. As long as one is rich, and himself has superfluities while others lack even necessities, he shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven. But when he has shaken off everything, then he is no longer rich, and thereafter he shall enter. For it is impossible for one who has much to enter, just as it is impossible for the camel to pass through the eye of a needle. See, then, how above he said that to enter is difficult, but here [that it is] altogether impossible. Some, however, say that the “camel” is not the animal, but the thick rope which sailors use for casting their anchors.

¹³ And when his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly astonished, saying: Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked upon them and said to them: With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. The disciples, being lovers of mankind, ask not on their own behalf—for they were poor—but on behalf of all men. The Lord, then, teaches [us] not to measure salvation by human weakness, but by the power of God. For if one begins not to be grasping, he will advance also to the giving away of his superfluities, and from this he will proceed also to the emptying out of his necessities, and so he will be prospered by the help of God.

¹⁴ Then Peter answered and said to him: Behold, we have left all and followed you; what then shall we have? Even if Peter seems to have left nothing great, as being poor, yet know that he too in fact left many things. For we men have, in a manner, more in our few things; but Peter also disregarded all worldly pleasure, and the love of the flesh toward his parents. For these passions wage war not only against the rich, but also against the poor.

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them: Verily I say to you, that you who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Will they then sit? No; rather, he indicated the surpassing honor by the [image of the] seat. Will Judas, then, also sit? No. For he said “those who have followed”—that is, those [who followed] to the end; but that man [did] not [follow] to the end. Besides, God often promises good things to certain men who are worthy. But when they change and become unworthy, he takes the things away. And likewise in the case of more grievous [threats], he often threatens and does not carry out [the threat], when we have changed. And by “regeneration” understand the resurrection.

¹⁶ And everyone who has left houses, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or wife or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life. Lest anyone suppose that what was said applies only to the disciples, he extended the promise to all who do the like. For they shall have, in place of kinsmen according to the flesh, intimacy with God and the brotherhood; and in place of lands, paradise; and in place of houses of stone, the Jerusalem above; in place of a mother, the elder women in the Church; in place of a father, the presbyters; in place of a wife, all the faithful women—not by marriage, far from it!—but by a spiritual disposition and relationship, and by a loving care toward them. The Lord does not command [us] to separate from our own kindred simply, but only when they hinder [us] from piety. Just as he also commands [us] to despise both soul and body, yet not so as to kill ourselves. And see that God, being good, gives not these things only, but adds eternal life as well. Be diligent, then, you also, to sell what you have, and to give to the poor. And your possessions are, for the wrathful man, his wrath; for the adulterer, the adulterous disposition; for the malicious man, his malice. Sell these, then, and give them to the poor demons, who are destitute of all good. Turn the passions back upon the makers of the passions; you will find Christ in your heaven—that is, in your mind—such as is the heavenly One.

¹⁷ But many that are first shall be last, and the last first. Here he hints at the Jews and the Gentiles. For the former, being first, became last, while we Gentiles, being last, were established as first; and that you may clearly learn what is said, he joins to it also the parable that follows.