Matthew: Marriage, Divorce, Sexuality, Kids, and Jesus

Listen along as Jesus answers questions from the Pharisees about marriage and divorce which leads to a conversation on sexuality and kids.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 19:1-15

“From the very beginning.” Jesus’ phrase means that in God’s plan there has never been any other will for sexual life than the creation of one man for one woman. Indissoluble heterosexual marriage, then, is not a novelty in Jesus’ teaching, or a sudden spasm of legalism.” Dale Bruner

"When God designed the original marriage, he already had Christ and the church in mind. This is one of God’s great purposes in marriage: to picture the relationship between Christ and His redeemed people forever.” - Tim Keller

“The gospel surrounds our text. There are two great errors to avoid here: (1) teaching the present text so rigorously that the impression is left of no context of gospel whatsoever—that is, no forgiveness of sin and of sinners; and (2) diluting the present text’s high imperatives so quickly with the context’s forgiveness that repentance, faithful marriage, holy living, and honest discipleship are sabotaged. The first task for interpreters, then, is to teach the high commands of Jesus faithfully without betraying his tender mercies; in other words, to teach God’s law without canceling God’s gospel. The second, and as important task, is to preach the gospel without making Jesus’ commands meaningless.” - Dale Bruner

“My identity does not begin when I begin to understand myself. There is something previous to what I think about myself, and it is what God thinks of me." -Eugene Peterson

“I am same-sex attracted and have been my entire life. By that I mean that I have sexual, romantic and deep emotional attractions to people of the same sex. I choose to describe myself this way because sexuality is not a matter of identity for me. And that has become good news. My primary sense of worth and fulfillment as a human being is not contingent on being romantically or sexually fulfilled - and this is liberating.The most fully human and complete person who ever lived was Jesus Christ. He never married. He was never in a romantic relationship. And never had sex. If we say that these things are intrinsic to human fulfillment we are calling our Savior subhuman.” - Sam Alberry

“I don’t believe it is wise or truthful to the power of the gospel to identify oneself by the sins of one’s past or the temptations of one’s present but rather to only be defined by the Christ who’s overcome both for those He calls His own.” Jackie Hill Perry