Matthew 19:10-12
What an interesting passage. Paul takes a whack at this over in 1 Corinthians 7:6-7. Neither place says that marriage is bad or sinful, just that there's something to NOT being married and that few can handle that. Paul even says that the single life (for spiritual reasons) is a spiritual gift. Jesus said that only those to whom this call is given can handle it.
There were, for example, eunuchs by force, eunuchs by choice, and eunuchs by choice of the Kingdom life.
My devotional meditation here is causing me to go in a very broad direction with this text. The subject here is marriage purity. Jesus responds to the disciples response concerning the subject, making this statement about the eunuchs. I think the different eunuchs could be described like this: Some accept their mutilation as a complete tragedy that happened to them. It wasn't their choice; this cruel, cruel world has forced this upon them. Some accept their mutilation as a complete opportunity for self-promotion. Eunuchs served royalty. Self-mutilation for these eunuchs was merely part of their kingdom agenda. Some, however, were Kingdom seekers. They were eunuchs based upon God's call upon them to lifelong chastity. For the sake of the Kingdom, they died to self and bore the cross of Christ and waved the banner of God's Kingdom (I realize Christ hasn't been crucified yet in Matthew, so that last statement isn't quite right, but I do think that's the lesson Christ is trying to teach the disciples.)
The point: there is a Kingdom call upon our lives. There is something, I believe, we each are called to accept for the sake of the Kingdom. There are things in our life we can blame on the world. There are things in our life we can allow for the promotion of our own agendas. Or, there are things presented to us that we can accept for the sake of the Kingdom!
Painful? Every guy reading this has their legs crossed! In fact, to take the Kingdom Way pretty much guarantees exactly the opposite of what the health-n-wealth, name-it-n-claim-it preachers will tell you. But it's the Kingdom call, nonetheless.
Interesting. Jesus said, "Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given." God's Kingdom "gift" might not always be pleasant, but the most wonderful way for us to display the Kingdom in our lives--and in return accept the abundance of the Kingdom! Only in Christ can that statement not be contradictory.
What must you accept right now for the sake of the Kingdom? What must you accept so that others around you can see in you the banner of the Kingdom flying high and proud from atop your cross?
