Don't look at the eunuch

There is an exchange in Matthew 19:1-12, which is not a parable, yet deserves our attention. I say this because I am engaged in a quest of sorts. It is a quest for definition and meaning. The search is on for a better understanding. Now, the exchange concerns divorce, adultery, and the sexual abstinence of men. It runs like this: the Pharisees grill Jesus on the issue of divorce. They seek to trap him in legal nit-picking. He tells them, “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.”

But, the Pharisees are unwilling to hear the truth, so they continue to argue the point. Why then, they ask, did Moses allow it? Jesus answered that it was because of the hardness of the hearts of men, but it was not so from the beginning. The only just cause they had for putting away a wife was the discovery of adultery. Note that Christ did not suggest she be stoned. In fact, what he told them was that the danger of adultery existed in their inclinations toward divorce.

Divorce posed two dilemmas. The first was that another man was caused to commit adultery for marrying the divorced adulteress. Such a past could remain covered as the woman sought the security of a stable life. Second was that if the woman was not guilty of adultery but was divorced anyway, and the man remarried, the man committed adultery because, in the eyes of God, he was still one with the wife he put away.

Enter the disciples. They figure that if a man runs such a high risk of falling out of God's favor, then he should just not marry. He should make God his choice and leave the women alone altogether. I don't doubt that they were amazed by the whole exchange. The truth seemed to make the institution of marriage a bit more dark and gloomy. So then we come to the point of this study.

Jesus talks about the eunuch. However, the eunuch is not the point I wish to bring up. Don't look at the eunuch. Someone like the apostle Paul will pick up on that. Rather I wish to draw attention to two statements the Christ makes in relation to the non-relation. Suffice it to say that there are reasons why a man might abstain from congress with a woman. We'll leave the issue of being a eunuch as the odd bit of trivia mostly unrelated to modern practice. Again I say, do not look at the eunuch.

These are the two statements of interest:
One, “All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.” (See verse 11)
Two, “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” (See verse 12)

For all the reasons why a man might not be with a woman, there are still plenty of reasons for a man to be one with his wife – as God intended. Now, society might place the having of children as the top reason, but I dare say that God would place love in the number one slot. Children, while important in their own right, are a natural extension of the institution of marriage. Love must be first.

So obviously, all men cannot receive the saying. But – those who can receive it, they are the ones to whom it is given. It is meant for them. They are open to that particular avenue. And – it is not like they are doomed to some sad life that saps their very will to persevere. They can receive it because they are prepared for it. They are strong enough for it. We see in this that the Almighty never intended for everyone to be exactly the same.

Some people are just different. That should be respected. There are many places in life that are different, and that require different sorts of people to fill them. Diversity is a personal choice of God. He doesn't want everyone to marry, or have children. He doesn't give everyone a tongue to pray with, or eyes to see why he is so worthy of our praise. He does not want everyone to be a Christian, or a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, etc. He doesn't want everyone to believe, and as unbelievable as that may sound for the believers, God has made a place for those who will not, or can not.

I can see the whole of us as a clock. We are the gears that click and turn. Some of us are small, some large. Some of us spin faster than some others of us. Some of us turn a different way – but the whole contraption works, and that is what God wants. There is a force, a tension, between the differences that keeps it all ticking.

If all of us were eunuchs, life would grind to a halt. So, don't look at the eunuch. If all of us were Muslims, life would grind to a halt. So, don't look at the Muslim. For that matter, don't look at the Christian or the Jew. Don't pay any special attention to the complaints you perceive in yourself, and don't exalt yourself unduly. You fill the spot that God gave you. You understand the message he has crafted for you. Don't try to manipulate the world around you, to remove or to change the things that trouble you.

Seek a personal relationship with your God, and while that remains unresolved, live the life you have, love the one you are with. Make yourself useful, and allow the light of virtue and truth that is in you to inspire others. Resist fear and terror; exalt love.