Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven's Sake
Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven's Sake
'For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it' (Matt. 19:12)
This saying occurs in Matthew's Gospel only: it comes immediately after his version of the saying about marriage and divorce, which we have just considered. When their Master ruled out the possibility of their getting rid of their wives by divorce, the disciples suggested that, in that case, it was better not to marry. To this he replied, `Not all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given' (Matt. 19:11). This means that the only men who can successfully live a celibate life are those who have received the gift of celibacy. This context shows how the following reference to eunuchs is to be understood; it certainly shows how Matthew understood it.
The saying, as reproduced by Matthew, consists of three parts. The first two present no problem. Some men are born eunuchs, and as for being `made eunuchs by men', that was no unfamiliar practice in the ancient Near East. The hard saying is the third part: what is meant by making oneself a eunuch `for the sake of the kingdom of heaven'?
It is reported that one eminent scholar in the early Church, Origen of Alexandria (A.D. 185-254), took these words with literal seriousness in the impetuousness of youth, and performed the appropriate operation on himself.' In later life he knew better: in his commentary on Matthew's Gospel he rejects the literal interpretation of the words, while acknowledging that he once accepted it, and says that they should be understood spiritually and not `according to the flesh and the letter'.
What then did Jesus mean? These words are no more to be taken literally than his words about cutting off the hand or foot or plucking out the eye that leads one into sin. In the Jewish culture in which he lived and taught, marriage was the accepted norm, and celibacy was not held in the high esteem which it later came to enjoy in many parts of the Church. That men such as John the Baptist and himself should deny themselves the comforts of marriage and family life may well have aroused comment, and here is his answer to unspoken questions. Some men and women have abstained from marriage in order to devote themselves more wholeheartedly to the cause of the kingdom of heaven. The man who marries and brings up a family incurs special responsibilities for his wife and children: they have a major claim on his attention. Jesus indicated his attitude towards the ties of the family into which he was born when he said that anyone who did the will of God was his brother, sister or mother (Mark 3:35). It was people like these - those who had taken on themselves the yoke of the kingdom which he proclaimed - who constituted his true family. To incur the more restricted obligations which marriage and the rearing of children involved would have limited his dedication to the ministry to which he knew himself called.
At the same time, he made it plain that only a minority among his followers could `receive' this course: for most of them marriage and family life should be the norm.
Twenty-five years later the same teaching was repeated in different language by Paul. Paul himself found the celibate way of life congenial, but knew that the consequences would be disastrous if those who were not called to it tried to follow it. Hence his advice for the majority of his converts was that `each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband' - for, as he went on to say, `each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another' (1 Cor. 7:2, 7). Those whom God called to the celibate life would receive from him the `gift' of celibacy - of making themselves `eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven'.