The big picture
Marriage, children, wealth, and reward all become tests of what people think they can hold and control. Jesus answers a dispute about divorce by going behind the broadest use of a concession and returning to creation, where two become one flesh. When the disciples react by questioning marriage itself, he distinguishes forms of life without making either marriage or celibacy an easy escape from costly obligation. Children are then brought to him, and the disciples again try to control access, only to be overruled as Jesus receives and blesses them. A wealthy young man approaches with an impressive account of obedience, yet his question about what he still lacks reaches the place where possessions and allegiance meet. He leaves sorrowful because he has great possessions. Jesus follows with the camel and the eye of a needle, locating the possibility of salvation with God rather than human ability. Peter’s question about what the disciples will receive is answered with promise, but also with the unsettling reversal that many first will be last.
Central truth
Jesus overturns claims of entitlement to kingdom privilege by welcoming children, confronting the hold of wealth, defending the vineyard owner’s generosity, and defining greatness through his own self-giving service.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Matthew 19:1: “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan;”
Slow down at the turning point
Matthew 19:14: “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Keep this word trail visible
Jesus, eunuchs, good, wife, disciples, kingdom
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Matthew 19:1-12
Back to the beginning on marriage
Explain that the question "for every cause" reflects a debate of the time, where some teachers allowed divorce for almost any reason and others only for serious fault. Jesus moves the conversation behind Moses to creation, quoting Genesis 1:27 and 2:24. Explain "put asunder" as separate, and "suffered" as permitted. Read the exception of 19:9 aloud as the text gives it, and say that churches apply it and related passages in different ways; leave that to the learner's own church. Teach this step with obvious care for divorced, remarried and separated people, and for anyone who has suffered abuse in marriage.
Matthew 19:10-15
Hard sayings and welcomed children
The disciples react with alarm: "it is not good to marry". Jesus answers that not all can receive this, and speaks of eunuchs, men unable or unwilling to marry, including those who give up marriage "for the kingdom of heaven's sake". With adults, explain the term and note that single life for the kingdom is honoured here. Then the children. Place the blessing right after the marriage teaching, because the household Jesus has just defended includes them, and because the disciples again try to keep the small away.
Matthew 19:16-26
One thing he would not leave
Read the young man's question and Jesus' reply about goodness: only God is good, which turns the man from his own deeds to God. Jesus lists the commandments that concern the neighbour. The man says he has kept them. Then the call of 19:21, where "perfect" means complete or whole, not sinless. Explain the camel and the needle as a deliberate impossibility, which is why the disciples ask "Who then can be saved?" Put the weight on 19:26: salvation is God's work, and that is the only reason any rich or poor person enters.
Matthew 19:27-20:16
First and last in the vineyard
Peter asks what they will receive for leaving all. Jesus promises thrones and a hundredfold, then adds "many that are first shall be last". The parable explains that saying; notice that 19:30 and 20:16 frame it. Explain the hours: the third hour is about nine in the morning and the eleventh about five in the afternoon, one hour before work ended. A penny was a fair day's wage. Teach the parable as being about the owner's goodness, and let learners feel the early workers' complaint before showing why it is wrong.
Matthew 20:17-28
The cup and the ransom
Read the third announcement of the Passion, the fullest so far. Then the request for the seats. Explain the cup as an image of suffering under God's judgement, as in Isaiah 51:17, and baptism as being overwhelmed. James and John say "We are able", and Jesus tells them they will indeed share his cup. Then his teaching on greatness: the rulers of the nations lord it over others, "But it shall not be so among you". Explain "ransom" as the price paid to set captives free, and "for many" as the countless who benefit from one life given.
Matthew 20:29-34
Two blind men see
Close the unit outside Jericho, on the road to Jerusalem. The two men call Jesus "Son of David", the royal title, while the disciples still struggle to see what kind of king he is. Jesus asks them the same question he asked the mother in 20:21, what they want. Their answer is sight, and they receive it and follow him. Teach this last because it rounds off two chapters about who sees rightly: children, the last and the blind receive, while the rich, the first and the ambitious stumble.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
"Jesus was harsh on divorced people, so there is no place for them in the church."
Jesus is answering men who wanted an easy way to put away their wives "for every cause" (19:3), a practice that left women without protection. His words defend marriage and the weaker party in it. The same Gospel shows him calling sinners and publicans to eat with him (9:10-13). Teach God's design clearly and welcome every divorced person in the room as someone Jesus calls, leaving the details of their own case to their pastor.
"Moses commanded divorce, so God approves of it."
The Pharisees ask "Why did Moses then command", but Jesus corrects the verb: Moses "suffered you to put away your wives" because of the hardness of their hearts (19:7-8). Deuteronomy 24:1-4 regulates a practice already happening to limit its damage. Jesus places God's intention earlier: "from the beginning it was not so". A concession to sin is not the same as God's design.
"Jesus wants everyone to sell everything they own."
Jesus gives this command to one man whose possessions held him (19:21-22). Matthew elsewhere shows disciples who own homes, such as Peter's house in 8:14, and a rich man, Joseph of Arimathaea, who serves Jesus in 27:57. What applies to all is the warning of 19:23-24 and the call to follow. Ask learners what they would refuse to leave if Jesus asked, rather than issuing one rule for every life.
"The vineyard parable is unfair, because the owner should pay by the hour."
The first workers receive exactly what they agreed to (20:2, 20:13). No one is cheated; some are given more than they earned. The owner asks "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?" (20:15). The parable is not an employment policy but a picture of grace, where God gives the kingdom to latecomers as freely as to the first.
"James and John's mother was a pushy woman, so the problem was hers."
Matthew records that she came "with her sons" (20:20), and Jesus answers them directly: "Are ye able to drink of the cup" (20:22). The other ten are angry at "the two brethren" (20:24), not at her. All twelve need the teaching of 20:25-28 about service. Notice too that she appears again in 27:56, standing near the cross when most of the disciples had fled.
Learning objectives
- Distinguish creation’s marriage pattern from the concession discussed by Moses.
- Explain why the disciples must not obstruct the children.
- Identify the obstacle exposed in the rich young man’s response.
- Explain the first workers’ complaint and the owner’s answer.
- Compare the request for honour with Jesus’ definition of greatness.
- Describe the blind men’s appeal and subsequent following.
Teacher preparation
- Read Matthew 19–20; mark 19:30 and 20:16 as the labourers’ first-and-last frame.
- Read Genesis 1:27; 2:24 and Deuteronomy 24:1–4 for the marriage dispute; distinguish command, concession, and debated application.
- Explain voluntary singleness in 19:12 without presenting bodily injury as an instruction.
- Gloss penny as the agreed daily wage in 20:2, minister as servant, and ransom as release-price.
- Prepare fictional cases about marriage and possessions without requesting marital histories, income, or judgments about learners’ families.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Identify the children’s welcome, the rich man’s sorrow, equal wages, and the servant definition of greatness in Matthew 19:14, 22 and 20:9–15, 26–28.
Scripture-supported
Compare Matthew 19:4–6 with Genesis 1:27 and 2:24; Jesus explicitly grounds his answer in creation.
Strong inference
Set Matthew 19:30 beside 20:16; infer that the labourers’ parable challenges the entitlement implicit in comparing rewards.
Possible or traditional reading
Acknowledge differing interpretations of the exception in Matthew 19:9 and its relation to remarriage; do not turn a classroom overview into a verdict on an individual case.
Limit
State that Matthew 19:24 names a camel and a needle’s eye, not a city gate, and 20:1–16 does not establish a universal wage policy.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. How does Jesus distinguish the beginning from Moses’ concession in the divorce dispute?
What a good answer contains
The Pharisees ask whether a man may divorce "for every cause" (19:3). Jesus answers from Genesis before Moses: God "made them male and female" and the two "shall be one flesh", so "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (19:4-6). When they cite Moses, Jesus calls the bill of divorce a permission given "because of the hardness of your hearts", adding "from the beginning it was not so" (19:8). A good answer separates God's design from a concession to sin, and reports the exception of 19:9, "except it be for fornication", without settling how every tradition applies it.
Show teacher guidance
Trace 19:3–9 through creation, one flesh, and hardness of heart. Preserve the exception wording and its debated application; do not resolve a learner’s personal marriage circumstances from the classroom floor.
2. What correction do the disciples receive when children are brought to Jesus?
What a good answer contains
The disciples rebuke the people bringing the children (19:13), perhaps thinking Jesus has weightier business after the marriage debate. Jesus overrules them: "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven" (19:14), and he lays his hands on them. A good answer notices that "suffer" means allow, and that the disciples have forgotten 18:1-5 within a chapter. A weak answer makes the kingdom belong to children because they are good, when the text says it belongs to such as these, the ones who come with nothing.
Show teacher guidance
Read 19:13–15: they rebuke those bringing them, but Jesus permits the children and blesses them. Do not imply that importance must be earned before someone may approach.
3. What does the young man’s sorrow expose after his question about eternal life?
What a good answer contains
He asks what "good thing" he must do (19:16), claims to have kept the commandments "from my youth up" and asks "what lack I yet?" (19:20). Jesus' answer finds the place where his heart is held: "go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor", then "come and follow me" (19:21). He goes away sorrowful, "for he had great possessions" (19:22). A good answer says his wealth was the thing he would not leave to follow, and finishes with 19:26: "with God all things are possible". A weak answer explains away the camel and the needle with a gate the text never mentions.
Show teacher guidance
Use 19:16–26: the call to sell, give, and follow meets his attachment to possessions. Include the disciples’ astonishment and God’s possibility; do not replace the needle with an unmentioned gate.
4. Were the first vineyard workers paid less than the owner promised?
What a good answer contains
No. They "agreed with the labourers for a penny a day" (20:2) and they were paid "every man a penny" (20:10). Their complaint is "thou hast made them equal unto us" (20:12), and the owner answers "Friend, I do thee no wrong" (20:13) and asks "Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" (20:15). A good answer names the problem as comparison and resentment at generosity, not injustice. It also ties the parable to Peter's question in 19:27 and the saying on both sides of it that the first shall be last.
Show teacher guidance
Compare 20:2 with 10–15: they receive the agreed amount but resent equal generosity to others. The complaint concerns comparison, not an unpaid wage; keep the owner’s answer in view.
5. Why does the request for the two honoured seats sit uneasily after 20:17–19?
What a good answer contains
Because Jesus has just described his death in the plainest words yet: betrayed, condemned, mocked, scourged, crucified, raised the third day (20:18-19). The very next scene is a mother asking for her sons to sit "the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left" (20:21). Jesus answers "Ye know not what ye ask" and speaks of his cup (20:22). The ten are indignant (20:24), which shows they wanted the same seats. A good answer ends at 20:28, the Son of man who came "to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many", and notices who in 27:38 is actually crucified at his right and left.
Show teacher guidance
Compare the announced suffering with 20:20–28. Jesus directs attention from rank to service and his life given as ransom; the other ten’s indignation does not prove their motives are better.
6. How do the two blind men respond differently from those trying to silence them?
What a good answer contains
The crowd tells them to be quiet, and "they cried the more" (20:31), using the royal title "thou Son of David". Jesus stands still, calls them and asks "What will ye that I shall do unto you?" (20:32). He has "compassion on them", touches their eyes, and "they followed him" (20:34). A good answer contrasts their request with the request of 20:21: the brothers asked for seats, the blind men for mercy and sight. Keep Matthew's two men; do not replace them with one named man from another Gospel.
Show teacher guidance
Read 20:29–34: they persist in appealing to the Son of David, receive compassion and sight, and follow. Retain Matthew’s two men rather than importing a named individual from another account.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Ask an imaginary early worker to distinguish receiving what was promised from resenting another person’s generosity.
Relationships and community
Revise a fictional welcome practice that gives attention only to influential people, using the children and the roadside petitioners.
Greatness expressed as service
Draft a role description for an invented group leader based on Matthew 20:26–28 rather than access to the best seat.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
From the beginning
Read 19:3-9. Take question one and confusion two. State the exception as written and say churches apply it differently.
Children welcomed
Read 19:13-15 and question two.
The rich young man
Read 19:16-26. Take question three and confusion three. End on 19:26.
The vineyard
Read 19:27-20:16 and take question four with confusion four.
Seats and service
Read 20:17-34. Take questions five and six, contrasting the two requests.
Handout
Read the key verse together and ask each learner to name one way to serve before next week.
90 minutes
Opening
Ask what makes someone important in the world's eyes. List the answers and keep them for the end.
Marriage and the beginning
Read 19:1-12 with Genesis 2:24 and Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Take question one and confusions one and two. Speak gently and do not invite personal disclosure.
The children
Read 19:13-15 with 18:1-5 and take question two.
Riches and the impossible
Read 19:16-26. Take question three and confusion three. Ask what would be hardest for the group to leave.
The generous owner
Read 19:27-20:16. Act out the payment from last to first. Take question four and confusion four.
The cup and the ransom
Read 20:17-28 and 27:38. Take question five and confusion five. Return to the opening list.
Sight on the road
Read 20:29-34 and take question six. Ask what the blind men saw that others missed.
Application and prayer
In pairs, draft the role description from the application on greatness as service, then read the key verse and pray.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Leave the divorce dispute and the eunuch saying out. Begin with 19:13-15: have a child pretend to be sent away, then welcomed. Act out the vineyard with paper coins, paying everyone the same, and ask how the first workers felt and why the owner was kind. End with the blind men calling out louder when told to hush, and Jesus stopping for them.
Youth
Use the rich young man as the centre: ask what one thing their generation finds hardest to give up for God. Let them argue the vineyard parable's fairness before reading 20:13-15. On marriage, teach the design of 19:4-6 plainly, with compassion for those whose parents have divorced, and never single anyone out. Close on 20:26-28 and greatness as service.
Adults
Give the marriage passage time, with Genesis and Deuteronomy open, and present the main ways churches read the exception without pressing one. Be alert to divorced, remarried and separated adults, and to anyone who has suffered abuse; offer pastoral follow-up rather than discussion of cases. Then let the rich young man and the request for seats address money and ambition directly.
One to one
Let the person choose which scene speaks to them most. If it is marriage and they carry pain from a divorce, read 19:4-6 as God's good intention and assure them that Jesus welcomes them, and refer specific questions to their pastor. If it is wealth or ambition, read 19:26 and 20:28 together and pray for freedom to follow.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Matthew 19–20
The passage in brief
Pharisees test Jesus on divorce, and he points them back to God's design at creation: what God joins, man must not separate. He welcomes little children and blesses them. A rich young man asks how to gain eternal life but goes away sad when told to sell his possessions and follow. Jesus tells of a vineyard owner who pays the last workers as much as the first. He speaks again of his death, teaches that greatness means serving, and gives sight to two blind men near Jericho.
A verse to keep
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:28 · King James Version
Questions to take home
Where does Jesus go back to when he answers the question on divorce in 19:4-6?
Why did the young man go away sorrowful in 19:22?
What does Jesus say about greatness in 20:26-27?
This week
Do one hidden act of service this week for someone who cannot repay you.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
HosannaMatthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19Listen to related music →
A Stone at the DoorMatthew 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42Listen to related music →
It Is FinishedMatthew 27:32-56; Mark 15:21-41; Luke 23:26-49; John 19:16-37Listen to related music →A House of PrayerMatthew 21:12-23:39; Mark 11:12-12:44; Luke 19:45-21:4Listen to related music →