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Matthew 19 is the nineteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Matthew composed this Gospel. Jesus continues his final journey to Jerusalem ministering through Perea. The narrative can be divided into the following subsections:
Contents
Text
Structure
This chapter can be grouped (with cross references to other parts of the Bible):
Places
The events recorded in this chapter took place in Galilee and Judea beyond the Jordan (Perea), before Jesus and his party later enter Jericho, on their way to Jerusalem. Jesus leaves Galilee at this stage in Matthew's narrative (Matthew 19:1): the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary reflects that "few readers probably note it as the Redeemer's Farewell to Galilee". He does not return there until after his resurrection from the dead. Subsequently the announcement of the angels that Jesus has risen (Matthew 28:7), Jesus' own greeting to the women who meet him (Matthew 28:10) and the final words of Matthew's gospel, the final appearance of Jesus and his commission to "make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:19) all refer back to the Galilee which Jesus leaves at this time.
In Matthew 19:15, after blessing the little children, Jesus "departed from there", but no indication is given of where he went. The Jerusalem Bible renders this text as "[Jesus] went on his way". The Pulpit Commentary confidently asserts that at this point Jesus "set out from Peraea, journeying towards Jerusalem", and theologian John Gill agrees with this interpretation. In Matthew 19:22 the rich young man "went away" from his encounter with Jesus, leaving Jesus to speak with his disciples about the difficulty faced by "a rich man [wishing] to enter the kingdom of heaven".
Arts
The events of this chapter are combined in Rembrandt's Hundred Guilder Print.