Matthew 19:11

11 But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this saying but [those] to whom it has been given.

Matthew 19:11 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 19:11

But he said unto them
With respect to the inference or conclusion, the disciples formed from what he had asserted:

all men cannot receive this saying;
of their's, that it is not good to marry, but it is more proper and expedient to live a single life! every man, as the Syriac version renders it, is not (hl qpo) , "sufficient", or "fit", for this thing; everyone has not the gift of continency, and indeed very few; and therefore it is expedient for such to marry; for what the disciples said, though it might be true in part, yet not in the whole; and though the saying might be proper and pertinent enough to some persons, yet not to all, and indeed to none,

save they to whom it is given;
to receive such a saying, to live unmarried with content, having the gift of chastity; for this is not of nature, but of grace: it is the gift of God.

Matthew 19:11 In-Context

9 Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the basis of sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."

10 The disciples said to him, "If this is the case of a man with his wife, it would be better not to marry!"

11 But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this saying but [those] to whom it has been given.

12 For there are eunuchs who were born as such from [their] mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves [eunuchs] for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept [this], let him accept [it]."

13 Then children were brought to him so that he could lay his hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.