Wednesday, 22 April 2026
And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ Matthew 19:4
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“And answering them, He said to them, ‘Not you have read that the ‘having made’ them, from the commencement, male and female, He made them?’” (CG)
In the previous verse, the Pharisees came to Jesus asking about divorce. His response is next detailed, beginning with, “And answering them, He said to them, ‘Not you have read.’”
Instead of simply answering the question outright, as if on His own cognition, separate from an external authority, He appeals to something already written and what should obviously be known to those He is answering. The appeal concerning what is written is “that the ‘having made’ them.”
The implied, but unstated thought is, “the One having made them.” In other words, Jesus refers to the account of man’s creation. For the Jewish nation, that account is carefully detailed in Genesis 1 with supplemental information about day six of creation in Genesis 2. Having said that, Jesus continues with, “from the commencement.”
A new word is seen, arché, commencement. It is derived from the verb archomai, to commence. HELPS Word Studies says it is, “‘the initial (starting) point’; (figuratively) what comes first and therefore is chief (foremost), i.e. has the priority because ahead of the rest (‘preeminent’).”
Jesus does not divert from the fact that there was a beginning to man’s existence. In other words, He takes it as axiomatic that the Genesis narrative is true, accurate, and reliable for reference, doctrine, and defense concerning its presentation. At the beginning of their time, Jesus proclaims, “male and female He made them?”
Jesus upholds the creation of man as being divided into two classes, male and female. Everything else beyond that is later divisions according to the movement of humanity as they interact with one another and the world in which they live. This is fully supported by Paul’s words in Acts 17 –
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’” Acts 17:26-28
Life application: Taking just this one verse spoken by Jesus, all long-term creation accounts, from a true Christian perspective, are shown to be false. Further, evolution is likewise denied by Scripture as a possible scenario for the world and life on it. If one is to claim to follow Jesus as Lord, then accepting His words as true and reliable (because He is the Lord God) is a mandatory requirement, not an optional “pick and choose” concerning what one will believe.
Jesus appeals to Genesis as authoritative. He appeals to creation as it is recorded in that authoritative book. He appeals to the fact that man had a commencement within that creation and that the creation of man and woman as representatives of all humanity is what God has done.
Because of this, any Christian creation model that does not adhere to a literal six-day creation must be tossed out. Any creation model that allows for the evolution of man must be cast away. Any creation model that claims there are more than two sexes must be chucked into the rubbish bin, etc.
One cannot claim adherence to the word of God while denying the words of God. As Jesus is God, to deny or attempt to dismiss as literal what He says is to assume authority over His word and thus over Him. That is not a healthy place to be when we all must give an account for our lives before Him someday.
Think reasonably! God has presented to us what He has done and is doing in the affairs of creation. As this is so, we should take what He has said as being literal, true, and reliable.
Lord God, though there is much confusion about the creation of the universe, our world, and humanity on this world, from a biblical perspective, there should be none. You have spoken, it is recorded, and Jesus has confirmed it. May we not arrogantly hold our fist in Your face and claim Your word isn’t reliable in such matters. Help us in this, O God. Amen.