God Hath Joined Together

One passage that is difficult to understand in the New Testament is this saying from the Lord: “For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it” (Matt. 19:12).  The main difficulty is the suggestion that some have “made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake”—can men make themselves celibate by doing physical harm to their bodies as an acceptable sacrifice for the Lord?  One interpretation could simply be that the Lord was recounting how some had made that personal change for what they thought was an act of worship to God.  He does not say in the verse that He suggests that we should do this, only that some had.  This interpretation is supported by the fact that nowhere in the teachings of the New Testament do we find any commendation for injuring one’s own body intentionally for the kingdom of God.  Rather, we read in the Old Testament that priests were forbidden to make “any cuttings in their flesh,” and Paul also taught, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (Leviticus 21:5, 1 Corinthians 6:18-19)  Our bodies were created “in the image of God” and He has commanded us not to defile them (Genesis 9:6).       

Elder McConkie made this statement about this passage in Matthew: “Apparently those who made themselves eunuchs were men who in false pagan worship had deliberately mutilated themselves in the apostate notion that such would further their salvation. It is clear that such was not a true gospel requirement of any sort. There is no such thing in the gospel as wilful emasculation; such a notion violates every true principle of procreation and celestial marriage.”  Rather than some kind of commendation or prescription, Matthew 19:12 may have simply been a recognition that those who were eunuchs could not be married and thus couldn’t keep the commandment He had given to marry; some were born that way, some were abused by other men to become that way, and some had injured themselves thinking it would be pleasing to God.  But while some many not be able to be married, the Savior’s teaching is clear that marriage is ordained of God: “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matt. 19:4-6).  That is the message of the Savior as it relates to marriage, and it is confirmed throughout scripture and by modern prophets today: “Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. … God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.”