Our next stop of our journey in the Gospel according to Matthew takes us to chapter 19 which tells of the fascinating encounter between Jesus and a rich young man. What can we learn from that story?
Mat 19:16-25, “And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"”
1) Despite his obediance to the commandments of the Law of Moses, the young man was not certain that he would spend his eternity in the presence of God. He was worried and knew he had something more to do: a good deed.
2) Mk 10:17-18 and Lk 18:18-19 emphasise that he called Jesus 'Good Teacher': “"Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone."” So, he acknowledged the fact that Jesus was able to teach him what he needed to know, and that He was Good: i.e., excellent in the field, devoid of any wickedness and really desirous to help and satisfy his pupil to the best of His abilities.
3) He knows this, but oddly, when Jesus tells him which good deed he still needs to do to be perfect, he turns his back on Him and sadly walks away. What did he want to hear? Was he really willing to pay the necessary price to get to heaven; or did he simply want to impress Jesus and the disciples with his 'holiness'? Peter too, swore he would never betray the Lord, even if he had to die for that. We know what happened thereafter. This brings us back to what we said last week about God's will. We are often too presumptuous about our spiritual abilities, but when it’s time to act, there is usually nothing to show for it.
4) Jesus then makes one of the most controversial statements of the Gospels: “only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven… It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And generations of Christians concluded that it was better to be poor than rich because wealth was a barrier to salvation. Yet it is not what Jesus meant at all. The word rich here should be considered in the same way as the words 'sick' and 'lost' in the following passages (Mat 9:11-12, Lk 19:10): “"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he (Jesus) heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” They talk about His 'bad' associations, and He speaks about physicians and patients: He was referring to the spiritually sick. This so-called evil company was spiritually sick people in need of the spiritual Physician that He was. Similarly, when He says that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” He is clearly not speaking of people who are physically and geographically lost; but He is speaking of a spiritual going astray (delusion). Moreover, Jesus always spoke in parables (Mat 13:34): there was always an allegoric dimension in His speeches and teachings. That's why I believe that the passage before us is more about spiritual wealth than gold and silver. We can compare the Lord's response to what He said in his Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5:3): “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, ‘Blessed are those who know they are spiritually poor, for the kingdom of heaven is for the humble.’ And by antagonism: ‘Woe to the rich in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is not for them!’
5) In fact, the disciples had no doubt about the meaning of Jesus' words; indeed, astonished, they asked: "Who then can be saved?" Why worry that the thing will be impossible to all, if Jesus was only speaking of those who are materially rich? These men were mostly fishermen and should have been jumping for joy, saying, "Praise the Lord, we are not rich. This does not concern us!" But they clearly felt they were all rich of something that could cause them to miss Heaven. "Who then can be saved?" In other words, "It's terrible we will all perish. Nobody will escape." And it is because they had rightly grasped the impossibility of the thing that Jesus said to them (vs. 26): "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Peter, who was still not reassured, went further and says (vs. 27): "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" And Jesus replied (vs. 28-29): “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”
6) The problem with this young man was that the love of the things which are in the world and the deceitfulness of riches had filled his heart and left no room for love of the Father (1Jn 2:15). If it was Abraham who had asked that very question, the Lord would not have asked him to distribute his wealth to the poor. He would have asked him to sacrifice his beloved son instead. We all have our Isaac, our wealth, or something which, if it has not yet been offered to God in sacrifice as Abraham did, will stand between the kingdom of heaven and us. For some it is their job; for others it is a child; for others still, it is a spouse, or a house, or a collection of jewelry, of paintings, of handbags, of stamps, or of china vases, God alone knows. I encourage us to probe our hearts in spirit and in truth to discover what our treasure is. Then, like the disciples, let’s leave all this before it leaves us or before we win the whole world and lose our soul. Note that when Peter said that they had left everything (and Jesus did not contradict him), he himself had not physically abandoned his wife and family. Indeed, at some point, we find Jesus at his house, healing his stepmother (Mat 8:14). He simply meant that he had cut the emotional tie and was ready to physically separate himself from them if the Lord had required it. Let’s leave everything; let’s be poor in spirit; let’s love the Lord.
have a great week and God bless you!
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