Life Project Blog

Matthew 19:18-22

Social conventions and customs are a funny thing; they influence most of us in a way that enables us to make sweeping assumptions concerning great truths, even eternal ones, and yet those very conventions change often through history. We should take this reality as a warning to question the social conventions of our time, and this tale is a case in point. In Jesus’ day, as in many other historical periods, it was assumed that most wealthy people were the ones favored by God; why else would they be so blessed? Yes, some were not so ethical in their conduct, yet many others were good, hard working people, the bedrocks of the community; surely God’s favor was upon them!

What a contrast to those little children in the last scene, those little ones who represented vulnerability and humility. Right after Jesus commented about the little ones, a rich young man walks up to Him and asks a question:

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (19:18)

Here’s a guy who appears to have it all, but he apparently believes that he is lacking in the way he has led his life; there is an element of humility here that we often overlook. In the dialogue that follows, we learn more about this young man:

Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” (19:17-20)

This young man was righteous, and appears to have good intentions, and as you will see, Jesus doesn’t dispute his claim that he has kept all of those commandments. It would also appear that the man was beginning to realize, perhaps more quickly than the disciples, that merely keeping commandments as was the Jewish prevailing thought, wasn’t quite enough, after all− why else would he have asked Jesus in the first place? Yet, he still seems to have believed that eternal life was contingent upon his ability to do something. Maybe he was right:

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. (19:21-22)

Jesus told the man to sell what he owned, give money to the poor and follow Him. I cannot over-emphasize how radical this was, for the prevailing thought of those times said that the rich were blessed, worthy and most favored of all, yet Jesus told the man to liquidate and give to the poor. Notice, He didn’t say to give everything to the poor (as some older translations say) but the implication is clear enough. The story ends with the man going away sad, because he had great wealth.

Traditional teaching assumes the man did not do as Jesus told him, but I want to point out that the text doesn’t say that; maybe he did, maybe he didn’t… but he was sad.

This is where we like to bash people who have more than we do; I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this in class discussions and sermons and how many times I have read it, but I would suggest that we should not go rushing into this too quickly. I have known quite a few people who are quite wealthy, rich people, and they usually discover that their wealth, while handy for sure, is also a millstone around their necks; a burden more than a pleasure. Yet once they have it, it is hard to let go of. Even so, let’s not concentrate on those who have more than we do, let’s look in the mirror instead, for there is where Jesus’ message, and the young man’s predicament resonate:

Suppose Jesus came to you and told you to liquidate everything you have, that’s right dear reader, sell all your possessions, give to the poor and follow Him.

Would that make you happy?

If you answer “yes” to that question, then let’s take a closer look: Your home, your car(s), your accounts, retirement plans, investments, kids’ college funds, the contents of your house… everything. You show up to follow Jesus with only the shirt on your back. Hold on, the shirt on your back is also a possession, so you show up without even a shirt on your back or anything else, to follow Jesus: Are you happy?

More importantly, would you do it?

Maybe we should think carefully before we make this all about pointing fingers at others!

The good news is that we are still in that section where the instruction is for the disciples, and in the next part, we will see what Jesus has to say to them; will it get easier? Well, you’ll have to come back next time to find out!

When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.(19:1-2)

With these two verses, we have a shift of scenes as well as the beginning of the transition from Galilee to Jerusalem, where Matthew’s narrative will reach its climax. As you will recall, we are in a larger section in which Jesus is teaching His disciples about His mission as the Messiah, and His mission is much different than they had expected. I thought that we would be best served at this point, to look at a summary of the events of chapters 19 and 20 before we are caught up in the details, for often we miss the larger picture (not to mention the context) because of our expectation and traditional understanding of the details. Of course, this is not to say that our understanding is wrong, but it may sometimes be slightly incomplete.

The first thing we must understand is that Jesus is going on the offensive at this point. I’m not suggesting that He lacked the initiative in Galilee, but now He is the spiritual equivalent of an invading army as He moves into Judea, challenging the very core of the Jewish tradition and ethic as it existed at the time. Make no mistake; the Jewish religious authorities will not take this assault on their position and authority lying down… and you know what happens after that.

Jesus’ first move in this match is to radically challenge the conventional values and personal rights of all people as He calls for the stabilization and preeminence of marriage, challenging a legal system that perpetuated divorce (19:3-9). This challenge seemed very difficult to the disciples (19:10), but Jesus insists that for the sake of the Kingdom, some may even be called upon to renounce their right to marry (19:11-13).

Those deemed by society to be weak and helpless, like little children, were not to be marginalized or exploited, and He even used them as models for Kingdom living (19:13-15). In a society where a person was highly regarded for their wealth and position, Jesus calls for the renunciation of possessions in favor of the higher calling of following Him (19:16-30). He tells the parable of the landowner to illustrate this graphically, reversing their values in favor of outright generosity (20:1-16). In contrast to the Gentile habit of lording it over others Jesus calls upon His disciples to be servants of all, modeling His own sacrificial mission (20:20-38). The section closes with Jesus modeling compassion for all of those who cry out in the city (20:29-34). In this way, we transition into the next section of conflict in Jerusalem, but not before Jesus has completed the task of discipling the disciples and making them aware of what sort of lifestyle will be required of them when their turn comes to proclaim the Kingdom, and of course by extension, He has provided instruction for all future generations of the values that must be predominant in the Kingdom in ages to come.