Matthew 19:16-22
Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked,
"Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" 17 Jesus
said, "Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is
good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you." 18
The man asked, "What in particular?" Jesus said, "Don't murder,
don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, 19 honour your father and
mother, and love your neighbour as you do yourself." 20 The young man
said, "I've done all that. What's left?" 21 "If you want to give
it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give
everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come
follow me." 22 That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And
so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things,
and he couldn't bear to let go.
Food for thought
This story teaches one of the deepest of all
lessons about religion, about right and wrong, about being religious and not
being religious. The man who came to Jesus was seeking for what he called
eternal life. He was seeking for happiness, for satisfaction, for peace with
God. He wanted to know the one thing that he humans can do to get it all.
But his very way of phrasing his question betrays him. He asks, "What must
I do?" He is thinking in terms of actions, of works, of doing. He is
thinking of piling up a credit balance-sheet with God by doing a series of
things. He clearly knows nothing of a religion of grace. So Jesus tries to lead
him on to a correct view.
Jesus answers him in his own terms. He tells him to
keep the commandments, do what God tells you. This answer of Jesus is too
general. So the man wants to know the details. "What in particular?"
he says. Thereupon Jesus cites five of the ten commandments. Now there are two
important things about the commandments which Jesus chooses to cite.
First, they are all commandments which deal, not
with our duty to God, but with our duty to men. They are the commandments which
govern our personal relationships, and our attitude to our fellow-men. Second,
Jesus cites one commandment, as it were, out of order. He cites the command to
honour parents last, when in point of fact it ought to come first.
It is clear that Jesus wishes to lay special stress
on that commandment. Why? May it not be that this young man had grown rich and
successful in his career, and had then forgotten his parents, who may have been
very poor. He may well have risen in the world, and had been half-ashamed of
the folks in the home where he grew up.
Second, do you notice that all the commandments
that Jesus cited, except the last one, are in the negative? "Don't murder,
don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie." And do you notice the
man's response, "I've done all that. What's left?" In other words,
all the man had done was NOT TO murder, commit adultery, steal, lie. Just as
many of us do. We think that because we don't kill, commit adultery or steal,
we are ok. Morality is not only not doing evil; it is also doing good. And this
is what was still missing in this man's morality, just as it does in much of
ours.
"If you want to be perfect," Jesus
replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor." GO
and GIVE. For the first time, this man is told that it is not enough not to do
evil (not to murder, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to lie), it is
equally good to do good; that it is not sufficient to avoid hurting others, it
is as well important to love them.
The question Jesus is putting to this man and to
you and me is, with all the riches you have justly accumulated, with all the
talents you have, with all the money you have and with all the goods you have,
what good have you done in life? Have you made any body rich from your riches?
What difference have you made in the life of others?
Acts 2:45
And they were selling their possessions and
belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Luke 12:33
Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.
Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the
heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
Luke 16:9
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by
means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into
the eternal dwellings.
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