Seeds for 11/27/2023 - Matthew 19:16-22
Scripture: Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
“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?”
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.
Observation: The way to life—the God-filled life, is to “keep the commandments,” that is, to live according to the good instruction of God. Wanting to get a little more specific, the man presses the question: “Which ones?”
The ones Jesus picks are noticeable. Of the ten commandments (found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5), He lists those that related to relationships with people. Later in this Gospel, He will select two scriptures that together make up the “Great Commandment.” Between those, Jesus quotes the one that deals with relationships between people: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He bypasses the commandments that deal with the vertical, Divine relationship. Perhaps He is simply emphasizing our challenges with human relationships, electing to lay aside for the moment our challenges with idolatry. Or perhaps our implicit idolatries surface within our struggles to keep the commands that govern and guide our relationships with one another.
The young man is confident that he has kept all those Jesus has named. But Jesus sees a crack in the façade. The statement is conditional: “If you want to be perfect…” Jesus allows the young man to identify his goal. Perfect. It could mean something like “complete” rather that “utterly flawless,” which is what we first think of. So, let’s assume that “complete” is the idea here. As in, “If you want complete access to the God-filled life through commandment keeping, here’s what’s left.”
“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.
This is too much, as we read. Though he has a great record with everything else, impoverishing himself is not in the cards. This requirement from Jesus moves the young man beyond those commandments that make society work (murder, theft, adultery, lying, and that which deals with reciprocity—treating others as you’d like to be treated. It goes to self-sacrifice that cannot be repaid.
To get there, one must treasure the heavenly more than the earthly. And this is the sadness of the young man.
For us, if God calls you to sell what you have and give it away, so be it. That said, what applies to all disciples is addressing what we treasure and pointing to a practical way to keep us treasuring the heavenly over the earthly. The best thing I know for that is regular, sacrificial giving. When we give in a way that requires us to forego enjoying something ourselves so that we may benefit others, we treasure the earthly a little less and the heavenly a little more, to the benefit of our soul.
Application:
How do you or can you give sacrificially in order to live in the good, God-filled life?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, release me from treasuring earthly wealth too much. Show me how to steward it faithfully, that I may enjoy the goodness of life in you. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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