Seeds for 11/28/2023 - Matthew 19:21-26
Scripture: 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.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to 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 someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Observation: Sadness at having “great wealth” is the last emotional association we expect. The young man was sad because he wanted to have it both ways—obedience to God that costs him little. Jesus upped the ante enough to force a choice, to get to a place that challenged his priorities.
It turns out that wealth is a hard choice for all of us. Perhaps it’s so hard a choice for us because money solves enough of our problems that it’s hard to fully believe that it won’t solve more of them, even all of them. Despite having enough sense to understand rationally that this is not the case, on an emotional level—a gut level, it feels so reliable and tangible.
Jesus’ image of the camel and the eye of the needle is absurd enough to highlight the improbability that someone who has amassed great wealth will hold it so lightly that they can part with it if that’s what obedience and faithful discipleship demands.
This passage turns on Jesus’ response to the disciples’ astonished concern and the contrast between what man/humankind can do and what God can do. His answer is candid about their limitations—“with man this is impossible,” and plainspoken about the limitlessness of God—“but with God all things are possible.”
What is Jesus saying is impossible for humans? Perhaps that it is impossible for anyone to save themselves. Who can be saved? With man, it’s impossible, but for God anything is possible. That’s certainly true, according to Christianity.
Given the context of the young man’s sadness though, perhaps the impossibility is to break the heart of trust in wealth over trust in God, of preference for earthly treasure over heavenly treasure. The Greek word that is translated “saved” in the New Testament also means “healed,” which is precisely what happens God turns our hearts to Him.
We may have hearts torn in two—wanting to trust in God and love Him completely, yet with stubborn remnants of trust and love for the treasures of earth. While it’s impossible to change ourselves, it’s possible for God to transform out hearts. Ezekiel saw as much: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”
Application:
When have you experienced God helping you grow in practical trust and obedience to Him?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 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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