Matthew 19:16-30
Possessions or Dispossession
Matthew 19:13-15 Struggle of a Young Rich Man
(Mk 10:17-31; Lk 18:18-30)Whereas Mark had spoken of a rich man, and Luke of a rich ruler, Matthew spoke of a rich young man [verse 22]. Why especially highlight young? After considering the place of women and children in community, perhaps he wished to consider a further category of disciple: the law-abiding, but restless, insecure and ultimately self-centred, young person. (Quite deliberately, Matthew used the word young twice.) On the other hand, it is possible that, for Matthew, the young man’s question had little to do with young men and served mainly to introduce Jesus’ reflections on wealth, and his sense that the bonds uniting Christian disciples were immeasurably stronger than blood-relationships.
How does the prospect of life in the eventual Kingdom affect choices in the present?
16 Just then a man came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing should I do to gain eternal life?” 17 He said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one who is good.Matthew (awkwardly) softened the question as it appeared in Mark. In Mark the rich man had addressed Jesus as “Good Teacher”, and Jesus had deflected the category “good” from himself, referring it uniquely to God.
The question assumed that good deeds would gain eternal life. Jesus would point out that eternal life is always gift of God. It was the first time that eternal life was mentioned in the Gospel. In the discussion that followed, to have eternal life seemed to have been equated with to enter into life, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven/God, or to be saved.
But if you wish to enter into life, observe the commandments.” 18 He said, “Which ones?” Jesus told him,“’Do not murder;do not commit adultery;do not steal;do not give false evidence;19 honour your father and mother’,and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’” 20 The young man said, “I have kept all these. What more is there?”Matthew tidied up Mark’s listing of five of the commandments; he omitted the extra one that Mark had included; and he added the all-embracing one: love your neighbour as yourself.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, the young man’s deficient level of self-knowledge led him to consider that he already observed all these. Yet he felt unsatisfied: what more is there?
21 Jesus then told him, “I you want to be complete, go off and sell your possessions and give them to the poor. Your treasure will then be in heaven. Come, then, and follow me.”Earlier in his Gospel, Matthew recorded Jesus’ insistence that disciples be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect [5:48]. In his invitation to the rich young man, Jesus was not suggesting some counsel of perfection, directed to him personally. As far as Matthew was concerned, the invitation to be complete/perfect was universal (where complete/perfect is to be understood as “consistent”, “of one piece”, “whole”, “authentic”, that is, like the God who loves all and who makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous [5:45]).
In his accounts of the calls of Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew, Matthew had remarked how they got up/left their nets/ boat and followed him [4:20,22; 9:9]. He did not mention that they sold their possessions and gave the money to the poor.
22 When the young man heard this, he went away grieving,for he had many possessions.Discipleship would always be difficult. Life in the Kingdom would never be just another “consumer choice”, a convenient option to quieten adolescent restlessness.
The consideration of the rich young man’s difficulty led to a deeper consideration of “letting go”, necessary for all disciples.
23 Jesus then said to the disciples, “I tell you now, rich people enter the heavenly kingdom only with difficulty. 24 I repeat, it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for the rich into the kingdom of God.” 25 Hearing this, the disciples were quite amazed, and said, “Well who can be saved!”Within the context, the terms gain eternal life, to be complete (like the merciful Father), to enter into the Kingdom of God, and to be saved, seemed interchangeable. Present merged with future.
Jesus spoke rarely of being saved; his preferred image was the Kingdom. Jesus’ point was simply that entry into the kingdom was only with difficulty, indeed, impossible for a rich person. This comment greatly quite amazed the disciples, because certain strands of Jewish (and Christian?) piety saw riches as indication of God’s blessing.
26 Jesus looked straight at them, and said,“It is indeed humanly impossible,but with God everything is possible.”Indeed, entry into the kingdom is impossible, not only for the rich but for all. It is always the unmerited gift of God. Yet, as Matthew would repeatedly insist, while remaining always gift, it has to be deliberately accepted – and such acceptance is not simply question of notional assent but of practical lifestyle.
27 Responding to him, Peter said, “Look at us, we have left everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” 28 So Jesus told them, “I tell you quite firmly that, in the rebirth that is to come when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.Matthew used Peter as symbol of every disciple. Without having sold everything and given the money to the poor, Peter and most of the disciples had effectively left everything and followed Jesus. At least, they were prepared to do so. Jesus’ reference to you who have followed me referred to all the disciples. All those who would associate themselves with the Son of Man in his dedication to the way of love at the price of earthly suffering would judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Their integrity would be the criterion by which the lives of all would be assessed.
29 Everyone who has left home, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children or lands,on account of my name will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” 30 “The many who are first will be last, and last will be first.”Consistent with what he had said about marriage [19:4-6], Jesus did not require (or reward) disciples to leaving husband or wife (at least according to the most reliable manuscripts.
Matthew was in the process of reflecting on life within the Christian community. By choosing community, disciples would leave behind reliance on previous family bonds and possessions. In doing so, they would become, in the present life, members of a new family, the family of disciples, the Church – the hundredfold; and would eventually inherit what the rich young man had originally sought – eternal life. In contrast to the young man who could not let go, they will inherit eternal life, precisely by letting go.
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