Matthew 19:16-22 16And behold, one man coming up to him said, “Teacher, what good thing should I do in order to have eternal life?” 17And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20The young man said to him, “All these I have followed. What do I still lack?” 21Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go away, sell the things you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22But when the young man heard the word, he went away being sad, for he had many possessions.
The next story stands in sharp contrast to the previous one about the children who were brought to Jesus. Jesus is now on his way to Jerusalem and the trials and suffering that await him there. He has been teaching his disciples that discipleship should model the simple faith of children. Matthew continues the story of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem with his narrative-moving transition and behold, thereby shifting the reader’s attention to another important point about the identity of Jesus and what it means to follow him.
An unnamed young (verse 20) man comes to Jesus with the question we all wonder: What must I do to get to heaven? Curiously, the man thinks it is about his own effort and righteous living that will earn him a way to eternal life. He may have been following Jesus, watching and listening, and so knew Jesus to be a great teacher with the answer to many of life’s questions. But the man’s presuppositions, which were typical of many Jews of that time and people of our day, comes through with his question in the first person singular with the thought: eternal life is all about me. Jesus enters into a dialogue with the man in order to help him see a greater and deeper truth. Jesus always helps people come to faith. The man only sees Jesus as a teacher. He realized there was something he was missing in life. In Luke’s version of this story, we find out that this man was rich and a ruler (Luke 18). Jesus challenges him to go deeper in his faith and see Jesus as his Lord.
Jesus tests the young man with a scenario by quoting six commandments from the Old Testament. These were core commandments every good Jew would have known and followed. The young man responds that he has followed these. He was a good person and had kept the basic law. There is more to life than checking a list of do’s and don’ts. Even though he was righteous as far as the law went, he knew there was something more. Perhaps he was disappointed with Jesus’ answer and wanted to know if there was something else on the check list. Good living can still leave a person empty and searching. Eternal life is about relationship and not legalism. The law is important but cannot provide the way to eternal life because it is all about our obedience and not God’s grace. Relationship is based on grace.
Jesus expresses the goal of life in verse 21: if you want to be perfect. The word perfect (teleios) can mean complete or fulfilled. This young man wanted his life to be fulfilling, but it was empty because of his legalism. The surprise of this story is Jesus’ response that this young many needed to sell everything and give it all to the poor. This young man’s possessions were standing in the way of him following Jesus. It does not take many possessions to stand in the way of putting Jesus as first in our lives. Our eyes are too easily drawn to the what instead of the who.
Jesus gives this man the same invitation to discipleship as he gave to others (4:19; 9:9): come, follow me. Following this call is the true source of fulfillment in this lifetime and the open door to eternal life. This man’s wealth and possessions stood in the way to discipleship. He was unwilling to commit his all to Jesus in entire sanctification. As a result, he went away sad. This was more than an emotional sadness but a loss of eternal life. The things of this world were more important to him than the eternal kingdom of God. His response was just the opposite of the disciples who were following Jesus to Jerusalem and the cross. When Jesus confronts us with the call to take up our cross and follow, we must make a choice.
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