Good thing, God’s thing
Matthew 19:16-30
16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
20"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21Jesus 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."
22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
26Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
27Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"
28Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
(Message)
16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
The man came up to Jesus was in the pursuit of the eternal life. His question was “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (16)
This man wanted to do good thing. He thought that’s the way to get eternal life.
This is very common misconceptions in regard to eternal life, heaven or salvation.
What is the answer of Jesus? See v17.
17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
Jesus corrected his question first by teaching him that only God is good. Deed itself cannot be defined as good deed without God.
There is no ‘good thing’.
There is only God’s thing, who is good.
Being good by doing good thing may be taught by other religions but it misleads you seriously because they miss out God. Jesus reminds you that only God is good. We will never be ‘good’ like God is. We can only reflect the goodness of God when we are aligned with God who is good.
After this, Jesus answered to his question. “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”(17b)
Jesus asked him to obey the commandments. The commandments are from God. Therefore the object of obedience is ‘God’. Jesus shifted spotlight from “doing good thing” onto “obeying God”.
They are
Do not murder,
do not commit adultery,
do not steal,
do not give false testimony,
honor your father and mother
love your neighbor as yourself. (18b-19)
The young man said that he had kept all these. He asked “What do I still lack?”
See v21.
21Jesus 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."
Based on v22, he was a very wealthy man.
But Jesus’ answer tells us that this man was not perfect because of his wealth. In fact, the possession of a man can possess him. When we have a lot of furniture and white ware, it is hard to move from one house to the other. We loose mobility and freedom from the possession. So Jesus asked him to sell them and give to the poor.
And then, Jesus invited and accepted him as his follower.
But the young man went away sad because he had great wealth (22).
In this occasion, the possession didn’t become blessing but trap.
While Jesus had no place to lay his head (Matthew 8:20), he might have a nice house to live and many properties to lease. While Jesus came to serve (Matthew 20:28), he might have many people to serve him. They love the comfort and luxury the money gives. Many people do not want to go out of their comfort zone. They rely on the security and protection of their money. With their love of money, they would even exploit the poor.
Jesus said at v23 that “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Getting rich means getting hard to give up the wealth.
At v27, Peter asked Jesus “what will there be for us who have left everything to follow you?”
See v28-29.
28Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
In summary, what they get are hundred times compensation of what they gave up, plus eternal life.
See v30.
30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
[1] The inevitable reversal of fortunes to come is illustrated by the proverbial slogan: many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. The saying may have a twofold purpose: On the one hand, while the world gives preferential treatment to the wealthy and powerful, in the eschaton those who are deemed of little worth (i.e., disciples) will be exalted to a place of priority. However, the saying may also be intended as a warning to the disciples not to think of themselves too highly, because as the following parable (Matthew 20:1 - 16) illustrates, God’s rewards are not based on length of service.
References
[1] Chouinard, L. (1997). Matthew (Mt 19:30) Joplin, MO: College Press.
