What must I do to inherit eternal life?

Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He 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; Honour your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these; what do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

- Matthew 19:13-22

Jesus begins in today's reading with reception of little children. They are being brought before him, presumably by their parents, so that he may lay his hands on them and pray. It seems the disciples consider this frivolous or disrespectful, but Jesus denies this. After yesterday's talk on divorce and marriage, we're presented with children in the narrative. Children were the lowest ranked persons on a social scale; their lack of importance shows in the attitude the disciples have toward them. But for Jesus, something completely different is going on. Once again, Jesus is teaching by his actions. "‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.' And he laid his hands on them and went on his way." A marriage is the depth of bond between two people: "the two shall become one flesh." But children are received in the spirit of blessing: Jesus lays his hands on them. Everyone is welcome in this kingdom. We have been told already that we must become like children in order to enter into this kingdom. Their very humility gives them the quality they need in order to be a part of this kingdom.

Interestingly, the story of the children and their blessing is juxtaposed with the following story of the wealthy young man who approaches Jesus. "Teacher," he says, "what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" My study bible points out that this man is approaching Jesus not as Christ but as a "good teacher" in the rabbinical sense, of the written Law. He's asking a question directed at finding the right deed or right behavior that would grant him this eternal life. Jesus answers in kind, as would a rabbi, rather than the One who is by now known to his disciples as the Christ, the anointed one. "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good." A very clever answer, leading in some way to Jesus' identity. And then Jesus proceeds to give the answer the young man expects: "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." The young man then asks, "‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’"

But the young man knows that he has already kept the law in this fashion, and he needs something else. "The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these; what do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions." Jesus reveals himself and his true identity in this answer. Just as he has repeatedly taught, whenever he has been asked, that the interpretation and fulfillment of the Law must come by the discovery of the intent of the Law, the spirit behind the law, so here the gift of eternal life is something that relies on much more than simply what we do or don't do. This is an unequivocal answer about what it is that He is asking of those who will follow him. We're not given formulas to follow for our conduct. Jesus' answer is not a one-size-fits-all answer for each one of us, that we should go out and sell all our possessions and give them to the poor. Rather, Jesus is addressing specifically the needs in the heart and soul of this man to put something first in life - to practice detachment from his possessions and to understand that a greater possession is at hand, the treasure in heaven that neither moth nor rust can consume. Jesus reveals his true identity in the answer, to leave everything behind and "follow me." We are to seek first the kingdom of heaven - and Jesus' answer indicates that this kingdom is His kingdom in the answer to "follow me."

We juxtapose, therefore, the little children with this young man who wishes for eternal life and is in fact burdened by his possessions so that he is restricted from this blessing. The children are examples of humility, openness, detachment. They are ready to approach for that blessing. Jesus' kingdom is one that is asking more of us than "doing the right thing." It is a kingdom that asks for our hearts and souls, for us to remember "where our treasure is" and that "out of the abundance of the heart" we are what we are. Once again in his teaching, Jesus has gone past the interpretation of the Law and given us its intent and meaning and purpose. It is who we are as human beings, what we guard in our hearts - and, as he previously taught when he said we should become like children, what we are willing to cut off from ourselves that stands in the way of this kingdom - that makes us who we are and renders us fit for citizenship in this kingdom. We are to let go of that which stands in the way of following him.

This is yet another "hard saying." But the gifts that Jesus is offering are not those of a life that is "worldly" in the sense that we are saved by our image in the eyes of others, what we do and don't do. It's not a sense of worldly respectability that gives us this membership in the kingdom. The level of relatedness to his kingdom that we are asked to keep in mind is this deep level of the heart, with the understanding that nothing in our lives must hold us back from this. Yesterday's reading on the deep bond of marriage was an indication of where Jesus dwells in terms of how he calls us to follow, to form bonds, and to call us to love, an indication of how deeply within ourselves we are called to be His. A hard saying, that takes us right to the center of ourselves and asks us what we keep in our hearts. A hard saying, which will be further explored in tomorrow's reading. But we recall that we are loved by a king who, in his mercy, gives us more time to get it right.