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Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to 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." When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?" So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
- Matthew 19:23-30
Yesterday, we read that little children were brought to Jesus that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And He laid His hands on them and departed from there. Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to 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." When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Here, my study bible tells us: "Various interpretations have been suggested for the impossible image of a camel going through the eye of a needle; e.g., that the word was not camel, but 'rope'; or that the eye of a needle was a city gate through which a camel might barely squeeze if it were first unloaded of all its baggage, symbolizing wealth. Even the Talmud uses the expression 'for an elephant to go through the eye of a needle.' Whatever the phrase refers to, it displays the impossibility of salvation for those who are attached to riches. This is clearly evidenced by the disciples' response, 'Who then can be saved?' Yet by God's grace, even what is impossible to man can come to pass."
Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?" So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Here, my study bible quotes Ambrose of Milan: "Christ judges by discerning the heart, and not by examining deeds. So also the apostles are being shaped to exercise spiritual judgment concerning faith, and in rebuking error with virtue." As we can read in the verses that follow, the challenges of their own lives and the witness of their experience as apostles give them a different type of judgment than the way the world judges.
"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first." A note tells us that Christ is not commanding believers to divorce spouses and abandon children. Rather, according to St. John Chrysostom, this refers to keeping faith under persecution even if it means to lose one's family. It says, "It also means to accept that unbelieving family members may cut off ties because of the believer's faith (see 1 Corinthians 7:12-16). Believers are promised a hundredfold of houses and relatives not in an earthly sense, but in a spiritual senses -- the fathers and mothers of the Church, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and houses of worship and fellowship."
One note in my study bible, regarding judgment, suggests that the discernment learned through the discipleship of the apostles will be used not simply in a heavenly context, but rather that "since God's kingdom begins with the Resurrection of Christ, the authority of judgment has already been given to the apostles and their successors in the journey of the Church on earth." It reflects back on Jesus' statements, made twice before in Matthew's gospel, regarding binding and loosing: "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:18 and 18:18; see also John 20:23.) These are powerful words regarding the experience of walking this journey, where certain types of baggage (as my study bible puts it) can keep us from entering the narrow gate of discipleship. The experience of repentance and change required for this "eye of the needle," so to speak, give us a kind of perspective that, hopefully, allows us to see more truly the things of the heart, rather than judging by appearances or deeds alone. Therefore, one of the virtues of true discipleship must be the cultivation of a more just judgment, a kind of discernment. This could only come with the experience of "letting go" -- both of the things we cling to that we think we need, and also (perhaps especially?) the "letting go" that constitutes forgiveness. We remember that Jesus counseled Peter that forgiveness was unlimited ("seventy times seven") and that also this teaching was couched in the context of repentance, not a simple tolerance of unlimited uncaring abuse and suffering. In the Our Father, when we pray to "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," in the Greek, the word for "forgive" is literally to "let go." There is this great sense of giving up all kinds of baggage we may cling to that really isn't good for us, and more particularly gets in the way of a deeper relationship to God. And this is the crux of so much of discipleship. It's a willingness, not to give up to others so much as to give up to God the things God asks of us; to "let go" of the things God asks us to let go of. The exchange is with God, who mediates all our worldly lives and relationships. It is thereby that we learn discernment, good judgment, and gain a completely different perspective than the usual worldly perspective. Only through the detachment cultivated in discipleship, with a life increasingly dependent upon God through such a process, can we learn to have hearts that are also leavened with the leaven of the kingdom, the faith of the seed planted in us. We are assured that even the faith as small as a "mustard seed" can move mountains. Let us remember how we cultivate a true vision, and where God calls us to go. I can say that I've been called and challenged to give up many things that were essential to my point of view. But the return has most definitely been a hundredfold, as Jesus promises here. The "hundredfold" return, however, is to a different (changed) person than the one who gave up what God asked; in this sense, also "many who are first will be last, and the last first."
