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Then little children were brought to Him 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.
- Matthew 19:13-22
In Saturday's reading, we were told that after Jesus' teachings about forgiveness, He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry." But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."
Then little children were brought to Him 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. According to St. Theophan, my study bible says, the disciples rebuked the mothers for bringing the little children to Christ both because their manner was "unruly" and because they thought children "diminished His dignity as Teacher and Master." It notes, "Christ rejects this thinking, setting little children as an example of those who inherit the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, children are invited (even as an example to adults) to participate in the Kingdom through prayer, worship, baptism, chrismation, and Communion."
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." My study bible says that this man hasn't come to test Jesus, but rather to seek advice from one whom he considers no more than a "good Teacher." Jesus' response, it points out, doesn't deny that He is God, but is rather designed to lead the rich man to this knowledge. The focus here, the first thing, is clearly an eye to pleasing God as the true key to "goodness."
"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?" We can see how Jesus' answer throws us back into the topics of the recent readings (see last week's readings and commentaries); that is, of the organization of the community in Christ's view of His Church. We go back to the commandments of Moses for organizing community here. As Jesus is addressing a young Jewish man from a wealthy and possibly ruling family, and the focus of Matthew's gospel is on a Jewish audience, we are given first the Law. And yet there is more beyond it, in the fullness of potential relationship to God. My study bible suggests: "Formal observance of the commandments does not make one righteous before God. This man had an earnest desire for eternal life and sensed that he still lacked something; thus, he continues to press Jesus for the answer."
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. My study bible says that "to be perfect, one must willingly sacrifice all and follow Christ. Nothing is gained unless this sacrifice is given freely. The specifics of how one follows Christ will be different for each person. Because wealth had such a grip on this rich man, his only hope was to sell and give away all his possessions. St. John Chrysostom tells us that giving away possessions is the least of Christ's instructions here; following Him in all things is a far greater and more difficult calling."
The basic understanding we are given here through Christ and His teachings is the essential importance of a relationship to God. This isn't an easy or facile saying. Rather it emphasizes even the innocence of the little children that are brought to Him in the early verses of today's reading. There is an element of deep trust that is evoked in the true model of faith, of what faith is. When Jesus says about the little children, "for of such is the kingdom of heaven," it is this trust He is speaking of. It's not a blind trust: children have their own sense of safety and when it is being violated. It's rather an innate trust of what or rather Who is truly "good." When Jesus points out that "no one is good but One, that is, God," we are to keep this in mind. It's a statement about where our ultimate faith has to be. It's even a kind of warning about false worship, even of cult-like violation of faith, where a human being demands the worship, faith, and ultimate trust that belongs only to God. Before Jesus gives the specific teaching for this one young man, about how deep that trust needs to go for him in order for his faith to be truly complete, He first sets out the Way, the true place where ultimate faith, even in the giving up of one's possessions, must be put: on the One, on God. Jesus is, in saying, "follow Me," therefore, distinctly setting out the goal of Christ. That is, leading us ultimately to God, to full membership in the kingdom of heaven, eternal life. And this is, if you think about it, the one place where it's safe to put all of one's trust and faith. There is nothing and no one else worthy of our worship. As children of God, we are made for this depth of bond, this faith, this love. But in our lives as human beings, there are all kinds of things that come into the way of that love, and can interfere with our own instincts for love and deep trust. We may wind up trusting in all kinds of things such as material goods, or in the wrong people, or material power or social standing, if they become the ultimate objects of our love, worship, faith, and devotion. In addiction, one can see the object of addiction as a kind of substitute for proper worship. But worship in its proper place only belongs to God, the ultimate One who is truly good. In this place, our faith is safe. And it is that place of true trust that is worth giving up our "faith" in everything else if it's asked of us. It sets our lives in order. And order, social organization, has been a common topic of the last several readings. On the currency of the United States of America, it was recently pointed out to me, there is stamped the motto, "In God we trust." While I don't suggest the fusion in a political sense of state and Church, I believe it's a wise discernment about materialism: we know we have need of all kinds of things, but ultimately we are wise to keep trust fully where it belongs. It is a way to set our house in order, with proper respect for the things that teach us how to live in this world that is also material. Ultimately, we want to act in such a way as to reflect what is truly good. The only way we can know that is by putting our trust where it belongs, and letting everything else fall into perspective behind that. It is the ultimate wisdom.
