You will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me

 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

On Saturday we read that when Jesus had finished teaching on correction and 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.  The disciples rebuked the mothers for bringing little children to Christ both because their manner was "unruly" and also because they thought children "diminished His dignity as Teacher and Master."  This is according to Theophan, as quoted by my study bible.  But Jesus firmly rejects such thinking and in fact sets little children as an example of those who inherit the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, my study bible says, children are invited (even as an example to adults) to participate in the Kingdom through prayer, worship, baptism, chrismation, and Communion.  On Wednesday last week, we read Jesus' teaching of the little child as an example to those who would enter the kingdom of heaven.

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."   My study bible points out that this man does not come to test Jesus, but rather to seek advice from one he considers to be only a good Teacher.  Jesus' response does not deny that He is Son and divine, but it is designed to lead this rich man to that knowledge.  Let us note the primary importance that Jesus places on 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?"  The formal observance of commandments does not make one righteous before God, my study bible says.  It notes this man's earnest desire for eternal life as indicating he still senses he lacks something.  Clearly, he continues to press Jesus for that 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.  But in doing so, there is nothing gained except that the sacrifice is freely given, not coerced.  The specifics of how each one follows Christ will be different from one person to another.  But in this case, wealth has a great grip on this rich man.  Therefore his only hope to follow Christ freely is to sell and give away all his possessions.  According to St. John Chrysostom, giving away his possessions is the least of Christ's instructions; it is just a beginning.  But to follow Christ in all things is a much greater and more difficult calling.  It is also a lifetime calling, not a single issue or one-time commitment.

What does it mean to have great possessions?  Let us think about this.  Possessions can, of course, come in many forms.  Sometimes we cling to one thing and another.  Whether that be in the form of habits we cherish or other more conventional possessions, we need to think about this problem brought up by this well-intentioned rich young man.  Jesus first of all shows His own humility in responding to the man, by telling him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God."  In other words, even as Son and living Person of the Trinity, Jesus reveals humility as a human being, placing the question into context.  He then speaks of the commandments, which is another way to indicate humility.  To follow the commandments is to subject one's will to the will of God as understood by human beings, and revealed through the prophets (especially Moses).  That is, through those who give us the word of God.   Jesus Himself, as human being, is subject to the commandments.  (He will haggle over the traditions built up around them with the leadership; see 15:3-6).  As Son He will be the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets (5:17-20).  But to maintain first of all a stance on the necessity of following the commandments is an immediate teaching of humility and even sacrifice; it is a preparation for what will follow, Christ's new covenant.  Jesus connects a giving away of this man's great wealth to the poor with treasure in heaven, and here we see a powerful statement about what it means to give up something in order to more freely follow Christ:  we don't lose something or even sacrifice so much as we gain something else instead.  We give up one thing in order to have treasure in a different dimension of ourselves and our lives.  This may sound like "pie in the sky" rationalizing or philosophizing.  But in practice, it is assuredly a different experience.  If I am willing to give up something I care about in order to follow Christ, I gain a significant new understanding of myself.  As Christ indicates, I add to myself.  To have treasure in heaven is not an unreachable abstract idea of banking our wealth in a faraway untouchable place.  It is, in fact, to grow as a person, giving to ourselves new depth, and more importantly finding surprising joy in what is given and revealed to us in the process.  We are able to more deeply participate in the life of Christ.  To be closer to Christ is in and of itself something that produces a surpassing joy and comfort, and an inexplicable peace.  That kingdom of heaven is, after all, within us (Luke 17:20-21).  It is not far away in the sky somewhere.  This is the great secret of following Christ.  And when we take that first step -- which is, after all, what this command is for this earnest man -- we open the door to a different life, to parts of ourselves we haven't tapped, and to potentials for ourselves as human beings we haven't yet explored but which following Christ will bring out.  We start a journey somewhere.  It is, in effect, a freedom that shows us a way to a more fulfilling life, helping us to escape the trap of the "deceitfulness of riches" (13:22).  Let us understand, as Chrysostom teaches, that this specific teaching is for this one man.  It is not necessarily given to all.  In fact, we fail to understand what is being taught here except and unless we can understand that what is asked of us will be different for each.  It all depends on what is holding us back from freely following Christ.  Jesus has taught about those who will be "eunuchs" for the sake of the Church (in Saturday's reading).  He has taught the disciples that figuratively removing a hand, or foot, or eye for the sake of the salvation of the whole is necessary (5:29-31, 18:8-9).  This is not simply, in other words, a teaching about wealth and possessions per se.  It is, instead, a teaching about the freedom to follow Christ, and the treasure that is recouped in doing so.  It gives us a reason for sacrifice, a tangible event and response, a true nature to find for ourselves.  All we have to do is look at the lives of the apostles to understand the transformation in these men.  What Jesus is teaching over and over again is that it is our own humility that is the key to entering this kingdom, to finding a life of salvation, and to living more fully that life here in this world.  What we can accept for ourselves is just the faith and trust that it is so, for this comes before all else.  There are millions of people in the world who will offer us advice for a meaningful and fulfilling life, but Who would you really actually fully trust?