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

 

 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 Jesus 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 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.  My study Bible cites Theophan's commentary, who says that the disciples rebuked the mothers for bringing little children to Christ both because their manner was "unruly" and because they thought children "diminished His dignity as Teacher and Master."  But Christ rejects this thinking, and He sets 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.  See also this reading in which Christ gave a little child as an example to the disciples. 

 

 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 says that this an does not come to test Jesus, but to seek advice from one whom he considers to be no more than a good Teacher.  Jesus' response doesn't deny that He is God, but it is designed to lead this rich man to that knowledge.  It is also an expression of humility -- even by God Incarnate.

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?"   My study Bible comments that formal observance of commandments does not make one righteous before God.  It notes that this man had an earnest desire for eternal life and sensed that he still lacked something; therefore, 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.  To be perfect, my study Bible says, one must willingly sacrifice all and follow Christ.  Nothing is gained unless this sacrifice is given freely.  It's important to understand that 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.  To follow Him in all things is a far greater and more difficult calling.

 

 There are a number of times where Christ emphasizes mercy over sacrifice in the Gospels.  In chapter 9 of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has called Matthew the tax collector to "Follow Me," and makes him a disciple.  He is later eating in Matthew's home, together with many "tax collectors and sinners."  The Pharisees see this and complain, asking His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus replies, quoting from the prophet Hosea, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.   But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (see Matthew 9:9-13, Hosea 6:6).  So, in the context of His teachings, it is interesting that in today's reading, the rich young man (whom Mark tells us Christ loved) indicates that he has followed the commandments Jesus names all of his life, and asks what he still lacks.  But instead of telling him some other thing to do, a commandment to follow, a kind of good deed to add upon his already good life, Jesus tells him to give something up, to make a sacrifice.  He doesn't really lack anything, but he does need to give something away, and that is the great wealth that is clearly a stumbling block for him, that gets in the way of his relationship to God.  We see this by the fact that he is unwilling to let go of it in order to fully follow Christ's commands.  So, in this case, it is a sacrifice that is called for as something he "lacks."  But it is not sacrifice per se that Christ wants.  What He wants is for this young man, whom He loved, to fully rely on God and the to which He will be called as a disciple of Christ, even before the great wealth with which he is blessed.  Clearly (or so it seems to me) his wealth has a hold on his identity.  Luke tells us that he is a "ruler" (Luke 18:18), indicating a significant position in the society.  Possibly he is among the ruling parties in the temple, a young man whose family inheritance is linked to such a position.   In that case, to give away his wealth to the poor is more than a question of simply making a sacrifice of wealth, but identity is linked to that wealth -- status, and family, and one's place in the culture and society.  What it tells us is a deep and radical truth about Christ, that so often God may ask us to start from "zero," so to speak, from "nothing" in terms of who we are in God's sight, in making us into the people God calls us to become.  So often, as is our inclination, we think we are the ones who want to call the shots to God; we will accept to love God so long as we can have this or that, or retain this thing that particularly is ours, so long as worship fits into our lives in the particular way we want it to.  But a deep calling from God goes deeper than the surface, even more than our nominal identities and the things we think are "sacred" to us, the things that define who we are to ourselves.  This young man's wealth no doubt connects him also to family and relationships deeply structured in the society.  When Jesus gives the example to the disciples of cutting off eye or hand or foot (see this reading) in order to avoid abuse of their power in the future Church over the "little ones," He's speaking figuratively about things they might think are essential to themselves, but which they will have to discard in order to be good stewards and shepherds over His flock.  The "hand" or "eye" or "foot" refers to a type of behavior, such as covetousness, or abuse of power, that must be done away with in order to fulfill their roles He chooses for them.  We don't know the place this young ruler whom Jesus loved would have in His Church as one of His disciples.  But we do know what Christ asks him to give up first in order to be free to follow Him, and that is a tall order.  It proves to be too much for the young man.  The possibilities are seemingly endless for us to speculate on why Christ asks him to do this.  One thing is clear, it would lead to complete dependence upon God for life, for identity, for sustenance, and lay a radical foundation down upon which Christ could build the identity of the disciple.   At any rate, what we should keep in mind os that there are times in our lives when we are asked truly to sacrifice in order to receive our place in Christ's Church, in His economy of salvation.  As a devout Jew, this young man likely already followed every command regarding help to the poor, donation to the temple, and the nominal ways that already existed in which people were called to share wealth.  But Christ calls him here not simply to help the poor, but to make a radical break in his life.  As St. John Chrysostom's commentary on this passage indicates, this is the least of His instructions, the beginning of the call to discipleship, and that each one will be called differently.  In tomorrow's reading, Jesus will expand with a famous phrase regarding the difficulty for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.  But let us keep in mind the consistency of Christ's teachings.  Everything begins with humility; and for this young man, wealth holds such a grip on who he is that he cannot part with his wealth, even for the eternal life he so desires.  Christ's command gives him a way to become like the "little children" about whom He says, "of such is the kingdom of heaven."   Let us consider the ways in which we might be asked to give up what we think we can't live without, and the life beyond in which we are changed, strengthened, transformed.