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 

 

Yesterday 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 and female,' 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 the commentary of Theophylact, who writes 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."  Christ rejects this thinking, setting little children as an example of those who inherit the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, my study Bible notes, children are invited -- even as an example to adults, to participate in the Kingdom through prayer, worship, baptism, chrismation, and Communion.  In a commentary on a similar passage found at Luke 18:15-17, Theophylact writes about the characteristics of little children which suit the kingdom of heaven: "A little child is not arrogant, he does not despise anyone, he is innocent and guileless.  He does not inflate himself in the presence of important people, nor withdraw from those in sorrows.  Instead, he lives in complete simplicity."

 

 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 comments that this man does not come to test Jesus, but rather to seek advice from one whom he considers to be simply a good Teacher.  Jesus' response does not deny that He is God, but rather designed to lead the rich young man to this knowledge. 

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?"  To observe the commandments formally does not make one righteous before God, my study Bible explains.  This man had an earnest desire to attain eternal life, and sensed that he still lacked something.  So, he continues to press Christ 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.  There is nothing gained unless this sacrifice is freely given.  It notes that the specifics of how one follows Christ will be different for each person.  As wealth had such a grip on this rich man, his only hope was to sell and give away all his possessions.  According to St. John Chrysostom, to give away possessions is the least of Jesus' instructions here.  To follow Christ in all things, he says, is a far greater and more difficult calling.  

In tomorrow's reading, Jesus will continue speaking to the disciples about the statements He makes here to the rich young man.  If we note carefully, he's called a rich young ruler in the subtopic notations of our Bibles, and explicitly called a "ruler" in the text of Luke's version of this event (Luke 18:18).  This tells us that he is from one of the ruling parties of the Council, and it possibly makes him one of the landowning classes which formed the Sadducees, traditional aristocrats of the Jerusalem area.  His vast possessions -- at his time and place -- make it likely that his possessions are connected to inheritance, and thus his family name and place within the society.  So the first thing it might be necessary to consider here is that when we think of the importance of his possessions to him, they are deeply tied in to his identity and social position.  So while we may make a simple conclusion that this man was greedy or selfish, that doesn't seem to be the precise conclusion we should draw.  After all, he has already followed the commandments all of his life, which does not indicate a selfish disposition, or a lazy one.  Moreover, in Mark's Gospel, we're told that  "Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me'" (Mark 10:21).  It seems unlikely that Mark's text would go out of its way to tell us that Jesus loved this person if he had a defective character that was simply selfish or miserly.  Instead, what we are invited to do here is consider both the difficulty and necessity of what Jesus is teaching to one whom He apparently loved.  In other words, Jesus' word -- this difficult assignment -- comes because Jesus loves this young man, and therefore deeply desires to lead him to salvation.  He is not a lost cause, incapable of repentance or change, but one to whom Jesus would desire to open the kingdom of heaven.  In that light, what we find is that the Gospel is calling us to think about why this is difficult and why it is also necessary.  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we displayed the icon of Christ the Bridegroom, because although the topic was ostensibly marriage and divorce, in the traditional understanding of the Church, marriage asks us for sanctifying sacrifice which helps mold character.  Perhaps we are to see today's teaching by Jesus to this young man in the same light.  He also is asked for a sacrifice in order to come to a deeper communion with Christ, to attain the eternal life he seeks.  Sacrifice is not easy; in fact to one whom Jesus loves, and who is obviously dedicated enough to faith to follow the commandments all of his life, perhaps the next great step is just that much more difficult a sacrifice -- to leave his great possessions, which no doubt carry family ties and position within the society, behind him in order to more fully follow Christ and enter into that Kingdom.  Indeed, we will hear the disciples come to terms with their own sacrifices for following Christ as well -- and Jesus will have something to say about what it is that makes such sacrifices possible.  We might also note here that at the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD (within one generation), the entire group of the aristocratic landowning Sadducees would disappear into history, and ponder what this might have meant for this young ruler's future at any rate.  Christ's advice, if taken, would possibly have planted him in the early Church, and stood him in good stead for how to live through such a debacle.  To train one's focus on treasure in heaven rather than treasure on earth would prove no doubt of great value for such circumstances.  At any rate, it was ironically "treasure in heaven" that this rich man still lacked.  But in the meantime, let us stop to consider what we give up in order to become a part of this Kingdom, to participate as deeply as possible in the life of Christ, and to rely upon our faith as we grow in the identity that He offers us instead of what we already know.  In this sense, we are to become like "little children," who follow where Christ would lead them, and we are born again through His guidance and teaching for a new life and new identity.