Matthew 19
What He Asked the Rich Man
"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)
A rich young man came to Jesus and asked what good thing he must do to get eternal life. He had kept all the commandments. What do I still lack?
Jesus told him to sell everything and give to the poor and come follow Him.
The man went away sad because he had great wealth.
What I’ve always found striking is that the instruction was specific to this person. Jesus didn’t tell everyone to sell everything. He told this man. Because for this man, wealth was the thing. It was what stood between him and full surrender. Jesus identified it precisely and asked for exactly that.
The disciples were astonished. Who then can be saved? And Jesus said: with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Matthew 19 also has Jesus on children. People were bringing children to Jesus and the disciples rebuked them. Jesus rebuked the disciples. Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them.
The same disciples who were arguing about greatness kept trying to protect Jesus from the people He’d come for.
