Matthew 19:16–30 - You're 'At Risk'

How much more could you follow Jesus if you weren't so overwhelmed by other stuff?

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Gospels: Week 7 - The cost of discipleship

Matthew 19:16–30 (NASB95)

¹⁶ And someone came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?”

¹⁷ And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸ Then he said to Him, “Which ones?”

And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁰ The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶ And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

²⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Heidelberg Catechism

Q&A 86

Q. We have been delivered from our misery by God’s grace alone through Christ and not because we have earned it: why then must we still do good?

A. To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by his blood.

But we do good because

Christ by his Spirit is also renewing us to be like himself,

so that in all our living

we may show that we are thankful to God

for all he has done for us,

and so that he may be praised through us.

Summary

The young man's opening question is grating - especially to us Reformed folk. He asks Jesus what good thing must I do to get eternal life? And we all want to yell back at him in unison: "NOTHING! You're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone!"

But don't dismiss this man's question too quickly; Although it's certainly true that you're saved by grace, there are a couple of good things you must do to get it. Jesus Himself commanded us to repent and believe!

So this wealthy young man asks Jesus the right question, but grabbed onto the wrong answer. He wanted a neat checklist, and so he was pretty excited when Jesus gave him one that has been the gold standard for millennia: God's law. Ironically, though, the young man broke several of these laws right then and there by pridefully claiming that he'd kept all them.

But deep down, the young man knew that he still lacked something, and Jesus had perfectly engineered this conversation to help him discover it: the tangible evidence of repentance and belief that he'd missed. Another word for this evidence is discipleship. It means letting go of this world's stuff and your own selfish ambitions and instead following wherever Jesus calls you to go.

Jesus here wasn't mandating that all Christians sell their possessions and give to the poor. That prescription was carefully crafted just for this particular young man. But you do need to take seriously the underlying lesson, and ask yourself how much more could you better follow Jesus if you weren't so overwhelmed by your never ending efforts to get more and better stuff?

  Dig Deeper  

Often times, people - especially young people - who live in high crime or impoverished areas of the world are described as being 'at risk.' Life is so massively difficult for such people, and so our natural conclusion is often that such areas must be such hard ground for the gospel to take root and grow in.

Chances are that you don't fall into one of the 'at risk' categories that so many others who seem less fortunate do. You're probably reading this in a comfortable place where you don't fear violent crime, won't face addiction to illicit street drugs, or have to deal with crushing hunger and poverty.

But Jesus didn't have 'at risk' people in mind when He told His disciples that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. He was thinking more so of people like us - people who so often are more attached to our possessions and great wealth than we are to Christ.

Those who meet the world's definition of being 'at risk' know they're in a messed up situation and want out. They know they're broken and want to be made whole. They of course still need the regenerating Spirit to open their eyes to the truth of the gospel, but their situation in life often makes them much more open to it than what people like us are.

Jesus said it's impossibly hard for people like us. But He went on to say that with God, all things are possible. Thank God that He's done the impossible in your life and pray for the strength and wisdom to let go of the pursuit of otherwise good wealth and possessions so you can fully follow Christ with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, for whom all things are possible;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will not hold so tightly to the good things God has blessed you with so you can instead cling to Christ;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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