Oh my Goodness!
Matthew 19:16-30
Last week, I argued for us to seek God’s perspective in scripture, and then note how our perspective differs, and for us to then aim to conform our perspective more to His. To see things more how He sees them. This morning we have opportunity to witness a real-life example of Jesus attempting to facilitate this process of “perspective moving” in a young man’s life.
If there were such a thing as a goodness scale, ranging from 0 being the worst person alive, all the way up to 10 being the most righteous, perfect, and good person alive- where would you put yourself on that scale? That’s kind of a difficult question, right? I don’t think any of us would rank ourselves as a 10 (although there might be some who perhaps hoped to portray that image on a resume or job application), and I don’t think any of us would rank ourselves as a 0 either (although there might be some who are thinking of some other person they know personally or from world history who in their opinion might come close to a 0).
In Matthew 19 (also in Mark and Luke’s accounts), we have recorded the account of a young man who approached Jesus, who thought he had scored a pretty good evaluation on the goodness scale. And he was really drawn to this idea of eternal life. And as a result of his interest- he, Jesus, and the disciples all have a pretty good conversation on the subject of eternal life. Before even reading the passage, skim with me starting in verse 16 and notice all the different words and phrases contained in the passage referring to eternal life… (eternal life, enter into life, treasure in heaven, enter the kingdom of heaven, enter the kingdom of God, saved, inherit eternal life) All these phrases are interchangeable, we’re talking about one thing- being saved from death and entering eternal life in God’s kingdom of Heaven.
And like many today, the young man in this passage had the idea that good people are the people worthy of receiving such life. But as we’ll see, his conception of goodness was wrong. Throughout history, mankind has had a tendency towards a false conception of what is truly good, and what it takes to receive eternal life. Let’s read the first segment of the passage that outlines for us the misconception of what mankind calls good, verses 16-22.
One common misconception mankind has had is a tendency to believe there is something good you must do in order to enter into eternal life. There must be some great act, some ceremonious, holy ritual, some good offering that will suffice in order to gain access to Heaven. For the Muslim it’s 5 “good” things: Stating out loud that God is one and Mohammad is His prophet, praying 5 times a day, giving to the poor, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Hindus have a choice of 3: good works, gaining great knowledge, or being highly devoted. For Buddhists, their good work that will bring them to Nirvana is to understand suffering and how to end it. In modern Judaism, many no longer believe in an afterlife. But for the orthodox Jew, the path to heaven is through good works and prayers. For the Jew during Jesus’ time, the good things necessary for obtaining forgiveness and eternal life were understood as number 1: being a Jew, number 2: following the law of Moses given by God, and number 3: yearly sacrifices of animals. And Jesus seemed to be presenting a new teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven revolving around belief and repentance, and this man wanted to understand- “Come on Jesus. Really, what do I need to do to obtain eternal life?”
Jesus directly answered the man’s question, but His answer- as so often happened- passed over everyones’ head. Look at His answer again in verse 17: “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good…” In other words, it seems Jesus is saying “What is it that you really believe about goodness, because only God is good (mankind can’t come close to being good) and only God properly understands goodness- in asking me on goodness are you claiming belief that I, Jesus, am God- and thus equipped to properly speak on goodness?” In this response, Jesus hit the nail on the head- in order to obtain eternal life, there isn’t enough goodness one can do- because only God is good. In order to obtain eternal life, one has to properly understand Jesus’ relationship to God- and trust in His goodness. He continues “but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Ok, so only God is good- He’s the only one who can score a 10 on the goodness scale. But in theory, if one could keep all the commandments perfectly, then God would be more than happy to give that person a 10 on the goodness scale as well, and they would gain entrance into eternal life. You see, you need to score a 10 on the goodness scale. God scores a 10, and He will not be tainted by hanging out with people who score less than a 10.
At this point, more than likely the man realizes that he probably hasn’t kept all the commandments, so he’s hoping Jesus could narrow it down a little. What are the main ones Jesus? And look again at Jesus’ reply in verses 18-19… Now this is interesting. Many of you might recognize that most of these commands are taken from the 10 commandments, but it’s obviously not all of the 10 commandments, and they’re not all in order, and there’s one stated that is outside of the 10 commandments- yet still a commandment from the law of Moses. Now I believe that Jesus was very particular about every word He spoke, and this passage is no different. We’ve stated that this man had a misconception of what is good. Jesus knew this before He even engaged in the conversation with him, but the rest of us are clued in to his misconception by not only Jesus’ reply in verse 17 about goodness, but also in the man’s reply back in verse 20: “All these things I have kept.” I believe the way Jesus listed these specific commands, was an attempt to discreetly progress the man from the perspective of “Yep I’ve kept all the commandments- I’m good, to: I’ve mostly kept these, to: …well, I might not be keeping that one perfectly.”
Do you see the progression? “You shall not commit murder.” Jesus skips over the first 5 commandments- the first half- that mostly deal with our relationship with God, and He starts with the 6th commandment- a commandment that most people have probably been able to keep. It’s also perhaps the one commandment that is the easiest to identify on the outside if someone has kept it or not. If you’ve murdered someone, it’s usually only a matter of time before someone finds out and you are punished as a murderer. Then He proceeds in order to the 7 the commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.” The sin of adultery is still one that is usually eventually found out, but perhaps could occur in forms more hidden. Moving the progression along Jesus states the 8th commandment- “You shall not steal.” Murder was probably the least common sin, easiest to avoid, then followed by adultery, now followed by stealing. Stealing would be a little more common, and would be a wrongful option for one desiring to prosper. Though it was definitely a wrong and punishable crime, it would seem to be a little less heavy than murder or adultery. Then the 9th command: “You shall not bear false witness.” The sin of lying, in contrast to murder, would definitely seem to be a lighter infringement of the law, and also lighter than stealing, and would be a sin more often justified- one that would also be perhaps easier to commit. And now Jesus jumps back to a commandment from the first half, commandment number 5- “Honor your Father and Mother.” Now that commandment is a little more vague and could be a little harder to identify breaking, as opposed to murder and adultery. And then on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Jesus finishes with a command outside of the more well-known 10 commandments. He ends with a command tucked away in a long list of various laws written in Leviticus- a command that comes just before the commands of “You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together. (Leviticus 19:19) The command right before those 3 commands, is the command Jesus ends His answer with: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Now I don’t want to make light of God’s law given through Moses, but love your neighbor as yourself, don’t breed two kinds of cattle, don’t plant 2 different crops, don’t wear a polyester cotton blend shirt- all seem pretty insignificant on the spectrum when compared to “You shall not murder.”
But I think that was the point. From the heaviest command to avoid the gravest of offenses, all the way to the most minuscule seemingly insignificant law- somewhere in the spectrum we have all missed the mark. And the heavier commands are a little easier for most to obey, but as we get down to the smaller, seemingly less significant commands, perhaps these “smaller” ones are a little harder to obey. The big heavy commands are easier to judge if someone is obeying them, and then the seemingly lesser commands are a little harder to judge if someone is obeying them to the fullest extent. In this progression, perhaps Jesus hoped for the man to evaluate his own goodness a little more honestly. Sure, he hadn’t committed murder- he and everyone else probably knew that- but did he and everyone else believe he had been loving his neighbor as he had been loving himself? That might be a little harder to judge. Had he always honored his father and mother, had he always spoken and acted in 100% honesty?
He must have thought so, or at least wanted to give that appearance, by his answer in verse 20, “All these things I have kept.” Jesus knows he doesn’t see it, or that he’s not admitting it, so He offered then a new personal commandment just for him, one not recorded in any requirement of the law, one nowhere found in the spectrum of heavy to light laws- he commands: “sell your possessions and give to the poor.” And then He followed that up with a 2nd command, perhaps the hardest of all- yet the one that would enable him to be justified in every area of every law- “Follow me.”
In saying this, the young man had opportunity to answer Jesus’ question from verse 17 “Why are you asking Me about what is good?” If he believed Jesus was good, he would have to believe He was God. If He believed Jesus was God and was good, then he would surely obey any command given to him by God in order to obtain the eternal life he sought. But his actions proved he either didn’t believe Jesus was good, or didn’t believe Jesus was God, or that he wasn’t really as serious as he thought he was in being a command-follower, or that he wasn’t really as serious about eternal life as he had portrayed himself to be.
It’s unlikely, but perhaps this rich young man had actually wholeheartedly followed all the commands Jesus had mentioned and more, but there was obviously at least one area in his life where he was unwilling to surrender and be obedient. We have to ask ourselves, are there any “one areas” in our lives? Are there any areas where we have said, “No I’m unwilling to let you work here Jesus- I’ll obey you everywhere in every way, except for in this one thing.”? Verse 22 reinforces the idea that wealth was this man’s one area that (at least in this moment) would keep Him from following and obeying Jesus. I hope that later in his grief He repented and broke the hold of seeking wealth. Jesus then explained to His disciples the failure of what mankind calls good… (Verses 23-26)
Jesus could have said “how hard it is for an angry person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven,” based on what He had said on the sermon on the mount relating to the 6th commandment forbidding murder: “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty.” (Matt. 5:22) He could have said how hard it is for a lustful person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, based on what He had said relating to the 7th commandment forbidding adultery: “but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28) He could have said “how hard it is for someone with neighbors to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Because it’s hard to love your neighbor as yourself- that’s a hard one to keep consistently. Jesus’ disciples didn’t have to think of all these possibilities, they already felt the weight of what Jesus said concerning rich people, since realistically speaking- that included most everyone of their day. No, not everyone was rich, but most everyone, no matter what level of finances they were at, were probably striving to at least get slightly richer. And if the “blessed,” rich people have extreme difficulty getting to Heaven, what hope is there then for the poor? “…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”? (Matt. 19:24)
Now there have been some who have attempted to explain the “eye of a needle” as referring to a low and narrow gate in the walls of Jerusalem, and others who have rendered the Greek word for “camel” as really being a misprint for the Greek word “cable”- which is similar in Greek spelling. Either distortion would lend the illustration to be slightly more forgiving and more possible. Obviously threading a cable through a needle’s eye would be difficult, but more probable than squeezing a camel through a needle’s eye. And getting a tall camel through a low and narrow gate would be difficult, but again more probable than squeezing that same camel through a needle’s eye. But it looks like the disciples took Jesus’ statement as a hyperbole. Them seem to take it at face value, as a Jewish way of stating something is impossible. Verse 25 says they were “astonished and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’” They realized Jesus was implying Heaven was impossible for a rich man. Jesus confirms this, that He wasn’t talking about difficult- small gates or a cable, but rather He was talking about the impossible- a camel and the eye of a needle. Look again at what He says in verse 26: “With people this is impossible.”
This was Jesus’ whole point from the beginning of the conversation- only God is good and it is impossible for anyone else to be good. It is impossible for anyone to completely fulfill all of God’s law and requirements. The way to eternal life is by fulfilling all the law (the “major,” “heavy” laws AND all the “minor,” “lesser” laws) but that path is humanly impossible. So, what’s the real answer, if the law is the way, but it’s impossible, how does one inherit eternal life? Jesus gave the answer in verse 21- surrender all and follow Him. For this young man, full surrender meant riding himself of his wealth. Jesus demands full surrender and that we follow Him. That is the good you can do- surrender and follow. Any attempt at goodness outside of complete surrender and following Him, will fail. It’s not real goodness. It won’t led you to eternal life. Doing good, going to church, reading your Bible, being kind, being baptized, giving to the needy- as “good” as those things are, they will not give you a 10 on the goodness scale- and you need a 10 on the goodness scale in order to enter Heaven. The only way you and I can score a 10 on the goodness scale is through complete surrender to Him and following Him. It’s admitting to God that He alone is good, that we have missed the mark and are not good- nor ever will be, and our only hope is in Him- that He would apply to our goodness scale report the same markings that He gave to Jesus- a perfect 10 out of 10. In the last few verses, we see that there will be a reversal of what mankind calls good. (Verses 27-30)
This whole passage is talking about the misconception and failure of mankind’s goodness that will actually lead to something bad- exclusion from God’s Kingdom. But it also outlines what is true goodness, that thus leads to something really good- entrance into God’s Kingdom. But sometimes that true goodness- surrendering and following Jesus- to the world looks bad. It didn’t look good to others that the disciples had lost their careers, were poor, and were wasting their time following Jesus. But Jesus says the roles will be reversed. To His disciples He says: Yes Peter, the loss you are experiencing appears to be bad according to you and the rest of your countrymen- you appear to be the lowest of low with the least amount of wealth, power, and authority, but one day the roles will be reversed and you will be honored among the great- leading and judging with great influence, power, and authority- the nation of Israel. And this verse 29 is for the rest of us… Anything “good” you surrender to the Lord in order to follow him and gain eternal life, you are promised to gain many times over that “good” which you gave up. Verse 30 gives us the same idea. There are those who are first now- they are receiving good things and good times, but they will end up being last- those good things and good times will be taken away. And then there are others who seem to be last in this life, that aren’t getting their good things and good times- no, it’s been difficult, and they have given up much and sacrificed much. And Jesus says, one day- they will be first. They will one day be the ones receiving the good things and good times, the ones being honored and celebrated. A great reversal of goodness is coming.
Jesus’ teaching on goodness, wasn’t really a new teaching. Long before Jesus walked on earth, God’s prophet Isaiah said, as recorded in Isaiah 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” But what Jesus did, just a few months later after this teaching on goodness, by dying on the cross and raising Himself back to life, completed the teaching. We weren’t left to just deal with the impossibility of arriving to Heaven, we weren’t left doomed to a state of our righteousness being as filthy rags. He did what we couldn’t do by living a perfect life- scoring a 10 on the goodness scale- and He now invites us to surrender to Him and follow Him so that our score counts as His score.
If you’ve never agreed with God that only He is good, and have yet to surrender all, and follow Jesus to receive His goodness, then I encourage you to do so today. Admit that you miss the mark, ask for His forgiveness, and release anything you are holding onto that would keep you from following Jesus. Don’t be like the young man who went away grieving. Choose today to enter into true life, true goodness, and join the others who are waiting for the goodness of God’s Kingdom.
For those of us who have already made that commitment to Jesus, I want to warn you that we can still be tempted to slip back into thinking that our goodness amounts to something. We can miss out on His goodness because we’re relying on our goodness- and that isn’t good. May this passage humble us, reminding us of God’s pleasure- not in our attempts at goodness- but His pleasure in our surrendering all to follow Jesus.