If you have been a Christian for some time and regularly read your Bible, you should be familiar with Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man, which is found in Matthew 19:16-22 and also in Luke 18:18-30. When Jesus was conversing with him, His disciples were present. This is apparent because Jesus uses the encounter with the young rich man as a teaching opportunity for His disciples as seen in Matthew 19:23 to 20:16, which it contains the parable of the workers in the vineyard. To fully understand this parable, we first must be read its context, which starts in Matthew 19:16.
Matthew 19:16-22 – The Rich Young Man
16 Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” the man asked. And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. 19 Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.'” 20 “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?” 21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away very sad, for he had many possessions. New Living Translation
The rich young man asked Jesus three questions; Ver. 16 – “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”, Ver. 18, – “Which ones?”, Ver. 20 – “What else must I do?”. Jesus tested the rich young man in his weakest and most vulnerable area–his wealth. Jesus was exposing the source that the young man believed to be his security and the one thing that was really keeping him from following God. – Fire Bible.
Warren Wiersbe in his commentary explains to us very clearly what was Jesus exposing in the heart of this young man. “Jesus knew that this man was covetous; he loved material wealth. By asking him to sell his goods, Jesus was forcing him to examine his own heart and determine his priorities. With all of his commendable qualities, the young man still did not truly love God with all of his heart. Possessions were his god.”
One of many points we can learn from Jesus’ questions asked to the young man is that, as believers or followers in Christ, we must consider what are we allowing to be more important than fully submitting, committing, honoring and loving God with our heart and our lives.
What we see from Jesus’ three questions and the rich young man’s answers, is that it drew out comments and questions from the disciples which set up the teaching that Jesus wanted them learn from this.
The first lesson Jesus taught His disciples is found in verses 23 and 24. As it is believed today, it was not much different with the Jewish culture then. Many Christians incorrectly believe that material and or monetary riches are an indicator or evidence that they are blessed by God.
Matthew 19:23-24, 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
What Jesus told them was in contradiction to the disciple’s theology and popular belief of the Jews. “It was commonly believed that if someone was blessed with riches, they had God’s approval and were thereby assured of entrance into His kingdom of heaven.” That is why verse 25 says, “The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.” The disciples were thinking in human or natural terms which will always have its limitations. However, Jesus in verse 26 answers their question from a spiritual or God’s point of view which has no limitations. “Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Jesus is not saying that a rich person cannot be saved.
Genesis tells us that Abraham was a very wealthy man. Genesis 13:2, Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. Genesis 24:34-35, 34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. Yet he was righteous in God’s eyes, Galatians 3:6, “Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Jesus clearly had two wealthy followers, the first was Zacchaeus of whom Jesus said he found salvation in verse 9. Luke 19:1-10, 19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.'” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
The second was Joseph of Arimathea who was a disciple of Jesus, Matthew 27:57, As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.
Also, in the early church there were wealthy Christians. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 teaches us the Godly balance of a wealthy believer’s heart and actions and their reward. 17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
Jesus said we cannot follow the God and live for worldly wealth, Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Jesus tells us in Luke 12:34, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
In spite of what Jesus said in verse 26, Peter got personal with his question in verse 27 and spoke what was on his heart, Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?” This is very understandable coming from Peter because Peter many times spoke from his emotions. Peter and his brother Andrew left behind their fishing business, as also did John and James. Matthew 4:18-22, 18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus’ answer in verses 28-29 to Peter and the other disciples was not a rebuke; that would come in the form of the parable in the next chapter. However, Jesus not only told only them what they would get and do but also when they would get it as a reward for following Him. Matthew 19:28-30, 28 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.
Please note in verse 29 the undeserved generosity of God to those who have “given up”, denied themselves, or forfeited material riches and even family to follow Christ. At the moment, it might seem that much was sacrificed. But Warren Wiersbe put into perspective verse 29 this way. “In other words, they were not making sacrifices – they were making investments. But not all of the dividends would be received in this life.”
In verse 30 Jesus continuing with His answer making a statement that adds much more or goes to the next level than what Peter and others was asking about. The New Living Translation makes this verse clearer for us to understand. Matthew 19:30, “But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”
The way the world would think what reward one would receive and the reason why one receives the reward is totally contrary to the way it will be in the Kingdom of God. The Fire Bible gives us the following explanation. “The “first” (“greatest now”) are those who, because of their wealth, education, status, talents or opportunities, are highly esteemed or honored by the world and sometimes even by the church. The “last” (“least important now”) are those who are not known by many or who do not have a high social status in the community. In the final assessment of God’s kingdom, “many” who were considered to be great leaders and participants in the church will be given positions behind others, while many who were unknown in the world will be given positions of higher honor.
In chapter 20:1-16 Jesus expounds on the meaning of verse 30 of which we will study next week in part 2.
Pastor John
