JESUS TEACHES THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE
Matthew 19:16-20:16
Key Verses 19:25-26
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’
In today’s passage Jesus teaches us the way to eternal life. Everyone desires to have eternal life. But so far eternal life has eluded all men’s attempts to gain it. But in today’s passage Jesus teaches the way. May God help us to learn the way to eternal life.
Part I - What good thing must I do to get eternal life? (19:16-22)
Look at verse 16, “Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?’” We want to think about this man. This man was a young, rich ruler. Luke’s Gospel calls this man a ruler and in today’s passage verse 20 calls this man ‘young’ and verse 22 reveals that he had ‘great’ wealth. Also from today’s passage we can learn that this man was wise and morally upright. Being an extremely wealthy man, it is amazing that he came to Jesus asking what he must do to gain eternal life. Usually rich men do not think about eternal life because they have it so good right now. Usually, they only think about how to make more money or how to keep the money they already have. They enjoy the pleasures and comforts that their wealth affords them.
But this man was different. This man wanted eternal life. This passage also reveals that this man lived an upright life. When Jesus told him to not murder, or commit adultery, not to steal and not to give false testimony and to honor his parents and to love his neighbor, this man could confidently say, “I have kept all of these”. This man lacked nothing. He was young, wealthy, wise and morally upright. He probably was good looking also. He is the kind of guy that every girl wants to marry. He may have been like President Obama.
But strangely, this man realized one thing; he did not have eternal life. All that he had accomplished and did still did not gain him eternal life. He should have been the happiest person in the world, but in his deep heart he realized that everything he had could not gain him eternal life. This reminds us of the verse in Matthew 16:26 “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Humanly speaking this man had everything, but spiritually speaking he had nothing. So out of his understanding and wisdom this man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
What did Jesus say to him? Look at verse 17, “‘Why do you ask Me about what is good?’ Jesus replied. ‘There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.’” In this verse Jesus teaches this man a very important lesson. This man thought that in order for him to get eternal life, there was something he could do. He thought that eternal life was a matter of doing something. So far this man had learned that in life if you want something you have to work hard and attain it. Even though he was young, he wanted to be wealthy, so he studied hard to learn business and then put in long hours to make his business become successful and then he decided to run for political office and he campaigned hard and ran a lot of ads on TV and he won. So he learned early on that if you want something bad enough then if you apply yourself and do everything you can you can achieve and attain your goals.
But Jesus taught this man that eternal life is not something you can attain on your own determination or ability. No matter how ‘good’ you are, we are unable to gain eternal life. Jesus told this man that it was not a matter of ‘what’ is good, but ‘who’ is good. Jesus told him, that only God is good. Jesus taught him that you first have to be ‘good’ before you can truly do what is good. But no one is good, not even one. All fall short.
Isaiah 64:6 reads, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” The truth is that no matter how ‘good’ we are it is not enough, it is because our sin keeps us from truly doing what is good.
Jesus then told this man, “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” When the young ruler heard this he completely missed Jesus’ point. He still thought that there was something he could do so he asked Jesus, “Which ones?” This man is just like college students who come to their instructor prior to the mid-term exam and say, “We have learned a lot in this class and it is all very interesting, but what exactly out of all the material you have taught us is going to be on the mid-term.” They think that the most important things they must know are the things that will be on the exam. They think that if they know what will specifically be on the exam then they will be able to pass the exam. By asking, “Which ones?” this man thought that there must be certain specific commandments that would be the key to unlock the door to eternal life. If he only kept those specific ones then he could have eternal life.
What did Jesus say? Look at verses 18b-19, “Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus shared the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th commandments and also the misc. command from Lev. 19:18. Interestingly, all these commandments that Jesus shared with this man had to do with his relationship with his fellow man. None of them touched on his relationship with God.
What did this man say? Look at verse 20, “‘All these I have kept,’ the young man said. ‘What do I still lack?’” This man could boldly say that he kept all of these commandments, but strangely he still could confess that he was lacking something. This reveals that even though he genuinely believed that he had kept these commandments, in reality his conscience clearly told him that he still was lacking something, meaning that he had not truly kept these commandments, even though he thought he did.
Outwardly, surely he had not murdered anyone, nor committed adultery with a woman, but Jesus in Mat. 5:21-22 said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.” and in Mat. 5:27-28 Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” By this standard this man surely had not kept the commandments that he thought he did and his conscience testified to this truth because he still knew that something was lacking and keeping him from having eternal life.
But Jesus did not rebuke this man. Jesus loved this man. Mark’s Gospel says that after this man said, “All these I have kept”, Jesus looked at him and loved him. So Jesus told him in verse 21, “Jesus answered, "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.” Jesus told this man that if he wanted to be perfect this man only needed to do one thing, “Go sell all you have and give to the poor and follow Jesus.” Wow! This man only needed to do one thing in order to be perfect.
Specifically, Jesus told him to overcome his selfishness by sharing his wealth with the poor. Regardless of how his fortune was attained, he was selfish to enjoy it by himself when his people were suffering from poverty. He had to be mindful of the poor. One young man is a good student and studies well. But he is indifferent to other students and never helps them in their studies. He must learn to care for his fellow students with a shepherd’s mind. We have a pretty high standard of living in America. The agonies of most young Americans are luxurious compared to those in other countries. We agonize over what college to attend, our social status, who we will marry and of course our appearance, what clothes we wear and what car we drive and what the zip code is of our home. But no one suffers from malnutrition. However, so many people in the world die from hunger and disease. Many do not have clean drinking water. Those who blindly pursue wealth in America are selfish in the sight of God. We should sacrifice our pleasures and comfort to help the suffering poor. Especially, we must send many missionaries to carry the Gospel to those who don’t know Jesus.
Jesus promised the young man treasure in Heaven. God remembers those who care for others sacrificially (Lk 14:14). They accumulate treasure in heaven. Treasure in heaven is eternal in nature. It does not perish, spoil or fade. Those who have this treasure are truly rich people. Ultimately, this treasure is Jesus and the eternal life that he gives.
When Jesus said, “come, follow Me,” Jesus was offering to make this young man His disciple. Jesus volunteered to be His shepherd and teacher. Jesus would help him change in his inner character until he bore the glorious image of God. Jesus invited him to join in His Gospel ministry that would bear fruit worldwide and throughout eternity.
When this man heard this, he went away sad. This man did not realize that he had made an idol out of his money or that he was selfish and cared about himself more than his neighbor. Not until he was asked to sell everything he owned and give to the poor that he found out that he loved himself and his wealth so much. It was time for him to repent of his sins and seek God’s help. But he was unwilling to change. So he went away sad. This is a critical moment. We will all face this same trial. At some point God is going to point out our sin and will ask us to repent and it will be at that moment that we will either choose eternal life or we will go away sad, knowing that we were this close to having it, but unable to actually take hold of it.
Part II – With God all things are possible (23-30).
It was a shock to the disciples to see this rich young man go away sad. Usually people who came to Jesus went away blessed and happy. Jesus seemed to give this man a hard time, and he went away sad. Sometimes Bible students go away sad. Jesus “sends the rich away empty” (Lk 1:53). In truth, this is Jesus’ best love for them. Jesus does not try to make people feel good all the time. Jesus wants to plant truth of God in their hearts that will lead to eternal life. We can be sure that Jesus’ heart was broken as He watched this man go away. Jesus deeply understood his agony. It was with a note of sorrow that Jesus said in verses 23-24, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell 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.” Jesus taught his disciples to understand the agonies of rich young men. They should not envy those who enjoy wealth and pleasure in this world. They must see the agony of their souls and have compassion on them and pray for them. Most of all, as Jesus did, they must teach the word of God to them until they realize that the things of the world all perish, and only Jesus can give them eternal life.
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” They felt it was impossible for anyone to be saved. Actually, this is true. If we spend enough time digging, we will find fatal flaws and weaknesses in every person. When we think about people, it is impossible for anyone to be saved.
Look at verse 26. “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” Instead of dwelling endlessly on fallen man’s depravity, we must look up at God. Though men are weak and helpless, God is mighty to save. God can save men from their sins and from the power of death. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” God has provided the way of salvation. Jesus’ death on the cross redeemed us from our sin. He paid the penalty that we owed. By His wounds we have been made healed and our sins that were as red as scarlet have been removed and now we are made pure and white. By what Jesus did on the cross, we have been made clean; we can now do good because He made it possible for us to be good in the sight of God. And by the Spirit of God we can now live lives that are holy and pleasing to God. We can now follow Jesus example that He set for us. We have been made a new creation and we can live lives that are pleasing to God. Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life. We must simply believe Almighty God who loves us and sent Jesus as our Savior.
There is one man who I know that was a completely paralyzed and useless man. He talked big, but did nothing. He was a slave to his sinful nature. His inner person was shriveled and deformed. But one day a women invited him to follow Jesus and he did. At first, he made many, many mistakes, but little by little his inner character was strengthened and changed. The more he listened and believed God’s Word and put it into practice the more his inner character grew. He is still spiritually very young, but his life is changing and he is growing up to be a shepherd for his five sons. He now has a real hope to be a good shepherd for many young rich rulers. If you ask him, he will tell you that it was not himself or his own ability; that it’s really the work of God. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
When Peter heard Jesus say this, Peter said, “We have left everything to follow You! What then will there be for us?” Peter wanted to know what reward there would be for him and the other eleven. “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for My sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.’” In these verses we learn about Jesus and the abundant blessing He gives those who follow Him.
Those who follow Jesus never lose in the end. No matter what we sacrifice in this world, Jesus repays 100 times more. This does not necessarily mean that if we give up one video game, Jesus will give us 100 video games. But it is Jesus’ assurance that life with Jesus is 100 times more blessed than life without Jesus. Most importantly we are given eternal life.
Part III – Go and work in My Vineyard (20:1-16)
Look at verses 1-2. “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.” When it was time for the harvest, a landowner needed temporary workers. So he hired harvest workers on a daily basis. The agreed upon wage–a denarius–was fair pay for one day of work, maybe equivalent to $100. Those hired were lucky and happy.
Look at verses 3-7. “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’” The Jewish work day began at 6:00 a.m. and ended at 6:00 p.m. The third hour corresponds to 9:00 a.m., the sixth hour to 12 noon, the ninth hour to 3:00 p.m. and the eleventh hour to 5:00 p.m.
Look at verses 8-12. “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’” How did he answer? Look at verses 13-15. “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’”
Though there are many details in this parable, the point is that the landowner seems more generous to some workers than to others. But that’s not true. In reality none of these workers had any work until the owner came and gave them work to do. None of them could afford to feed their family or pay their house mortgage until the landowner hired them. In reality, they all had every reason to be happy, because they all had work and all got paid. None of them deserved to be hired, it was only by His choice that any of them got to work and get paid.
When God gives grace to someone, we must not grumble, but thank and praise God, overcoming our jealous feelings. However, like the workers hired first in the parable, sinners want to exalt themselves based on their labor or seniority. Sometimes God’s servants work in a mission field for many years without seeing much visible fruit. Then another servant of God works in the same place and miracles happen. Those who were there first must not think God is unfair. They must recognize God’s grace and give thanks to God. Sometimes a servant of God labors faithfully, hoping to be entrusted with a position in God’s work. But it is given to someone seemingly less qualified. He must not grumble against God, but thank God for his grace. We must remember that we have received God’s one-sided grace. We must learn to rejoice in knowing God, who is so gracious to sinners. Actually, everything that happens to men is for man’s own good. God works everything for our perfect good.
In the past, I used to be really hurt and angry when I saw others be given positions of leadership that I thought I should have been given. But over time God has opened my eyes to see that it was a good thing I was not chosen for certain things. I am the worst and most unorganized person in the world. I have to ask my wife all the time where is this and what time do I have to do that. It would be a complete disaster if I was given a position where I had to be responsible for doing certain organizational tasks. It is good that others are chosen to do so. Actually, I found out that I am so much happier I wasn’t chosen to do those kinds of tasks, because I really am not good at them. Now I don’t have to worry or be bothered by them at all. They have been given to someone else. Thank God! But God knows that I don’t mind getting up early, I like it. And so God has given me the privilege to pray early in the morning. Thank God! Not everyone can do that. But God has strengthened me so that I can. I found out that I am not the head, but more like the foot. I am not the most handsome and not the most looked at, actually I am a little smelly, but I have my position. Thank God when we find out what our place and position is, because then we can be the most happy.
We who have received His grace must be thankful; we must recognize His sovereignty; we must work hard in His vineyard; we must rejoice when His grace is shed on others, because together we are the family of God and work together in His vineyard.
From today’s passage we learn the way to eternal life and how to enjoy and be thankful to God for His calling on our lives. May God help us to follow Jesus and live lives that are holy and pleasing to Him and that give us complete joy and happiness.
One Word: With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
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