Matthew 19:16–22:
“Now someone came up to Him and said, ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘Why do you ask Me about what is good? There is only One who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ ‘Which ones?’ he asked. 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.’
The young man said to Him, ‘I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’ But when the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.”
I’m exploring this passage as a warning to people who want to say Jesus does not really mean what He said—who want to blunt the force of the divine demand for this man. I’m taking it verse by verse, and I am now in verse 18 and the beginning of verse 19:
“‘Which ones?’ he asked. Jesus replied, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Jesus has just said, “There is only One who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” The man responds, “Which ones?” because there are many. There is a lot, and he knows that.
There is a lot. And how do you keep up? How do you know you have not contravened one commandment? How do you know you have not done something wrong? How do you know you have even loved your neighbor as yourself? How are you sure? “Honor your father and mother”—how do I do that consistently? “Do not give false testimony”—am I really sure I have never done that? “Do not steal.” But what if I have stolen before—what now? “Do not commit adultery. Do not murder.”
Jesus is giving him these laws. “Do these things, and you will enter into life.” He said, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
You may say to yourself, “So is this just about rule‑keeping?” Eventually, you will see it is not just about rule‑keeping. There is only one thing, ultimately, that you should do: believe in the One He has sent, so that you can be saved (John 6:29). But Jesus is coming to this man’s level. He is having a conversation with him. He is, in that moment, functioning like an evangelist, saying, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
But we know you cannot really keep the commandments. You can think you keep the commandments, but from God’s perspective, when God comes and X‑rays people, you find there are many things left undone.
Look at Isaiah. You might say, “Isaiah must have been keeping the commandments; he is the one telling people to obey God’s word.” But in Isaiah 6, when he was confronted with the presence of God, he exclaimed, “Woe to me! I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). Yet we do not see “unclean lips” explicitly itemized in the Ten Commandments that way.
That is why we have to frame this whole thing from the words of Jesus: “Why do you ask Me about what is good? There is only One who is good.” There is only One who qualifies. Only Christ qualifies.
Jesus is talking to this Jewish man within his framework. “You are coming to Me to ask for ‘one more thing.’” Paul will later tell us the purpose of the law. “The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ” (Galatians 3:24). The law is not our foundation; the law is not our platform.
Paul told the Galatian church: the law is a tutor to bring us to Christ; Christ is the ultimate. In Romans, he says the law came in so that the trespass might increase, that sin might become “utterly sinful” (Romans 5:20; 7:13)—the law is to show you how much you fall short, so that you will come to Christ and gain Christ's righteousness.
At the end of this encounter, Jesus says, “Follow Me.” The end of it is: follow Me. “I am the salvation. I am the good One. I am the Person you actually need for eternal life. I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). That is what He will say clearly to His disciples.
But for this young man, He is coming to his level, having a conversation with him based on what he is familiar with. That is what an evangelist will do: he comes to people’s level, and from where they are, draws them to where they are supposed to be.
We saw that in Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman (John 4). He did not just show up dumping eschatology and a systematic theology outline. He pulled the conversation in a particular direction, starting from where she was, even using her own words.
Jesus will make a very sharp demand of this rich ruler. And I am trying to warn us: do not blunt the force of the words of Jesus by saying, “He does not really mean what He said.”
God bless you. See you later.