Matthew 19:16–22:
“Now someone came 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, 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.”
Now, I’ve been exploring this passage with the overarching aim of giving a warning to people who want to come to this passage and say Jesus does not really mean what He said.
They also do the same with Jesus’ words about the rich and the eye of the needle: “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” (Matthew 19:24). Then they come and say, “Oh, there was one gate called ‘the Needle Gate.’” It is not true. The needle is just a needle—the small metal thing we use to sew cloth. That tiny thing. He is giving a powerful picture. That is why the disciples say, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25). And He says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
That is it. He is having that conversation with His disciples.
And the possibility was opened when God gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). So the way is not the way of the law—“How much law am I going to keep?” The way is the way of leaning on Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), as the One who “became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
But I am now in verse 20: “The young man said to Him, ‘I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack?’”
Jesus did not argue with him, did not say, “Oh, I saw you in that place; you did not do it.” No. Jesus took this man at his word: “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws.” Why should I doubt him? There is no need to doubt his testimony about himself.
That is why it is really not about the law; it is about Christ. That is what we are talking about.
He has just heard, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, love your neighbour as yourself,” and he says, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws.”
We just need to not argue with him. Jesus did not argue with him; let us not argue with him. Let us not say, “He was exaggerating.” Why should you say that? Take him at his word.
That means this was probably a conscientious person, really focused on saying, “I am going to get to eternal life. I am going to do all it takes. You want me to do this? I will do it. You want me to do that? I will do it.”
And eventually, you see it is still not enough. Nothing is enough when it comes to God, in that sense.
Why? Because we inherited sin from Adam. That is the truth.
Paul will later explore this in Romans: through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death through sin; so death spread to all people (Romans 5:12). In Adam we all sinned. That is why Jesus begins by saying, “No one is good except One—God” (Matthew 19:17). That means there is a corruption in humanity that only Christ, only faith in Jesus, can answer. That is the truth.
This man is not aware of that. In a way, this penchant to say, “I have done this, I have done that, I have done this,” may blind us from seeing the depth of the corruption in our own hearts. We might begin to pat ourselves on the back and point fingers and say we are better, that we have done it, and therefore we can qualify. No. Nobody qualifies.
He said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). That is the truth.
“The young man said to Him, ‘I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack?’” Look at the disciples listening to this. Look at this man coming, likely known, respected. Nobody steps forward to refute him: “No, you have not obeyed all the laws.” He says, “I have wholeheartedly; I have done my best.”
The point is: your best is not good enough.
“The Bible says all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). That is the truth. Until we come to the end of ourselves.
Paul wrote about Israel in Romans 10: they went about trying to establish their own righteousness through the law and did not submit to the righteousness of God (Romans 10:3–4)—that righteousness which is a gift in Christ.
God bless you. See you later.