TO HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN

Matthew 19:16-30, Key verse 19:21 

“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.’”

1. Who came to Jesus and with what question (16, 22)? Why might a rich young man ask this? Picking up on “good”, how did Jesus redirect him, and what must he do to enter life (17)?
2. Which commandments did Jesus mention (18-19)? Why did he emphasize “love your neighbor as yourself”? What does the man’s answer show about him (20)?
3. Read verse 21. What specific command and invitation did Jesus give this man? What was it he lacked? How does following Jesus lead us to enter life? What did the man do and why (22)?
4. What did Jesus teach his disciples (23-24)? Why did he use hyperbole? What effect did this have on the disciples, and how did they respond (25)? How can anyone be saved (26)?
5. What did Peter declare and ask (27)? What promise did Jesus give the Twelve (28)? What does Jesus promise to everyone who has left something or someone for Jesus’ sake (29)? What does verse 30 mean? How can we inherit eternal life (16:24-26)?  

To Have Treasure in Heaven

Matthew 19:16-30, Key Verse 19:21

“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.’”

Today we come to Jesus’ unforgettable encounter with a very remarkable young man who was seeking the highest spiritual goal: eternal life. He was promising in many ways. And yet, after talking with Jesus, he went away empty-handed. It’s genuinely regrettable and sad, but that just means we can learn all the more from it. We can learn what the difference is between those who fail to obtain treasure in heaven and those who succeed, so that by God’s grace we may find ourselves as those tho obtain that treasure. May God bless us to understand Jesus’ teaching today. 

I. One who failed to obtain treasure in heaven (16-22)

Do you remember the last part of last week’s passage? People were bringing their little children to Jesus so he would bless them. The disciples were annoyed and tried to send them away. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (14) Jesus taught many times that entering God’s kingdom wasn’t a matter of human importance or power or ability, but of humbling oneself like a little child. 

Right after the children left, Jesus got a very different kind of visitor. Look at verse 16. “Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?’” How much better is this question than than the questions the Pharisees were asking Jesus in last week’s passage; the Pharisees asked Jesus whether they could divorce their wives. But here is someone who goes directly to the highest spiritual goal and desire—eternal life. Imagine you were walking on the campus and some student came up to you and said, “Bible teacher, what do I have to do to get eternal life?” How happy you would be! What do we know about this man who asked such a question? Verse 22 tells us that he was young, and he was rich. Young, rich, and seeking eternal life: what an excellent disciple candidate he seems to be! Maybe Jesus should fire all his other disciples, who seemed so slow to grow spiritually, and start fresh with this guy.

We know that Jesus earnestly desires to lead everyone to eternal life. But strangely, Jesus’ response to this young man’s question was not so positive. Look at verse 17a. “‘Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good.’” The man had asked what good thing he could do to get eternal life. What is wrong with that? At least he didn’t ask Jesus, “How much money should I pay you to get eternal life?” He didn’t think he could get eternal life by drinking a magic potion or something; he wanted to know what to do that pleased God. Nonetheless Jesus, with his spiritual discernment, saw something in this man’s attitude that was not right, a fundamental way of thinking that needed to be changed for him, starting with his idea of what was “good”. 

Jesus rebuked the man’s use of the word “good” by saying, “There is only One who is good,” referring, of course, to God. In casual speech, we use the word “good” to refer to lots of things, like “this is good coffee” or “good pizza” (you can see there what I think is good.) But in the ultimate sense, the word “good” can only be used to refer to God himself. Why is only God good? Because all human beings are sinners. In Genesis it says God made earth good, but then people’s sin corrupted it. Jesus could see that this man’s thinking was stuck on the level of human goodness. So Jesus said “only God is good” first of all to help turn him back to a God-centered way of thinking. When our perspective is changed from self-centered and human-centered to God-centered, we can truly begin to grow in God’s good image. Because God is the ultimate good, our life becomes good as much as we are focused on God’s goodness and glory.

This young man had a lot to learn. But Jesus, after his warning the man “only God is good,” seemingly goes ahead and tells him what to do to get eternal life. Verse 17b says, “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” Jesus knew that this guy already knew the commandments in the Law of Moses, commandments which are clearly God’s standard for people to keep, and so if anyone was to gain eternal life, it would seemingly be through keeping those commandments. Right? Isn’t that obvious? Here Jesus is implicitly saying, “You already know the commandments, so what’s the problem?” In this way Jesus is helping him find the underlying cause of his lack of assurance about eternal life. 

What did the man reply when Jesus said, “Keep the commandments”? He said in verse 18, “Which ones?” Now this is a young man with laser focus on his goal. He is not going to let Jesus get away with giving him a general answer; he’s going to push Jesus until he spells out in detail what he has to do to get eternal life. Yes, this man knew all ten commandments, and also he would know that the Old Testament has lots of other commandments as well, but he wanted Jesus to tell him which ones were really essential. And again, Jesus complies with his request. Thank God that when the young man said, “Which ones,” Jesus didn’t say, “All of them”! Instead, Jesus gave him a subset of five of the ten commandments: “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’” and then Jesus added one other command that is not one of the Ten commandments but is the summary of the ones he has listed: “‘…love your neighbor as yourself.’” (18b-19)

Why didn’t Jesus give this man all ten commandments? Observe that these five commandments are ones that are about the relationship with other people, with one’s neighbor. The first four commandments, which Jesus did not quote, are the ones about our relationship to God: To have no other Gods, to not make and worship idols, to not misuse God’s name, and to keep the Sabbath holy (Ex 30:3-8). Do we not have to keep those commandments to get eternal life? No, the relationship with God is the most essential part of eternal life. In fact, Jesus’ goal was to lead the man into the relationship with God that he was lacking. But he helped the man first by having him examine himself before the commandments about loving his neighbor. To make it even simpler, Jesus even left out the command about not coveting your neighbor’s possessions. But these commands that Jesus lists are enough to help anyone, including us, begin to examine the condition of their heart before God. 

So what about you? Have you kept at least these five commandments? It’s not too many, right? For my part, I have not even come close. I gave false testimony so many times when I lied to cover up how I hadn’t done something I should have done or to make myself look more prepared than I actually was. It’s painful to remember several instances where I dishonored my father and mother, disrespectfully trying to take them down a notch with something I said out of pure arrogance. That’s just a sample of how I’ve broken these commandments. We know Jesus said that someone who is angry with his brother or sister has committed murder in their heart, and someone who uses their eyes lustfully has already committed adultery in their heart.

Based on the Bible’s gospel teachings, we understand that Jesus quoted these commandments to the young man to help him realize that he had not done good things, at least not good enough to earn eternal life. In Romans 3:19-20, Paul says this is the real purpose of the Law: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” If anyone could keep all of God’s commands perfectly, then technically yes, they would be judged worthy of eternal life. But no one could do that except Jesus. Each of us should realize that, in our innate selfishness, we have at the very least failed to keep the command “Love your neighbor as yourself”. God shows us this so that we may come to him not in our self-righteousness, but as a poor sinner seeking only his mercy. Jesus was driving at the same point when he told the man, “Only God is good.” What are all human good works and achievements compared to God? God is altogether holy and righteous, while all people are deeply flawed sinners. As sinners, there is nothing we can do that could earn any reward form God, much less eternal life. That’s why Isaiah 64:6 says that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” Meditating on God’s holiness and on the commandments Jesus quoted should have taught this young man that he was a sinner who had fallen short of the glory of God. 

But this young man continues to surprise us. What did he have to say in response to Jesus’ list of commandments? Look at verse 20. “‘All these I have kept,’ the young man said. ‘What do I still lack?’” “All these I have kept.” What do you think? Was he simply lying to Jesus’ face? No, I don’t think that’s it. I honestly think he was a really exemplary person, better than me for sure. He might have been a really good boy who grew up well and married a really nice lady, and made lots of money, and used the money to help his parents, and gave to charity, and also helped out his neighbors in the synagogue when they fell on hard times, and was faithful to his wife, and never murdered or stole anything. So as far as he could tell, in his own thinking, based on a human idea of goodness, he had kept the commandments Jesus listed. Somehow these laws were not enough to make him conscious of his sin. And yet, still, in his heart of hearts, this young man knew this was not enough, and so he asked, “What do I still lack?” It’s a very revealing statement coming from a rich man. He had everything anyone could want in this world, and yet he had an undeniable sense of lacking. Whatever this young man knew about keeping God’s commands, though he practiced it faithfully, it didn’t give him any assurance of eternal life. 

Are you lacking anything? In fact, the world is still full of people very similar to this rich young man. They are healthy and able and have all of life’s necessities and very bright future prospects, but somehow that doesn’t give them peace. Their heart is crying out, “What do I still lack? What can fill this great emptiness I feel in my heart?” By the way, Mark’s gospel account mentions that at this point Jesus looked at this young man and loved him. Jesus loves this kind of young person. Jesus’ heart is burning with compassion to help people find what they are lacking. 

Jesus didn’t directly answer the question, “What do I still lack?” Instead, Jesus gave him one more command to follow. Look at 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.’” Interestingly, Jesus didn’t use the same words, “If you want eternal life”, but here says, “If you want to be perfect.” What does that mean? I think the gist of Jesus is saying here is, “If you are really serious, if you feel that deep spiritual need that nothing else will satisfy, it won’t be easy, but here is what you can do right now to begin a new life.” 

Of course, it’s famous that this verse bothers people a lot. Why is Jesus so tough on such a nice guy? Is Jesus saying that to go to heaven, we have to sell everything we own and take a vow of poverty? There are certainly people who have done that, maybe the most famous being Francis of Assisi. But no, Jesus is not saying that everyone has to take a vow of poverty to go to heaven. Rather, as one of our leaders expressed very well in Thursday’s Bible study, Jesus is giving this man the spiritual medicine he most needs in order to be born again and experience new life in Christ. As this man’s good shepherd, Jesus gave him the practical direction that would most help him have a spiritual breakthrough to find what he had been lacking. Jesus gave him this direction not because selling everything and giving to the poor was the “good thing” he could do to earn eternal life; rather, it was to set him free from what he humanly thought was good, namely, his worldly wealth, and to depend completely on God. 

So it’s not exactly the same for everybody, but there is a principle Jesus is following here that does apply to everybody: that is the challenge to let go of the earthly things and learn to cling to God alone. To truly receive salvation and begin a new life, such a decision is required of everyone at some point in their life, and it is never easy. We can call it the leap of faith. Abraham took this leap when he obeyed God’s command, “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” (Gen 12:1) Even after our first calling from Jesus, God may challenge us to take our next step of spiritual growth with a difficult act of spiritual obedience. It’s like crossing the Red Sea. 

We should understand that Jesus’ command here is not burdensome but gracious and loaded with hope. Jesus did not condemn the man for his spiritual blindness, but invited him to start a new life. He was giving him an opportunity to stop building his life on the wrong foundation and start building it on the right one. Jesus was helping him to practice his words from the sermon on the mount: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (6:19-21) Jesus was not demanding something from the man but offering himself to him, to be his personal shepherd, with a full scholarship to his school of discipleship. 

We who have studied the Bible know that eternal life is given freely as the gift of God’s grace in Jesus, to be received by faith. But Jesus didn’t want to just give this man the gospel as a formula to recite and say, “now I’m saved.” Jesus knew the man’s soul and knew his spiritual problem that would prevent him from living by faith. Thus far in his life, this man’s approach to God had been superficial, based only on external obedience to the commandments. What he lacked was a personal relationship with God. But if he could find one mustard seed of faith to obey Jesus’ command, Jesus knew he would be changed and obtain that love relationship which is the essence of eternal life. 

There is a part of Jesus’ command to the young man that does apply, verbatim, to everybody. It is the last two words of it: “follow me.” Everything we need to know about eternal life, for both here and hereafter, we learn from Jesus. Following Jesus is our direction from the beginning to the end. If this rich young man had accepted Jesus’ direction, then in the course of following Jesus all his questions would have been resolved, all his needs would fulfilled and all his heart-wounds healed. He would have become truly rich. His life would have become an amazing and victorious adventure, ending in eternal glory. He would have understood what David wrote in the 23^rd Psalm, when he said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” 

But that’s not what happened with him. Look at verse 22. “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” This implies that he found it too difficult to let go of all the wealth he had. Notice that he didn’t argue with Jesus; he knew that what Jesus said was right. Yet, he couldn’t do it. It’s amazing how Jesus’ short interaction with him had revealed his sin problem exactly. He couldn’t put the kingdom of God above his wealth. And so, in spite of his earnest desire and seeking, the man failed to obey Jesus and become his disciple and left without receiving what he came for. Jesus did not chase after him; he let him go. Of course, it is possible later the man would hear about the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection and receive a second chance and be truly changed. We have no way to know one way or the other. For now, he went away, and we never hear any more about him. It’s a tragic reality that there are people who get to that point of realizing their spiritual need but don’t follow through with the obedience of faith to receive a new life. 

II. Those who succeed in obtaining treasure in heaven (23-30)

After the rich young man left, the prospects for inheritors of eternal life seemed to decrease by one. But who was still left? Jesus’ disciples. They had seen and heard everything, and now Jesus wanted to help them learn a spiritual lesson from what had happened. Look at verses 23 and 24. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is 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 someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’”

Jesus is very clear here that it was the young man’s riches that had been his stumbling block. Why is it so hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven? It is because money very easily becomes a person’s source of feeling secure in place of trusting and relying on God. We might think that’s not a problem for us, because we are not independently wealthy like people who have millions of dollars or more of net worth and don’t have to work. However, our standard of living here in 21st century America is rich beyond what the people of Jesus’ time could imagine. In fact, the temptation to rely on the power of money rather than trusting in God can be a problem for anyone, rich or poor. Jesus uses the very vivid and even humorous mental image of a camel passing through the eye of a needle to show just how difficult depending on money makes it for human beings to come to God.

Look at verse 25. “When the disciples heard Jesus’ words, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’” We can well understand the disciples’ distress at seeing Jesus take a hard-line stance with a person who, by all human measures, was exemplary. If even Mr. Wonderful there couldn’t measure up to God’s standard, they thought, what hope did they have?

But Jesus knew that their dismayed question “Who then can be saved” was the best opening to teach them the reality about salvation. Let’s read verse 26. “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” A camel passing through the eye of a needle is indeed an impossible operation. But do you know what is also an impossible operation? For a sinner to enter the kingdom of heaven. As we said, there is nothing we can do to measure up to God’s standard. But God, by his almighty power, which can even make a camel pass through the eye of a needle—though I have no idea how—this God can also change a sinner’s heart so that he or she repents, receives salvation as the one-sided gift of grace, and becomes an heir of eternal life. 

God can even change a rich person’s heart. Joseph of Arimathea was afraid to confess Jesus before the Sanhedrin, but when God changed his heart through Jesus’ death on the cross, he became courageous to request Jesus’ body and bury him in his own tomb. Such a change is what we pray to happen to the students we meet and teach the Bible to. We know it’s not something we can make happen by our efforts. But we preach the gospel because with God all things are possible. 

However, it seems that Jesus’ statement that anything is possible with God was too general to assuage his disciples’ fears. Look at Peter’s response in verse 27. “Peter answered him, ‘We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?’” To be honest, Peter is not really looking good with this statement; I mean, he’s trying to remind Jesus of how much he has sacrificed and then asking what’s in it for him. But this time at least, Jesus does not rebuke Peter. Incredibly, he acknowledges Peter’s commitment and makes a great promise. Look at verse 28. “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, 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.” In fact, there is a real difference between the rich young man and the disciples. Unlike the rich man, Peter had obeyed Jesus’ calling, leaving behind his family and fishing business to become a disciple, as had the rest of the twelve. And Jesus is glad to remind the disciples that he has accepted their decisions of faith and highly values them, promising them a very high spiritual position in his kingdom. Such positions cannot be obtained through selfish ambition, but only through humbly following Jesus—as the twelve had done.

Jesus’ gracious promise was not just for the twelve but for anyone who will follow him. Look at verse 29. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” When someone gives up something precious to follow Jesus, what they receive will be a hundred times greater than what they lost. It will have the form of a new spiritual family and lasting spiritual possessions, starting with joy and peace in our heart today, and will finally include eternal life. Not because we really earn such a reward, but because God is pleased to show his glory though vessels of grace who put their trust in him. Not even the smallest thing we give up for Jesus and his kingdom will be forgotten by him. Thank God for Jesus’ rich promises, which can heal all our sense of loss in this life. When we hear our coworkers’ testimonies of how they began to follow Jesus, leaving their old life behind, understanding that only God is good, we can hear the real sacrifice and pain involved in that. But we can also see that they have become really different, and have already begun to enjoy a reward that earthly people know nothing about. 

Though we are undeserving, still God wants us to have great confidence in his reward for following Jesus. Jesus only gave one qualification to this, in verse 30: “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” The order of the kingdom of heaven will in many ways be a reversal of the earthly one. The Mr. Wonderfuls of this world may not end up looking so wonderful in the kingdom of God. This shows God’s justice as well. One application of this for God’s servants is that we should not compare ourselves to others in terms of who has sacrificed more or served more. If not for the one-sided grace of God and his mighty power working in us, we all would have failed to become Jesus’ disciples, just like the rich young man did. So we can only humble ourselves in thankfulness for God’s mercy, and pray to keep on choosing God’s kingdom and his glory over temporal things.

Today we saw how Jesus tried to help one rich young man have eternal life in his heart. As shepherds of “rich young students”, we should grow in the wisdom of Jesus to see what their spiritual problems are, challenge them with Jesus’ words, and then pray for God to work in their heart. When we share Jesus’ heart desire for their salvation, God is pleased to do his impossible work through us. Let’s pray for many young rich men (and women) in this nation to love God and respond positively to Jesus’ challenge. Those who give up their idols to follow Jesus have a great reward. May God bless you to have true eternal treasure in Jesus.