Daily Devo - Monday, February 25, 2008

“’ ‘What do I still lack?’ 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.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” – Matthew 19:20-22

Have you ever had the experience of hearing an evangelist? I’m not talking about the doctrinally sound and gifted ones. I love those! I mean the ones who are cheesy, pushy, and trite. I can recall one such evangelist who would walk around the stage ranting, “Do you want to go to heaven? Then halleluiah, you’ve become a Christian tonight!” I remember as a child being so very excited. I, after all, certainly did want to go to heaven and therefore I must be a Christian. Only later did I realize the absolute stupidity of this line of thinking. In my entire life I’ve never met a person who didn’t want to go to heaven [a]. The desire to go to heaven makes one a Christian about as much as the desire to fly makes one a bird.

Jesus has been pressing this young man about the law. We have already discovered that he was a religiously devout person who kept the law of Moses (and undoubtedly the oral law of the Pharisees) with precision and care. Jesus himself seems to recognize the admirable devotion in this young man (see Mark 10:21). He truly followed God’s law, was faithful to the commandments, and did all the law had required. He loved God (the first table of the 10 commandments) and he loved others (the second table).

Or did he? Jesus now forces this young man to see that the Law is a brutal taskmaster. One can never live up to its far-reaching demands. Do you think you have loved enough? The law says you haven’t. Have you been holy enough? The law says ‘no way’! Have you served God enough? The law says ‘never in a million years’. Though this young man thought he had fulfilled God’s command to love others, Jesus now asked him to sell all that he has and give his money to the poor (making him poor in the process).

The response of the young man comprises one of the truly heartbreaking verses in Scripture [b]. This bright, devout, and promising young man cannot and will not live up to Jesus’ exacting standard. The man turns away in depression, feeling that now he will never measure up. The most interesting thing about this story is that Jesus lets him walk away. He doesn’t run after the man. There is no coddling, no reassurance, no pleading. Jesus simply declares his unshakeable requirement and lets the fellow make his own decision. Narrow is the road.

Centuries ago, the greatest Christian orator of the Early Church period declared “great is the tyranny of wealth” [c]. The young man desperately wanted heaven, but not so desperately as to give up his sin. Despite all his faithful keeping of the law he never relinquished the core of his heart to the Father. His god, ultimately, was his wealth. Yes, he went away sorrowful. A fallen man will be sorrowful when he cannot have heaven on his own terms [d]. Too many Christians confuse spiritual sorrow and misery for conviction. Many times it is simply the expression of the sinful heart wanting heaven, but unwilling to give up hell. As Bernard of Clairvaux said of this man, “he did not own his possessions: they owned him” [e].

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[a] I have met a few self-described Satanists who claim to want to go to hell. But they redefine hell as a place where they can engage in their debauched pleasures. Thus, their view of “hell” is simply a perverted heaven.
[b] Wilkins, p 649.
[c] John Chrysostom (347-407 a.d.). This comment is found in Homily 63 in his Homilies on the Gospel According to St. Matthew.
[d] Comm. Carm. 21.4(8)
[e] David Dickson, A Brief Exposition of the Euangel of Jesus Christ According to Matthew, 1647. Comments from Chapter XIX, verse 22.