16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
This parable is on its face about a rich young man's attachment to his earthly possessions and his desire for eternal life, but that is not all. The many layers that lie below its surface were revealed by quick flashes of thoughts entering the mind, not as a result of hours of meditation.
Here, the blogger digresses further. Meditation does not work for him. He tried it a couple of times in the past and drew only blanks, becoming bored quickly. The thoughts that come through nowadays can be compared to being given a few large pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that needs to be connected with other smaller pieces that have yet to be made. There is no doubt that the maker of these pieces was never good at making and putting them together, and getting an entry posted remains challenging, some more than others. If it is difficult to do, then why do it? Perhaps having this blog is a calling of sorts, or just plain vanity. If it is a calling, then it is a calling of the mediocre, not the exceptional, of an "Antonio Salieri" at his worst, not a "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" at his best [2]. If it is vanity, then readers' tolerance and forgiveness are needed.
Now back to the parable of The Rich Young Man: For this entry, a section by section arrangement seems to work well. Line numbers that correspond to those in the passage quoted above are assigned to each section.
Section 1 - Lines 16 - 17:
"16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, 'Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?' 17 And he said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.'"
This young man went up to the Teacher, not just any teacher, to ask his question: "'[W]hat good deed must I do to have eternal life?'" He probably knew something about Jesus already and Jesus knew that. Instead of answering him, Jesus asked, "'Why do you ask me about what is good?'" Without waiting for a response, Jesus answered His own question: "'There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.'" The answer Jesus gave anticipated the young man's next question.
Section 2 - Lines 18 - 20:
"18 He said to him, 'Which ones?' And Jesus said, 'You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 20 The young man said to him, 'All these I have kept. What do I still lack?'"
It is interesting to note that Jesus did not name all ten of the Commandments. [3] Arguably, Jesus omitted only one, to not do any work on Sabbath day, and included the first two in His answer to His own question: "'There is only one who is good.'" Because there is only one God Who is good, the young man therefore must have no other gods and must not use God's name in vain. Jesus then recited five of the original commandments that the young man had to follow, namely to honor his parents, but not to kill, steal, commit adultery and bear false witness. After that, Jesus introduced a commandment that combined the last two, which required the young man to love his neighbor as himself, meaning that he was not to covet his neighbor's wife or desire whatever his neighbor had. Since he was to love his neighbor who was merely human, by inference he must also love God, the "'only one who is good.'" This "new" commandment to "'[l]ove the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind'" [4] was affirmed by Jesus to be the first, and greatest, commandment in Matthew 22:34-40 (infra), as was the "new" last commandment to "'[l]ove your neighbor as yourself'" [5] affirmed to be the second greatest commandment.
All that is evident, but less so is the symmetry with which Jesus replaced the first two Commandments with one, and the last two with another. More subtle than the beauty of symmetry are the unspoken words in the parable in which Jesus omitted to mention the Commandment to not work on Sabbath day. Apparently, Jesus, Who is "'the Son of Man [and Who] is [the] Lord of the Sabbath'" [6], had modified it, if not eliminated it entirely, seeing that it was being ignored, [7] and perhaps also foreseeing that it would not be kept. By not telling the young man to observe Sabbath day, Jesus' silence spoke.
The young man of course knew that Jesus had failed to mention one or more commandments. Not understanding why Jesus was silent on the one requiring the observance of Sabbath day in particular, he followed up with a tactful question. Referring to the incomplete list of commandments Jesus had just given him, the young man said: "'All these I have kept. What do I still lack?'" He might as well have said this to Jesus instead: "All these I have kept, but aren't you forgetting something?" Jesus did not fall for the trap and went to the heart of the young man's original question: "'what good deed must I do to have eternal life?'"
Before moving forward, one ought to go back and take another look at what Jesus' silence meant in regard to the "forgotten" commandment.
Without saying anything, Jesus was saying that He had the authority to speak on behalf of God, and to clarify or modify God's words as He deemed proper and necessary, for Jesus was God incarnate and is part of the Holy Trinity.
As God incarnate, Jesus had by His silence formed His living Church with seven commandments, replacing the original ten, by eliminating one and consolidating four into two, and leaving five of the original ones intact.
The two "new" consolidated commandments that Jesus gave the rich young man were also told to a Pharisee, an expert in the law, who asked in Matthew 22:34-40 (supra), "'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'" [8] Jesus said in reply, "'"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'" [9]
Looking at the facts and the totality of the circumstances with the clarity of hindsight, one should be able to conclude without any reservation that Jesus' unspoken words firmly established Jesus to be the Son of God. Being the incarnated Son of God, Jesus was perfect and knew what perfection was, and had instructed the young man accordingly on how to be perfect, so that he could be certain to have eternal life.
Section 3 - Lines 21 - 22:
"21 Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."
The obvious lesson here is that one cannot serve God and be a slave to one's possessions at the same time. With possessions come responsibilities; and the time needed to attend to them reduces the quality of love and the level of dedication that are needed to follow Christ.
The rich young man did not wish to part with his possessions and went away sad because he was unable to be perfect the way Christ wanted him to be perfect, but perfection and the lack of possessions are not necessary conditions for one to have eternal life. Earlier Jesus told the rich young man, "'If you would enter life, keep the commandments.'" This was told to the rich young man before he was asked to perfect himself by following Christ.
To be perfect, the rich young man needed to sell all his possessions. This was just a first step he needed to take, and he could not even do that. Because he did not pass the easy part of the test, there was no use for Jesus to let him know the difficult part, but Jesus did come back to it toward the end of the parable. (See Section 6 below.)
Section 4 - Lines 23 - 26
"23 And Jesus said to his disciples, 'Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.' 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?' 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"
These words confirm that the rich are not automatically barred from entering the Kingdom of Heaven and that the poor are not all saved. Christ had made it clear that nobody can enter Heaven without God's mercy, not even the disciples.
There is nothing here that escapes the obvious.
Section 5 - Lines 27 - 28
"27 Then Peter said in reply, 'See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?' 28 Jesus said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
Three possible subtleties here should be considered. Firstly, not only did Peter expect to be rewarded, he wanted to know what he would get. Jesus did tell him what the reward would be but it was contingent upon the ones "who have followed me." In other words, those who had not, would not be rewarded. If Judas Iscariot was there, Jesus was talking to him. Secondly, Jesus was also referring to Free Will, giving all the disciples the chance to change their minds, to choose not to follow the Son of God at some point, who would then not "have followed [Christ]." Finally, the reward was not the "glorious throne" of Christ, but twelve "less glorious" thrones that when sat upon would give those sitting upon them the authority to judge "the twelve tribes of Israel," excluding apparently all the Gentiles, and that was excluding a very large number of people and souls. For someone with high expectations and much ambition, that reward could seem like a disappointment. If the disciples were disappointed by the reward that awaited them, they would be more disappointed by what Christ had to say next.
Section 6 - Line 29
"29 'And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.'"
These words were not only meant for the disciples, but were also a continuation of the conversation Christ was having with the rich young man. (See Section 3 above.)
To see this as a continuation of the conversation with the rich young man, one must accept that perfection in Christ is not only about selling off chattels and giving the proceeds to the poor (the easy part), but also leaving behind "'houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands'" to follow Him (the difficult part). One can argue that following Christ does not require one to be without a spouse because Christ did not say to leave behind one's spouse, although it can be inferred that to follow Christ, one has to leave behind one's spouse as well, because the words "everyone who has left houses" likely mean "everyone who has left houses with spouses in them." This conclusion is supported by the requirement to leave "children" behind since mothers are much more likely to stay at home with their children than to assume their role as wives and follow their husbands around. In other words, for priests to marry and have a family is not what Jesus had in mind. This makes sense because having a wife and family necessarily requires one to be a devoted husband and father, thereby taking away from one's ability to transform that devotion into a broad love that is extended to anyone and everyone, and to avail oneself fully without hesitation to a stranger in need.
Having to leave behind one's family is similar to having to relinquish one possessions, for both family and possessions come with responsibilities and burdens that would necessarily compromise one's dedication to being an unfailing follower of Christ. Thus, it can be concluded that the path that leads to receiving "a hundredfold" on top of "eternal life" is not an easy one and is not for everybody, and was certainly not for the rich young man.
Unlike the rich young man, Jesus' disciples chose the difficult path and followed Christ. It ought to be clear to the disciples that these words of Jesus were meant for them, for they had left their houses, their jobs, their mothers and fathers to follow Christ, and that they would "'receive a hundredfold and ... inherit eternal life.'"
At the same time, Christ could be telling Peter and the rest of disciples to not be concerned about what rewards they could expect, whether their rewards would be extra special to them and whether such rewards would match their expectations since eternal life alone is already an infinite gift in contrast to eternal death. And if Christ wanted to give more and better rewards to others who might not have suffered as much as the disciples, the disciples should not complain since that would be Christ's decision. It seems like Christ had already made that decision when He began talking about rewards in Heaven with this inclusive word: "'And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.'" [Emphasis added.] If being told that there was a possibility that someone else could be their equal was not enough to dampen somewhat the disciples' enthusiasm, the last sentence of the parable would nearly wipe it out, provided that the disciples could see into the future, which they could not.
Section 7 - Line 30
"30 'But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
It is likely that the disciples did not have a clue what Christ meant by these words: "many who are first will be last, and the last first."
These words do not mean that the disciples who were first to follow Christ would not enter Heaven first; they just mean that there could very well be a last one who would be first, maybe first among equals or simply first, who would always be standing to next to Christ on the right side of Christ and who would "inherit eternal life," "receive a hundredfold" and be given the authority to judge all the Gentiles. Who might this last one be?
Saint Francis of Assisi was the only person that came into the blogger's mind before it went blank and shut down on its own, not allowing the blogger a chance to think of someone else. It was because of the sudden appearance of this one unforgettable piece of jigsaw puzzle that this entry was started.
Three days later, a conclusion is reached: the parable of The Rich Young Man did not end with the rich young man in the parable who spoke to Christ but left Christ abruptly with sorrow because he could not renounce his possessions; rather, it ended poetically with another rich young man some 1,200 years later to whom Christ spoke when he was in his early 20's [10], who gave up his possessions and inheritance and left his home, his father and mother to follow Christ with joy in his heart.
Many events seem to form a circle, with Jesus being the new Adam and the Virgin Mary being the new Eve, could therefore Francis of Assisi be the new rich young man? [11]
[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+19%3A16-30&version=ESV; see also http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/19:16, with explanations that differ from those above.
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/dec/19/classicalmusicandopera.italy
[3] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/command.htm
[4] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22:34-40
[5] Ibid.
[6] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12%3A1-14&version=NIV
[7] Ibid.
[8] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22%3A34-40&version=NIV
[9] Ibid.
[10] http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/moversandshakers/francis-of-assisi.html; https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-francis-of-assisi/
[11] A entry that is currently awaiting inspiration, should it ever arrive, will be about a future event that could come full circle.
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