Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 19:22
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
22. sorrowful ] A conflict of opposite desires vexed his soul. He wished to serve God and mammon. He was sorrowful because he saw that the special sacrifice required to win eternal life was too great for him.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 22. Went away sorrowful] Men undergo great agony of mind while they are in suspense between the love of the world and the love of their souls. When the first absolutely predominates, then they enjoy a factitious rest through a false peace: when the latter has the upper hand, then they possess true tranquillity of mind, through that peace of God that passeth knowledge.
He had great possessions.] And what were these in comparison of peace of conscience, and mental rest? Besides, he had unequivocal proof that these contributed nothing to his comfort, for he is now miserable even while he possesses them! And so will every soul be, who puts worldly goods in the place of the supreme God. See on Mr 10:22.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mark saith the same, Mar 10:22; so doth Luke, Luk 18:23. He was sorry that he had ever propounded the question, or that the terms were such as his covetous heart could not comply with. He would have had heaven if he could have had it cheap; or, it may be, he would have parted with something for it; but to sell all was a hard saying! Or he was sorry to see himself so confuted, and convinced that, whatsoever he dreamed, he had not kept the commandments, and had not a heart prepared to obey God in one thing. It is not said, because he loved his great possessions, but,
for he had great possessions; yet the first is intended. It is a hard thing for us to have a great concern in the world, and not to love it more than God.
He went away; he would hear no more of that discourse. How many would have heaven if they might have it upon their own terms! How few are willing to come up to Gods terms! How false and deceitful are our hearts! They will persuade us we have done all, when indeed we have done nothing, nor are prepared to do any thing in truth and sincerity. We are not perfect, something is wanting to us, till to will to do whatsoever God requireth of us be present with us, though, when it comes to, we may want strength to perform.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But when the young man heard that saying….. That he must sell his estates, and all his worldly substance, and the money made of them, give away to the poor; and become a follower of Christ, deny himself, and submit to hardships very disagreeable to the flesh:
he went away sorrowful; not with a godly sorrow for his sin and imperfections, but with the sorrow of the world, which worketh death: he was ashamed and confounded, that he could not perform what he had just now so briskly promised, at least tacitly, that whatever else was proper he would do; as also grieved, that he had not arrived to perfection, which he had hoped he had, but now began to despair of, and of obtaining eternal life; and most of all troubled, that he must part with his worldly substance, his heart was so much set upon, or not enjoy it:
for he had great possessions; which were very dear to him; and he chose rather to turn his back on Christ, and drop his pursuits of the happiness of the other world, than part with the present enjoyments of this.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Went away sorrowful ( ). “Went away grieved.” He felt that Jesus had asked too much of him. He worshipped money more than God when put to the test. Does Jesus demand this same test of every one? Not unless he is in the grip of money. Different persons are in the power of different sins. One sin is enough to keep one away from Christ.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Mat 19:22
. He went away sorrowful. The result at length showed how widely distant the young man was from that perfection to which Christ had called him; for how comes it that he withdraws from the school of Christ, but because he finds it uneasy to be stripped of his riches? But if we are not prepared to endure poverty, it is manifest that covetousness reigns in us. And this is what I said at the outset, that the order which Christ gave, to sell all that he had, was not an addition to the law, but the scrutiny of a concealed vice. (629) For the more deeply a man is tainted by this or the other vice, the more strikingly will it be dragged forth to light by being reproved. We are reminded also by this example that, if we would persevere steadily in the school of Christ, we must renounce the flesh. This young man, who had brought both a desire to learn and modesty, withdrew from Christ, because it was hard to part with a darling vice. The same thing will happen to us, unless the sweetness of the grace of Christ render all the allurements of the flesh distasteful to us. Whether or not this temptation was temporary, so that the young man afterwards repented, we know not; but it may be conjectured with probability, that his covetousness kept him back from making any proficiency.
(629) “ Que c’a este pour sonder et descouvrir un vice cache;” — “that it was to search and discover a concealed vice.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(22) He went away sorrowful.St. Mark adds sad, i.e., frowning, or as with a look that lowered. The word is the same as that used of the sky in Mar. 16:3. The discipline so far did its work. It made the man conscious of his weakness. He shrank from the one test which would really have led him to the heights of holiness at which he aimed. Yet the sorrow, though it was a sign of the weakness of one whose heart was not yet whole with God, was not without an element of hope. A mere worldling would have smiled with cynical contempt, as the Pharisees did when they heard words of a like tendency (Luk. 16:14). Here there was at least a conflict. On the common view, that we can know nothing more of the questioner, it might seem as if the failure was final. On that which has been suggested here, we may believe that the Lord, who loved the seeker after eternal life in spite of this inward weakness, did not leave him to himself. The sickness, the death, the resurrection of Lazarus, may have been the discipline which proved that the things that are impossible with men are possible with God. We are at least not hindered by any chronological difficulty from placing those events after the dialogue with the young ruler.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. Sorrowful great possessions Alas! what were these possessions worth that they should be put in competition witch eternal life? And what had become of his proud readiness to do some good thing for so great a price? He fails sadly both in point of faith and works.
How much did he not lose even as regards this world! Almost anybody can be a rich man. There are millions of rich men meaner than the meanest poverty can make them. But how few have the offer of being an apostle! God does not require that all rich men should surrender their wealth and become poor for his sake. And as he restored to Abraham the son he was ready to offer at God’s command, so to this young man he might have said after all: “Keep thy wealth; thou hast offered it to God and thou shalt have it back, given from God’s free gift, with eternal life in addition. The apostleships are all filled; but thou mayest stay a rich man, and yet be an heir of eternal life.” How soon did he lose his wealth, for which he lost eternal life!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions.’
At these words the young man was stopped short in his tracks. Up to this point he had been convinced that he would do anything that Jesus suggested. But he had not expected this. It was unfair. Jesus wanted him to take the commandments literally! He actually wanted him to do what they said (compare Mat 7:21-27). But he knew that he could not forego his riches. And he now also knew that he could not follow Jesus while being unwilling to yield up his riches. (And he also knew that he had not after all kept all the commandments). So he was now at an impasse. And he went away sorrowfully. And Jesus let him go. For He knew that until the hold that the riches had on his heart had been broken that young man could never receive eternal life. He could never come responsively like a little child to Jesus. We may perhaps note that this young man was the first person we know of who actually openly rejected Jesus call to ‘follow Me’ (but compare Mat 8:18-22). Soon almost the whole of Jerusalem (in contrast with the pilgrims) would do the same.
The growth in the idea of ‘following’ Jesus in Matthew is interesting, and in fact Matthew has two concepts of following. The first is the following that demands everything. The four brothers left their nets and their boats and followed Him (Mat 4:18-22). The unknown Scribe was reminded that following Him would involve having nowhere to lay his head (Mat 8:19-20). Another disciple was warned that he must immediately leave all the affairs of home behind to follow Him (Mat 8:21-22). Matthew was called on to instantly leave all his business interests behind (Mat 9:9). See also the ex-blind men in Mat 20:34; and the women in Mat 27:55. Indeed all who would be His disciples must take up their cross and follow Him (Mat 10:38; Mat 16:24). In each case this was to leave all and follow Him (Mat 19:27). So this young man was being called on to follow in a goodly line. In contrast are those who follow because they want to learn and want to be healed, some of whom would continue to follow while others turned back (Mat 4:25; Mat 8:1; Mat 8:10; Mat 9:27; Mat 12:15; Mat 14:13; Mat 19:2; Mat 20:29, compare Joh 2:23-25; Joh 6:66). So in a sense the young man was not the first to turn back, simply the first who did it so blatantly, not recognising the crisis point at which the call had come to him.
It is often customary at this point to explain why this only applied to the rich young man. And in a sense it does, for each of us have our own idols that have to be dealt with. But we make a mistake if we think that Jesus’ demands are any less on us. For in the end it is only as, like a little child, we relinquish all that we have and come humbly to Him that we too can find life. That we too can be ‘saved’. We may do it in different ways. We may not understand all that is involved. But if there is some particular thing that has a hold over our lives then we can be sure that we cannot come like a little child to receive salvation until we are willing for that thing to be dealt with. We cannot bargain with Jesus. We cannot make a trade with Him. We must come just as we are leaving everything else behind. What He offers us is free, but it costs everything, even though we may not consciously be called on to relinquish it all at once. In this young man’s case we must remember that a crisis decision was necessary, for Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, and He knew what lay ahead. Thus for the young man it was in a sense ‘now or never’. Never again could he be given this unique opportunity. When we are moved to seek God we should beware. It could be our last special opportunity too.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 19:22 f. ] because he could not see his way to compliance with that first requirement, and saw himself thereby compelled to relinquish his hope of inheriting eternal life. “Aurum enervatio virtutum est,” Augustine.
] because his heart usually clings too tenaciously to his possessions (Mat 6:19-21 ) to admit of his resigning them at such times and in such ways as the interests of the kingdom may demand. For analogous passages from the Greek classics bearing on the antagonism between wealth and virtue, see Spiess, Logos spermat . p. 44.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Ver. 22. He went away sorrowful ] That Christ should require that which he was not willing to perform. If heaven can be obtained upon no other terms, Christ may keep his heaven to himself; he will have none. How many have we today that must be gainers by their religion, which must be another Diana to the craftsmasters? They are resolved, howsoever, to lose nothing, suffer nothing, but rather kick up all: Ieroboamo gravior iactura regionis quam religionis. The King of Navarre told Beza that in the cause of religion, he would launch no further into the sea than he might be sure to return safe to the haven. A number of such political professors we have that come to Christ (as this young man did) hastily, but depart heavily, when once it comes to a wholesale of all for Christ, which yet is the first lesson, the removens prohibens they cannot go back.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 19:22 . : he would have to go away in any case, even if he meant to comply with the advice in order to carry it into effect. But he went away , in genuine distress, because placed in a dilemma between parting with wealth and social position, and forfeiting the joy of disciplehood under an admired Master. What was the final issue? Did “the thorns of avarice defile the rich soil of his soul” (Euthy.), and render him permanently unfruitful, or did he at last decide for the disciple life? At the worst see here the miscarriage of a really noble nature, and take care not to fall into the vulgar mistake of seeing in this man a Pharisee who came to tempt Jesus, and who in professing to have kept the commandments was simply a boastful liar. (So Jerome: “Non voto discentis sed tentantis interrogat mentitur adolescens”.)
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
sorrowful = grieving
great = many.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 19:22. , grieved) sc. because he could not at the same time both retain his wealth and follow Jesus. Obedience would have absorbed grief.-, possessions) sc. immoveable goods; cf. sell in Mat 19:21. These are referred to in the lands spoken of in Mat 19:29.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
he went: Mat 13:22, Mat 14:9, Jdg 18:23, Jdg 18:24, Dan 6:14-17, Mar 6:26, Mar 10:22, Luk 18:23, Joh 19:12-16
for: Mat 6:24, Mat 16:26, Psa 17:14, Eze 33:31, Eph 5:5, Col 3:5
Reciprocal: Rth 1:14 – Orpah 1Ki 17:13 – make me thereof 2Ki 5:11 – went away Neh 5:12 – We will restore Pro 2:4 – thou Luk 5:28 – General Joh 6:66 – of his 1Ti 6:9 – they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A YOUNG MANS SORROW
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Mat 19:22
Part of the young mans sorrow was the discovery which he was making at that moment of his own heart. He had seen the object which he knew he ought to seek,he had had set before him the price, the terms on which that object might be secured,and he could not bear it. The heaviness of his heart was, though mixed, yet in the main a right heaviness. At least, there was some grace in it. True, as he sorrowed, his steps were for awhile in the wrong direction, for he went away,his back upon Jesus,sorrowing. But can you doubt that he came back again?
I. The love of the world.What about the heaviness of heart, and the difficulty which you may have? Many of you may be worldly; but yet, all the while, you are retaining, in the midst of your worldliness, many good feelings, and many pious desires. And what is the result? A certain sorrow. You see it a very dull, stern thing to become religious, and you shrink back to your societies, your excitements, your selfishness, and your sin, and you go away from the cross sorrowfully.
II. Anxiety about eternal life.And yet, strange though it may seem, at the very same time that you sorrow to give up the world, you cannot be happy to give up eternal life The worst sorrow of all is that in allowing this struggle, and letting the world get the victory, you have a continual gnawing sense in your own conscience that you are wrong; and is it any wonder that you go away sorrowful?
III. Will ye also go away?And yet that sorrow is a very good sign. It marks struggle; it marks desires; it marks life; it marks the Holy Ghost. The going away is the dark part. Sorrow, with its face to Jesus, is a transient cloud that melts into sunshine, but sorrow that looks away from Jesus, goes on and on to gather blackness and blackness for ever! Let me speak to any one who has a good desire, and they are quenching it;What are you going to do? will you go away? where? where? Do you really expect,nay, in your heart of hearts, do you really wish to find satisfaction away from Christ? That is said of a rich man which is never in the Bible said of a poor man,Not many rich,I never read not many poor,not many rich. How hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of God.
The Rev. James Vaughan.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
9:22
This shaft “hit its mark” for the young man went away sorrowing because of his great possessions. What he ever did about it we are not told.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 19:22. He went away sorrowful. Not unaffected, he yet went away. Nothing further if known of him. As Jesus loved him, and therefore taught him his duty, that love may have followed him and led him to a right decision. But the silence about his future course hints, that whatever light and love one receives, the decision is to be made by the man himself.Our Lords comments on riches show that this young mans pride was intrenched in his wealth; a part of it he might have been willing to pay for eternal life; but being his idol, it must be entirely relinquished before he could enter the kingdom of heaven. The hindrance is often removed by Gods Providence.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The parting with all for Christ seemed so hard a condition to the young man, that he went away sorrowful from Christ.
Whence, Learn, 1. That a man wedded to the world will renounce Christ rather than the world, when both stand in competition.
2. That unregenerate and carnal men are exceeding sorrowful, and sadly concerned, that they cannot have heaven upon their own terms, and win it in their own way. The young man went away sorrowful.