Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 19:21

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come [and] follow me.

21. If thou wilt be perfect ] i. e. “if thou desirest to be perfect.”

go and sell that thou hast ] Jesus does indeed bid him do something, but to do that would be a proof of being perfect, it is the test for his special case, not a universal rule. With many it is more difficult to use wealth for Christ than to give it up for Christ. St Mark has the touching words “Jesus beholding him loved him.” The incident recalls the parable of the “merchant man seeking goodly pearls” (ch. Mat 13:45-46). Here is a seeker after good, the pearl is found: will he not sell all that he hath and buy it?

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 21. If thou wilt be perfect] , To be complete, to have the business finished, and all hinderances to thy salvation removed, go and sell that thou hast-go and dispose of thy possessions, to which it is evident his heart was too much attached, and give to the poor – for thy goods will be a continual snare to thee if thou keep them; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven – the loss, if it can be called such, shall be made amply up to thee in that eternal life about which thou inquirest; and come and follow me – be my disciple, and I will appoint thee to preach the kingdom of God to others. This was the usual call which Christ gave to his disciples. See Mt 4:19; Mt 8:22; Mt 9:9; Mr 2:14; and it is pretty evident, from this, that he intended to make him a preacher of his salvation. How many, by their attachment to filthy lucre, have lost the honour of becoming or continuing ambassadors for the Most High! See on Mr 10:21.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Mark repeats it thus, Mar 10:21, Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. Luke, Luk 18:22, repeats it as Matthew, only he begins it with, Yet lackest thou one thing. Mark saith, that Jesus beholding him loved him: not with a special saving love, for he sent him away sad; upon his going he tells his disciples, that it was a very hard thing for a rich man to come to heaven; he tells him one thing was wanting to him: but he loved him with such a common love as he loveth all his creatures with, and more especially such as are better than others. All that can be concluded from hence is, that acts of moral righteousness are pleasing to God. He saith to him, If thou wilt be perfect, that is, in keeping the commandments of God. The papists make a great deal of stir to found upon this text their counsels of perfection; as if Christ here were advising only the young man to do something beyond what the law strictly required, in order to a more perfect state than others. But that this cannot be the sense of the words will appear to him who will diligently consider;

1. That this had been needless, for our Saviour, in directing the young man to keep the commandments in order to his obtaining everlasting life, had sufficiently declared that the keeping of the commandments was perfection enough.

2. He says, One thing is wanting to thee, that is, in order to thy obtaining everlasting life, which had not been true if our Saviour had granted him to have kept all the commandments, for he had before let him know that the keeping them was sufficient. Our Saviour therefore, by this speech, only endeavours to convince him that he had not kept all the commandments.

But it may be objected, How could that be, for there was no commandment that obliged him to go sell all that he had, and give to the poor? I answer, there was a commandment that he should love the Lord his God with all his heart, and soul, and strength, which he could not do unless he had a heart ready to obey any command God should lay upon him, which our Saviour puts upon the trial by this special precept:

3. There was a commandment of God that he should love his neighbour as himself, and that he should not covet. Now not to be ready at the commandment of God liberally to relieve the poor members of Christ, argued a covetous mind, more in love with his estate than with God; so as though this was not before specially commanded, yet it was commanded generally, and that he would have understood had he rightly understood the law of God; especially having such a promise annexed as thou shalt have treasure in heaven.

4. Nor must all the command be taken to be included in those Go sell that thou hast, and give to the poor; but the following words must also be taken in, and come, take up the cross, and follow me. Perfection here is not made to lie in a voluntary poverty only, but in coming after and following of Christ, with a free taking up of the cross.

In short, no man can be perfect in keeping the commandments of God, that doth not love God with all his heart, soul, and strength; nor can any man pretend to this, that hath not a heart ready to obey God in all things, whether more generally or more specially commanded. Nor can any man fulfil the duties of the second table, without first fulfil the duties of the first: for if our love to our neighbour flow not from a love to God, it is no act of obedience, and consequently no fulfilling of the law; which is not fulfilled by mere doing the external duty of it, but by doing what is required in it out of an obedience unto God, which cannot be without a first loving God.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect,…. Wanting nothing, completely righteous, according to the tenor of the covenant of works, having no evil, concupiscence, or worldly lusts: our Lord signifies it was not enough to be possessed of negative holiness, and do no hurt to his neighbour, to his person, property, and estate, but he must love him, and do him good; and therefore, though so far as he had complied with the law, it was right and commendable; wherefore it is said by Mark, “that Jesus beholding him loved him”; had an affectionate regard to him as man, and approved of his intentions, seriousness, and actions, so far as agreeable; yet tells him,

one thing thou lackest: not but that he lacked many more, but he was only willing to observe one thing to him, as a trial of his love to his neighbour, which is the fulfilling of the law:

go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: not that either the law of God, or Gospel of Christ, require this to be done of all men, and at all times; for though it is a duty binding upon all, and always, to relieve the poor and the needy, yet a man is not obliged to give all that he has to them; see 2Co 8:11 nor does either legal or Christian perfection lie in doing this: a man may give all his goods to the poor and yet be destitute of the grace of God, 1Co 13:3 much less can such an action merit the heavenly treasure of eternal life. Nevertheless of some persons, and in some cases, it has been required, that they part with all their worldly substance, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; as the apostles were called to leave all and follow Christ, as this man was also; for it is added,

and come and follow me: between these two, Mark puts, “take up the cross”; all which to do, was much more than to sell what he had, and give to the poor; and indeed, in this branch lies Gospel perfection, or to be really and truly a Christian: for to “come” to Christ, is to believe in him, lay hold on him, receive and embrace him as a Saviour and Redeemer; and to “follow” him, is to be obedient to his will, to be observant of his commands, to submit to his ordinances, and to imitate him in the exercise of grace, and discharge of duty; neither of which can be done, without “taking up the cross”; bearing reproach and persecution with patience; undergoing hardships and difficulties, of one sort or another, which attend faith in Christ, a profession of his name, and following him the Lamb, whithersoever he goes. The consequence of this now, not by way of merit, but by way of grace, is the enjoyment of the rich treasures of eternal glory: but this man was so far from complying with the latter, with coming to Christ, taking up the cross, and following him, that he could by no means agree to the former, parting with his worldly substance; and which is mentioned, as a test of his love to God and his neighbour, and to discover his sinful love of the world, and the things of it; and consequently, that he was far from being in a state of perfection. Moreover, it should be observed, that Christ is here speaking, not the pure language of the law, or according to the principles of the Gospel, when he seems to place perfection in alms deeds, and as if they were meritorious of eternal life; but according to the doctrine of the Pharisees, and which was of this man; and so upon the plan of his own notions, moves him to seek for perfection, and convicts him of the want of it, in a way he knew would be disagreeable to him; and yet he would not be able to disprove the method, on the foot of his own tenets: for this is their doctrine e;

“It is a tradition, he that says this “sela”, or shekel, is for alms, that my son may live, or I may be a son of the world to come, lo! , “this man is a perfect righteous man”.”

The gloss adds,

“In this thing; and he does not say that he does not do it for the sake of it, but he fulfils the command of his Creator, who has commanded him to do alms; and he also intends profit to himself, that thereby he may be worthy of the world to come, or that his children may live.”

And so in answer to a question much like this, the young man put to Christ f;

“How shall we come at the life of the world to come?”

It is replied,

“take thy riches, and give to the fatherless and the poor, and I will give thee a better portion in the law.”

e T. Bab. Pesach. fol. 8. 1, 2. & Roshhashanah, fol. 4. 1. f Zohar in Gen. fol. 60. 4.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

If thou wouldest be perfect ( ). Condition of the first class, determined as fulfilled. Jesus assumes that the young man really desires to be perfect (a big adjective that, perfect as God is the goal, 5:48).

That thou hast ( ). “Thy belongings.” The Greek neuter plural participle used like our English word “belongings.” It was a huge demand, for he was rich.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

(21) Jesus said unto him . . .St. Mark (Mar. 10:21) adds the striking and interesting words, Jesus beholding him (better, perhaps, gazing on him), loved him. There was something in the young seeker after holiness which drew to him, in a measure altogether exceptional, the affection of the Great Teacher. The same word is used in regard to him which is used in relation to the disciple whom Jesus loved, and (here the coincidence takes its place in the chain of evidence for the view above suggested) to Lazarus, and Martha, and Mary (Joh. 11:5). There was the fervour, the longing after a higher life, the personal trust, which made him a not unworthy object of the love of Jesus, and therefore He would not spare the discipline which the questioner needed, the test which, being such as he was, was required for the completeness of his life.

If thou wilt be perfect.Better, if thou wishest. St. Mark and St. Luke report the words, One thing thou lackest, reminding us forcibly of the One thing is needful of Luk. 10:42. (See Note on Mat. 19:16.)

Go and sell that thou hast.It would be altogether a mistake to see in this either an obligation binding on all seekers after eternal life, or even what has been called a counsel of perfection, a precept laying down an indispensable condition for all who aim at its higher forms and powers. It was strictly a remedy for the special evil which hindered the young rulers progress to perfection, applicable to others so far only as their cases are analogous. It would be idle to deny that there have been and are many such analogous types of character, and so far as any one is conscious of being under the power of wealth and its temptations, so far there is a call to some act asserting his victory over those temptations, in the spirit, if not in the letter, of the command thus given. But it is, we must remember, the spirit, and not the letter, which is binding. Distribution to the poor was then almost the only form of charity. A wider range of action is presented by the organisation of modern Christian societies, and the same sacrifice may be made in ways more productive of true and permanent good; in the foundation, e.g., of schools or hospitals, in the erection of churches, in the maintenance of home or foreign missions.

Treasure in heaven.The parallelism with the Sermon on the Mount should not be forgotten (5:20). The treasure is the eternal life which the young ruler was seeking, the memory of good deeds, the character formed and perfected, the vision of the presence of God.

Come and follow me.Here again St. Mark adds words that are pregnant with meaning, Take up thy cross, and follow Me. The seeker could not then understand all their significance. To the Teacher that cross was now coming, day by day, nearer, and He saw that each true disciple must be prepared to follow Him in that path of suffering, which was also the path of glory. Via cruris, via lucis.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

21. Be perfect If thou wilt lack nothing, but have all things necessary to complete thy salvation, give up all for Christ. Our Lord has now brought him to just the right test. The young man wished a high standard of righteousness; our Saviour has presented it. He wished to be saved by works; our Saviour has shown him the way of faith. He truly thought he was ready for any task; our Saviour has undeceived him. He expected that he should be able to earn heaven by the nobleness of his performance; our Lord shows him that there is a price infinitely below the value of heaven which he is not willing to pay. Henceforth let no one dream that he can offer any price of righteousness that shall merit eternal life. Let him not go about asking what good thing he shall do to become an heir of heaven. Let him simply throw himself by faith upon God for salvation, and trust in the Saviour he hath sent.

Sell that thou hast Was not this a peculiar and hard requirement? Is it made, at the present day, of any one? If it were nowadays made would any of our Christian men comply with it and be saved? To these questions we reply:

1 . There was something hard to nature in this answer, yet nothing peculiar. For God requires of every rich or poor man to surrender all he has to God, and to hold nothing but as God’s steward. The Gospel does not indeed require of owners of property a general resignation, so as to unsettle the foundations of the social system. But it does require such a consecration of all to God, that when the duty is made known to give some, or much, or all to God, the offering can be made. Hence there was nothing required, so far as the condition of the heart was concerned, which is not required of every man.

2 . This young man, in professing to have kept the commandments, professed to prefer God and his commandments to everything else. He loved God with all his heart, and above all things else. He had done this so abundantly that he was on the alert for some higher mode of righteousness. And yet, when put to the test, when taught that it was his duty and his chance to become an apostle, by giving up his fortune, he found that he loved mammon more than God.

3 . This same young man would doubtless have preferred his money to his duty and his integrity in any case. To have preserved his fortune he would very likely have sacrificed any command in the table of the law. Hence he deceived himself in supposing that he had truly in heart kept the law. He had broken it from his youth up. The law condemned him. His heart was not right before it. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things. Now he had no way but to give up all and be saved by grace, and this he refused. Treasure in heaven In place of thy treasure on earth.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.” ’

So Jesus now gives him his answer, the answer to which He has been aiming. He has claimed to love his neighbour as himself, so let him become like a little child in his response to Jesus. Let him show his love for his neighbour. Let him sell all that he has, and give it to his poor neighbours (in the same way as, if he had been poor, he would have wanted others to do to him). And then let him come and follow Jesus. Here was the ‘good thing’ that he could do. And if he did it he would inherit eternal life, for no one could ever come wholly to Jesus like this and be disappointed. Jesus would do the rest. We should perhaps note that implicit in the idea of ‘following Jesus’ is listening to Him and responding fully to His words. Jesus is not just saying ‘sign on and join the ranks’. He is saying ‘respond to Me and to all I am and to all I say like a little child would, and leave the consequences to Me’ (compare Joh 10:27-28). He is saying ‘believe in Me and follow Me’.

For if he does this he will be being ‘perfect’ (complete) like his Father in Heaven is perfect (Mat 5:48) because he will be distributing all that he has on the undeserving (Mat 5:45) and then following the great Life-giver Himself, the One sent from God, the source of all truth. He will be ‘letting go, and letting God’. Furthermore by doing this he will lay up his treasure in Heaven (Mat 6:19), (a confirmation that the contents of the sermon on the mount really are in mind in this passage). Thus if he is genuine in seeking goodness he now knows how it can be brought about, by wholly following Jesus, with all his temptations and burdens laid aside, and thus being open to all that Jesus can give him. Then the way to eternal life will have opened before him.

The later Rabbis taught that no one should immediately give away more than one fifth of their wealth. And there was wisdom in what they said. For men should give time for thought concerning such things. But Jesus’ very point is that the case was different at this point in time. For this was another indication (like the idea of possibly not marrying because the Kingly Rule of Heaven was here) that the Messianic age was here. The Kingly Rule of Heaven is among them, and is about to burst on the world. Now is the time to press forcefully into it. Now is the time for a man to put all else aside and throw in his lot with Jesus. It was neck or nothing time.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Mat 19:21. If thou wilt be perfect, &c. That is, “If thou wilt prove thyself a true disciple of mine; if thou wilt enter perfectly and unfeignedly under my banner, and enlist in my cause.” It may not be improper to observe, that the terms ofsalvation here settled are not different from those mentioned elsewhere in Scripture: for though faith is declared by our Lord himself to be the condition of salvation, it is such a faith, as influences to the universal righteousness here described; If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Moreover, the Christian religion, being from God, is established upon such solid evidences, that every humble person to whom it is offered will receive it with pleasure; and, if any man refuse it, his infidelity can be owing to no other cause than this, that his deeds are evil. So our Lord himself says expressly, Joh 3:19 and therefore, in returning a general answer concerning the terms of salvation, Jesus fitly directed this young man to a sincere, constant, and universal obedience; and, when he replied that he had arrived at that already, and desired to know if he lacked any thing more,namely, to render him perfectly good, our Lord, who knew how destitute he was of the true evangelical principles of holiness, required him to become his disciple; which, as he had acknowledged our Lord’s divine mission, he could not refuse to do, if he was the man that he pretended to be. At the same time Jesus let him know, that he could not be perfect, or his disciple, and much less a preacher of the Gospel, without renouncing worldly possessions; because, as matters then stood, the very profession of his religion, and much more the preaching of it, would infallibly expose him to the loss of his estate. Here, therefore, our Lord has declared, that all men to whom the Gospel is offered must believe it, and make profession of it, and produce all the fruits of it internally and externally, or they cannot be saved; but he by no means says, that it is absolutely necessary for all Christians to sell their goods, and give them to the poor. An intire actual renunciation of worldly possessions might, in innumerable instances, be necessary in the first ages, when the profession of Christianity, but especially the preaching of it, exposed men to persecution and death; which was the reason that Jesus mentioned it to the young man as his indispensable duty, especially as he aimed at the highest degree of goodness: but all that our Master requires of us at present is, that we be in constant and habitual readiness to part with all things in the world; and that we actually do so with perfect acquiescence in God’s good pleasure, when he in his providence calls thereto. See on Luk 14:33. Macknight, and Law’s Christian Perfection, ch. 3.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 19:21 . ] perfect , one, who for the obtaining of eternal life, . In accordance with the moral tendencies and disposition which He discerned in the young man , Jesus demands from him that moral perfection to which, from not finding satisfaction in legalism, he was striving to attain. The following requirement, then, is a special test for a special case, [3] though it is founded upon the universal duty of absolute self-denial and devotion to Christ; nor is it to be regarded merely in the light of a recommendation , but as a command . Observe that the Lord does not prescribe this to him as his sole duty, but only in connection with . It was intended, by pressing this requirement upon him, that the young man should be led to realize his own shortcomings, and so be enabled to see the necessity of putting forth far higher efforts than any he had hitherto made. It was meant that he should feel himself weak, with a view to his being made morally strong; accordingly it is precisely upon the weak side of the young man’s character that Jesus imposes so heavy a task, for with all his inward dissatisfaction he was not aware of his actual weakness in that direction.

] the poor .

] thou wilt have (instead of thy earthly goods) a treasure in heaven , i.e. in the hands of God , where it will be securely kept till it comes to be bestowed at the setting up of the Messiah’s kingdom. Comp. Mat 5:12 , Mat 6:20 . For the whole saying, comp. Avoda Sara f. 64, 1 : “Vendite omnia, quae habetis, et porro oportet, ut fiatis proselyti.”

[3] The Catholics found upon this passage the conmlium evangelicum of poverty , as well as the opera spererogativa in general. See, on the other hand, Mller, von d. Sunde , I. p. 69 ff., Exo 5 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Ver. 21. If thou wilt be perfect ] As thou boastest and aimest, and which never yet any man was, nor can be here. The misunderstanding of this text made some of the ancients count and call it consilium perfectionis, a counsel of perfection; such as whosoever did observe, should do something more than the law required, and so merit for themselves a higher degree of glory in heaven than others had. Hence Bernard writeth that this sentence of our Saviour filled the monasteries with monks and the deserts with anchorites. a

Go, sell all, &c. ] A personal command (for trial and discovery), as was that of God to Abraham, “Go, kill thy son Isaac.” Christians may possess, but yet as if they possessed not; they must hang loose to all outward things, and be ready to forego them when called to lose them for Christ.

And give to the poor ] b So shall thou clear thyself from all suspicion of covetousness, which properly consists in pinching and saving; and so is distinguished by the apostle from extortion, which stands in immoderate getting, 1Co 6:10 ; 1Ti 3:3 .

And thou shalt have treasure in heaven ] Far beyond the treasures of Egypt, which yet is called Rahab,Psa 89:10Psa 89:10 , because of the riches, power, and pride thereof. Oh! get a patriarch’s eye to see the wealth and worth of heaven, and then we shall soon make Moses’s choice. In the year of grace 759, certain Persian magicians c fell into that madness, that they persuaded themselves and various others that if they sold all they had and gave it to the poor, and then afterwards threw themselves naked from off the walls into the river, they should presently be admitted into heaven. Perierunt hac insania permulti, Very many perished by this madness, saith mine author. Many were cast away by this mad enterprise. How much better (if without superstition and opinion of merit) Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, who being asked by certain ambassadors that came to his court, what hounds he had, for they desired to see them, showed them the next day a pack of poor people feeding at his table, and said, These are the hounds wherewith I hunt after heaven. Hi sunt canes mei quos alo quotidie, quibus spero me coelestem gloriam venaturum. Funccius.

a A person who has withdrawn or secluded himself from the world; usually one who has done so for religious reasons, a recluse, a hermit. D

b , , quod ad pedes divitum accidant. Such as beg from door to door.

c Magi quidam ex Maurophoris Persis.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

21, 22. ] Our Lord takes him on his own shewing. As Mark and Luke add, “ One thing is wanting to thee .” Supposing thy statement true, this topstone has yet to be laid on the fabric. But then it is to be noticed, that part of that one thing is ( , Mark). Stier remarks, that this was a test of his observance of the first commandment of the first table: of breaking which he is by the result convicted.

. . . is common to Mark, verbatim.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mat 19:21 . (on vide Mat 5:48 ): if you wish to reach your end, the true life and the rest it brings. , etc.: go, sell off, distribute to the poor, and then come, follow me such is the advice Christ gives: His final lesson for this inquirer. It is a subjective counsel relative to the individual. Jesus sees he is well-to-do, and divines where the evil lies. It is doubtful if he cares passionately, supremely for the true life; doubtful if he be in the sense of single-mindedness . It is not a question of one more thing to do, but of the state of the heart, which the suggestion to sell off will test. The invitation to become a disciple is seriously meant. Jesus, who repelled some offering themselves, thinks so well of this man as to desire him for a disciple. He makes the proposal hopefully . Why should so noble a man not be equal to the sacrifice? He makes it with the firm belief that in no other way can this man become happy. noblesse oblige . The nobler the man, the more imperative that the heroic element in him have full scope. A potential apostle, a possible Paul even, cannot be happy as a mere wealthy merchant or landowner. It is “a counsel of perfection,” but not in the ascetic sense, as if poverty were the sure way to the higher Christian life; rather in the sense of the adage: of him to whom much is given shall much be required.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

wilt be = art willing to be. App-102.

that thou hast = thy property or possession. Same word (but not the same form) as “is” in Php 1:3, Php 1:20 = exists as a possession.

poor. App-127.

heaven. Sing; not plural, as in verses: Mat 19:12, Mat 19:14, i.e. not on earth. See notes on Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

21, 22.] Our Lord takes him on his own shewing. As Mark and Luke add, One thing is wanting to thee. Supposing thy statement true, this topstone has yet to be laid on the fabric. But then it is to be noticed, that part of that one thing is ( , Mark). Stier remarks, that this was a test of his observance of the first commandment of the first table: of breaking which he is by the result convicted.

. . . is common to Mark, verbatim.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 19:21. , …, Jesus said unto him, etc.) As the young man asks more, and binds himself to more, more is proposed to him.-, perfect) He is perfect to whom nothing is wanting that he may enter into life eternal. As he urgently asks it, our Lord proposes to him the most glorious condition, the nearest to that of an apostle.– , , go-and come, follow Me) sc. immediately. It is a command, not a counsel;[870] necessary, not optional (cf. Mat 19:24-25); but particular, not universal, accommodated to the idiosyncrasy of his soul, to whom it was addressed. For many followed Jesus, to whom He did not give this command. He may be perfect, who still possesses wealth; he may give all to the poor, who is very far from perfection.[871] Our Lords words laid an obligation on the man who offered himself ultroneously, and that so unreservedly; although to him, being as yet somewhat of a stranger, it was not expressly enjoined, but rather given in the form of advice to one seeking advice. In the case of others, who are not yet able to receive peculiar commands, a compensation is made by the leading of divine Providence.-, …, sell, etc.) If the Lord had said, Thou art rich, and art too fond of thy riches, the young man would have denied it: wherefore, instead of so doing, He demands immediately a direct proof[872] [of the contrary].-, …, thou shalt have, etc.) A promise inserted in the command, and at once surely guaranteed: q.d. Thou shalt have, and thou shalt know that thou hast.[873]-, treasure) The inheritance is called treasure, in opposition to worldly goods. Dost thou wish to be rich? Seek this treasure.- , follow Me) Instruction in faith would not then be wanting.

[870] As opposed to the Romish doctrine of counsels of perfection, on which they build the notion of works of supererogation: quoting this instance in support of their theory.-ED.

[871] Zaccheus, as recorded Luk 19:8, when distributing one half of his goods to the poor, obtained the Lords commendation. [He was not required to give all that he had to the poor: nay, what he did give was voluntarily, not by command.-ED.]-V. g.

[872] In the original the words are, ipsum statim documentum postulat: lit. he demands the very proof.-(I. B.)

[873] For already now, in this life, those things which are needful are freely held out to believers from this treasure, Mat 19:29.-V. g.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

perfect

(See Scofield “Mat 5:48”)

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

If: Mat 5:19, Mat 5:20, Mat 5:48, Gen 6:9, Gen 17:1, Job 1:1, Psa 37:37, Luk 6:40, Phi 3:12-15

go: Mat 6:19, Mat 6:20, Mar 10:21, Luk 12:33, Luk 14:33, Luk 16:9, Luk 18:22, Act 2:45, Act 4:32-35, 1Ti 6:17-19, Heb 10:34

come: Mat 19:28, Mat 4:19, Mat 8:22, Mat 9:9, Mat 16:24, Mar 2:14, Mar 8:34, Mar 10:21, Luk 5:27, Luk 9:23, Luk 18:22, Joh 10:27, Joh 12:26

Reciprocal: 1Ki 17:13 – make me thereof Neh 5:12 – We will restore Pro 2:4 – thou Pro 24:14 – there Ecc 10:19 – but Mat 13:44 – for joy Luk 18:21 – General Joh 14:24 – that 1Co 2:6 – them Phi 3:20 – our 1Ti 6:19 – Laying

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

HINDRANCES TO PERFECTION

If thou wilt be perfect follow Me.

Mat 19:21

Man is an artist, and he is working at himself. When we speak of perfection in the sense in which our Blessed Master commanded it, seeing that He never commanded to any of us the impossible, what we mean is that each of us must be trying, and trying in earnest, to have thoroughness and completeness and soundness of character. That is the meaning of perfection as Christ puts it before each of us, and that is taught by the Cross of Christ.

I. Difficulties in the way.

(a) Your sin. Your sin, whatever it may be, is quite the most serious thing in your undying history. Whatever men may say, however they may argue, if you or I break the law of God we find uneasiness, and we get the sense of guilt. You say, Talk about perfection, talk about soundness and thoroughness of characterwhy, I have sinned, and in my better moments I remember passages in my existence that I should like to forget. But then there stands before usand no other system of philosophy has dared to meet the questionthere stands before us the Cross of Christ. Your sin can be abolished and swept into a pitiless oblivion, if you turn in faith and repentance to the Cross of Christ.

(b) Your darkness. Another difficulty, before I get you to the perfect life, is your darkness. I want to know, you say. Life is dark. God is hidden. Where can I be illuminated? My difficulty is ignorance, and so I am thinking of joining the lazy conclusions of your modern agnostics. I acknowledge an ignorance, but the Christian Church comes forward and says: Have you not got reason? And to fight against reason is to fight against God. And that reason came from the Second Person of the blessed Godhead, the Light that lighteth every man. Cannot you read His story and find He sanctioned all by a death of desolation crowned by an Easter Day? And cannot you see on principles of right reason that there you have got One Who whatever else He was shows you what God is, what life is worth, what duty means, what death may be? You have got wisdom in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

(c) Your want of power. And then there is your demand for a really permanent and progressive and powerful force. Again you say, You say Christ takes away my sin if I have faith and do repent. I do. You say Christ shows me what God is, and what is life, and what is death, and what is duty. I do. And then you say, And can I do it? Is there an enabling power? Go to the solemn spectacle of the crucifixion; realise that there you have got a power without which you can do nothing, with which you can do anything; you have got a power that will meet temptation and conquer covetousness, and slay lust, and help on purity; enable you in a quiet hidden life to fight your battle, to conquer your sin, to aim at perfection, to bring about completeness, thoroughness, and soundness of character. There is the enabling power.

II. The life of faith.The aim of our life is perfection, thoroughness, completeness, soundness of character. We must live by faith. We must live loyally to truth. We must live in hope. We must go to a Redeemer in repentance to be forgiven. We must go to an Illuminator to be instructed. We must go to the great sacrifice of the Passion to get the grace of God, and then we can go on to the perfect life.

Canon W. J. Knox Little.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

9:21

We need not think this man was merely pretending to be interested, for there is nothing in the conversation of Jesus that indicated that he had an unfavorable feeling toward him; instead; as Mark’s account gives it (Mat 10:21) he loved the young man. But he could read the minds of men and he knew this man was a rich Jew and that he was devoted to his wealth. It is not necessarily wrong to be wealthy, but it is so when one is attached to his riches as this man was. That would constitute an “emergency” that required special legislation, hence Jesus told him the thing he lacked was the separation of his wealth from personal use and devotion of it to others.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

[Sell that thou hast, and give to the poor.] When Christ calls it perfection to sell all and give to the poor, he speaks according to the idiom of the nation, which thought so: and he tries this rich man, boasting of his exact performance of the law, whether, when he pretended to aspire to eternal life, he would aspire to that perfection which his countrymen so praised. Not that hence he either devoted Christians to voluntary poverty, or that he exhorted this man to rest ultimately in a Pharisaical perfection; but lifting up his mind to the renouncing of worldly things, he provokes him to it by the very doctrine of the Pharisees which he professed.

“For these things the measure is not stated; for the corner of the field” to be left for the poor; “for the firstfruits for the appearance in the Temple” (according to the law, Exo 23:15; Exo 23:17; where, what, or how great an oblation is to be brought, is not appointed), “for the shewing mercy, and for the study of the law.” The casuists, discussing that point of ‘shewing mercy,’ do thus determine concerning it: “A stated measure is not indeed prescribed to the shewing of mercy, as to the affording poor men help with thy body,” that is, with thy bodily labour; “but as to money there is a stated measure, namely, the fifth part of thy wealth; nor is any bound to give the poor above the fifth part of his estate, unless he does it out of extraordinary devotion.” See Rambam upon the place, and the Jerusalem Gemara: where the example of R. Ishbab is produced, distributing all his goods to the poor.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Mat 19:21. If thou wouldest be perfect. Mark and Luke: one thing thou lackest. One duty still remained to make his obedience complete, judged from his own point of view. Not that he had done all except this one duty, but a test is proposed, to prove that the whole obedience lacked the proper motive.

Sell all thy goods. In his case love of his possessions was the great hindrance; in another it might have been something else. All we have belongs to Christ, but this command is not to be literally obeyed by every one. The gospel is here put in a legal form to reach the conscience of the young man; the treasure in heaven is not bought by voluntary poverty. (Comp, chaps, Mat 5:12; Mat 6:20.)

Come, follow me. The final test. Whenever property interferes with following Christ, it must be given up; and he who would be a Christian must be ready to relinquish it for Christs sake, not to win salvation nor to buy a superior place in heaven.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

That is, “Thou hast been all thy days a Pharisee; if now thou wilt be a Christian, thou must maintain a readiness and disposition of mind to part with all that thou hast in this world, at my call and at my command, and follow after me.”

Learn, That such as enter themselves disciples of Christ, must be ready, at Christ’s call, to part with all, for Christ’s sake, that they have in this world.

2. All that profess themselves to be Christ’s disciples, must be his followers; that is, that they must obey his doctrine, and imitate his example, his holiness, his humility, his heavenly-mindedness, his patience, his meekness, his readiness to forgive injuries; and the same mind must be in us which was in Christ Jesus.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

And come follow Me: journeying in poverty, and preaching the kingdom of God. “For many,” says S. Jerome, “even when they leave their riches do not follow the Lord. Neither does this suffice for perfection, unless after despising riches, they follow the Saviour; that is, leave evil and do good. For the world is more easily set at nought than the will. Therefore do the words follow, Come and follow Me. Again, Follow Me implies the union of an active with a contemplative life. There is a threefold sort of holy life. The first and lowest is the active life. The second is the contemplative. The third and most perfect is the union of action with contemplation, that what we derive from God by contemplation, we should afterwards teach to others. This was the life which Christ and His Apostles led. S. Ambrose gives the reason in his explanation of the title of the 39th Psalm. “Christ,” he says, “is the end of all things, which with a pious mind, we ask for. For whether you seek for wisdom, or study virtue, or truth, or the way of justice, or the resurrection, in all things you must follow Christ, who is the Power and the Wisdom of God: who is Truth, the Way, Justice, Resurrection. After whom therefore do you strive, but the perfection of all things, and the sum of virtues? And therefore He saith to thee, Come, follow Me, i.e., that thou mayest deserve to arrive at the consummation of virtues. Therefore he who follows Christ ought to imitate Him as closely as he can; to meditate upon His precepts, and the Divine examples of His deeds.”

Observe that in this chapter Christ gives three chief evangelical counsels, viz., of celibacy and continence, ver. 12: of poverty, when He says, Sell that thou hast, ver. 21: of obedience, when He says, Follow Me, i.e., obey Me and My command. imitate My obedience even unto death.

Ver. 22. When the young man heard, &c. Wisely says S. Augustine (Epist. 43. ad Paulin.), “I know not how it is that when superfluous earthly things are loved, the more acquired the more they bind. Wherefore did that young man depart in sorrow, except because he had great riches? For it is one thing to be unwilling to incorporate with yourself what you have not; it is another thing to tear away what has been incorporated. The former may be repudiated as something not belonging to you: divesting yourself of the latter is like cutting off your limbs.” In the Gospel according to the Hebrews which Origen cites, there is here a considerable addition. It is as follows. “Another of the rich men said unto Him, Master, what good thing shall I do that I may live? He saith unto him, Man, keep the Law and the Prophets. He answered Him, I have done this. He said unto him, Go and sell all that thou possessest, and divide amongst the poor, and come, follow Me. But the rich man began to scratch his head, and it pleased him not. And the Lord said unto him, How sayest thou, I have kept the Law and the Prophets? For it is written in the Law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, and lo, many of thy brethren, the sons of Abraham, are clothed in filthy garments, and perish of hunger, and thy house is full of many good things, and there goeth not out of it anything whatsoever unto them. And He turned and said unto His disciple Simon, who was sitting by Him,-Simon, son of Jonah, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”

Verse 24. And again I say unto you, &c. The Arabic is, the entering of a camel into a needle’s eye is more easy. And again, the Gr. , i.e., but again. Christ, in giving this addition, as it were corrects what he has just said: “I have said that it is a difficult thing for a rich man to be saved, now I add something more, that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.” By rich man, Remigius understands one who trusts in riches, who places all his hope in them, which is what many rich men do. More simply you may take it to mean any rich person.

You will ask, What is the meaning of camel in this passage, and how could it pass through a needle’s eye? Some, with Theophylact, understand in Greek a sailor’s cable, which is , a camel. Some, with the Gloss, understand a gate of Jerusalem; which, because it was very low, was called the camel, because it was necessary for him who entered through it to stoop down and bend like a camel.

But I say that the tall and hump-backed animal, which is commonly called a camel, is here meant. So the Syriac, Arabic, Origen, SS. Hilary, Jerome, Chrysostom, and others, passim. Whence note that it was a proverb among the Jews, when they wished to signify that a thing was impossible, to say, “A camel will more easily pass through a needle’s eye, than such a thing will be.” Whence the Talmudists use such a proverb even now, as Caninius testifies (in nom. Hebr. N. Test.). Similar proverbs, signifying that a thing is impossible, are the following: “More easily will a tortoise outstrip a hare.” “A wolf might take a sheep to wife first.” “A locust will bring forth an ox sooner.” “A tortoise will vanquish an eagle.” “The earth will take to itself wings.” “Rivers will run up-hill.” “More easily might you hide an elephant under your arm.” “You will fly without wings first.” “A beetle will more readily make honey.” “The sky will fall first.” “The sea will more easily produce vines.” “Words will be wanting to a woman sooner.” “More easily may you feed on wind.”

Moreover, there is an hyperbole here. That is called impossible which is exceedingly difficult. Whence, that a rich man should be saved, which Christ here says is impossible, in the verse preceding He said was difficult. As S. Jerome observes, “Not impossibility is declared, but infrequency is shown.” So too Jansen, Maldonatus, and others. Thus, in the twelfth verse, He said, He that is able to receive it, let Him receive it. It means, some cannot receive, i.e., with difficulty receive the counsel of celibacy. And Jeremiah says (Jer 13:23): “If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots, so too may ye do good when ye have learnt evil.” (Vulg.) And yet this might be done, though it would be difficult. So it is as impossible-that is to say, difficult-for a rich man to be saved, as it would be for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. And yet, speaking absolutely, such a thing could take place: if, for example, the camel were cut up into the minutest particles, each one of which was passed separately, though slowly and laboriously, through the needle’s eye. Or if some needle were made great and thick, that it should be like a tower or a pyramid; for then its eye would be of sufficient size for a camel to pass through it whole. Lastly, Emanuel Sa, by the eye of a needle, understands what a needle has, or what a needle does, for it is possible to make with it by degrees an immense aperture.

Again, you may take impossible here in a strict sense. For that a rich man should be saved is impossible with men: but it is possible with God, as Christ says in verse 26. That is to say, it is impossible by natural strength, but by the power of the grace given by God it is possible. Just as that a camel should pass through the eye of a needle is possible by the power of God. That this is possible with God is plain from a similar case; namely from the quantity of the body of Christ, which in the Eucharist is wholly contained in a very small Host, yea in every particle of it. For if God is able to place the whole body of Christ in a particle of a consecrated Host, He is able also to make a camel pass through the eye of a needle.

Appositely and elegantly says Francis Lucas, a rich man puffed up and swelling with his riches, on whose back great burdens of wealth are pressing is compared to a camel, and the strait gate, by which we must enter into life to the eye of a needle, that you may understand that those who abound in riches, and are swelling with pride and disdain in too great a degree to allow themselves to be reduced within those narrow bounds in which God confines His own people are meant. I have given many analogies between a camel and a rich man in Ecclus. 13:11.

By this similitude of a camel and a needle Christ signifies that his riches are not so much an advantage to a rich man, as an impediment to virtue, and the kingdom of heaven. Wisely therefore did He counsel the young man that he should give his wealth to the poor, and as a poor man follow Christ who was poor.

Mystically. Isaiah prophesied that camels, i.e., rich men, laying aside by the grace of Christ the hump of their pride, would enter into the Church through the eye of a needle, i.e., through the straits of humility and the evangelical law (Isa 60:6). “The company of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Epha.” Hear S. Jerome, “Such was thy mother Paula of saintly memory, and thy brother, Pammachias, who through the eye of a needle, that is by the strait and narrow way which leadeth unto life, passed, and with their burdens leaving the broad way, which leads to Tartarus, carried whatever they had as the Lord’s gifts, according to the saying, “the ransom of a man are his riches,” for the things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

Allegorically, S. Augustine (lib. 2, qust. cap. 47), and S. Gregory (lib. 35, Moral 17), by camel understood Christ and by the needle, His Passion. Thus, it is more easy that Christ should suffer for the lovers of the world, than for lovers of the world to be converted unto Christ. Hear S. Gregory, “A camel passed through the eye of a needle when our Redeemer entered through the straitness of His Passion, even unto the enduring of death. This Passion was like a needle, because it pricked His body with pain. But more easily could a camel pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man enter into the kingdom of heaven, because unless He had first shown unto us by His Passion the pattern of humility, by no means would our proud rigidity have bowed down.”

Symbolically and Anagogically, Auctor Imperf. (apud. S. Chrysostom Hom. 33) says, “The souls of the Gentiles are likened unto crooked camels, in which was the hump of idolatry, because the knowledge of God is the lifting up of the soul. But the needle is the Son of God, of which the first part is subtle according to the Divinity: but the rest is thicker according to the Incarnation. But the whole is straight, and hath no bending, through the wound of whose Passion the Gentiles entered into life. With this needle the garment of immortality hath been sewed. It is the very needle which has sewed the flesh to the spirit. This needle hath united the people of the Jews to the Gentiles. This needle hath brought about friendship between angels and men. It is easier then for the Gentiles to pass through the eye of the needle than for the rich Jews to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”

Ver. 25. When the disciples heard, &c. Because there were few, and at that time scarcely any, who did not wish to be rich. For all were gasping after lucre, even as many gasp after it now. For as S. Augustine says upon this passage, “All who desire riches are counted among the rich.”

But Jesus beheld. Greek, . Jesus looking upon his disciples, regarding them with a benign countenance, calmed the timidity and anxiety of their minds. So Chrysostom. With men: it is impossible to a rich man by human strength to obtain salvation, for he is entangled in his riches. And this salvation is a supernatural blessing, which we cannot obtain without similar supernatural powers of grace. But to God all things are possible, because God is the Author and the Fountain both of nature and grace and glory, and He so provides that by grace we should easily and gravely overcome all the difficulties and hindrances of nature: and, which pertains to the subject now in hand, He brings it about that rich men are not corrupted by their riches, but use them well, yea, that not a few, forsaking them, are ambitious of, and follow the evangelical poverty of Christ. Thus did all the first Christians, who had all things common. (Act 4:32.)

Then answered Peter. Arabic, What then is nigh, that it may be to us? What? namely, of reward in Heaven, and glory in life eternal? Peter following Christ’s counsel of poverty, which the young man had despised, becoming more zealous, animates the Apostles, because they were almost alone in following the counsel of poverty given by Christ. And that he might still further encourage them, he asks what, and how great reward of glory awaits himself and the other Apostles, who followed Christ in His poverty in preaching the good news of the kingdom of Heaven? Thus Peter would confirm his companions in their holy purpose.

We have left all. Our ships and our nets, by which we gained our livelihood. And although these were poor and small things, yet, as S. Gregory says (Hom. 5, in Evang.), “he has forsaken much, who has left the desire of having. By those who followed Christ as many things were left as could be desired by those who followed him not.” For the poor in spirit, although he may be reckoned among the needy, yet in a sense is he rich, because all the things which he might have, hope for, or obtain, all his life long in the world, yea, the whole world, he forsakes for the love of Christ, that he may give up his whole heart to God. This is an heroic act of poverty, and therefore of charity and religion in which a man offers himself as a whole burnt offering to God: yea he himself becomes a living and perpetual burnt offering.

Hear S. Augustine. (In Psalm 104, Conc. 3.) “Peter left not only what he had, but what he wished to have. For what poor person is there who is not puffed up by worldly hopes? Who does not daily desire to increase his possessions? That cupidity was cut off. Peter left the whole world, and Peter received the whole world. ‘Having nothing, and yet possessing all things.'”

Jesus said unto them, &c. In the regeneration, i.e., in baptism. For this is spiritual regeneration, in which, dying unto sin, we are born into spiritual and heavenly life. Thus S. Hilary explains, “Ye who have followed Me through the regeneration of baptism, shall sit with Me as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel.” But all other commentators, passim, understand by regeneration, the general resurrection in the Day of Judgment. For this shall be the renovation of the body, and of the whole man as well as of the universe, and, as it were, their second birth to glory. Hence it is rightly called here and elsewhere Regeneration. Whence the Syriac renders, in the new world: the Arabic, in the generation to come. For then there shall be a new heaven and a new earth. (Isaiah65:17. Rev 21:1. 2Peter 3:13.)

When the Son of Man shall sit, &c. In the seat of His majesty (Vulg.); of His glory (Arabic). S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius understand by session, judicial power. For judges sit in order that they may adjudicate calmly and tranquilly, without perturbation or haste. This is true; but over and above this, sitting in this place signifies properly that Christ will sit in judgment, and with Him the Apostles and those like them, and that on thrones of cloud, splendid and majestic, but each according to his merit and dignity. Whence Sacred Scripture ordinarily attributes a seat and sitting to Christ in judgment. For sitting under such circumstances is common to all nations, and is the natural posture of judges. So Maldonatus. But Jansen and some others deny this, who say that the proper posture of the glorified body such as Christ has, is standing rather than sitting. But both postures are appropriate to the glorified body-viz., standing for fighting, and sitting for judgment.

Ye shall sit, &c. Richard Victor (Trad. de potest. judiciar.) and others think that these things were promised by Christ to the Apostles alone, because they were His first followers. As though He had said, “Each of you twelve shall have his throne in the judgment;” even Judas, says Chrysostom, if he persevere in his vocation. But others, with more probability, think that these promises were made also to the followers of the Apostles, such as religious, who leaving all things to preach the Gospel, come nearest to Christ and His Apostles. A definite number, then, is placed here for an indefinite one, viz., twelve for all. For Christ speaks to His twelve Apostles, but in such a manner as to address their followers. For they who have equal labour with Apostles, will deserve equal honour with them. Christ therefore promises these judicial seats to those who leave all things, and follow Him in preaching the Gospel. This is what religious do, especially such as devote themselves to win souls. Whence S. Bernard says (Serm. de Ingratitud.): We have all made profession of the Apostolic life. Hence Nazianzen (0rat. in Julian. 1) shows that it is the privilege of monks to sit on thrones. S. Augustine (in Ps. 87) proves this. “For if there were to be twelves thrones only, Paul, the thirteenth Apostle, would have no throne; and he would not be able to judge who said, nevertheless, that he should judge not men only, but even angels. Not only, then, those twelve, and the Apostle Paul, but as many as shall judge pertain to the twelve thrones, on account of the general signification.” And S. Bernard says (Serm. de S. Benedict.): “Altogether just is the retribution that they who here for Christ’s sake have forsaken the glory of human majesty, should there be glorified by Christ and sit with Him in an especial manner as judges. But let no one think that only the twelve Apostles (for instead of Judas, who transgressed, Matthias was chosen) shall at that time be judges, for as neither are there twelve tribes only of Israel to be judged, for otherwise the tribe of Levi, which was the thirteenth, would be unjudged; and Paul-who was the thirteenth Apostle-would, perchance, be deprived of judging; whereas he says himself: ‘Know ye not that we shall judge angels?’ We must understand, therefore, that all who, after the example of the Apostles, have left all things and followed Christ, shall come as judges with Him, even as all men shall be judged: for because by the number twelve, in Scripture, totality is often understood; by the twelve thrones of the Apostles the entire number of all who judge, and by the twelve tribes of Israel the entire number of those who are to be judged is shown.” S. Thomas demonstrates the same thing at length (Trad. cont. retrahent. a Relig. caps. 6 & 7), where he teaches that this session is promised to evangelical poverty. And he proves from hence how sublime and pleasing to God this poverty is, forasmuch as it excels other virtues, and merits this lofty judicial power. S. Gregory gives the reason (Moral. 26, 20), when, interpreting that passage in Job. xxxvi.-He hath given judgment for the poor-he says: “The more they were despised in this world through their great humility, so much the more, when they receive their thrones, do they grow in the height of power.”

Wherefore deservedly does S. Bernard, admiring this their excellency, exclaim (Serm. 8, in Ps. Qui habitat), “0 grace of friendship, 0 summit of honour, 0 privilege of confidence, 0 prerogative of perfect security! For what is so much to be feared? What is so full of anxiety and vehement solicitude as the thought of standing to be judged at that awful tribunal, and to wait for the sentence as yet doubtful, from so strict a judge?” And after a little, he says, “Happy indeed the position, which in that supreme clashing of the elements, in that tremendous examination of deserts, in that so great scrutiny of judging, can make them not secure only but glorious.” Moreover this glorious judicial session before the whole world, yea of the whole world, is promised by Christ to all those, who leaving all things, follow by means of perfect imitation, Christ who was poor, as poor, and spread His Gospel, and His kingdom.

The expression therefore, ye shall sit, implies, 1. The security of those who are poor for the Gospel’s sake. 2. The privilege of judging. 3. Dignity and eminence above others. 4. The nearest place to Christ and most perfect union with Him. 5. A principality of grace, happiness and glory, that inasmuch as they are princes of the kingdom of heaven, they should have the right of judging, and of admitting into it those who are worthy, and excluding the unworthy.

Tropologically, Auctor Imperfecti, by this session and judicial power understands that there is promised to those who leave all things and follow Christ a dominion of hearts, so that they may rule over the hearts and minds of men, and place in them the throne and kingdom of Christ where they may sit, and rule like kings, and make all things therein obedient to the law of Christ. Wherefore Apostles and Apostolic men, leaving all things, as monks and religious have done, being inflamed with the love of God, have converted the world, as Jerome Platus shows (lib. 2, de bono stat. Relig. c. 30). For says Auctor Imperfecti, “all who receive Christ into themselves by believing in and perfectly following Him, are the thrones of His majesty.” And, “whosoever shall receive the word of Peter becomes the throne of Peter, and Peter sits in him.”

Judging the twelve tribes, not only by comparison with the wicked, as SS. Jerome and Chrysostom, Euthymius, and Auctor Imperfecti explain, as the Queen of the South and the Ninevites are said to be about to condemn the Jews in the day of judgment, that is to say, by their example, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, whereas the Jews would not repent at the preaching of Christ. Nor yet even merely by approbation of the sentence of Christ in which manner all the saints shall judge: but much more honourably and gloriously, as it were nobles and princes of the heavenly kingdom, sitting upon their own thrones as assessors with Christ, as cardinals with the pope. They shall in truth judge, and pass the same sentence as Christ by which they shall assign the just to heaven, the unjust to hell, rebuking and reproving those who despised their doctrine and the example of their holy life, and praising those who cherished and honoured both.

Twelve tribes of Israel: understand not the twelve tribes of Israel only, as some expound, but likewise all nations.

Where observe, twelve tribes are spoken of, although the tribe of Joseph, being divided into two-Ephraim and Manasseh-whom Jacob adopted as his own sons, and made them equal in the rights of succession and inheritance with them (and according to this computation the tribe of Levi would not be the twelfth but the thirteenth); yet if we look at the origin of the tribes from the Patriarchs, the sons of Jacob, there were but twelve.

Observe 2. These twelve tribes were formerly the elect and faithful people of God, yea, the Church of God, even in the time of Christ. Yea this was the kingdom of Israel promised to Messiah. Whence the nations who believed in Christ were, as it were, grafted into this Church and people of the Jews, and as it were endowed with its rights of citizenship, so that they were no longer Gentiles but Jews that is, confessing and believing, and Israelites, i.e., having power with God, as the Apostle teaches (Rom 2:29). Hence too S. John (Rev 21:13.), says that he saw the names of the twelve tribes of Israel inscribed on the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem. All Christians, therefore, of all nations are divided and distributed among the twelve tribes of Israel, in such manner that some are reckoned to belong to the tribe of Judah, others to the tribe of Joseph, others to the tribe of Levi, and so on, according to the diversity of their virtues and professions. To Judah pertain magistrates, kings and princes. To Joseph pertain virgins, the chaste and celibates. For such a one was Joseph before his elevation. To Levi, pertain priests and deacons, and religious.

Note 3. Unbelieving nations do not properly pertain to the twelve tribes of Israel, who are the faithful. Wherefore by this omission of the unbelievers it is tacitly intimated that they will not be judged in the Day of Judgment; “for he that believeth not is judged already” (Joh 2:18). This must be understood of the judgment of a doubtful issue, for in this way only will believers be judged. For of them there can be doubt whether they will be saved or damned, which doubt will be resolved by an examination of the works of each. For in another view, the unbelieving also will appear and be judged in the Day of Judgment, and be awarded greater or less punishment in hell, according to their demerits. This is allowed by all, and is plain from Joe 3:2, and Mat 25:32.

Verse 29-And every one that hath forsaken houses, &c. Observe that in the several clauses of this sentence the disjunctive conjunction, or, is put because Christ is not speaking now of those who have left everything to follow Him, but of those who have only left some things for His sake and the Gospel’s. So Origen, S. Jerome, Maldonatus. S. Chrysostom is of a different opinion, and thinks that the same thing is here promised by Christ to all the faithful which a little previously He had promised to the twelve Apostles. As though He had said, All the faithful who have acted in the same way as the twelve Apostles, by forsaking all things and following Me, shall receive the same honour with them, and shall obtain one of the twelve thrones among the Apostles, and on it shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel. But the previous explanation is the best, as being required by the disjunctive conjunction, or.

Who hath left house: either because he has been despoiled of his house, and been driven into exile by a tyrant; or because he has voluntarily given up his house on account of the scandals and temptations which he hath found in it; or because he hath left his house and fled to a monastery, or church, in order to give himself up entirely to the service of God. I say the same thing concerning brethren, sisters, father, mother, wife, children; for when they are unbelieving and wicked, they make it their business to draw a believer away from faith and righteousness. Wherefore, if a wife draw away her husband from faith and piety, Christ advises the husband to be divorced from her; for it is better to desert a wife than to desert Christ. But voluntarily they leave the same who from zeal for the more perfect life, flee to the cloisters. This is the meaning of for My name’s sake; i.e., for the sake of Me and My love and reverence, that they may better and more fully serve Me.

Shall receive (Gr. ) a hundredfold-viz., of each that instead of one house which he has left for the sake of Christ he should receive a hundred, for one brother a hundred brethren, and so on. The Syriac is, one in to a hundred, i.e., augmented a hundred per cent. Thus also the Egyptian, Arabic, Ethiopic and Persian, which generally agree among themselves, especially the Ethiopic with the Persian, and the Egyptian with the Arabic. A hundredfold here means many times more, as Luke has it. A definite number is put for an indefinite, in order that the vast magnitude of the compensation may be signified.

You will ask, what sort of a recompense is this which is promised to those who have left their possessions for Christ? 1. The Chiliasts or Millenarians by a hundredfold understand a thousand years, with which these saints after the General (communis) Resurrection shall be delighted in this world, and shall enjoy all sorts of pleasures. But this is an error which I have confuted in Apoc. 20. And what Mark says is repugnant to this (Mar 10:30), Receive a hundred times as much now in this present time. Hear S. Jerome, “By reason of this sentence, some introduce a thousand years after the Resurrection, and say, then there shall be restored to us a hundred times as many of all the things which we have forsaken; and also eternal life. They do not perceive if in other things the recompense were becoming, it would be something shameful in the matter of wives, that he who had forsaken one wife for the Lord’s sake, should receive a hundred wives in the time to come.”

2. S. Gregory (Hom. 18 in Ezech.) says, “He shall receive a hundredfold, because God shall take care that such a one shall rejoice far more in his poverty, or his renunciation of his goods for the love of Christ, than rich men rejoice in all their riches and advantages.” And this, these who give up their possessions for Christ’s sake do in very deed experience.

3. S. Jerome, Bede, and others, take a hundredfold to apply not to temporal, but to spiritual goods, such as peace, joy, Divine consolations, and all other gifts and graces, with which God comforts them, and which He heaps upon them. These things surpass all earthly goods and joys, far more than a hundred exceeds unity. But because Mark particularly explains a hundred times as many, by adding, houses, brethren, sisters, mothers, children, and lands. Hence,

4. And more correctly, Origen, Theophylact, Euthymius, and Cassian explain the hundredfold thus, that the man who forsakes his possessions and friends for Christ’s sake, shall find that Christ will take care that he has a hundred, i.e., very many others, who will give him the love and help of brothers, wives and mothers, with far more exceeding sweetness and charity; so that it shall not seem that he has lost his own possessions, but has only laid them down, and in Christ’s providence has multiplied them with great usury. For spiritual affections are sweeter than natural ones. Wherefore he who has left one home for Christ will find a hundred and more homes of pious people open and ready to receive him with love and gladness. Priests and those who flee from their homes on account of the persecution in Japan, England and Scotland know this by experience. They find the houses of all the faithful open to receive them to hospitality, and are frequently migrating from house to house. So too a religious, who has left one house of his father for Christ finds a hundred, not houses, but colleges and monasteries, very great and fair to receive him with maternal tenderness. So also he who has left one field for Christ will find a hundred fields of the worshippers of Christ by which he may be nourished, and that without labour, or toil, whereas he would have had to cultivate his own. In like manner for one brother forsaken, there will be very many Christians who will cherish him with fraternal love, and cleave to him more sweetly with spiritual attachment. For one sister, very many maidens will chastely love him, and attend to his wants like a brother. Instead of one father, very many elders will cherish him as a son. For one mother, very many matrons will supply his necessities with maternal care. For one wife, a hundred wives of others, united to him in chaste spiritual bonds will be ready by means of themselves and others to care for him in sickness, and attend to his wants just as lovingly as though they were his own wives. Lastly, instead of a single son or a daughter, innumerable children will revere him as a father, and hang upon his sound doctrine and counsels, from whom his mind will derive greater pleasure than he could from his own children. This is what S. Augustine says from Solomon (epist. 89, qust. 4): “The whole world is the riches of the faithful.” Cassian teaches the same thing (Collat. ult. cap. vii.). The Apostles had experience of this hundredfold, and so had the early Christians, in the fervour of the Primitive Church, concerning whom Paul says, “having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” Also Luke, Acts iv. 32. “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.” And by and by, “Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or Houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold. And laid them down at the Apostles’ feet: and distribution was made to every man according as he had need.” This is experienced even now by good religious. And even if at any time it falls out otherwise, and they are in want of anything for the body, then God supplies the corporeal deficiency, and compensates for it by abundance of spiritual gifts and joys.

There was a famous example of this in the philosopher Peregrinus, who pretended to be a Christian, and as such in a time of persecu- cution offered himself to be put in prison, that he might enjoy the assistance and the money of Christians who succoured him. Nor was he mistaken in his opinion. For the Christians vied with one another in helping him, and the impostor went back to his own country laden with gold, as Lucian relates, in Peregrino.

Lastly, S. Ambrose (in Ps. cxix. lit. Cheth.), by a hundredfold, understands God Himself, and consequently the whole world, which is God’s property. For to such as leave all things for God’s sake, God is father, mother, wife, brother, sister, and all things. “Because,” says S. Ambrose, “he who has left all things begins to possess God, and He is, as it were, the perfect reward of virtues, which is reckoned not by the enumeration of a hundredfold, but by the estimation of perfect virtue.” He adduces the example of the tribe of Levi, which-because, by the Lord’s command, it had no portion of the land among the other tribes-the Lord Himself promised, and constantly confirmed it, that He would be its portion and inheritance. Whence he concludes with this golden sentence. “He who has God for his portion is the possessor of all nature. Instead of lands, he is sufficient to himself, having good fruit, which cannot perish. Instead of houses, it is enough for him that there is the habitation of God, and the temple of God, than which nothing can he more precious. For what is more precious than God? That is the portion which no earthly inheritance can equal. What is more magnificent than the celestial host? What more blessed than Divine possession?” And Cassian says: “Instead of that joy which any one had in the possession of a single field or house, he shall enjoy a hundredfold more the delight of riches, who passing into the adoption of the sons of God, shall possess as his own all things which belong to the Eternal Father, and in effect and virtue (following the example of His True Son) shall proclaim, ‘All things that the Father hath are Mine;’ and now no more with any penal care of distraction or anxiety, but secure and joyful he cometh, as it were, everywhere to his own, hearing daily what the Apostle preaches-‘All things are yours, whether things present, or things to come.'” This, therefore, is the congruous and condign reward of poverty-that having nothing, nothing should be wanting to it, but that it should possess all things. S. Francis experienced this, and exhorted his brethren to it. “Dearest sons,” he said, “great and unspeakable are the kindnesses of our God toward us, who thus turns the hearts of the faithful towards us His humble and worthless servants. From what we have received we daily hope for what we are to receive. Cast, therefore, your care upon the Lord, and He will nourish you on this mountain (Alvernia), Who sustained Elias in the wilderness, Antony and Paul in the desert. Know this of a surety, that there is no more secure refuge for the relief of our necessities than to have nothing. For if we be truly and evangelically poor, the world will have compassion upon us, and feed us abundantly. But if we are false to poverty, the world will forsake us; and if we ward off indigence by unlawful means, we shall endure worse penury.” (So Wadding, in Annal. Minorum, A.C. 1212, num. 14.) Mark adds, that this hundredfold will be given with persecutions (Mar 10:30). How this is I have there explained.

Tropologically. Cassian, in the place already cited, asserts that the joy of the converted in virtue is a hundred times as great as it was before in cupidity and vice; and he says, “If instead of the perturbation of anger and fury, you weigh the perpetual calmness of the mind; for the torment of anxiety and distraction, the quiet of security; for the fruitless and penal sadness of this world, the fruit of sorrow unto salvation; for the vanity of worldly joy, the richness of spiritual delight; you will perceive that the recompense of such an exchange is a hundredfold.”

Anagogically, S. Anthony, as S. Athanasius testifies in his Life, understands by hundredfold the kingdom of Heaven, in which there are a hundred times more good things than there are on earth. “He who hath left,” he said, “the dominion of the whole world shall receive a hundredfold better rewards in the kingdom above.” Instead of transitory things, those which are steadfast shall be given him; for worthless, things excellent, great things instead of small; heavenly for earthly; divine for human; things eternal for those of a moment.

And shall inherit, &c. Syriac, shall possess in inheritance. Arabic, shall become the heir of etrnal life. This is the most ample inheritance, in which the blessed are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. Therefore they shall possess not only earth and Heaven, and all things which in them are, but even God Himself; and every honour, all riches, all glory, all sweetness, all delights, all joys, and in short, all good things in God; and that, not as having the mere usufruct, but as heirs and masters, with perpetual inheritance, to endure for ever, so long as God shall be God. All this is involved and signified in the expression, eternal life. Moreover all who keep the commandments of God shall inherit this eternal life, as Christ hath said, ver. 17 (Mat 19:17). They however shall possess it in a more full and glorious degree, who have united counsels to precepts. Whence in this place Christ promises and assigns it to such only. By this manner of speaking He tacitly intimates that it is a difficult thing to attain eternal life by the observance of precepts only, without keeping the counsels. For the one is hard without the other. It is difficult to keep all the commands of God, unless the counsels, especially that of poverty, be observed. For, as Christ says (ver. 23), it is difficult, and as it were impossible, for a rich man to be saved.

Verse 30. But many that are first, &c. Observe how appositely Christ subjoins these words to what He had previously said. For He Himself has through almost the whole of this chapter, opposed Himself and His grace and the counsels of the Gospels, to the Pharisees and the Old Law. Whence He here, by consequence, opposes its reward to His reward, as will be plain in the next chapter. But He has especial reference to what He had spoken immediately before concerning the twelve judicial thrones; concerning the hundredfold; concerning the life eternal. And He appears to answer a tacit objection of the Apostles. For they might have said within themselves, “How shall this be, that we who are vile, poor, ignorant, ignoble, should sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, when there are in them very many men eminent in dignity, wealth, learning, fame, authority, such as the Scribes and Pharisees, and that young ruler, who was also a keeper of the Law?” Christ meets this objection, and declares that they indeed are eminent, and the first in this world, but that in Heaven and the life eternal they will be the last. That is, they would find no place there, they will be rejected and excluded from it. He used a like mode of expression (v. 19), “Whoso shall break one of these least commandments, shall be called the least, i.e., not at all in the kingdom of Heaven.” And the last are called here the most remote from the kingdom of Heaven, as is plain from Luk 13:30. This was because they despised Christ as being a poor man. But the Apostles, and others like them, who left all to follow Christ, who seemed in this world the poorest and the least of men, were to be the first in the life eternal, forasmuch as they were most dear to Christ, the King of Heaven, and most like Him in life and character, especially in poverty and zeal in preaching. So S. Jerome, Bede, S. Thomas, and others; also Victor Antioch (in cap. x. Marci.). Now He saith many not all, because there are some first here, who shall be first also in Heaven, such as holy kings, princes, doctors, bishops, pontiffs, who although they abound in wealth, yet are poor in spirit. And in turn there are some who are last here who shall be also last in Heaven, such as paupers and beggars, who give themselves up to theft and rapine in order to supply their wants, and that they may become rich and opulent.

On the whole, by this saying Christ signifies that the rich, and those who pant after earthly good, shall be shut out of Heaven; but the poor who covet heavenly things shall be the first there. He refers to what He said to the rich young man (ver. 21, Mat 19:21): If thou will be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in Heaven. Also to Peter’s words: Lo, we have left all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? Thus Christ in Heaven is the first, Who on earth was the last, according to the words in Isaiah liii.: “We saw Him, and there was no comeliness; we desired Him, Who was despised and the last of men.” (Vulg.) See what is there said. Next to Christ is the Blessed Virgin, who, after Christ, was the last among men. The Apostles follow, of whom Paul spake (1Co 4:9, 1Co 4:13): “For I think that God hath set forth us the Apostles last, as it were appointed to death; for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. . . . Being defamed, we intreat; we are made as the filth of the earth, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.” Thus concerning S. Martin the Church sings: “Martin is received with joy into Abraham’s bosom. Martin, the poor and lowly, enters Heaven rich. He is honoured with celestial hymns.” There was seen in Heaven by a certain holy man a lofty and glorious throne, and as he was wondering for whom it was designed, he heard the words, “This seat is kept for the lowly Francis.”

Lastly, many Fathers and scholastic Doctors-whom I will cite on the first verse of the following chapter-take the words first and last as applying strictly and literally to eternal life. In this manner: Rich men who here below have led an honest but comfortable life, keeping only the precepts of God, in Heaven shall be the last; but the poor men, who to the precepts have added evangelical counsels, and in poverty have followed Christ in preaching the Gospel, shall be the first in Heaven. I have said more about this in the following chapter. The meaning will be more ample with a more complete application to all that is said in the parable which follows, if you take last in both ways-viz., as signifying those who are to be excluded from Heaven, as well as those who are last in Heaven. For the Apostles, who as first shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel, as it were the last, shall award to many of them, as being just, the kingdom of Heaven, and to many as being unjust, hell. Moreover this sentence, many that are first shall be last, and the last first, Christ explains by the subsequent parable of the labourers. This sentence is, as it were, the pro-parable, i.e., the title and argument of that parable, to which is annexed the post-parable, as it were the scope and application of the parable (Mat 20:16). Thus the last shall be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few chosen. Whence it is plain that the post-parable exactly corresponds to the pro-parable, indeed that it is one and the same thing with it. The first therefore are called the chosen, or the elect: but the called only, not the elect, are called the last.

*If by communis Lapide means, as I suppose he does, the General Resurrection, he is certainly mistaken in attributing this opinion to the Chiliasts, or Millenarians. – TWM (Return to the place )

Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary

19:21 Jesus said unto him, If {n} thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come [and] follow me.

(n) The young man did not answer truly in saying that he had kept all the commandments: and therefore Christ sets forth an example of true charity before him, to show the disease that lay lurking in his mind.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

By referring to being "complete" Jesus was referring to the young man’s statement that he felt incomplete (Mat 19:20; cf. Mat 19:16), that he needed to do something more to assure his eternal life. Jesus did not mean that the young man had eternal life and just needed to do a little more, to put the icing on the cake (cf. Mat 23:8-12). Earlier Jesus had told his disciples that perfection, the same Greek word translated "complete" here, came from following Him (Mat 5:48). He repeated the same thing here.

What this young man needed to do was to become a disciple of Jesus, to start following Him and learning from Him. God’s will did not just involve keeping commandments. It also involved following Jesus. If he did that, he would learn how a person obtains eternal life, not by good deeds but by faith in Jesus. To follow Jesus this rich young man would need to sell his possessions. He could not accompany Jesus as he needed to without disposing of things that would have distracted him (cf. Mat 8:19-22). Such a material sacrifice to follow Jesus would gain a reward eventually (cf. Mat 19:29; Mat 6:19-21). Jesus was assuming the young man would become a believer after he became a disciple.

"So attached was he to his great wealth that he was unwilling to part with it. Such is the insidiousness of riches that, as Bengel notes, ’If the Lord had said, Thou art rich, and art too fond of thy riches, the young man would have denied it.’ He had to be confronted with all the force of a radical alternative." [Note: Hagner, Matthew 14-28, p. 559.]

The young man was not willing to part with his possessions to follow Jesus. He was willing to keep the whole Mosaic Law and even to do additional good works, but submitting to Jesus was something else. Jesus had put His finger on the crucial decision this young man had to make when He told him to dispose of his possessions. Would he value his possessions or following Jesus to learn more about eternal life more highly? His decision revealed his values (cf. Mat 6:24).

"His real problem was lack of faith in Christ, whom he considered a good Teacher but who apparently was not to be regarded as one who had the right to demand that he give up all in order to follow Him." [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 145. See Alan P. Stanley, "The Rich Young Ruler and Salvation," Bibliotheca Sacra 163:649 (January-March 2006):46-62.]

This passage does not teach that salvation is by works. Jesus did not tell the young man that he would obtain eternal life by doing some good thing, but neither did He rebuke him for the good things that he had done. He made it very clear that what he needed to do was to follow Jesus so he could come to faith in Jesus.

This passage does not teach that a person must surrender all to Jesus before he or she can obtain eternal life either. Jesus never made this a condition for salvation. He made giving away possessions here a condition for discipleship, not salvation. We have seen a consistent order in Matthew’s Gospel that holds true in all the Gospels. First, Jesus called a person to follow Him, that is, to begin learning from Him as a disciple. Second, He called His disciples to believe on Him as the God-man. Third, He called His believing disciples to continue following Him and believing on Him because He had an important job for them to do.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)