Either Or, Not Both

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

EITHER OR, NOT BOTH

Matt 19:16-22

16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" 17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."  18 "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"  20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."  22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

NIV

This is a very interesting exchange between this young man and Jesus. What we know about this young man is that he has great wealth, but it appears his wealth gave him no comfort in his soul. His question is the one that resides within the inner being. What happens after death? This man is concerned about this matter as his question is regarding what he must do to get eternal life. This would also imply that he felt there was something to do in order to gain eternal life. Because Jesus told him that if he wanted to enter life, he must obey the commandments. This may not be the best interpretation of the original word in Greek. The word translated as commandments which is plural actually could be either plural or singular, meaning an authoritative prescription, or an injunction as in a judicial law restraining a person beginning or continuing an action threatening or invading the legal rights of another. In that sense, it is possible the commandments regarding murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and honoring parents would fit into the meaning of an injunction, not infringing on others. Although it appears Jesus is repeating what we would call the Ten Commandments, with the word he used, it would seem Jesus was referring to keeping the law. Even this loving his neighbor has himself would fit into the same definition, however, there is a danger in misunderstanding loving self as self-love is not what Jesus is meaning, but rather we would not purposely do harm to ourselves and therefore we should not intentionally do harm to others. It is also interesting this young man told Jesus that he kept all those injunctions, or the law, which meant he made every effort to live a righteous life, but still he felt unsettled about his soul, knowing that is trying to keep the law, or rules and regulations had not given him any inner peace. He knew that he still lacked something but did not know what. Once again this comes back to that fact that we cannot serve two masters, for Jesus told him what he was lacking was that he was putting too much of his trust in his wealth and no matter how much he tried to live righteously, he was still too invested in the world’s system and thus could not see the realm of God. The young man’s response to Jesus telling him to trust not in wealth, to give it away, help others with the resources he had stored up for himself and then he could find the peace within himself and be content with following Jesus. It is not about buying treasures in heaven by doing good deeds, but it is about treasuring Jesus rather than his wealth, for Jesus is the greatest treasure of all, for he is the truth, the way, and the life. The only way to eternal life is in Jesus. No good deed, no attention to the law, nothing we can do or not do will allow us to gain eternal life. We are saved through faith, and not by works, or good deeds, least we boast how much we do for the kingdom of God and that entitles us some reward in heaven. Only faith in Jesus, only following Jesus gives us the right to be called children of God.