The Account of the Rich Young Man

Jesus and the Rich Young Man

There is a saying:  “comfort the afflicted; afflict the comfortable.”  There are numerous passages from the Scriptures that can accomplish this goal.  Today’s Gospel reading from St Matthew 19: 16 – 26 is one such passage:  the account of the Rich Young Man (Ruler).  He approaches Jesus and asks him, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (St Matthew 19:16).  Concerning the young man’s spiritual condition, Jesus informed him of the one thing he must do,

“If you would enter life keep the commandments.”  He said to him, “Which?”  And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man says to him [Jesus], “All these things [the commandments of the Law of Moses] I have kept from my youth.  What do I lack?”  Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  And come, follow me.”  But, the young man upon hearing the word went away grieved — for he had many possessions (St Matthew 19: 17 – 22).

Upon his sad departure we have commentary from our Lord:

Now, Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you, it will be difficult for the rich to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Again I say to you that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than the rich to enter into the Kingdom of God” (St Matthew 19: 23 – 24).

His disciples were shocked by these words:  “Who then is able to be saved?”.  They ask this because it was thought that the wealthy had God’s favor, not the poor. 

St Hilary of Poitiers

So what was at play within the heart and mind of the young man?  St Hilary of Poitiers states this:

To possess things is not a crime; rather, the issue is about how one is supposed to preserve his possessions.  How are we supposed to share, and how are we supposed to hold things in common if we do not relinquish those material things to be shared and to be held in common?  It is, therefore, a worse crime to possess things for their own sake than [merely] to possess things.  But it is a dangerous burden of being occupied with accumulating wealth.

St Hilary’s commentary regarding the state of the rich young man adds this:  that he placed typical confidence in keeping the Mosaic Law.  Thus, the young man could only understand the spiritual life in external, outward, even legalistic terms.  He could not, and ultimately, would not grasp our Lord’s conditions for his discipleship and enter into the inner dimension of what was demanded by Christ.  Again, his trust in the Law demonstrates this external orientation as does his inability to relinquish his material, external trust in who he was in Israel’s own external and legalistic understanding of spirituality and salvation.

So, what about this illustration of the camel and the eye of the needle?    St Hilary explains in this way.  Simply, this the camel is a “beast of burden,” and as such the camel’s burdens must be lifted off that me may become smaller.  So it is to be with us.  I quote St John the Baptist:  “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (St John 3: 30).

Once more, this is one of those sections from the Scriptures that should afflict the comfortable.  As Westerners in this time in history, we are exceedingly wealthy when compared to other areas and eras of the world.  We worry about our investments, properties, and possessions.  If this is misplaced and becomes our focus, then we are likely in the same place as the rich young man.

I will ask three questions of us.  Is our self identity wrapped up on monetary wealth, position in society, and other externals?  What do we treasure to the extent that we may be unwilling to give them away to follow Christ more completely?  And regarding our possessions — do we possess them, or do they possess us?

Jesus is to have the last word:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also…But seek first his Kingdom and hi righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (St Matthew 6: 19 – 21, 34). 

In Christ,

Fr Irenaeus