NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 145
1738 | Matthew 19:16
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
19:16-29pp — Mk 10:17-30; Lk 18:18-30
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to
get eternal life j ?” k
17 “Why do you ask me a
bout what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is
good. If you want to enter life, keep the c ommandments.” l
18 “Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “ ‘You s hall not murder, you s hall not commit adultery, m you s hall not
steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ a n and ‘love your
neighbor as yourself.’ b ” o
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, p go, sell your possessions and give to the
poor, q and you will have treasure in heaven. r Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich s to
enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then
can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things
are possible.” t
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! u What then will t here
be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all t hings, when the Son of Man
sits on his glorious throne, v you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones,
judging the t welve t ribes of Israel. w 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or
sisters or father or mother or wife c or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred
times as much and will inherit eternal life. x 30 But many who are first will be last, and
many who are last will be first. y
19:16 j Mt 25:46
k Lk 10:25
19:17 l Lev 18:5
19:18 m Jas 2:11
19:19 n Ex 20:12-16;
Dt 5:16-20 o Lev 19:18;
Mt 5:43
19:21 p Mt 5:48
q Lk 12:33;
Ac 2:45; 4:34-35
r Mt 6:20
19:23 s Mt 13:22;
1Ti 6:9, 10
19:26 t Ge 18:14;
Job 42:2; Jer 32:17;
Zec 8:6;
Lk 1:37; 18:27;
Ro 4:21
19:27 u Mt 4:19
19:28 v Mt 20:21; 25:31
w Lk 22:28-30;
Rev 3:21; 4:4; 20:4
19:29 x Mt 6:33; 25:46
19:30 y Mt 20:16;
Mk 10:31; Lk 13:30
20:1 z Mt 13:24
a Mt 21:28, 33
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20
“For the kingdom of heaven is like z a landowner who went out early in the morning
greed to pay them a denarius d for the day
to hire workers for his vineyard. a 2 He a
and sent them into his vineyard.
a 19 Exodus 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20 b 19 Lev. 19:18 c 29 Some manuscripts do not have or wife. d 2 A denarius was
the usual daily wage of a day laborer.
19:16 – 30 This is the only account in the en-
tire Bible in which someone is asked to sell all
their possessions, so it is not a guide for ev-
eryone in every circumstance. See, e.g., Luke
19:1 – 10,11 – 27 for different approaches to
money. But the person who is too quickly re-
lieved by this observation might be precisely
the kind of person God is calling to imitate
this young man.
19:16 The questioner is concerned about a key
Jewish issue: the relationship between good
works and eternal life.
19:17 Matthew probably phrases this verse to
avoid the potential misunderstanding (see
Mark 10:18) that imagines Jesus to be deny-
ing his goodness.
19:18 – 20 As in the Sermon on the Mount (es-
pecially 5:21 – 48), the Ten Commandments
prove central to God’s will. But the young
man claims to have kept them all, yet still
senses a lack. It could appear that Jesus is
suggesting obedience to the law can merit
eternal life, but more likely he is setting the
man up to realize what he is still missing.
19:21 – 22 Jesus recognizes the man’s great
wealth is what is really standing in the way
of true discipleship, so he calls him to sell his
goods and give to the poor. These commands
must not be separated from their positive
counterpart: “Then come, follow me” (v. 21).
Altruism without faith in Jesus does not lead
to “treasure in heaven” (v. 21). That the man
“went away sad” (v. 22) demonstrates the
accuracy of Jesus’ diagnosis and the unwill-
ingness of the man to accept the prescribed
treatment for his failings.
19:24 eye of a needle. Some have suggested
that there was a narrow “eye of a needle”
gate in Jerusalem that camels could go
through only with great difficulty. But this
notion did not develop until a millennium
after the time of Christ. Jesus’ words form a
metaphor, pure and simple. It is harder for
the “rich to enter the kingdom” (v. 23) than
for the largest common animal in the ancient
Middle East to go through the smallest com-
mon aperture. In other words, it is humanly
“impossible, but with God all things are pos-
sible” (v. 26).
19:27 Unlike the rich young man, the disciples
have left their jobs and resources behind to
follow Jesus. Peter understandably asks what
is