Exposition of Matthew (Matthew 19:23-30)

November 5, 2021 

(Jesus’ last days of earthly ministry)

Questions to be answered in this study

1. Why was the law given in the Old Testament?
2. When God looks into the heart of the believer, what does He see?
3. What was the solution Jesus offered the rich young ruler for his problem?
4. When Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross, what did He mean?
5. What did Jesus mean when He told Nicodemus, “You must be born again?”
6. What was the main issue concerning the rich young ruler’s problem?
7. How did the Pharisees view poor people?
8. How can people be deceived by wealth?
9. What was the disciple’s reaction to what Jesus said about riches?
10. What turns people from their sins unto the Lord?
11. Why did Jesus ask the rich young ruler to give away all his wealth?
12. If the ruler was required to give away all his wealth, does that mean wealth is a bad thing to be avoided?
13. How should we then view wealth?
14. When does money become a hindrance?
15. How can the saying of the Apostle Paul, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain,” have an impact on our lives?

Introduction

In today’s study, we complete the series of three teachings Jesus gave His disciples on how to enter the kingdom of heaven. In the first of the series, Jesus rebuked the disciples for not allowing little children to come to Him. Jesus informed them that children would be an essential part of the kingdom. I shared the statistics with you that 85% of people saved are saved by the time they are 14 years old; that reinforces the importance of ministering to children.

In our last study, Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler who asked him to have eternal life. This man’s first mistake was not recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, and secondly, he thought good works were necessary to go to heaven. Jesus revealed to the man that God’s standard for good was above what man could achieve, and the only way to be saved was to forsake his love of worldly wealth and follow Him.

The law was given to show man their sinful nature and not as a way to go to heaven. Only perfection meets God’s standard, and only Jesus was able to meet that standard. When we accept Jesus as our savior through faith, His righteousness is imputed to us; therefore, when God looks into the hearts of believers, He sees only His righteousness and not our inferior righteousness.

Jesus offered the rich young ruler the solution to his problem: To depend on Him and not his good works and then come and follow Him. In the first two studies, we learned that God’s way to enter the kingdom of heaven was through faith in His Son, Jesus, and grace, which God freely gave without any human intervention other than faith. Peter, James, John, and all the apostles, came to God on these terms. Another thing we learned, though I did not state it this way, is all that goes to heaven comes from heaven. In other words, even our works after we are saved are done through Christ’s presence in our life. It is Jesus living through us that meets God’s approval.

When Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross, He meant that every requirement for our entry into the kingdom of heaven was completed on our behalf. Jesus gave the way to heaven to Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews: “You must be born again….” That means when we place our faith in Jesus, we receive the sinless righteousness of Jesus. It is not the same as “if I’d never sinned;” It is like becoming a brand-new person. God made the way of salvation so easy that even a child or a wayfaring stranger could understand. It is impossible to know why anyone cannot see that truth and accept Jesus, but many do not understand and do not accept Him.

That brings us to the third teaching in this series. Jesus answers the question as to why people fail to receive such great salvation. He takes up where He finished His encounter with the rich young ruler and now turns to the disciples:

Matthew 19:22-24, “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. 23Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24And again I say unto you, 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 God.”

After Jesus required the man to forsake his wealth and follow Him as a test of his faith, the man departed from Jesus with a sorrowful heart revealing that he was unwilling to submit to the saving grace of the Lord. The ruler was more concerned for his wealth than for the welfare of his eternal soul. Jesus then turns to the disciples and says, “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 God.”

This statement is often misunderstood. Some believe a rich person can’t go to heaven because a camel can’t go through the eye of a needle. Some try to explain this statement by comparing the eye of a needle to a particular place in Israel called the needle’s eye, where a camel has to kneel to pass through. No such explanation is necessary because Jesus gives one: “That which is impossible to man is possible with God.” Besides, Jesus did not say a rich man couldn’t go to heaven; He said it was hard for a rich man to go to heaven.

Jesus was not requiring giving away money as a way to heaven. In the case of the rich young ruler, his money stood in his way of accepting Jesus. The ruler’s problem was looking for a way to go to heaven by good works, which is impossible. There must be zero sin to enter heaven, and we must be willing to give up anything that stands between us and the Lord. For most, it is a sin that stands in the way, so our sins must be confessed and rejected. God demands sinlessness to enter heaven, and only Jesus was able to meet that standard; so, when we accept Him by faith, His sinlessness is imputed to our account, and we then stand before God completely righteous. In the minds of the Pharisees, wealth meant God placed His approval on a person; however, in God’s sight, wealth became a detriment to heaven instead of a way to heaven. So, Jesus is pointing to the thing that stood in the way of the ruler trusting in Him, his wealth.

Conversely, poor people were believed to be under the judgment of God for their sins. This idea made an excuse for the Pharisees to make wealth a priority in their life instead of a commitment to God. The Pharisee’s religious affiliation allowed them to amass wealth at the expense of the people that followed them. To them, wealth was God’s endorsement and His invitation to heaven. That explains Jesus’ statement that it was hard for the rich to go to heaven. When people become comfortable and content with the world, they do not seek a future life in heaven.

Wealth can deceive a person into thinking they already have heaven and have no need for religion. They are self-sufficient without the help of God. Therefore, they can’t enter into the kingdom of heaven with that attitude. That way of thinking is still prominent today; it is known as the prosperity gospel, which teaches that God wants us to be wealthy and all we need to do is ask Him to give us riches, and He will gladly do it. According to that philosophy, if you do not have wealth, something is missing in your relationship with God. He is not favoring you; this is a false teaching that can hinder a person’s relationship with God. Some televangelists tell their followers to send their money to them so God can return it to them in abundance. That, of course, is heresy. It is the way the Pharisees deceived their followers and grew rich at their expense. Like the Pharisees, today’s false teachers point to their wealth as proof that their teaching works, and millions are deceived. If the false gospel deceives a person, they are blinded to the true one.

Jesus predicted that the prosperity view of wealth would be prominent in the church in the last days. In Revelation 3:17, He said, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” Riches create the attitude that one has already found heaven and has no need to look any further. Therefore, they miss God’s actual heaven.

In the following verses, we see the disciple’s reaction to what Jesus has just said:

Matthew 19:25-26, “When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

So, the disciples were exceedingly amazed at what Jesus said concerning a rich man, that it is harder for him to go to heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. So, they ask Jesus who then can be saved? The disciples had been under the teaching of the Pharisees all their life and believed that wealth revealed the favor of God on one’s life. The question of that day was, what about the poor? Could they also go to heaven? Jesus reverses that belief saying that the rich were less likely to go to heaven, astonished the disciples. Who then could be saved if the rich man wasn’t? It went against what they were taught. That was just one thing that blocked people from heaven. Anything that was the center of one’s affections could block their way to heaven.

Jesus answers their question in verse 26; Jesus says, things impossible with a man were possible with God. There is no limit to God’s power. Salvation is impossible if a person puts anything else before God, whether wealth or anything else. The critical point is that people don’t just decide to follow Jesus on their own one day. Salvation is by invitation only, the invitation of the Holy Spirit, and a person either accepts that invitation or rejects it. That is what Paul meant in Romans chapter 3 when he said, “none seeks after God, and none doeth good, no not one.” Jesus uses the word impossible, but what is impossible with man is undoubtedly possible with God.

It is, therefore, the Holy Spirit that turns man from his evil ways to God as John says: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:19-23 (KJV).

Furthermore, John says by inspiration, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth, and the Spirit of error. 7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit,” John 4:4-13 (KJV).

It is not because of some personal choice that people come to Christ; it is because of the enlightenment of God’s Holy Spirit. It is the work that God does through His Holy Spirit that brings us to Him. Throughout this three-part series, that is the message; God first changes the hearts of men and brings them into the kingdom. That is why salvation is all of God and not of works or anything else. It centers on what Jesus did on the cross when He died to pay the penalty for our sins. Our only responsibility is to receive Jesus by faith, and when we do, there is a change; God changes our hearts to prepare us for the work of the kingdom. Even our faith comes to us by the Holy Spirit since we cannot turn from the world on our own. That leaves nothing to boast about; our salvation is all of the Lord.

If the ruler was required to give away all his wealth, does that mean wealth is a bad thing to be avoided? No! It means in the case of the rich young ruler, it was what stood between him and God. It was his love of money. Many things can stand between a person and God. So, before we can come to God, we must confess those things and put them behind us. Anything that hinders our incentive to follow Jesus must be disclosed and rejected. 

How should we then view wealth? Remember what the Bible says about money. It is the love of money that is evil. Money is amoral; it is not our enemy, and when used in the right way, it can be a great blessing enhancing our lives and the lives of others. Money can be used to impact the work of the kingdom. Great men of the past used their wealth to further the cause of God’s kingdom: This included Abraham, Joseph, David, and Solomon and continues today with others who God has blessed with wealth.

It is when money is misused that it becomes a hindrance: “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows,” 1 Timothy 6:9-10 (KJV).

It is when the desire for money competes with our love for Jesus that it becomes a sin. It can hinder our prayer life, Bible study, service in the church, marriage, and other things. The pursuit of money can draw us away from the Lord and the responsibility toward the family. Also, money can rob us of heavenly rewards. Jesus’ instructions to the disciples were to store up treasure in heaven, not on earth.

That is what Jesus refers to in the following verses:

Matthew 19:27-30, “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 28And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 30But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”

When Jesus invited His disciples to follow Him, they immediately walked away from their livelihood, forsaking all to follow Him. Each one of the disciples was willing to make a personal sacrifice to follow Jesus. Ultimately, they all, with the possible exception of John, would lay down their life. Paul said, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” If we had that kind of dedication today, we would not be anxious and worried over every trivial matter that comes our way.

However, the apostles were mistakenly looking for their rewards in the present life. That is what the Pharisees had taught them all their lives that God blesses those faithful to Him with wealth. When Peter heard Jesus say wealth was a detriment to the kingdom, he was disillusioned: “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? Peter had his eyes on the temporal world instead of permanent eternity. So, in verse 28, Jesus answers him: And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

In Isaiah 9:6-7 (KJV). We see this brought out; those who are faithful to Christ shall rule and reign with Him when He sets up His future kingdom on earth: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. If we are faithful to Jesus in this life, in the life to come, we shall reign with Him (See Romans 5:17; Romans 8:17; and Revelation 1:6). In these verses, Jesus refers to His faithful servants as kings. 

According to verse 29, “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” What does this promise mean? It means those who are faithful to Christ in this life will be significantly rewarded a hundred-fold in the life to come; they shall live on earth in a glorified body that shall never sin or die. They will live eternally to enjoy their rewards. What will our rewards be who are faithful to Christ? They will be a hundred times greater than what we have now. In other words, there is no comparison.

However, according to verse 29, those who put the things of this world first now, like the pursuit of wealth and pleasure, will trade that which is first for that which is last. We need to be faithful now to make the sacrifices necessary to engage in the Lord’s work if we want the blessings Jesus offers in His future kingdom on earth.