Matthew 19:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

NIV: 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."

NASB: Jesus said to him, 'If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.'

CSB: "If you want to be perfect," Jesus said to him, "go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

NLT: Jesus told him, 'If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Jesus now reveals what the rich young ruler is missing to achieve salvation (Matthew 19:16). The man has asked Jesus what "good deed" he must do to be guaranteed a place in heaven. Jesus has emphasized to the man that only God is good, implying Jesus is God and ought to be listened to (Matthew 19:17). Christ has given a list of commands to keep (Matthew 19:18–19). The man has said, proudly, blindly, that he has already kept those (Matthew 19:20).

This verse, like others in the passage, is routinely torn from its context and abused by critics and well-meaning Christians alike. This is not a blanket command given to all believers. Nor is it even implying that shedding wealth is, itself, a necessary or pious thing. This is a specific remark given to a specific person, and for a specific reason. That reason was set up by everything which came before this part of the conversation.

On the surface, Jesus gives the man a task to complete to be perfectly good. He tells the rich man to give up all of his wealth and sell everything he owns and give the money to the poor and come and follow Him. In this way, Jesus says, you will have treasure in heaven.

The purpose of this comment is to expose the blindness of this wealthy young man, and his ultimate lack of sincerity. The man believed—or wanted to believe—that he had already loved his neighbor as himself. Jesus showed that was not true because the man still had great wealth, and his neighbors were still poor. The young man was not perfectly good, after all.

There are two points to this comment by Jesus. One is immediately clear, the other comes to light when the rich man reacts to Jesus' advice. First, this demonstrates that nobody is good enough to be guaranteed eternal life with God in heaven. The gospel of Jesus Christ is that He is the only one good enough both to die to pay for our sin and to cover our lack of goodness with His perfect goodness. Only by faith in Jesus and through God's grace and power can anyone be saved (Ephesians 2:1–10). As much as we might hope we've been "good enough," we can't live up to God's standard of perfection.

The second and most immediate purpose of Jesus' words in this verse is shown in the following verse. When pushed to follow God—to pursue "good"—the rich man balks. His reaction proves that he is ultimately unwilling to follow God unless God does things the rich man's way (Matthew 19:22).

Matthew 19:16–30 describes Jesus' conversation with a wealthy young man who asks how to attain eternal life. Jesus begins by establishing a standard of goodness, suggesting the man keep all the commandments. When the man says he has done this, Jesus suggests he give up his wealth to follow Him. The man's sad reaction proves he's unwilling to make God the real priority of his life. Using this as an example, Jesus warns that wealth can make it difficult for someone to accept salvation.

Pharisees ask Jesus if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause. Jesus reminds them marriage was designed by God at creation. Divorce, then, is lawful only in the case of sexual immorality. A rich young man asks Jesus what good thing he must do to have eternal life. Jesus insists only God is good. He challenges the man's sincerity by asking him to give all his wealth to the poor and follow Him. The man's refusal demonstrates how easy it is to prefer wealth to dependence on God. In response to the disciples' question, Jesus says salvation is impossible with men but not with God.

Matthew 19 follows Jesus' teachings about temptation and forgiveness in chapter 18. This passage begins with Jesus leaving behind Galilee and heading toward Jerusalem the long way around. Jesus tells the Pharisees that divorce is legal only in cases of sexual immorality. Jesus blesses little children and then answers a rich young man who asks how to have eternal life. The man leaves sad after Jesus challenges him to give his money to the poor and follow Him. Jesus says salvation is impossible with men, but not with God. Chapter 20 contains additional parables and examples, and is the last before Jesus arrives in Jerusalem in the days just prior to His crucifixion.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.