Matthew 19:16-26, August 31, 2025, Osaka Church
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
A sincere young man asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what good deeds must I do to receive eternal life?” Apparently, he considered “eternal life” to be God’s reward for good deeds. Jesus had no choice but to respond to such a question by saying, “Then keep the commandments of the Law.” These were: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your parents, and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” The young man must have jumped for joy, saying, “Yes!” “I’ve kept all of those.” Instead of stopping there, he got carried away and asked, “Anything else?” The Lord’s answer was, “If you want to be perfect, sell all you own, give it to the poor, and follow me.” The young man turned pale, plummeting from ecstasy to despair in an instant. He possessed great wealth. Being a kind and generous man, he likely gave much to charity. But abandoning it all was unthinkable. He “went away sorrowful.” The Lord told his disciples, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
The point of this Gospel is not the Lord’s teaching that “If you seek perfection, sell all you have, give to the poor, and follow me.” The disciples were shocked by the Lord’s words and asked “Who then can be saved”. The Lord’s answer to this question lies at the heart of this Gospel: “With man it is impossible, but with God there is nothing impossible.”
These words hide a greater truth than what is stated. This is because, while people must strive hard to seek salvation, to obtain eternal life, and to go to heaven, salvation, eternal life, and heaven are, above all, God’s grace; they are planned by God and offered to us, saying, “Receive it.” Long before we even desire to be saved, God has been desperately wanting to save us. Herein lies the true meaning of “God can do it.” It is that “God wants to.”
Now, just before today’s Gospel, before the rich young man came to seek the Lord, people brought their children to seek the Lord’s blessing. Many children came, as you all know, misbehaving but full of joy and making a lot of noise. Some of them probably patted Jesus on the head or pulled his beard. When the disciples rebuked them, the Lord stopped them.
“Leave the little children alone, and do not forbid them from coming to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
It is those like this little child who can obtain heaven, eternal life, and salvation. The young man who asked the Lord, “What good thing must I do to gain eternal life?” was the complete opposite of these little children. All he had to do was cling to the One who was looking at him with “love” and who is salvation itself, eternal life itself, and the kingdom of heaven itself. Instead, he sought salvation by asking Him to teach him as a “good teacher” and gritting his teeth to follow His teachings.
Little children know their own powerlessness. But they do not grieve. They have no doubt that they will be given whatever they desire, that they will not be abandoned but will be protected. They are truly “poor in spirit.” Often, and in most cases, we lose the “poverty” of being little child and become tied down by the various worldly possessions and thoughts that we cannot let go of. They will end their lives trapped in the wisdom and seriousness of being “adults.” Looking up at the sky, feeling the wind with full hearts, leaping for joy…shedding tears of joy, and smiling with glee…they will perish, having long since forgotten all of this!
If we do not have this poverty of a child, truly “poverty in spirit,” then God’s fervent desire to save us, His mad love, will fail, will spin out in vain.
There are some things “God cannot do.” That is why the Holy Apostle Paul could not help but write to his disciples even from the depths of his prison cell: “Rejoice always!”