The rich young man

 

Our next stop of our journey in the Gospel according to Matthew takes us to chapter 19 which tells of the fascinating encounter between Jesus and a rich young man. What can we learn from that story?

Mat 19:16-25, “And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, 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 said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" 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." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"”

1) Despite his obediance to the commandments of the Law of Moses, the young man was not certain that he would spend his eternity in the presence of God. He was worried and knew he had something more to do: a good deed.

2) Mk 10:17-18 and Lk 18:18-19 emphasise that he called Jesus 'Good Teacher': “"Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone."” So, he acknowledged the fact that Jesus was able to teach him what he needed to know, and that He was Good: i.e., excellent in the field, devoid of any wickedness and really desirous to help and satisfy his pupil to the best of His abilities.

3) He knows this, but oddly, when Jesus tells him which good deed he still needs to do to be perfect, he turns his back on Him and sadly walks away. What did he want to hear? Was he really willing to pay the necessary price to get to heaven; or did he simply want to impress Jesus and the disciples with his 'holiness'? Peter too, swore he would never betray the Lord, even if he had to die for that. We know what happened thereafter. This brings us back to what we said last week about God's will. We are often too presumptuous about our spiritual abilities, but when it’s time to act, there is usually nothing to show for it.

4) Jesus then makes one of the most controversial statements of the Gospels: “only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven… It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And generations of Christians concluded that it was better to be poor than rich because wealth was a barrier to salvation. Yet it is not what Jesus meant at all. The word rich here should be considered in the same way as the words 'sick' and 'lost' in the following passages (Mat 9:11-12, Lk 19:10): “"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he (Jesus) heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” They talk about His 'bad' associations, and He speaks about physicians and patients: He was referring to the spiritually sick. This so-called evil company was spiritually sick people in need of the spiritual Physician that He was. Similarly, when He says that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” He is clearly not speaking of people who are physically and geographically lost; but He is speaking of a spiritual going astray (delusion). Moreover, Jesus always spoke in parables (Mat 13:34): there was always an allegoric dimension in His speeches and teachings. That's why I believe that the passage before us is more about spiritual wealth than gold and silver. We can compare the Lord's response to what He said in his Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5:3): “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, ‘Blessed are those who know they are spiritually poor, for the kingdom of heaven is for the humble.’ And by antagonism: ‘Woe to the rich in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is not for them!’

5) In fact, the disciples had no doubt about the meaning of Jesus' words; indeed, astonished, they asked: "Who then can be saved?" Why worry that the thing will be impossible to all, if Jesus was only speaking of those who are materially rich? These men were mostly fishermen and should have been jumping for joy, saying, "Praise the Lord, we are not rich. This does not concern us!" But they clearly felt they were all rich of something that could cause them to miss Heaven. "Who then can be saved?" In other words, "It's terrible we will all perish. Nobody will escape." And it is because they had rightly grasped the impossibility of the thing that Jesus said to them (vs. 26): "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Peter, who was still not reassured, went further and says (vs. 27): "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" And Jesus replied (vs. 28-29): “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”

6) The problem with this young man was that the love of the things which are in the world and the deceitfulness of riches had filled his heart and left no room for love of the Father (1Jn 2:15). If it was Abraham who had asked that very question, the Lord would not have asked him to distribute his wealth to the poor. He would have asked him to sacrifice his beloved son instead. We all have our Isaac, our wealth, or something which, if it has not yet been offered to God in sacrifice as Abraham did, will stand between the kingdom of heaven and us. For some it is their job; for others it is a child; for others still, it is a spouse, or a house, or a collection of jewelry, of paintings, of handbags, of stamps, or of china vases, God alone knows. I encourage us to probe our hearts in spirit and in truth to discover what our treasure is. Then, like the disciples, let’s leave all this before it leaves us or before we win the whole world and lose our soul. Note that when Peter said that they had left everything (and Jesus did not contradict him), he himself had not physically abandoned his wife and family. Indeed, at some point, we find Jesus at his house, healing his stepmother (Mat 8:14). He simply meant that he had cut the emotional tie and was ready to physically separate himself from them if the Lord had required it. Let’s leave everything; let’s be poor in spirit; let’s love the Lord.

have a great week and God bless you!

Matter of Faith: once more...

 

I recently participated in a Bible study and someone was interrogating re: what could be made of ‘Holy Spirit-filled’ Christians who, having expected or hoped for something from the Lord for a long time, gave up and ended up choosing another path that leads them to disaster.

Somebody said that in such cases, we must raise the question of the truthfulness of the conversion of such persons. I have to say that I totally agree with this line of thought. Indeed, being a Christian is believing without a shadow of a doubt that God is Good and only wants the best for us. Does He not have plans for welfare and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope (Jer 29:11)?

Being a Christian is accepting with serenity that if I am not granted the thing which I desperately want, it can only be for my own good and it is the best thing that can happen to me at the particular moment. We do not know everything: “here is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Prov 14:12 & 16:25) We do not always have the perspective needed to see that the door which we want open is that which can lead to our destruction.

We cannot be a Christian without believing in the absolute goodness, wisdom and omniscience of God. And to believe here is more than a mental process: it is a movement of the heart and the soul. It means that if after praying, fasting, pleading, crying, giving offerings and tithing, things are still not going in the expected direction, we should realize and accept that in His wisdom, the God who knows everything certainly has some very good reasons for not granting our prayers. God’s refusal is often His best way of protecting us.

When you decide to take matters in your own hands because God does not want to do it, you are declaring in a way that God doesn’t know what He is doing (or has to do) and you can do better than him. It is a way of proclaiming that you're smarter than Him and it is finally saying that God is not GOD. This is not really a Christian attitude, isn’t it?

We pray and say: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But in reality, we think: “Thy will be done in heaven, but MY will be done in MY life.” Unfortunately, since God reads the hearts, when we pray, He knows beforehand those who sincerely wish that His will be done, and those who want it to be done only if it corresponds to theirs; and in the latter case, He remains deaf and dumb to their requests, and let them follow the desires of their hearts. You don’t come to God with a Plan B and C. You only come with a plan A which is: God, God, and God. We come to Him with what we would like to see, do or have; we ask Him what He thinks, and stick to it. It is written (Prov 19:21): “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” Which has been translated by: “Man proposes, but God disposes.”

No matter what you may be going through; and even if what you have asked the Lord is slow to (or will not even) come to pass, have faith in God. Continue to believe in His goodness and wisdom. Acknowledge that you do not know how what you want will affect your future or that of your children. Let the peace of God which surpasses all understanding (yours too) keep your heart and thoughts. There is no matter of faith without the acceptance and the submission to the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.

I recommend you read or re-read the series on: “What it is to be a Christian?”; it will greatly bless you. http://lifeflowingpen.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-it-to-be-christian.html  ; http://lifeflowingpen.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-it-to-be-christian-part-2.html  ; http://lifeflowingpen.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-it-to-be-christian-addendum.html

Have a ‘wonderblessed’ week!

Matter of faith, still…

 

We continue our journey through the Gospel of Matthew and would stop at two other aspects of faith, starting with the episode where Peter walked on waters. It is written:

Mat 14:22,25-32, “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side…25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." 28 And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." 29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.”

We all know (or have all heard about) this story. The disciples who had never seen anyone walk on water (especially at night), panicked. Jesus tried to reassure them, but it did not seem to work and Peter suggested something quite strange: "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He could have said, “Lord, if it is you, tell me what I have eaten yesterday.” Or, “if it is you, Lord, tell me what I asked you two days ago under the fig tree.” I mean, he could have asked for a ‘normal’ clue; but instead, he asked Him to ‘command’ him to walk on the water. And we think: ‘Wow! What faith!’ Indeed, he did not ask for something simple. However, Jesus commanded him accordingly, and Peter began walking on the water until the moment when he started trembling because of the strength of the wind. This is particularly surprising as verse 24 tells us that the boat was already beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them; so, there was nothing new there.

We are not different from Peter. It has certainly happened that we were afraid to embark on a project because it seemed titanic to us. Then we asked God to confirm if it was His will and He did. So, we started with the project and everything was going well until the time when a strong and contrary wind began to blow against it, and we thought that was the end and we were finished. The wind was blowing before the disciples even noticed the Lord coming to them. The wind was blowing, yet, Jesus was calmly walking on the waters. Why did Peter, who was so convinced that the Lord's command had the power to make him walk on the water as well, suddenly started to believe that this same command, this same word, had suddenly lost its power? Jesus told him: "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Doubt: we talked about it last week…

A little further on, we meet someone special. “And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." And he answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.” (Mat 15:21-28)

This mother is a great example of tenacity, determination and perseverance, that is to say, of faith. Jesus Himself had said: “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” And also, “the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Mat 10:22 & 11:12) This woman braved everything. First, she was a Canaanite and the pagan that she was should have never even approached and addressed the Lord – the animosity between Jews and Canaanites was very ancient. Then, the Lord ignored her and His disciples, irritated by her presence, wanted her to clear off (I'm sure their whole attitude was so revealing that she knew she was not welcome). Finally, when Jesus opened His mouth, it was to compare her to a dog! Would you not have been discouraged? She wasn’t. She swallowed the insult and even used it to argue her case. She was a woman of faith: she called Him, ‘Son of David;’ which was quite unusual for a pagan. So she had faith, but not any faith: her faith was great. Indeed, amazed, the Lord acknowledged it and granted her what she requested. Sometimes the Lord has no intention of denying us what we want, but pretends to resist us in order to test the feeling of our hearts. He can turn a deaf ear to our cries, or even harshly respond to us, just to see our reaction. Are we going to give up after the first attempt? Or just cry? Or insist? Or turn our backs on Him? Can we endure the apparent failure? In short, are we able to endure to the end?

This woman also displayed a lot of humility and focus. It was not easy to be snubbed in that way: to be compared to a dog! My God! But she knew what she wanted. It's as if she thought in her head: 'I do not care about the hostile stares of your disciples; and you can insult me ​​as You want: it is not a big price to pay for what I hope to get. I am ready to endure any and everything from You for You to grant me grace.' As I said last week, that's faith.

These examples were given for our instruction. I pray that we can spend some more time meditating on these things, in order to derive the maximum benefit from them.

Have a ‘wonderblessed’ week!

A Matter of Faith…

 

Let’s continue our journey in the book of Matthew.

Mat 9:18-21, “While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I will be made well."”

I am just fascinated by these two characters. Let’s consider the ruler first. Jesus had not performed any miracle of resurrection as yet; and the only miracle of the kind known to the Jews was the resurrection of the Shunammite’s son by Elisha, the prophet (2Ki 4). Therefore, how on earth was he able to think and believe that this Jesus, whom he barely knew, could raise his daughter from the dead? What was his thinking process? Two things could have happened.

1) First, he must have seen beyond what the rest of the crowd saw and heard. He perceived that this man without accreditation who was making h​is debut in the ministry was somehow divine. Perhaps he did not ye know that He was the Son of God, but he certainly recognized him as a son of God, and bowed before Him (the KJV says, he ‘worshipped Him’). However, “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom 8:19). And since what is impossible with men is possible with God (Lk 18.27), he must have decided to put God to the test by allowing the revealing, the manifestation of one of His sons.

2) Then, there was no doubt in his mind that Jesus could perform the miracle. Indeed, see the assurance and the conviction with which he told him: ‘Come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’ This is faith. Indeed, “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mk 11:23-24). It is not surprising that this ruler saw his desire fulfilled; for he prayerfully (bowing down is a posture of worship and supplication) asked with faith (without doubting). Unfortunately, very often we give our requests to God doubting. We ask, but somewhere deep inside us, we are not quite sure that He will do it; so, we prepare a series of explanations in advance to justify any non-fulfillment. For instance, you live in Africa and you dream of marrying a white guy, because you've always wanted to have mixed-race children. Then, time passes; age increases; you can’t get a visa into Europe; you don’t see many westerners around you; and you begin to think: ‘It is certainly not the Lord's will that I marry a white man.’ And you start praying: ‘Lord, I do not want to remain single. Just give me a husband; no matter whether he is white, black or yellow, young or old, I just want to be Mrs. Somebody.’ You are fully qualified for a certain job; but the job market is not very conducive. So, after a few months unemployed, you begin to think that you may be wrong to insist, that the world has changed and to absolutely wish to work in your chosen field is pride. So, you change your prayer: ‘Lord, the situation at home is now desperate. Forgive me for my pride. I'm ready to do any job. Just give me some work.’ These are examples of doubt and inconsistency, yet it is written that he who asks, should ask “in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (Ja 1:6-8).

In the same vein, the bleeding woman dared to do something for which there was absolutely no precedent. God alone knows how she came up with the idea. Anyway, here's what I learn from these two characters.

1) We must have a clear and just vision of the Lord and of His power and love for us; a clear realization that He really and only wishes us good and He is willing to please us. Remember the leper who also approached Jesus and bowed before Him saying: "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean?" Jesus replied: "I will; be clean" (Mat 8:2-3). He hasn’t changed and still today, when we ask that what troubles us should no longer be, He wills it as well, so that our joy may be full (Jn 15:11).

2) We must learn to think outside the box. It is not because something has never been done that ​​it cannot be done. The route of the miracle passes through the ability to envision the unthinkable; in any case, we do not lose anything by trying. If that ruler had not dared to ask the Lord to come and resurrect his daughter; and if the bleeding lady had not dared to implement the strange idea that had gone through her head, none of them would have received their miracle. It is even worth noting that the three of them, the leper, the ruler and the woman, did or asked the Lord to do something which was putting Him in a situation of uncleanliness according to the Law of Moses. A man of his stature could not touch (or be touched by) a leper, or a bleeding woman, or a dead. Let’s think outside the box. We should not leave any social, religious, scientific or otherwise barrier, restrict us. Impossible does not exist in the divine language and if we are true children and sons/daughters of God, it should not be part of our vocabulary either.

3) Doubt kills. It kills dreams, aspirations, and all the wonderful ideas that the Holy Spirit lays in our hearts in order to help us breakthrough. We must have faith in God.

God bless you; and for those living in the United Kingdom, I hope and pray you have a wonderful diamond jubilee break!