“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
The rich young man asked the good teacher about the good because he had some sense or intuition that this teacher was uniquely qualified to speak about it, that he had some special relationship of understanding or even embodiment of the good.
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If Jesus had been denying the intuition of the young man he would not have gone on to answer the question as he did, in particular making himself the focal point of the answer. Instead of denying that he was qualified to speak about the good he wanted to draw more for the initial intuition of the young man as to why he was thus qualified. There was only One who was good, and that very one was the one to whom the young man came with his question.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.
Jesus gave a simple answer, but not one which satisfied the young man. Though the man had kept the commandments regarding love of neighbor he knew that he still lacked something essential. He recognized an absence of goodness in himself that he sensed present in Jesus.
Jesus listed the commandments from the second tablet, concerning love of neighbor, for the one who loves fulfills the law (see Romans 13:10). It could even be that the life of the young man thus far had been sufficient to eventually attain eternal life at the end of his earthly life. But the person and presence of Jesus caused him to sense that there was something greater and more immediate that could be attained.
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
Would the young man be willing to take the path of radical discipleship? Would he be willing to exchange the wealth of this world for true riches? Would he be willing to step away from his position of worldly success and embrace the life of a follower of Jesus?
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.
We are not all called to be Franciscans. But reading this, they do seem to have embraced the simple and direct route to perfection. Yet even if we are not called to sell all that we have, we are called to have a radically different relationship to what we do have.
those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away (see First Corinthians 7:30-31).
This new relationship to Christians ought to have to the things we own led to statement from Vatican II that, "[m]an should regard the external things that he legitimately possesses not only as his own but also as common…able to benefit not only him but also others" (see Gaudium et Spes, 69). This is decidedly a call to deeper conversion for us all.
The teaching of Jesus may seem like a hard saying to us who almost certainly have far more riches than this rich young man ever had. We may be tempted to go away sad, feeling unable to embrace the full path of discipleship. It should help us to realize that the things themselves are not the problem. Our relationship to them is. Our heart is. How does this help us? Doesn't that just make the problem all the more intractable? No, because this is something that Jesus is willing and able to help us to overcome with his grace.
it was thus the LORD took pity on their distressful cries
The rich young man was unable to do what Jesus invited him to do by his own strength of will. This young man was not, as he knew all too well, the One alone who is good. Neither then ought we attempt this transformation without turning to Jesus for the grace of conversion we need. Without him we'll turn back to our idols, just like Israel, back to our riches, like the young man. But with and in Jesus we can experience true riches and true treasure that relativizes all the rest, empowering us to put it to use or dispose of it as he himself directs us.
Many times did he rescue them,
but they embittered him with their counsels.
Yet he had regard for their affliction
when he heard their cry.
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