"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
This young man seemed earnest and sincere. He recognized that Jesus was no ordinary teacher, but a good teacher before whom it was appropriate to kneel. He really believed he had observed the commandments since his youth and Jesus did not contradict him. Even so, he came to Jesus because he his heart was not yet at rest. He knew that their must be more and somehow sensed that Jesus could tell him what it was.
"You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
The young man had no lack of money, but Jesus confirmed his suspicion that there was still one thing missing, Evidently it was freedom. To have this one thing he lacked he would have to give away the thing that he did have because that thing, no matter what it could purchase, was nevertheless keeping him bound. He had learned not to transgress that outlines set by the commandments. But this did not guarantee that he was free to follow Jesus. In fact, although he had lived a basic moral life up to that point, there was still disorder in his life. He preferred some goods too much and others too little. Jesus himself was the one thing necessary, and following him would mean true freedom. He could have made the choice to do so. The invitation of Jesus put the ball in his court. He could have made a clean break with his disordered attachments and been made truly free by the Son of Man.
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
The man chose sadness rather than hope, and decided to believe in his own limitations rather than the possibility that someone could set him free. This was tragic because Jesus was the living word of God, sharp and effective, able to pierce the divided self of this young man and work a marvelous spiritual surgery within him. But the young man did feel naked and exposed before the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. The surgery was frightening, but it was only unbearable because he chose to dwell on that which held him bound, on the illness, rather than on the cure, on the disease, rather than on the Divine Physician.
Things could have gone quite a different way if the young man had simply embraced the invitation. He could have been changed as was Matthew, as was Peter, and as were the rest of the disciples. He could have received something much better than the riches he left behind.
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
By seeking first the Kingdom he would have thereby become wise. In possessing wisdom who would have found a greater treasure than all of the silver and gold in the world.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
With the psalmist we should ask to learn to number our days aright in order to gain true wisdom. What we desire to hold unto at the expense of joy and freedom cannot last. It will finally slip through our fingers. But the joy that Jesus gives cannot be taken away (see John 16:22) and the one whom the Son of Man sets free will be free indeed (see John 8:36).
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