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.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:21-22)

A man came to Jesus and asked, “what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” He thought the entrance to heaven was mainly about doing something, so he asked Jesus about what good thing he needed to do.

This man is often called, “The Rich Young Ruler.” Matthew, Mark, and Luke say he was rich. Matthew says he was young (19:22), and Luke 18:18 says he was a ruler.

Jesus eventually told this man what to do: Sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. The call to forsake everything and follow Jesus was a call to put God first in all things. Jesus called the man to full obedience to the first table of the law, which dealt with a man’s relation to God.

We can make two mistakes regarding the answer Jesus gave this man. The first mistake is to believe this applies to everyone, when Jesus never made this a general command to all His followers, but especially to this one rich man whose riches were clearly an obstacle to his discipleship. Instead, many rich people can do more good by continuing to make money and using those resources for the glory of God and the good of others.

The second mistake is to believe this applies to no one, when there are clearly those today for whom the best thing they could do for themselves spiritually is to radically forsake the materialism that is ruining them.

Yet we notice that Jesus simply called this man to be His disciple, in saying, follow Me. He used similar language in calling many of His disciples (Matthew 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; Mark 2:14). Jesus simply called this man to be His follower; but for this man it meant leaving behind the riches he had set his heart upon.

Yet, the man went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. In this, the wealthy questioner failed utterly. Money was his god; he was guilty of idolatry. This is why Jesus, knowing the man’s heart, asked him to renounce his possessions.

The principle remains: God may challenge and require an individual to give something up for the sake of His kingdom that He still allows to someone else. There are many who perish because they will not forsake what God tells them to.

The rich young ruler had a lot going for him: his youth, his wealth, his influence. Yet he knew these things didn’t satisfy. That’s why he asked Jesus the question. Sadly, he refused to put Jesus first in all things and went away sorry and empty.

Don’t be like this poor rich man.

Click here for David’s commentary on Matthew 19