Every modern Christian thinks they have a pretty good answer to the most basic question ever posed. It is after all, the goal every Christian seems to seek above all other things. It is held out as “the final reward”; and is often positioned against hell the only other final destination everyone should want to avoid. So as soon as an awareness of God is discovered in you, the basic question of how to wind up in the good place, is one you want an answer to right at the get go. This is not something new to our age. It has a long history of being asked by people just like us. You can date it back to the disciples and Pharisees who lived in the days of Christ. But if you want to, you can keep seeing it asked all the way back to Adam and Eve as soon as they knew they had broken trust with God, and were destined to leave their perfect garden home for the labors of a scarred earth for the remainder of their lives. And like the later days of Adam and Eve, there were many who just gave up seeking an answer, until the point where they no longer cared, and no longer wanted a future good-place outcome. Give me a great life now, instead of a great life later, the prevailing thinking. This thinking too, has lasted all the way to our day.
In the gospel of Matthew, in chapter nineteen, Matthew provides a series of contrasts of those who ask this question, and a detailed view of how it works. It begins with the real answers, and then follows up with what most of think about how it works, and frankly, why we are nearly all wrong about it. To begin we pick up in verse 13 saying … “Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.” If ever there were a living example of how to get into heaven this was it. Take note of the sequence here. It begins with someone (presumably the parents) bringing “little children” (picture 2yr old toddlers, though the ages probably had a little wider range than that) to Jesus. In our case, we do not even seek Christ on our own. We have to be brought. Not by an earthly parent, but by our Heavenly One. It is God the Father who brings His children to Jesus. He does NOT just bring the perfect ones. Because let’s face it, what 2yr old behaves perfectly? They make messes, sometimes messes with poo they have yet to learn where the proper place for that goes.
But, and again here is the important part, regardless of their current condition, we are brought to Jesus for Jesus to lay hands on us, and pray. For this to happen, we must first recognize we are not sophisticated adults coming to debate the correctness of our doctrines. We are 2yr olds whose primary obsession is to love, be loved, play, eat, sleep, and repeat. This is not an entrance based on a doctrinal understanding exam, it is based on a personal perception exam – are you a toddler – or not? And as usual, church leadership (in this case the very disciples of Christ, not the typical anti-hero-Pharisees) are the ones trying to keep Jesus from being bothered by it. If you are looking to gain entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, don’t find yourself depending on the church to accomplish it. They are more likely standing in the way, than lending you a hand. Think about it, how much does your church, encourage you (regardless of your physical age) to be the toddler, you are supposed to be? Most often, the church demands “adult” behavior from you, and is ready to throw you out, if you should dare to act like this kind of young kid.
Jesus responds in verse 14 saying … “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. [verse 15] And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.” Jesus states it right here folks, in plain English, and in good old black and white. This citizenry of heaven is made up of little toddlers. Not adults, like you and me, or rather old farts like me, but young minded, obsessed with loving and being loved, ready to play, eat, or sleep at a moment’s notice. Toddlers have the unique characteristic of NOT trying to be adults, or have deep doctrinal understanding, they leave all that to Jesus. Toddlers trust. Something that adults have a remarkably hard time doing. The only thing adults are given to trust, is in themselves, which is possibly the worst thing they could ever take trust in. Toddlers just roll with it. Whatever Dad wants to do, is an adventure to them. They trust the love of Dad.
But we don’t. So Matthew follows this rather complete lesson on how to get in to Heaven with a study of the contrasted thinking (in his day and what remains in ours). He continues in verse 16 saying … “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Here ya go. We just heard the answer. We just saw an example in living color. Jesus laying His hands on little children who trust Him for everything (including transformation and blessing). And a typical adult, just like you or me, ignores ALL of that, and asks the question, as if, there is some other path required of adults, that is not demanded of toddlers. So a rich young ruler, who considers himself a religious man, asks the question orally, as if a different answer is forthcoming.
Matthew continues in verse 17 saying … “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Jesus begins by losing all the flattery. The term good master, or good rabbi, was not really genuine. That is to say, this parishioner was not treating Jesus like the Son of God, he was treating Him like a fellow albeit unrecognized informal member of the Sanhedrin. Folks in the Sanhedrin liked respectful name calling, so he uses one. But the goal of Jesus is not to join the Sanhedrin, and fake flattery is not something He wants, so Jesus points the young man back to giving only God respect. Then Jesus answers him, as any contemporary of the day would. If you want to enter into “life” (mind you, not the Kingdom, but a better life), you should keep the commandments. This is the prevailing wisdom of the day, and is meant to challenge the young man’s thinking.
The man responds in verse 18 saying … “He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, [verse 19] Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” The silly young ruler, actually asks, “which” commandment he is supposed to obey. As if there is only one that needs it. This question itself reflects a huge lack of understanding of what obedience means, let alone what harmony with the law would imply. If this man is looking for “the” commandment to focus on, he is already looking in the wrong place for Kingdom entry. Nevertheless Jesus gives him an answer, of all the commandments that deal with how to love others. This is yet another test to challenge the thinking of this man. You would think his response would be ,,, what about the ones where you love God first? ,,, but that is not what he says.
The incident continues in verse 20 saying … “The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?” Yikes!! The arrogance of this man. To state to Jesus of all people, that you have kept all the commandments that have to do with loving others, since you were a child, is in effect saying, I have not sinned against my fellow man, ever. First, highly unlikely, given the nature of human kind, second, useless as criterion to enter the kingdom. The young man is smart enough to know, he still lacks something, He can sense it. For all his works he has done. For all the obedience he has manufactures, it is not enough. There is something more. He can sense he is out of harmony. But instead of coming to Christ as a toddler, looking for the blessing of transformation. He is coming as mini-rabbi looking for something He can “do” to fix it.
Jesus continues to indulge his questions picking up again in verse 21 saying … “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” Notice the response of Jesus, He says if you will be “perfect”. Again not gaining entrance into heaven, but if he wishes to actually begin that process, to understand what loving others truly means. If he is looking for something he can “do”. Then go sell everything you have, give it all to the poor, and follow Jesus becoming the 13thdisciple, or disciple next if you will. This is Jesus offering him an invitation that will finally and fully impact his life, change it, and truly transform it. It is not the shedding of wealth that will do that, it is the following of Jesus that will. The problem with his wealth, and with ours, is that it keeps us from following Jesus full time. It distracts us with the cares of maintaining wealth, whether by working hour after hour on some other duty, and away from Jesus in the process. We want a part time God. Available for us when we need Him, but content to be quiet in the corner when we do not. That is not how it works. Not for toddlers anyway. They want Daddy’s time and attention ALL the time. Eat together, play together, nap together or sleep in Daddy’s bed warm and snug next to Him. Toddlers don’t care about money, they hardly understand it. They do care about attention, it is the constant companionship that makes them most happy. Sharing that with other toddlers, even better.
The incident continues in verse 22 saying … “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” Here is where the concept of “doing” something to obtain your salvation ends. In great sorrow. For the pull of sin, and of this world, is stronger than the will you have within you. Motives matter. Despite all the behavior the rich man thought adequate since his youth, he never really understood what it meant to love others, at least to love them, more than he loved his wealth, or himself. That was a bridge too far. He could have stored his treasure in heaven by giving it away, but instead he preferred staying liquid in this world. A short sighted response, But based in thinking that was misguided from the outset. It was only the connection with Jesus that might have reset it. But it was that very connection, the man had refused. At least, refused for now.
Jesus offers an epilogue to his disciples on this incident picking up in verse 23 saying … “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. [verse 24] And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Here Jesus repeats a basic truth we should all know, but somehow conveniently forget. There is no way for us to “do” something to get into heaven. Getting a camel through the eye of a needle is simply not possible, at least not possible for us. In simple terms, there is no way to do it on our own. There is no way to bring ourselves into harmony with God’s laws. We may think we obey them. But we do not understand what obedience really means. Motives matter. It is not just the actions of our hands and feet, it is motive of our hearts that reflect the heart of God, or just action without empathy, or worse, action with false empathy.
The incident continues in verse 25 saying … “When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? [verse 26] But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” The disciples are freaked out. If this rich young ruler (keep in mind wealth is considered an earmark of the direct favor of God in their day), is not headed into the kingdom, who is? If a solid commandment keeper is not going to heaven, who is? Every good Jew, and Adventist, are completely bought in on the idea that if you can get to keeping all the commandments, you have it made. Conversely, if you are not keeping every commandment, you are out. No ifs, ands, or buts. Except here was Jesus debunking that entire line of thinking. His assessment of camels getting through the eye of a needle, is Him stating we will never get there on our own, ever.
It is the second half of this verse that gives us back hope again. It is not about what we do. It is about what God can do in us, for us, and often in spite of us. With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. The God who invented physics, can easily bend the norms of physics. The God who died for our sins, understands more than forgiving our sins, He understands how to change our hearts and minds so we stop sinning all together. That is what transformation is all about. It is not what we do. It is becoming the toddler who trusts Jesus to lay hands on us and pray, and see us transformed by the power of His love injected in us. We reap the benefits of His work, do none ourselves. We begin to feel His love for others in us, instead of our own love for us and no one else. We begin to see truth, as we begin to see The Truth, and no other way.
But the topic of the rewards of the kingdom, was not something concluded just yet …
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