pueblodedioslutheranchurch

Matthew 19:26-30 tells the story of a wealthy young man who approached Jesus with a question: “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” This was not a question about how to go to heaven when he died, it was about how to enter into an ‘eternal kind of life’ here and now. A qualitative experience rather than a quantitative commodity. He had a sense that Jesus had something he was missing, and he wanted to get it.

We often think the young man was misguided to think he could do a “good thing” and get eternal life. Isn’t it “by grace, not works,” after all? But, perhaps surprisingly to us, Jesus answered him fairly straightforwardly: “If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“All these I have kept,” the man replied. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

It’s interesting to me that Jesus didn’t try to correct his assumption that there was a “good thing” he needed to do to get eternal life. He didn’t say anything like what evangelicals would expect: “Accept me into your heart,” or “Admit you’re a sinner and you need a savior,” or “Say this prayer and your sins will be forgiven.”

No, Jesus simply tells him the “good thing” he needs to do if he really wants to really start living: Sell your possessions and follow me. The “good thing” this young man needed to do was follow Jesus, but his possessions were holding him back. The young man’s wealth was his master, and so to begin following Jesus as his new master, he had to get rid of the old one. “Ditch the wealth and follow me,” Jesus said, “and I’ll teach you how to live abundantly in God’s kingdom.” Best. Internship Opportunity. Ever.

Sadly, the young man turned Jesus down, but don’t miss the fact that, in the end, Jesus did tell him what “good thing” he had to do to start living life in God’s kingdom. It’s the same “good thing” all of us must do: follow Jesus as a disciple. There is simply no other way to “get eternal life.”

How do we do this? The same way Jesus tells people to do it in the Gospels. We have to:

1. Die.Give up my quest to get what I want. This is what the cross means: the end of my old life. “Whoever does not carry their cross cannot follow me” (Luke 14:27).
2. Prioritize discipleship.Following Jesus must become the most important pursuit of my life. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
3. Put his teaching into practice. I must actually do what Jesus said, not just agree with him. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).

That’s the “good thing” we do that leads to eternal life. And while the cost can seem steep, the payoff is immeasurably greater. Simply put: discipleship to Jesus is the best opportunity you’ll ever get as a human being. And it’s definitely a “good thing” that you do.