Commentary - Matthew 19:16-26

Bird's-eye view

In this famous and often misunderstood encounter, a rich young man comes to Jesus with the most important question anyone can ask: "What must I do to have eternal life?" His question, however, reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of both goodness and salvation. He believes eternal life is a wage to be earned through good deeds. Jesus, in His perfect wisdom, does not immediately give him the gospel answer but instead takes up the man's chosen weapon, the law, and uses it to expose the true condition of his heart. By pressing the claims of God's commandments, Jesus reveals the man's hidden idolatry, his love of wealth. The man's sorrowful departure demonstrates the central point: salvation cannot be achieved by man. The disciples' subsequent astonishment leads Jesus to declare the glorious conclusion that what is impossible for man, self-salvation, is entirely possible for God. This passage is a master class in the diagnostic use of the law to prepare a sinner for the good news of the gospel.

This is not a simple morality tale about the evils of money. It is a profound theological lesson on the nature of righteousness, the function of the law, the deceitfulness of the human heart, and the absolute necessity of sovereign grace. The law, when applied by the Master, becomes a scalpel that cuts through layers of self-righteousness to reveal the cancer of sin beneath. The goal is not to make us try harder, but to make us despair of our own efforts and flee to the only one who can make the impossible possible.

Outline

Context In Matthew

This encounter occurs as Jesus is making His final journey toward Jerusalem. It follows His teachings on the permanence of marriage and His blessing of the little children, whom He presented as models for entering the kingdom. The story of the rich young ruler provides a stark contrast. While a little child comes with empty hands and simple trust, this man comes full of his own accomplishments and possessions. The passage serves as a powerful, real-life illustration of the radical demands of discipleship and the spiritual dangers of wealth. It sets the stage for the subsequent discussions about rewards in the kingdom (Matt 19:27-30) and the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matt 20:1-16), which further dismantles any notion of earning God's favor.

Key Issues

The Goodness You Cannot Have

Every evangelistic encounter is a collision of worldviews, and this one is a classic. A man comes to Jesus operating on the standard human religious assumption: that our relationship with God is a transaction. I do good things, and in return, God gives me eternal life. It is a merit-based system. Jesus' task here is not to negotiate the terms of the transaction, but to demolish the entire framework. He does this by holding up God's perfect standard, the law, and showing the man that he has not, in fact, met the terms. The law, in this sense, is not a ladder to climb to God, but a mirror to show us how dirty we are. Until a man sees his own spiritual bankruptcy, the good news of grace will seem like a strange and unnecessary offer. Jesus loves this man enough to tell him the truth, a truth that will ultimately drive him away in sorrow, but a truth that is nevertheless the only path to life.

Verse by Verse Commentary

16 And behold, someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

The man comes respectfully, addressing Jesus as "Teacher." He is sincere, he is earnest, and he asks the most important question. But the question itself is loaded with faulty assumptions. Notice the key phrases: "what good thing," "shall I do," and "that I may have." He sees eternal life not as a gift to be received, but as a prize to be won. He believes there is a specific action, a "good thing," that he can perform to secure his salvation. He is on a quest for the ultimate merit badge, and he believes Jesus has the secret. This is the default religion of fallen mankind: salvation by works.

17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Jesus immediately challenges the man's premise. He deflects the question about "what is good" and points to the ultimate source of all goodness: God Himself. "There is only One who is good." This is a foundational theological statement. Goodness is not an abstract concept or a list of actions; it is an attribute of God's own character. By doing this, Jesus is subtly forcing the man to reconsider his entire standard. Then, Jesus appears to play along with the man's merit-based system. "If you want to enter life, keep the commandments." This is not a contradiction of salvation by grace. It is a statement of fact within a legal framework. If you want to earn life, the standard is perfect, absolute, life-long obedience to God's law. Jesus is setting the bar at its proper height, an impossible height for any sinner.

18-19 Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

The man's question, "Which ones?" reveals how he views the law, as a sort of grab-bag of rules from which he can select the most important ones. Jesus obliges him by listing several commandments from the second table of the law, those dealing with our relationships with other people. He concludes with the summary command to love your neighbor as yourself. These are the "easier" commandments, in the sense that it is easier to maintain an outward conformity to them. Jesus is giving the man just enough rope to hang his self-righteousness.

20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

This is the tragic heart of the story. The young man, with complete sincerity, believes he has kept these commands. Of course, had he understood the Sermon on the Mount, he would know that lust is adultery and anger is murder, but his understanding is skin-deep. He is a good, moral, upstanding citizen. Yet, there is a nagging sense within him that something is missing. "What am I still lacking?" That question is the first crack in his armor. It is the work of God's common grace, prompting him to recognize that his ledger sheet, as impressive as it seems, does not add up to peace with God.

21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Here, the Master Physician applies the scalpel to the precise point of the disease. The word translated "complete" is teleios, which means mature or perfect. "You want to talk about the standard of perfection? Let's talk." Jesus now moves from the second table of the law (love your neighbor) to the spirit of the first (love God with all your heart). He gives a command tailored specifically to this man's idol. The command to sell everything is not a universal rule for all Christians, but it was the one thing that would reveal who, or what, truly sat on the throne of this man's heart. The true call to salvation is in the final words: "and come, follow Me." But he cannot follow Jesus because he is already following his money.

22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

The diagnosis was accurate, and the patient refused the cure. The man's grief is telling. He is not angry or dismissive; he is sad. He is sad because he has been confronted with two masters, and he knows he cannot serve both. He has been forced to choose, and he chooses his possessions. His great property was his great god, and the cost of giving it up for the true God was, in his mind, too high. He loved his stuff more than he wanted eternal life. He went away sorrowful, a tragic figure who was so close, yet infinitely far.

23-24 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus turns to His disciples to drive the lesson home. He states that it is "hard" for a rich person to be saved, and then immediately intensifies the statement with a shocking hyperbole. The image is not of a literal gate in Jerusalem called the "eye of a needle." That is a later invention designed to soften the blow. Jesus means exactly what He says: it is as impossible for a rich man, in his own strength, to enter the kingdom as it is for a literal camel to pass through the eye of a literal sewing needle. Why? Because wealth creates a powerful illusion of self-sufficiency. It insulates us from our daily dependence on God. It becomes a rival trust and a false security.

25 And when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

The disciples are floored. Their astonishment reveals a common cultural assumption, that wealth was a sign of God's favor and blessing. If the rich, who seem to have it all together and are blessed by God, cannot be saved, then what hope is there for anyone? They have finally understood the radical impossibility that Jesus is teaching. Their question is one of despair. If the bar is this high, no one can clear it.

26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This is the gospel in a nutshell. Jesus looks at them, a gaze of compassion and authority, and confirms their despairing conclusion. "You are right. With people, this is impossible." You cannot save yourself. You cannot earn your way in. You cannot be good enough. But then comes the glorious reversal, the great foundational truth of our faith. "But with God all things are possible." Salvation is not a human project; it is a divine miracle. God can do what man cannot. He can change a heart of stone. He can make a man born again. He can thread the camel through the needle's eye. How? Through the cross, where the impossible demands of the law were met and the impossible price for our sin was paid.

Application

This passage forces us to confront several hard truths. First, it teaches us how to use the law correctly in evangelism. The law's purpose is to shut every mouth and make the whole world accountable to God. We do not lower the standard to make people feel comfortable. We uphold God's perfect righteousness to show people their desperate need for a savior.

Second, we must all ask ourselves the rich ruler's question, but in the right way. What is my idol? What is the one thing that, if Jesus asked me to surrender it, would cause me to walk away grieving? Is it my money? My reputation? My comfort? My political identity? My family? The gospel demands unconditional surrender to the Lordship of Christ. He will not be co-regent; He must sit on the throne of our hearts alone.

Finally, the ultimate message here is one of profound hope and assurance. Our salvation rests not in our ability to keep the law, or sell our possessions, or be good enough. It rests entirely in the sovereign power of God. The disciples asked, "Who then can be saved?" And the answer echoes down through the centuries: anyone whom God chooses to save. Salvation is His work from beginning to end. It is impossible for us, but with God, all things are possible.