Matt. 19:16-26 “You Can’t Get to Heaven…”

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 10 Mar. 2013

Translation

19:16 And look, one man said to Him as he approached,

“Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do in order that I might have eternal life?”

19:17 So He said to him,

“Why do you declare me to be good? No one is good except the one God!

But if you wish to enter into the Life, start keeping His commandments.”

19:18 He says to Him, “Which ones?”

And Jesus said,

“You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal;

you shall not testify falsely; 19:19 continue to honor your father and your mother;

and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

19:20 The young man says to Him,

“All these things I have kept since my youth! What am I still lacking?”

19:21 Jesus informs him, “If you want to be perfect,

go on, start selling your possessions and giving to destitute men,

and you will have a treasury in heaven.

Also, here, keep following me.”

19:22 Well, after hearing the word, the young man went away grieving,

for he was holding a lot of real estate.

19:23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “I’m telling you truly

that a rich man will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, [but] it is disagreeable.

19:24 I’m telling y’all again, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle hole

than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of God.”

19:25 Now, after the disciples heard, they were utterly astounded, saying,

“Who then is able to be saved?”

19:26 And, after looking at them, Jesus said,

“According to humans, this is impossible,

but according to God, all things are possible.”

Introduction: Sin-ometer?

The other night I dreamed I visited heaven. I met angels there who showed me around streets of gold and then to a magnificent palace. Inside the palace were strange devices I had never seen before. They had flat faces with a sort of armature moving before them. I noticed banks of them along the walls of every room, with official-looking angels reading and taking notes about each one. My first impression was that it was some sort of clock, but upon closer inspection, I noticed that there was a number register on each machine like the odometer of a car. Most curious of all was that engraven on each one of these devices was a different name. One said, “Joshua Tanner Wilson,” and the numbers were rolling steadily forward. The next one said, “Beniah Baruch Wilson,” and I began to realize that there was one such machine for every person in our church. As I look around the room, I found every one of you, but I couldn’t find my own name on any of the machines. Fascinated, I asked the angel what these things were and why the angels were taking notes about each one. “Oh,” he said, “Those are your sin-ometers. The arm moves around every time that person sins, and the register advances by one number.”

“Wow,” I said, “I didn’t know that Josh sinned that often! Could I ask one more question, though? Where is my sin-ometer; I couldn’t find it anywhere?”

“Oh, that one, said the angel, it’s back in the office; we use it for a fan!”

 

Now, that was supposed to just be a joke, but it raises a serious issue. If God hates sin, can sinners even get to heaven, and if so how? How good do you have to be to get into heaven? That is the question posed to Jesus as He was on His way to Jerusalem.

Exegesis

19:16 And look, one man said to Him as he approached, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do in order that I might have eternal life?”

Και ιδου εἷς προσελθων ειπεν αυτῷ Διδασκαλε αγαθε[1] τί αγαθον ποιησω ‘ινα εχω[2] ζωην αιωνιον;

 

19:17 So He said to him, “Why do you declare me to be good? No one is good except the one God! But if you wish to enter into the Life, start keeping His commandments.”

‘Ο δε ειπεν αυτῷ Τί με λεγεις αγαθον ουδεις αγαθος ει μη εἷς ‘ο θεος[4] ει δε θελεις[5] εισελθειν εις την ζωην τηρησον[6] τας εντολας

 

19:18 He says to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not testify falsely;

Λεγει αυτῷ ποιας; ‘Ο δε Ιησους ειπεν[7] Το ου φονευσεις, ου μοιχευσεις, ου κλεψεις, ου ψευδομαρτυρησεις,

19:19

continue to honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

τιμα τον πατερα [8] και την μητερα, και αγαπησεις τον πλησιον σου ‘ως σεαυτον[9].

19:20 The young man says to Him, “All these things I have kept since my youth! What am I still lacking?”

Λεγει αυτῷ ‘ο νεανισκος Παντα ταυτα εφυλαξαμην[10] [εκ νεοτητος μου[11]] τί ετι ‘υστερω;

 

19:21 Jesus informs him, “If you want to be perfect, go on, start selling your possessions, and giving to destitute men, and you will have a treasury in heaven, also, here, keep following me.

Εφη[12] αυτῷ ‘ο Ιησους Ει θελεις τελειος ειναι ‘υπαγε πωλησον σου τα ‘υπαρχοντα και δος [13] πτωχοις και ‘εξεις θησαυρον εν ουρανω[14] και δευρο[15] ακολουθει μοι.

 

19:22 Well, after hearing the word, the young man went away grieving, for he was holding a lot of real estate. 19:23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “I’m telling you truly that a rich man will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, [but] it is disagreeable. 19:24 I’m telling y’all again, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle hole than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of God.”

19:25 Now, after the disciples heard, they were utterly astounded, saying, “Who then is able to be saved?”

Ακουσαντες δε ‘οι μαθηται [17] εξεπλησσοντο σφοδρα λεγοντες Τίς αρα δυναται σωθηναι;

 

19:26 And, after looking at them, Jesus said, “According to humans, this is impossible, but according to God, all things are possible.”

Εμβλεψας δε ‘ο Ιησους ειπεν αυτοις Παρα ανθρωποις τουτο αδυνατον εστιν παρα δε θεῷ παντα δυνατα εστιν[19]

Conclusion

·         It is good to ask the question, “How do I get eternal life?”

·         The right place to look for the answer is in the words of Jesus – the Bible. There we find just a plain old Gospel message that many of you have heard before:

·         Only God is good, and only God can define what is good from what is bad. His 10 commandments are moral obligations we must follow, and we have no business adding other rules on top of God’s.

·         We need to recognize that we are not morally good because we have participated in rebellion against God and disobeyed His commands. We have totally disqualified ourselves from eternal life by our sin and can do nothing to improve our situation with God.

·         So to get eternal life, we must look to God to give it to us. He is the only source from which it can come. We can ask Him to save us, and He will save us. The way He arranged it was to send His son Jesus to become a man and live a perfect life and then die as though He were a sinner. God now takes the punishment Jesus suffered on the cross for sin and applies that to us who are looking to Him as our Savior.

·         Now the penalty of eternal death is paid for us and we enter into the eternal life of God. A life free of guilt, free of wondering whether God is mad at you, free of fear, and free of the burden of always having to do one more good thing. A life free to love and be loved by God forever. That’s good news!



[1] Due to this word not being in Greek manuscripts א, B, D, L, and f1, the Critical editions of the Greek New Testament do not print this word. English Translations like the NAS, NIV, and ESV, which follow the UBS critical edition also do not include it, but that is not enough manuscript evidence for me to say conclusively that the word is not original.

[2] Critical GNT editions read σχω, following B, C, D, and Θ, whereas Byzantine and Textus Receptus GNT’s read εχω. Both spellings mean the same thing, and it would be easy to consider the former a misspelling, except that does appear in three places in the Greek Bible without dispute among the manuscripts (Acts 25:26; Rom. 1:13; and Php. 2:27). Interestingly enough, א and L read kleronomesw (“inherit”), which is the reading of the parallel passages in Mark 10:17 and Luke 18:18.

[3] William Hendricksen, in his commentery, offered the following helpful list of scriptures to define “eternal life:” John 17:3, Romans. 5:5, 2 Cor. 4:6, Phil. 4:7, and 1 Pet. 1:8.

[4] This is the reading of the Byzantine and Textus Receptus editions, following the Majority of Greek manuscripts (incl. C, K, W, Δ, f13). It agrees with the parallel accounts in Luke 18 and Mark 10. However, the Critical editions read ερωτας περι του αγαθου εἷς εστινο αγαθος “ask concerning the good; one is good,” following a significant number of ancient manuscripts (א, B, D, L, Θ, f1) and the Vulgate. This was a hard call for me to make, and even the UBS 4th Edition editors rated their choice as “B – some degree of doubt.” Of course, this is related to whether one follows the majority of manuscripts in v.16 in which the ruler calls Jesus “Good Teacher.”

[5] This is a true conditional: “Since you are wanting to do this…”

[6] P71, B, and D read terei “continue keeping”

[7] P71, א B, L and f13 read some form of the synonym phemi, but not used in GNT editions.

[8] The Textus Receptus inserts σου “your” here, perhaps following the Septuagint of Ex. 20:12, but it’s not in the Majority or Critical editions of the GNT, and the definite articles before “father” and “mother” carry the force of “your” already.

[9] The wording is identical to that of the Septuagint in Ex. 20:12ff and Lev. 19:18.

[10] This is the Majority reading. Critical editions spell this in the active (instead of middle) voice with no explanation.

[11] Although in the Majority of Greek manuscripts, Critical editions omit this phrase due to its omission in א, Β, L, Θ, and f1. Thus it is not found in modern English versions based on the UBS’s critical text. This does not seem a strong enough basis to me to omit the phrase, however.

[12] A few manuscripts (B, Θ, and f13) read the synonym legei. No difference in meaning, and not included in standard editions of the GNT.

[13] Later critical editions follow a few manuscripts (B, D, Θ) by inserting a definite article here.

[14] On the basis of four early manuscripts (B, C, D, Γ), Critical editions read plural here, but I don’t think this change from the traditional Greek text is warranted.

[15] The Greek Bible uses this adverb for “here” often as a command without a verb, as in “come here.”

[16] “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.” (Acts 4:33-35, NASB)

[17] Although the Majority/Byzantine and Textus Receptus editions of the Greek New Testament insert the word autou “his” here, it is not in the majority of Uncial manuscripts, so it is not found in Critical editions. My Nestle-Aland 4th edition cites 9 out of 12 uncials favoring the omission. It’s also not in the Vulgate. I consider this strong enough evidence to omit it from my edition, but it still does not change the meaning, since the disciples are clearly following Jesus.

[18] tr. raphidos does not appear to me to be a unit in common use in Greek, as Arndt & Gingrich’s Lexicon of The New Testament and Early Christian Literature does not appear to be able to cite references to this being used as a phrase outside this saying of Jesus.

[19] Found in over 61% of Greek manuscripts and in Textus Receptus. Omitted in Critical editions. Nestle-Aland and USB 4th Ed. give no explanation for this. The presence of this verb of being is emphatic in the Greek text, so I underlined them in my translation for emphasis.

[20] “If he is to be saved at all he must be born again or “from above” (John 3:3,5). Even when by faith – God-given faith! (Eph. 2:8) – he reaches out to God, yet in order to do this he must be enabled and supported every day, hour, minute, and second by God’s omnipotent grace.” ~Wm. Hendricksen

[21] Revelation 21:3-4 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (NASB)