Mission 66 (English podcast)
Matthew 19 & 20 The Cost of Non-Discipleship
"The problem with riches and wealth is that sinful man often makes them his God. We are distracted by the things that sparkle and shine and enjoy seeing the bank account getting bigger and bigger and we get perhaps to the feeling that we can solve any problem by throwing money at it." This is Mission 66. I'm Rob Dempsey. Today we continue our focus on the Gospels. Mission 66 originates from the Ministry of Bible Teacher and Pastor Dr. Louis Ciao and is produced and heard in multiple languages around the world in partnership with Trans World Radio. I want to encourage you to take advantage of a valuable resource. You can enhance your understanding of the Gospels by downloading our free study guide. This guide will deepen your experience with God's Word and complement our daily teachings from John Matthews and Esther Sussulu. To access your free study guide of the Gospels, simply visit mission66.org. Pick up this valuable resource and also support the Ministry of Mission 66. Your gift helps sustain this program locally and globally. John Matthews is our teacher. His co-host, Esther Sussulu, gets us started today. Currently, we're on a series of studies in the Gospels and we're going through the pages of Matthew, the text collector who chose to pay the price to follow Jesus. Now, you might have heard about the cost of discipleship, while there is a price to be paid for not following the law too. And today, as I said, John Matthews will show us another man who decided the price to follow Jesus was too high. Hello, Esther, great to be with you and great to be with you all, our listeners. Again today here on Mission 66, a very warm welcome to you as we look at the Gospel of Matthew. Again, chapter 19. This is the second part. Then the last time we looked at the first part and then we'll go on to chapter 20 as well. And our theme today is the cost of non-disciple ship. Now, many of you dear listeners have certainly experienced situations where money was a great blessing or a leaf and aid at a time when you really needed it. But what we may find today is that material goods and money are certainly not always the answer for everything and they don't always do us good. Matthew chapter 19, verse 16 says, "A man came to Jesus saying, 'Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?' And Jesus says to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you were then to life, keep the commandments. Jesus gives his answer based on the common knowledge of that time and of what he knew of this man as well. You see, in old Israel, most people knew the commandments, the law that God had given to Moses. And so this man, after hearing this, turns to Jesus and wants to know, well, which ones? And Jesus replied, referring to some of the ten commandments that are found in the book of Exodus and says, 'Well, 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 neighbour as yourself.' And surprisingly, the young man turns to Jesus and says, well, and surprisingly, perhaps, the young man replies to Jesus by saying, 'All these I have kept, so what do I still lack?' And Jesus says to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess, give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.' And when the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Well, I can only imagine the sorrow he must have felt by hearing those words, John. But what I do know is that the Bible teaches that it's not by the works of the law that we are justified, right, but rather by our faith. So why do you think that Jesus said to keep the ten commandments to get to heaven? Well, yeah, it's true what you're saying there, Esther. The law of Moses doesn't save anybody. It only points out the evil condition of our hearts, or the state of our hearts, because our actions, of course, reflect what goes on in our hearts. God said, 'You shall not steal, because he knew the sin in our hearts would have continually tempt us to steal, or perhaps if not steal, cut corners.' This young man was in worse shape than the man himself realized. He didn't realize the depth of depravity in his own heart. And so he had to have it pointed out to him in a pretty tough way, actually. And what Jesus was saying to him was this, all you have to do to have eternal life is keep the entire law of God perfectly from the time you were born until the time you die. Rich young ruler, instead of saying, 'Are you mad?' Nobody can keep that entire list of commandments from birth to death. That is absolutely impossible, Jesus. But he doesn't say that. He effectively says to Jesus, 'No problem, I've kept the law perfectly, all my life.' Now, who among us were dared to say such a thing, but Jesus sees beyond the obvious. And so, is not accepting this man's answer, Jesus wanted him to see the real problem was in his heart, which in this case was covetousness. The tenth commandment was, 'And his, you shall not covet.' Christ knew that covetousness was the main sin which this young man was struggling with. Now, we may have earned that money, honestly. Of course, we don't know, but he'd amassed a great pile of it. That's for sure. And it turns out that the state of his heart was that he was clinging to this money, guarding his possessions carefully list. He should lose it in any way and, incidentally, his action revealed that he didn't keep the greatest commandment of all, which was to love God above all and your neighbour as yourself, because this money was the man's God. It meant too much to him. Now, it must be said that Jesus didn't mean for this fellow to become destitute, walk around in rags. The other disciples still retained families, houses, and had to pay their bills, of course, and they also followed Jesus. But Jesus is merely pointing out that those with an overabundance of this world's goods are responsible to share appropriately. But the rich young man was also told, wasn't he, by Jesus, 'Follow me.' And I think that was the breaking point for this chap. We can tell everything we have and give our entire estate to the poor, but still not follow Christ. You see, the gospel is what saves sinners, not giving to the poor. Believing on Christ is to follow him in life, giving to the poor does not save. It only improves the quality of our discipleship and, of course, it's an investment which is stored up in heaven. But it's not the thing that saves. When it came down to it, the cost of discipleship for this man was too high. But what was the cost of non-discipleship? And that's something that we do need to consider, because it says in the Bible that he went to waste sorrowful, and this was only the beginning of sorrows for someone who walks away from Jesus, because what he's effectively doing is forfeiting true riches in heaven. And it may very well be that he was forfeiting the eternal life, which he came to Jesus to ask about. And afterwards, Jesus then turns to his disciples and says this, 'Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.' And when the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.' Jesus says it's not because of the riches themselves, but because of what happens within the human heart that chooses to become attached to that which gives its security. And because of this, it is so hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. He says, 'Put God first, and everything will fall into place for you.' After this, Peter then turns to Jesus and asks him, 'But our case is different here. We are not after money or riches. What about us? What will become of us? We left everything to follow you.' And Jesus then says, 'In the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first. You see, rewards in heaven will be handed out very differently than they are on earth, and many who walk to humble life are going to be exalted in heaven. And many who walked around as proud people living proud lives on earth may be humbled in heaven. You see, one of the costs of non-disciple-chip is that we throw away the chance at vast wealth in heavenly rewards for the sake of a few trinkets here on earth. We're listening to Mission 66, what a powerful word there, and of course this is our daily Bible study with our teacher John Matthews. I'm your host Esther, and we've just finished Matthew 19, and now as we go on to chapter 20, we'll still be on the same topic about wealth riches and the cost of non-disciple-ship. Yeah, absolutely, Esther, and it begins by telling us that the parable of the workers in the vineyard, now chapter 20 is going to make a comparison explaining how the kingdom of heaven is similar to a landowner who hires workers for his vineyard. What happens next then here? Well, he agrees to pay one denarius of salary per workday to these workers afterwards at around nine o'clock in the morning he finds another group of workers, hires them as well, and pays them one denarius as well, and then around midday, same day he hires yet another group, then at three o'clock in the afternoon, another group of workers, and then later at around five p.m. he finds another group of workers and sends them into the field agreeing to pay them the same amount as well. Verse 8, it says, "When evening came the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, all the labourers, and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first, and when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius, and on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house saying, 'Well look at these last workers, they only worked one hour, and you've made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. This isn't fair, this is what they say to the landowner. But he replies to one of them, 'Friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me to work for a denarius? Think what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you, and am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me, or do you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be first, and the first last. When we read this story we begin thinking, 'Is God being unfair? Is it really not matter that some have worked more than others? In the end, will we all get the same, and how do we accept this?' Well it's important here, isn't it, to understand this story based on the context, on everything that is happening here. Now Jesus is speaking to a crowd of religious men who think that they are better than everyone else, because of what they do, and we read the story of the rich young man who believed himself to be righteous when he wasn't, and the people listening to Jesus here, they've got the same problem. So what is Jesus saying? Well he's saying that the kingdom of God cannot be bought. Heaven is not something that is earned or deserved, and money cannot buy spiritual things, money cannot buy salvation. All our self-righteousness is worthless in the sight of God, therefore if God in his sovereignty, in his generosity, decides to give the blessings of salvation to people who we may think are unworthy who are we to complain. Remember this kingdom will grow and reach out to the Gentiles who were then seen as unworthy people, and in the end they may take the place of those who believed that they were going to be the first. We go on in verse 17 and it says this, "As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 'See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.' This is not the first time Jesus reveals to his disciples that before he came in as king he was going to be martyred, he was going to be rejected, he was going to be rejected by the priests and the scribes and the Pharisees, and that would involve him being tortured and crucified, but that on the third day he would rise again. But it seems like they weren't even listening, and we read here that the mother of Zebedee's sons comes to Jesus with a request, and what is that request? She says, 'Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left in your kingdom.' In other words, like any good mother, she wants her sons to be successful. If they can't be doctors or lawyers or company presidents, she at least wants them to be high-paid government officials in the coming kingdom. She is thinking power, wealth, status, just like the disciples were probably thinking as well. Jesus replies to this request, 'You do not know what you are asking, are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?' The disciples say to him, 'We are able,' and he says to them, 'Well, you will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to grant, but it is for those whom it has been prepared by my father.' And when the ten hid it, they were indignant at the two brothers. To Jesus here gives them all a lesson explaining that life does not depend on power, on position, money, on everything that is a mark of human success, human achievement and even greed. And Jesus goes on in verse 25 to say, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles had lauded over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. You see, the way things are in the kingdom of God, well, it is nearly directly opposite to the way it is here, on earth. In God's kingdom you give before you receive, and you serve before you are called great. Wow, the kingdom of God is truly amazing. Now, John, I do want us to back up just a little bit, and I want to get a sense of why you think Jesus said that it's difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, Esther, we know that the earth is the Lord. It belongs to him as does everything in it, the world and all who are in it. So God created everything, and he does not hate the silver and the gold and the jewels. But the problem with riches and wealth is that sinful man often makes it his God. We are distracted by the things that capture our attention, that sparkle and shine, and we love to see our bank accounts getting bigger and bigger, and we get to feeling that we can solve any problem if we have money, and if we can throw some money at it. If we need something we don't have to pray, we just write a check, if we're sick, don't stop to pray first, go and pay the doctor, and we may well believe there's no problem on earth that we can't solve if we have enough money, if we are rich enough in monetary terms. But Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," which means those who are humble, and few are the people with great wealth who can remain humble and approachable. The problem he sees is not the money. The problem is the villainy, the deceit within the human heart. So in this sense, wealth represents a challenge because it also represents an idol that is very happy to take God's place in people's lives. And in the case of this rich young man here in Matthew chapter 19, in his case, money had taken over him completely. It is indeed very hard, not impossible, but hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Unimpossible because Jesus's blood covers the sins of rich and poor alike. But listen carefully, covetousness is not a problem that is the exclusive struggle of rich people. Few are the poor people who do not struggle with being covetous of wealth. Some of the greediest people on the planet were not rich at all. And this is why Jesus answers this with words meant for both those who are wealthy and everybody else, saying to man, this is impossible, but with God, nothing is impossible or everything is possible. You see, anyone can be saved by believing the gospel. Unfortunately, they're very rich, often do not think that they need the gospel. And the sobering truth then is that without Jesus, well, damnation then becomes the cost of non-discipleship. Yeah, you know, I remember Jesus's words where he said that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven. I mean, this is such a strange analogy. But from what you've just explained, John, it's absolutely true. Yeah. And you're right. There have been several attempts to interpret this expression. Some understand a camel to be the animal we see in the desert with a large hump on its back. Other think that camel here represents some sort of thick rope and that the needle spoken of here actually means a narrow passageway found in the walls of Jerusalem that would fit only one person at a time and that they would have to bow down to get in. So the less it would be that one must humbly bow before they enter the kingdom, something that proud, rich people might not be willing to do. But when reading the Bible, it's usually best to take the most obvious explanation which here really would seem to be that the animal, the camel with the hump that we know would never get through the eye of a sewing needle. Now you're right. It sounds absurd, but consider the truth is that for any person to be saved by themselves, having their own human effort, well, that is impossible. Salvation from beginning to end depends wholly on the power of God to whom all things are possible. Only the grace and the mercy of God can save someone. Amen. Amen. Well, John, this has been a very informative and a soul searching study, which is good. It's good. We're learning from God's word today. So then how should we summarize Matthew 19 and 20? Well, there was a novelist, a Spanish novelist Esther called Miguel Caravantes, who once said that wealth does not consist of the goods you own, but instead of the good that you do. A rich man here comes to Jesus asking, "What good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?" This rich chap who approached Jesus so casually needed to learn that he had an enormous problem with greed that was blocking his way to heaven. Jesus is the king of heaven, and we must obey him if we expect to get there and not depend on our own money, our own self-righteousness, or our own human effort. For this young man, you see, the remedy was too tough, the cost of discipleship too high. There are rewards coming in heaven, you know, for those who've been faithful here on earth, and while there is nothing wrong with huge amounts of wealth, if gained honestly, wealth carries with it a huge responsibility, both in the sharing of it with the less fortunate, but also in submitting everything we own, in surrendering everything we own. In fact, submitting and surrendering our very own lives, if necessary to God first. There is a cost associated with being a lifelong disciple of Jesus on earth, but there is also a cost and a heavy ponderous cost for not being a disciple. My friend, it's good to be with you today, as always, and so in closing I urge you to choose wisely. Well, this has been Mission 66 with our Bible teacher John Matthews. I want to thank you for listening with us today, friend. Please be sure to join us next time to learn more about the life and the teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ. My name is Esther, and I look forward to joining you. Until then, goodbye and God bless. Has God used today's program in your life? Then you'll want to receive the free study guide of the Gospels that we've prepared. You can get it right away by downloading it at mission66.org. Review what you've heard on our series in the Gospels and have the guide handy for the next program. Visit mission66.org and download your free study guide of the Gospels at mission66.org. You can also leave a comment or make a donation to help this listener-supported ministry. Thank you for helping Mission 66 continue here and around the world. Pick up your study guide of the Gospels at mission66.org. Mission 66 is a Ministry of Transworld Radio. I'm Rob Dempsey. [music] (gentle music) (gentle music)