When we first begin to study scripture, we usually begin with a something small, like a verse or two. You can spend quite a bit of time just looking at one verse and drawing out the promises that you find there.

But now, we’ve been reading through at least a chapter at a time, and more often, two or three chapters. You may not feel that you get the same attention to detail, but we have the advantage of seeing connections.

We can look across several different events or sayings or parables to see a larger theme. Or a contrast. Or an explanation.

Today we’ll begin with verse 13 in chapter nineteen.

For the moment, we’re going to skip over the first section of the chapter, where Jesus talks about the difficulty of being married and the difficulty of being single. We’ll come back to that.

In verse thirteen, Matthew tells us that people were bringing children to Jesus. The parents wanted Jesus to lay a hand on the children and pray for them. But the disciples wanted the kids to go away.

As it says in translation I’m reading, the disciples rebuked the people who were bringing children. They scolded them. They didn’t just turn them away politely. They apparently felt that children had no place there.

I don’t know why. Maybe they were in the way. Maybe the disciples thought that Jesus had some very important work to do, something that only grown-ups could understand. Children would be a waste of time.

So they tried to send the kids away.

But Jesus stopped them. “The kingdom of heaven,” he said, “belongs to people like these.” And he placed his hands on them.

If you think about it, there might be an important significance in the touch of Jesus’ hand. In the Old Testament, a father might lay a hand on his son and give the boy a blessing, much like the decree of an inheritance.

Here in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus touches the sick to heal them. So here, as the children gather around, there is a connection between child and Jesus. And it is an example, apparently, to the disciples.

We could ask more about what the example is, but one interesting illustration follows in the next few verses.

Along comes a rich young man. And he wants to know how he can earn eternal life. He has a good reputation, and good intentions. But he also has money.

He is the perfect example of a complicated life. How can somebody like that come to Jesus? There are so many other voices clamoring for his attention, so many responsibilities, so much, apparently, to leave behind.

He is the opposite of the children who have just come up to Jesus to receive his blessing. They brought no money, no complications. They just came.

In contrast, this young man has come only halfway. He gets close to Jesus but cannot take the last few steps. He doesn’t need any well-meaning security guard to chase him away. He will leave on his own.

Don’t make me choose between my faith and what I love. Don’t make me leave behind what I treasure so highly.

That would be like squeezing through the eye of a sewing needle, a gap so small that I can’t even see it without my reading glasses, with a magnifying glass, in the glare of a bright desk lamp.

Better to be a child, to see life simply, to know that Jesus is all you need, and to understand that Jesus is all you have.

Maybe we can learn something from this, for our next Bible study challenge. Sometimes, when you look at a verse and wonder why you don’t understand it, the answer might just be waiting in the next verse.

So if you get stuck, go on. Turn the page. Read some more.

So here is this rich young guy, and he asks Jesus what his life is lacking.

What else should I do?

Maybe he thought he could buy something else or achieve something else. He probably thought it was a safe question. So he asked.

And Jesus told him to lose the riches.

All of it.

Give it away.

This is going to spark some further discussion among the disciples. This is a tall order. A big challenge. A strange request.

Why did Jesus say it?

Actually, that was just part of the answer. Sell everything and give the money to the poor, which would result in treasure in heaven.

And then follow Jesus.

So he would be trading treasure on earth for treasure in heaven. If he wanted to be perfect, he would give away the things that would do him absolutely no good for eternity.

If you read Jeff’s background study, you’ll remember that he had a lot to say about this young man with the money. We want to revisit the same subject here for just a few moments, to see one thing.

Sometimes the explanation of a verse is in another verse. Sometimes it is close, and sometimes far away in another book of the Bible.

In this case, Jesus already talked about treasure in heaven, back in Matthew 6. If you turn back, you can read a few things that will help you understand what Jesus is telling this young man.

I can give you a clue. Apparently, there is a problem with treasure here on earth. It can be stolen, and it can decay over time, or in water, or in the presence of moths or other bugs.

It is temporary.

That’s what Jesus said in Matthew 6.

On the other hand, treasure in heaven lasts. It won’t decay, devalue, or disappear. As a capitalist, the difference in long-term return on investment should have been readily apparent to the young man with the money.

But there’s more. Where your money is, Jesus said, that’s where your heart will be.

So the advice isn’t just about giving away money for a good cause. Jesus asked the young man to turn his heart toward heaven, and follow after the kingdom.

If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, you will love the Lord with all your money, because they can’t be separated.

Be like children, Jesus said. Life is complicated, and in every complication, this world struggles against the kingdom of God.

That’s what Jeff said in his study. He called it an undivided heart. That’s a great word. Worship the Lord with all your heart, not just the small section that isn’t already occupied with something else.

There is another side of the question, and Peter is the one who brings it up. They are talking, and in verse 27, Peter mentions that the disciples have left all they had to follow Jesus.

What do they get in return?

It sounds like a selfish question, every time I read it. But I wonder, too. The disciples have walked away from good jobs, lost opportunities to raise their families in the comfortable suburbs, and turned their backs on any chance to move up in the world.

So when this is all over, and the kingdom has arrived in a new and complete way, what will the disciples have?

The answer is complicated. Those who follow Jesus will find honor and riches, of a sort. Plus, they find a life that is eternal, which no corporation on earth can promise in their employee benefits.

But all that is a bit sketchy, at the monument. It will be more than you can dream, but you can’t spend too much time dreaming about it. Because there is a danger in clinging too closely to riches, even if those riches are of the heavenly variety.

In chapter twenty, Jesus tells the story of workers who watched their paychecks too closely.

The kingdom is like a vineyard, where people come in to work at all hours of the day. Some come at early morning and work all day. Some come at the end of the day and work for a few brief moments. In between, people are coming in at all hours.

And at the end of the day, they are all paid the same.

Nobody said it was fair. The one who owned the vineyard was trying to be generous. That’s even better than fair.

That’s the way God works. He is generous, and those who come to the kingdom will find themselves with much more than they have earned.

So don’t count your earnings, and don’t compare what God has given you with what God is giving someone else. In the kingdom, you end up with much more than you have earned, and that should be enough.

If not, be warned. We can squander a heavenly reward simply by clinging to it too tightly,

Better to be like children, Jesus said. Jesus is all you need, and Jesus is all you have. Everything else is someone else’s concern. God will provide lunch in its time. And God will provide an eternal reward that is far beyond my ability to comprehend.

Until then, I’ll concentrate on being God’s kid, which in itself is pretty cool!

Notice that the little incident with the children isn’t just an isolated event. It speaks to the problem of the rich young capitalist, and it speaks to the worries of the disciples.

It helps explain them. And there you find the advantage in reading two chapters at a time, or three, or an entire book.

You see the connections, and they help make the details more clear.

Let’s move on.

As chapter twenty continues, Jesus begins talking about the cross. He mentions the suffering that awaits him, and even tells the disciples that he will rise after three days in a tomb.

Then a mother comes to him with a request, on behalf of her sons. She is the mother of James and John, who are already two very important disciples, and she asks Jesus to clarify their career track.

Let her sons be Disciple Number One and Disciple Number Two. The executive vice presidents. The big cheeses. The best. The top.

Keep in mind that they have just talked about the cross. Jesus will be crucified, which is a particularly brutal and barbaric way to die.

So he tells the two brothers, can you drink the same cup that I am about to drink?

He is talking about suffering, but there is something else here, and they have a tough time hearing the theme in all this. The discussion soon includes all the disciples, and everybody is upset.

So Jesus says the same thing again, only this time it is more plain.

It isn’t just about the cross. It isn’t just about suffering.

To be a leader, they must serve.

That’s why Jesus will go to the cross, to serve. That attitude is no fluke. Servant-hood is the name of the game in the kingdom. If you want to become a leader, you will become a servant.

That’s what Jesus did, and that’s what we must do.

Before the chapter ends, you can read the simple story of two blind men who receive their sight. They shout out to Jesus, and he asks what they want. They ask for their sight, and he touches their eyes, and they see.

Simple.

Look back across the chapter. The blind, who cannot see the world around them. The ambitious, who cannot see the principles of the kingdom or the real cost of their request.

The rich young man, who cannot let go of treasures that will decay and disappear, despite his best efforts. The worried disciple, who might cling too desperately to heavenly honors that he cannot control.

The children, who come to Jesus without treasure or worries. They have only Jesus, and that is enough.

If you had to put a theme on it all, what would it be?

Try one.

Jesus Only.
Life Is Complicated.
Don’t Want What You Can’t Keep.

Go back to the beginning of chapter nineteen. What should we do with the teaching on divorce? The Pharisees asked the question. They knew it was complicated. That’s why they asked. Just to cause trouble.

Read the disciples’ reaction in verse ten. If marriage is something that can’t be broken, or shouldn’t be broken, then it is better not to marry.

Translation: marriage is really, really hard to get right!

Better to be single, they say.

But being single isn’t easy, either.

Face it. Nothing is easy. Ambition isn’t easy. Money isn’t easy. Somehow, if you are going to follow Jesus, then your ambition and your money and your marriage or your single life, they all become part of your obedience to God.

Be single for Jesus, or be married for Jesus. Be rich for Jesus, or be poor for Jesus. Work all day for Jesus, or come to Jesus at the last day of your life.

Just come.

Life is complicated. But the solution is simple.

Jesus is all you have. Jesus is all you get. Jesus is all you need.

So simple, only a child could do it.