Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 19:16-22

"And behold, one came to him and said, Teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why askest thou me concerning that which is good? One there is who is good: but if thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? And Jesus said, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and mother; and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I observed: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sorrowful; for he was one that had great possessions." — Matthew 19:16-22 (ASV)

Rabanus Maurus: This man had, perhaps, heard from the Lord that only those who were like little children were worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven. But wanting to know more certainly, he asks to have it explained to him not in parables, but plainly, by what merits he could attain eternal life. ¹

Therefore it is said, And behold, one came and said to him, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"

St. Jerome: The one who asks this question is young, rich, and proud, and he asks not as someone who desires to learn, but as one testing Him. We can prove this by the fact that when the Lord had said to him, If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments, he then insidiously asks which commandments they are, as if he could not read them for himself, or as if the Lord could command anything contrary to them.

St. John Chrysostom: For my part, though I do not deny that he was a lover of money, because Christ convicts him of this, I cannot consider him to have been a hypocrite. It is unsafe to pass judgment in uncertain cases, and especially in making charges against anyone. Moreover, Mark removes all suspicion of this kind, for he says that the man came to Jesus and knelt before Him, and that Jesus, when He looked on him, loved him.ⁱ

If he had come to test Him, the Evangelist would have indicated as much, as he has done in other places. Or if the Evangelist had said nothing of it, Christ would not have allowed the man's motive to be hidden, but would either have convicted him openly or suggested it covertly. ²

But He does not do this, for it follows, He says to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good?"

St. Augustine of Hippo: This may seem to be a discrepancy, since Matthew here has, "Why do you ask me about what is good?" whereas Mark and Luke have, "Why do you call me good?" The first phrase, "Why do you ask me about what is good?" seems to refer to his question, "What good thing shall I do?" because in it he both mentioned "good" and asked a question. But the address, "Good Master," is not yet a question. Either sentence can be understood very appropriately in this passage. ³

St. Jerome: But because the man had called Him "Good Master" and had not confessed Him as God or as the Son of God, Jesus tells him that, in comparison to God, no one is to be called good. It is of God that it is said, Confess to the Lord, for he is good (Psalm 118:1), and therefore He says, There is one who is good, that is, God.

But so that no one should suppose that the Son of God is excluded from being good by this statement, we read in another place, The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:11).

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, consider this: the man sought eternal life, and eternal life consists in that contemplation in which God is seen not for punishment, but for everlasting joy. Yet he did not know with whom he was speaking and thought Him only a Son of Man. Therefore, Jesus says, "Why do you ask me about what is good?"—as if to say, "Why do you call me 'Good Master' based only on the human form you see?"

This form of the Son of Man will appear at the judgment, not only to the righteous but also to the wicked, and for the wicked, the very sight of it will be their evil and their punishment. But there is a vision of My divine form, in which I am equal to God. That one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is therefore alone good, because no one sees Him to their mourning and sorrow, but only to their salvation and true joy. ⁴

St. Jerome: For our Savior does not reject this testimony to His goodness, but corrects the error of calling Him "Good Master" apart from God.

St. John Chrysostom: What then was the benefit of Him answering this way? He leads the man by degrees, teaching him to set aside false flattery. He teaches him to rise above the things on earth, to cling to God, to seek the things to come, and to know Him who is truly good—the root and source of all good.

Origen of Alexandria: Christ also answers this way because of what the man said: "What good thing shall I do?" For when we depart from evil and do good, what we do is called "good" only in comparison with what other people do. But when compared with absolute good—in the sense that it is said, "There is one who is good"—our good is not truly good.

However, someone might say that the Lord knew the man's purpose in asking was not even to do the kind of good a person can do. Therefore, He said, "Why do you ask me about what is good?" as if to say, "Why do you ask me about good when you are not prepared to do what is good?" But after this, He says, "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." Note here that He speaks to him as one still standing outside of life, for a person is, in one sense, without life who is without Him who said, "I am the life."

In another sense, every person on earth may be not in life itself but only in its shadow while clothed in a body of death. But anyone will enter into life if he keeps himself from dead works and seeks living works. There are dead words and living words, and also dead thoughts and living thoughts. Therefore, He says, "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

St. Augustine of Hippo: He did not say, "If you desire eternal life," but, "If you want to enter into life," calling that which will be everlasting simply "life." We should consider, then, how much eternal life ought to be loved, when this miserable and finite life is loved so much. ⁵

Remigius of Auxerre: These words prove that the Law gave to those who kept it not only temporal promises but also eternal life. And because hearing these things made the man thoughtful, it says, He said to him, "Which ones?"

St. John Chrysostom: He said this not to test Him, but because he supposed that there were other commandments, apart from those of the Law, that would be the means of life for him.

Remigius of Auxerre: And Jesus, condescending to him as to a weak person, most graciously laid out for him the precepts of the Law. Jesus said, You shall not murder, and from all these precepts follows the explanation: and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

For the Apostle says, Whoever loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law (Proverbs 13:10).

But it should be asked why the Lord enumerated only the precepts of the Second Table. Perhaps it was because this young man was zealous in the love of God, or because love of our neighbor is the step by which we ascend to the love of God.

Origen of Alexandria: Or perhaps these precepts are enough to introduce someone, if I may say so, to the entrance of life. But neither these, nor any like them, are enough to lead someone to the more inward parts of life. And whoever transgresses one of these commandments will not even come to the entrance of life.

St. John Chrysostom: But because all the commandments that the Lord had recounted were contained in the Law, the young man says to him, All these I have kept from my youth. And he did not even rest there, but asked further, What do I still lack? This question alone is a mark of his intense desire.

Remigius of Auxerre: But to those who would be perfect in grace, He shows how they may come to perfection: Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor." Mark the words: He did not say, "Go and consume all you have," but "Go and sell." And not just some of it, as Ananias and Sapphira did, but "all."

He rightly added, "what you possess," for what we possess are our lawful possessions. Therefore, what the man justly possessed was to be sold; what had been gained unjustly was to be restored to those from whom it had been taken. And He did not say, "Give to your neighbors," or "to the rich," but "to the poor."

St. Augustine of Hippo: Nor should anyone scruple about which monasteries or which needy brethren to give his possessions to, for there is but one commonwealth of all Christians. Therefore, wherever any Christian has distributed his goods, he will in all places alike receive what is necessary for himself, receiving it from that which belongs to Christ. ⁶

Rabanus Maurus: See the two kinds of life that have been set before us: the Active, to which pertains, You shall not murder, and the rest of the Law; and the Contemplative, to which pertains, If you want to be perfect. The active life pertains to the Law, the contemplative to the Gospel; for as the Old Testament came before the New, so good action comes before contemplation.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Nor are the only partakers in the kingdom of heaven those who, in order to be perfect, sell or part with all that they have. Also numbered in the Christian ranks, by reason of a certain sharing of their charity, are a multitude of "hired troops"—those to whom it will be said in the end, I was hungry, and you gave me food (Matthew 25:35). Far be it from us to consider them excluded from eternal life, as if they do not obey the commands of the Gospel. ⁷

St. Jerome: Vigilantius asserts that those who retain the use of their property and from time to time divide their income among the poor do better than those who sell their possessions and give them away in one act of charity. To him, not I, but God will answer: If you want to be perfect, go and sell. That which you so extol is but the second or third grade of perfection. We certainly admit this grade, but only while remembering that what is first must be set before what is second or third. ⁸

Pseudo-Augustine: It is good to distribute to the poor with discernment. It is better, with the resolve to follow the Lord, to strip oneself of everything at once and, freed from anxiety, to endure poverty with Christ. ⁹

St. John Chrysostom: And because He spoke of riches, warning us to strip ourselves of them, He promises to repay with things that are greater, by as much as heaven is greater than earth. Therefore He says, And you will have treasure in heaven. By the word "treasure," He denotes the abundance and permanence of the reward.

Origen of Alexandria: If every commandment is fulfilled in this one word, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, and if he who has fulfilled every command is perfect, how is it that the Lord said to the young man, If you want to be perfect, when the man had just declared, All these I have kept from my youth? Perhaps the phrase, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, was not said by the Lord but was added by someone, for neither Mark nor Luke include it in this place.

Alternatively, it is written in the Gospel according to the Hebrewsⁱ that when the Lord said, Go, and sell all that you have, the rich man began to scratch his head, being displeased with the saying. Then the Lord said to him, "How can you say, 'I have kept the Law and the Prophets,' since it is written in the Law, You shall love your neighbor as yourself? For how many of your brethren, the sons of Abraham, are clothed in filth and perishing from hunger? Your house is full of many good things, and nothing goes out from it to them."

The Lord, then, desiring to convict this rich man, says to him, If you want to be perfect, go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, for in this way it will be seen if you do indeed love your neighbor as yourself. But if a person is perfect who has all the virtues, how does he become perfect merely by selling all that he has and giving to the poor? For suppose someone has done this; will he thereby immediately become free from anger and desire, possessing every virtue and abandoning all vice? Perhaps wisdom suggests that he who has given his goods to the poor is aided by their prayers, receiving from their spiritual abundance for his own need, and is made perfect in this way, though he may still have some human passions.

Or perhaps it is this way: he who exchanges his riches for poverty in order to become perfect will receive assistance to become wise in Christ, just, chaste, and devoid of all passion. This does not mean that in the moment he gives up all his goods he immediately becomes perfect, but only that from that day forward the contemplation of God will begin to lead him to all virtues.

Or again, we can turn to a moral interpretation and say that a person's "possessions" are the acts of his mind. Christ then bids a person to sell all his evil possessions and, as it were, give them over to the virtues that should take their place—virtues that were "poor" in all that is good. For just as the peace of the Apostles returns to them againⁱ unless there is a son of peace, so all sins return to their actors when one will no longer indulge his evil propensities. Thus, there can be no doubt that he who sells all his "possessions" in this sense will immediately become perfect.

It is clear that he who does these things has treasure in heaven and has himself become heavenly. He will have in heaven the treasure of God's glory and the riches of all God's wisdom. Such a person will be able to follow Christ, for he has no evil possession to draw him away from doing so.

St. Jerome: For many who leave their riches do not therefore follow the Lord. It is not enough for perfection to despise money unless they also follow the Savior—that is, unless after forsaking evil, they also do what is good. For it is easier to condemn the hoard than to quit the propensity for it.ⁱ

Therefore, it follows, And come and follow me. For he who is His imitator and walks in His steps is the one who follows the Lord. It then follows, And when the young man had heard these words, he went away sorrowful. This is the sorrow that leads to death. And the cause of his sorrow is added: for he had great possessions—thorns and briars, that is, which choked the holy seed.

St. John Chrysostom: For those who have little and those who have much are not burdened in the same way. The acquisition of riches fans a greater flame, and desire is more violently kindled.

St. Augustine of Hippo: I do not know how, but in the love of worldly excess, it is what we have already acquired, rather than what we desire to acquire, that most strictly enslaves us. For why did this young man go away sorrowful, if not because he had great possessions? It is one thing to set aside thoughts of further acquisition and another to strip ourselves of what we have already made our own. The first is only rejecting what is not ours; the other is like parting with one of our own limbs. ¹⁰

Origen of Alexandria: But from a historical perspective, the young man is to be praised because he did not kill and did not commit adultery. He is to be blamed, however, because he sorrowed at Christ's words calling him to perfection. He was indeed young in soul, and therefore, leaving Christ, he went his way.

1. e Bed. in Luc., Matt 18:3
2. Hom., lxiii
3. de Cons. Ev., ii, 63
4. de Trin., i, 13
5. Serm., 84, 1
6. de Op. Monach., 25
7. cont. Faust, v. 9
8. Hieron. cont. Vigilant., 15
9. Gennadius, de Eccles. Dogm. 36
10. Ep. 31, 5