Matthew 19:16–17, 20–21 with St. John Paul II
“And behold, a man came up to him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’ …The young man said to him, ‘All these I have kept. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’”
When the rich young man approaches Jesus and poses him the question, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?” it can sound coarsely transactional—okay, if I do this, God, will you give me that? It seems as if God is a giant gumball machine and we are sleuthing out the right token to insert in order to have eternal bliss dispensed into our eager palm.
St. John Paul II helpfully dispels this idea: “For the young man, the question is not so much about rules to be followed, but about the full meaning of life. This is in fact the aspiration at the heart of every human decision and action, the quiet searching and interior prompting which sets freedom in motion.” In other words, the rich young man takes up a fundamental question of human life—a question that lies on each one of our hearts—and brings it before the good Teacher: what good must I do to find ultimate fulfillment?
To this question, Jesus offers a twofold answer: keep the commandments, and come and follow me. Regarding the commandments, John Paul II makes clear that although the question of morality is not firstly about rules, it is not therefore entirely unconnected with them. “A close connection is made between eternal life and obedience to God's commandments: God's commandments show man the path of life and they lead to it.” It is one and the same divine wisdom that created us and set forth for us the path of life in the commandments. In this way, the commandments serve and foster our good, rather than constrain it.
But obeying the commandments only makes up the starting point. “Perfection demands that maturity in self-giving to which human freedom is called,” writes John Paul. The commandments ultimately offer a training in self-giving love, for God first of all and then for our neighbor; but this training is perfected in following Christ—“come, follow me” (Mt. 19:21). Christ gave up everything out of love for us, and thus we are called to do the same. In this light, Jesus’ words to the young man, “Sell what you possess and give to the poor,” follow the logic of giving up everything to follow Christ. We follow him, forsaking any and all loves that might vie for our affection, in order to become like him, as an apprentice becomes like the master and as a disciple becomes like the crucified and resurrected Lord.[1]
