Reading
Matthew 19:23-30
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Comment
In Jewish thought, earthly well-being is considered a blessing from God, a reward for the righteous. Job himself, who is deprived of all that is dearest to him (his children, his possessions, his health) sees his last years blessed by God (Job 41:12) and when he reaches one hundred and forty years, he died "an old man and full of years" (Job 42:17).
Yet, the Old Testament, and in particular in the Psalms, have many attestations of a particular predilection of God for the poor and admonitions against the wicked, who lead a comfortable and carefree life: "For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight"(Ps 72:12-14); the psalmist continues: "May grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway. May the crops flourish like Lebanon and thrive like the grass of the field. May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed. Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds" (Ps 72:16-18).
It is not wealth per se that constitutes an obstacle to salvation, but greed, attachment to it. Even a few possessions can become an obstacle to salvation when we selfishly cling to them.
Yet there is something inherently dangerous in wealth, almost a property of it capable of blinding man and leaving his hands entangled in earthly things. When the rich closes his hearth to the poor Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31) the result is to lose his soul forever. And what good will it be for man to gain the whole world if he loses his soul? (Mk 8:36). Hence the paradox illustrated by Jesus: for those who consider themselves rich because abound in the goods of this world and does not recognize the infinitely greater wealth of the kingdom of heaven, it is difficult to enter the latter as for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
The apostles are stunned by this affirmation and wonder who, then, will be able to be saved. Jesus' response expresses the primacy of grace. Only God can act on hardened hearts, only he can restore light to those who are blinded by the riches of this world.
But what good is it for those who have followed the advice given by Jesus to the rich young man, to leave everything to follow him? Peter asks Jesus with his rough frankness: «We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?» (v. 27).
Jesus promises to give the hundredfold from this life and eternal life in the time of "regeneration". If we know how to live our relationship with earthly goods with detachment, our hearts will be gladdened by the gifts of the Spirit. By sharing what makes us feel rich, free from any desire for appropriation, we will discover the joy of fraternal communion.
Persecutions will accompany the Lord's blessings for his disciples (v. 30). But the problems and difficulties encountered in the world because of the gospel will themselves become a source of blessing, a help to mature in faith, like branches pruned in the right season, to bear more abundant fruit.
Prayer
Give us the grace, o Lord, of a spirit ready to sacrifice everything for you, in the certainty of your gratitude to those who have chosen to follow you for the cause of the gospel. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
