Now someone approached him and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” 17 He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; 19 honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
A young man approaches Jesus with one of the most important questions anyone can ask: “What good must I do to gain eternal life?” (v. 16). He understands that the way we live matters before God. Jesus does not dismiss this concern. He directs the man first to God, who alone is good, and then tells him, “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments” (v. 17).
Jesus is not teaching that eternal life can be earned simply by accumulating good deeds. The commandments reveal how God calls His people to live, and obedience to them is part of our response to Him. Scripture teaches that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Eternal life is God’s gift, but to receive that gift calls us to turn toward God in faith and to live according to His will.
When the young man asks which commandments Jesus means, Jesus names several that concern our responsibilities toward other people and concludes with, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (v. 19; Leviticus 19:18). Jesus therefore directs him beyond simply avoiding wrongdoing. The commandments lead us toward active love of others. As Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, He came not to abolish God’s Law but to bring it to fulfillment (Matthew 5:17).
The young man replies, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” (v. 20). His question suggests that he is sincere. He has tried to live according to God’s commandments, yet he recognizes that something remains incomplete. His moral life has brought him this far, but he senses that God is asking more of him.
Jesus then identifies what stands between this particular man and complete discipleship: “Go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (v. 21). The word translated “perfect” can carry the sense of being complete or mature. Jesus had already called all His disciples to this fullness of life when He said, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
For this young man, the path to that freedom requires giving up his possessions because his wealth has become an attachment that prevents him from following Jesus. Christ does not command every disciple to sell everything he owns. He does call every disciple to place God above every created good and to be free enough to surrender whatever stands in the way of following Him.
The young man’s sadness reveals the struggle within him. He wants eternal life. He has kept the commandments. He even recognizes that something is lacking. Yet when Jesus shows him what must be surrendered, his possessions have too strong a hold on his heart. He walks away because he cannot yet accept the freedom that Jesus offers.
The central invitation is found in Jesus’ final words to him: “Then come, follow me” (v. 21). Eternal life is not merely the reward for completing a list of religious duties. It is life with God, and Jesus calls the young man into that life by asking him to trust God, live according to His teaching, surrender whatever keeps him from giving himself fully to God, and become His disciple. The same question therefore comes to every disciple: What, if anything, holds my heart so tightly that it keeps me from following Christ more completely?
Lord Jesus, show us whatever keeps us from following You with an undivided heart. Give us the grace to place You above every earthly good and to seek the treasure that leads to eternal life. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Matthew 19:16–30.
- Casciaro, Jose Maria, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. 115.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. 662–63, para. 119.
- Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010. 246–48.
- Aguilar Chiu, Jose Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. 948–49.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. Third Fully Revised Edition. With a foreword by Pope Francis. London: T&T Clark, 2022. Commentary on Matthew 19:16–30.
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