No Haggling For Heaven

Introduction

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Imagine standing at the gates of heaven and being asked one question: “Why should you be let in?”

Most people already have an answer rehearsed.

“I tried to live a good life.” “I went to church.” “I wasn’t perfect, but I wasn’t as bad as most.”

In other words—we come holding something.

We don’t come empty-handed. We come calculating.

We come assuming there must be something—some obedience, sacrifice, sincerity, decision, or devotion—that tips the scale.

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And that instinct doesn’t disappear when someone becomes religious. In fact, religion often sharpens it

The human heart is a master negotiator. We are always looking for leverage.

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In Matthew 19, Jesus dismantles that instinct—piece by piece.

He shows us four people: children, a rich young man, stunned disciples, and a faithful apostle.

And through them all, Jesus teaches one lesson: There is no haggling for heaven—and no bargaining for reward.

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Matt. 19:13-30

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Nothing to Bring

Matthew 19:13–15 ESV

13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.

Revelation

The text does not specify, but presumably parents brought their children to Jesus for a particular reason: so he would lay his hands on them and pray. Most likely these are younger children, again like a toddler age, or younger. These parents wanted the wise, well known, man of God to bless their children and say a prayer over them like Israel conveyed a blessing to his grandchildren. The disciples rebuked “them” (v. 13, end), that is, most likely, those who brought the children.

But Jesus rebukes the rebukers. He tells the disciples to “Stop!” essentially. He wants the children to come to him for a specific reason: “for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Notice that he specifies that this is a figure of speech by saying “to such” which means “to those who become like children.”

So what is the characteristic of children that Jesus is getting to? We’ve mentioned before the idea of God-dependance and humility being characteristics which connect the saints to children. But this text is going to give another characteristic, a characteristic defined by the rest of the passage.

Relevance

Jesus is welcoming those who have nothing to leverage. No status, no authority, no wealth, no performance.

And this passage is going to force us to answer this question: What are we holding in our hand when we come to Christ? In other words, we all have a tendency to think there is something that makes us great or more important in the eyes of others. What is the thing we hold onto that we believe will convince Jesus to accept us?

Maybe we hold our moral performance, our decision to follow Christ, how many years we have been a Christian, our faithful church attendance, our great possessions, our earthly status, our authority over others. The list can go on and on.

Bridge

The children brought nothing in their hand. But in the next story, one who has everything in hand approaches Jesus.

Something to Prove

Matthew 19:16–22 ESV

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 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.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 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.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Revelation

The young man comes to Jesus addressing him as “teacher,” which is the gospel of Matthew is a sign of respect but not a full recognition of who he is. Most who have positively addressed Jesus has done so as “Lord” not simply “teacher”

He is searching for eternal life. He believes he can attain that by performing some “good.” The word “deed” is supplied to make sense, but he asks, “Teacher, what good should I do in order that I should have eternal life?” But notice something big that is missing from his question: God. He says nothing about God, and the way he addresses Jesus fails to recognize that he is conversing with God incarnate. It’s almost as he views God as a distant cosmic banker. “If I deposit X, I must get a return Y” Or perhaps a distant karmic judge who only needs balanced scales to allow one into heaven.

Jesus’s immediate response challenges his assumption that anyone can be sufficiently good. Job 25:4–6 “4 How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? 5 Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; 6 how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!””

Jesus asks “why do you ask me concerning the good?” If the man assumes Jesus is a mere man—as it seems by his addressing him as teacher—there would be no sufficient reason for he or any other man to define good. And so Jesus points him to the source of goodness saying “one is good.” This is a reflection of the Shema Deuteronomy 6:4 “4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

Essentially, Jesus is saying, “If you’re so concerned with goodness, go to the One who is the source of goodness.” Jesus is not denying that he is God, but he is pointing out to this young man the options that are already available for him to know goodness. If this young man is so concerned with goodness, he does not need a mere teacher—as he assumes Jesus to be—he needs God himself. And God has already established what goodness is via the law.

And this is what Jesus brings up—some of the ten commandments. Which the young man was aware of these commandments. But notice that the commands Jesus listed are also missing the commandments regarding God, such as “You shall have no other gods before me” In fact, this is what the “One God” commands right after the Shemah Deuteronomy 6:5 “5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Complete devotion to God. And this is what the young man lacks.

The young man quickly acknowledges that he has kept all these commandments in v. 20 then asks what he still lacks. The question concerning what he lacks is filled with strong irony because of course what he lacks is any yearning for God.

Psalm 73 defines that yearning as a major part of goodness. Psalm 73:1 identifies God as the source of goodness. Psalm 73:1 “1 Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”

Notice, “to those who are pure in heart” that is, without mixed motives. And yet, the Psalmist struggles with the fact that the wicked seem to prosper. He comes to the conclusion that no matter how things appear in this life, it’s really the end that matters. And the end for the wicked is not good. But then he reflects on his own end.

Psalm 73:23–28 “23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”

What does this rich young man lack? Look at that question: Psalm 73:25 “25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” Could that rich young man utter those words and mean it? Can we say pray these words and mean it?

Notice what “goodness” is for the Psalmist, Psalm 73:28 “28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”

“to be near God.”

This is exactly what Jesus invites. When Jesus gives the list of commands, the man believes he has followed them. So Jesus gives a specific demand: to sell everything. This specific demand exposed the reality of this young man’s supposed goodness. This man looked in the mirror and saw his definition of goodness reflected. But Jesus shattered his mirror, his world, with one demand.

Jesus is not giving this demand as if it is a key to get on God’s good side. That would miss the point of this text entirely. The point is that this young man is trying to haggle to get into heaven. He’s trying to find the leverage point. And Jesus is teaching there is no leverage point.

Relevance

We like to have control, we like to have sway.

We want to haggle to balance heaven’s scales.

Yet this is why Jesus looks at little children and says the kingdom belongs to such as these. Why? Because children have nothing to leverage, nothing to barter with God.

Any yet, here comes this “one” (v. 16) who has everything—worldly speaking—and still has nothing. So Jesus points him to the “One” (v. 17) who should be his everything.

The man came bartering for eternal life, but ended up getting more than he bargained for. And because of that, he went away sorrowful.

And isn’t that the average American’s view of heaven? Be good, and then you get to go to heaven. What does it mean to be good? According to online, “Being "good" to the average American often means finding satisfaction in a life that balances personal, professional, and civic responsibilities, aiming for stability rather than exceptional, high-profile success.”

Yet even the most perfect person according to this standard of goodness cannot end up in heaven. The most perfect person according to any standard of good will not reach heaven because there is a big problem. In fact, we may say it’s worse than that. The person focused solely on being good will not get to heaven because his focus is good not God.

Moralism infected our churches when preachers stopped preaching the Bible and started preaching topics. You can go online now and find a preaching series on almost any topic: marriage, finances, evangelism, spiritual disciplines, anger, greed, community, etc. Moralism attempts to find a problem in the congregation then seeks to preach a text in such a way to address that problem. Moralism teaches being good is more important that knowing God. It teaches that following principles is more important that following a person.

You sent under topical preaching long enough and it turns you into this rich young man. You’re left asking, “What good must I do so that I might have eternal life?” And the preacher responds through his many sermons “tithe more, have a good marriage, pray more, read your Bible more, make sure to have inner peace,” and on and on the list grows. Topical preaching transforms your Christianity into performance and crushes you under a moral standard you can never perform.

And I feel that many walk away sorrowful from the church because preachers have crushed them with a law they could never achieve and refused any gospel hope.

The call of the gospel is not easy, but it is freeing. The call of the gospel is to forsake competing gods and follow Christ. Matthew 19:21 “21 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.”” Heaven is not a pursuit of moralism, it’s a pursuit of more of God.

Bridge

Jesus points out that such a moral pursuit is impossible.

No Way to Earn

Matthew 19:23–26 ESV

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person 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 a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Revelation

During Jesus’s day, the wealthy assumed to have God’s favor simply because they had wealth. But Jesus said that it’s practically impossible for them to get into heaven. Then he gives the exaggeration: it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. You may have heard somewhere along the way that there was a gate into Jerusalem nicknamed the eye of a needle. And that it was so small a camel had to crawl on its knees to fit. Well, there’s not such historical evidence for this. This was not Jesus’s point. The point was to think of how impossible it would be to thread a large animal through a tiny needle hole.

The disciples were astonished because they viewed the wealthy as better candidates to get into heaven.

Matthew Exegesis

Rabbi Meir (mid-second century AD) taught that God granted riches and possessions. Thus, neither poverty nor wealth came from a man’s chosen trade, “but all is in accord with a man’s merit”

If their merit was leverage for such earthly riches, the argument would go, how much more would it be for heavenly riches?

But Jesus flips that argument upside-down. Jesus argues that earthly riches are not a sign of divine favor but actually could get in the way of getting into heaven. “You cannot serve both God and gold.”

But I think if we take “rich” to include “rich in spirit” I think we get closer to the heart of this passage. I think it’s very possible, and I believe Jesus would understand that it’s very possible, for a person to be very wealthy and hold those possessions with an open hand.

To the disciples, this man’s wealth was a sign of his merit, a sign that he does have good standing with God. But in reality, his wealth was the very thing that showed he was rich in spirit. His wealth showed his relation to God was merely economic, transactional. His material wealth revealed his spiritual bankruptcy.

Relevance

But focus in on v. 26. Because it is the key to interpreting this. Matthew 19:26 “26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.””

You see, people tend to strictly focus in on the wealth aspect of this story. My commentaries largely focused in on that. But is this what Matthew is doing? Just giving advice on how to handle material wealth? Is our application to sell everything and live as a monk?

Jesus says, “with man this is impossible.” What is “this”? “This” is salvation. That was the question in v. 25: who can be saved? With man, salvation is impossible. There is nothing you can leverage, that’s the point. Your meticulous keeping of the law only takes one flaw to ruin your chances. There’s no haggling for heaven.

“You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin which made it necessary.” Jonathan Edwards

But we like to barter with God. Decisional evangelism like to convince people they can barter with God.

Say this prayer, write your name on a card, take the preacher’s hand, get baptized, join the church, do any one of these things, the evangelist will tell you, and you will be saved.

Have you not read, dear evangelist, that “with man [salvation] is impossible”?

No wonder we have more American “Christians” who are willing to barter with God than just be with him.

Topical preaching makes people conclude they can be moral enough on their own. It teaches essentially, “With man, this is possible.” Topical preaching teaches you to calculate all your successes and use them as bargaining chips in your favor. It teaches you to look at your spirit and think, “Wow, I sure have it together.” Topical and moralistic preaching produce people who are rich in spirit and do not depend on God. And it crushes the rest who are unable to live to that moral standard.

But there is still hope. “with God, all things are possible.” With God, the rich in spirit can become poor in spirit. With God, those who believe themselves good with God based on their merit learn to mourn over their sin. With God, those who are vindictive become merciful. With God, those who hunger for glory instead hunger for righteousness.

Why?

Because there is no way man can tip the divine scales in their favor. No amount of law keeping, no amount of physical possessions, no amount of decisions, prayers, petitions, promises, resolutions, will ever make God look favorably upon you.

We have nothing to leverage.

But with God. . .

God loved this world in this way: he sent his only begotten Son. His Son who lived a righteous life. Who died the death we deserved. His Son laid down all his leverage to love—to love a worm like me.

And now we can say, we don’t want to barter with God, we just want to be with him. We don’t want leverage with God, we just want to love him. We don’t want to haggle for a spot in heaven, we want his name to be hallowed in heaven. We don’t want to the scale in our favor because we know tipping is impossible. It took Christ’s sacrifice to topple the scales so we can come empty handed, poor in spirit, to the foot of the cross and throw ourselves upon his mercy.

Bridge

But if we can’t haggle for salvation, maybe we can haggle for our reward? At least that’s what Peter appears to think. But Jesus answers this in an unexpected way.

Nothing to Calculate

Matthew 19:27–30 ESV

27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit 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 children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Revelation

Peter recognizes that they have done the very thing that the rich young man refused to do. Now he wants to know what they will have. It seems Peter did not learn the “no haggling for heaven” lesson and is ready use his own sacrifice to see what he will get. He assumes that forsaking is the bargaining chip.

Instead of an outright and immediate rebuke, Jesus assures them that the reward is great. He says, in the “new world”—that is, the new Genesis, they will rule with him. This of course, was God’s design in the original Genesis: that mankind would rule creation with him. Now Jesus promises that his disciples (those of the 12 that follow him) will judge Isreal. What a reversal! Furthermore, there is also a reward promised for all those willing to forsake for Christ’s name’s sake. “Will receive a hundred fold” is an immense return on investment, intended as an exaggeration, not a calculation.

But, it seems Peter’s intent on calculating. He wants to put a number to the reward, like he put the number seven to forgiveness. But Jesus’s answer “hundredfold” is a way to say it’s not a calculation.

Then Jesus says Matthew 19:30 “30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

There is no way to calculate the reward, nor is there any way to guarantee what reward is recieved.

*The reward is truly immense, but not dependent on man’s achievement as Peter assumes.

The Gospel of Matthew 4. Rewards (19:27–30)

Those who have borne the greatest weight of loyal service for the kingdom of heaven cannot assume that their reward will be greater than that of others (20:1–15). In the kingdom of heaven nobody earns their status, even by spectacular renunciation. They may rightly expect a reward, but not necessarily the reward of preeminence

And this is exactly what the next parable will go on to teach as we will see.

There’s no haggling for heaven, nor is there any bargaining for the reward.

The reward is real, but pursuing the reward more than the rewarder is the danger that results from Peter’s presumption.

Relevance

Most of us don’t ask Peter’s question out loud. We ask it quietly. We ask it when obedience feels costly, when faithfulness goes unnoticed, when someone else seems to get more with less.

And the question underneath it all is the same: Was it worth it?

Conclusion

Summary

We’ve watched four encounters.

Children come with empty hands—and are welcomed. A rich man comes with full hands—and walks away. The disciples realize salvation is impossible by human effort. And Peter asks what faithful sacrifice will earn.

Every scene exposes the same instinct: the desire to leverage something before God.

Tell

Practice coming to God with empty hands.

This week, once a day, come to God with nothing in your hands.

Not a list. Not a promise. Not a defense. Not a résumé.

Just come and say: “Father, I bring nothing today. I just want to be with You.”

No fixing. No bargaining. No explaining why you deserve grace.

Show

Most of us don’t realize how often our prayers sound like negotiations.

“God, I’ll do better.” “God, I’ve been faithful.” “God, after all I’ve done…”

This week, refuse that script.

When guilt rises, don’t compensate. When pride rises, don’t justify. When anxiety rises, don’t promise.

Just come

Image

Picture a toddler being picked up.

They don’t bring a reason. They don’t explain their day. They don’t prove their worth.

They lift empty hands—and trust they’ll be received.

That’s how Jesus says the kingdom works.

Challenge

So, here’s the challenge:

What do you instinctively bring to God to feel acceptable— and can you leave it at the door this week?

This week, come empty-handed.