Work & Wages (A Q&A)

Introduction

Probably the hardest element in the ordination process is facing your ordination council.

After spending months researching and writing a doctrinal statement in which you state as clearly and concisely as you can what you believe about the major Biblical doctrines and a handful of contemporary concerns, you must stand up before an audience of seasoned pastors, read it to them one section at a time, and then answer any questions they have to their satisfaction.

And you typically do this as a younger man (I was 27) who is far more comfortable (if that word even applies) offering a monologue than engaging in dialogue.

My examination lasted only a few hours and was not over the entirety of my doctrinal statement. My Pastor (who later that year became my father in law) took mercy on all of us and asked the assembled pastors if they believed I had demonstrated the ability to answer and defend my positions. They agreed that I had. He then asked if they thought there was a need to continue going section by section through the entirety of my doctrinal statement or if they had heard enough to make a decision of recommendation to the church. They had. They voted unanimously to recommend my ordination to the church, and I was spared what would have been another four or so hours of interrogation. (The contentions topics were all at the end of my doctrinal statement.)

In the years that followed, I have come to have a much greater appreciation for dialogue. If I teach what I want to teach, you might learn something. But If I teach what you want to learn, you will likely learn more. Answering questions is generally harder than making points, but I have come to genuinely enjoy the process.

Transition

Jesus clearly saw value in answering questions. While the second half of Matthew 19 contains some familiar moments, we sometimes don’t notice that they were prompted by questions.

Illumination

I. What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Matthew 19:16-22

A. The Initial Question

Matthew 19:16–17 NKJV

16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Jesus’ answer is familiar to many people

it is popular to say be a good person

most people don’t clarify what is good or good enough

Jesus’ answer is accurate

if a person could wholly keep all of God’s commands, they would be without sin and thus would inherit eternal life

no one can do this, the standard is way beyond our ability

B. The Clarifying Question

Matthew 19:18–19 NKJV

18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” 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 your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

the man realized the impossibility of keeping all commands, so he asked Jesus to clarify: which commands could he keep, while breaking others, and still inherit eternal life

Jesus quotes him the last six of the 10 commandments, the section about our relationships with other people

Interestingly, Jesus does not quote the first four commandments, the section about our relationship with God

C. The Follow-up Question

Matthew 19:20–21 NKJV

20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

The man genuinely believed himself to have lived up to the commandments Jesus mentioned

Jesus did not contradict him, so this guy was a genuinely good person, humanly speaking

the man still sensed that he had not done enough to warrant eternal life, and he was right about that

Jesus hits him with an odd instruction

Selling all and giving the proceeds away is not the normal way to salvation, Jesus was very deliberate with this instruction

Selling all would have required the man to trust wholly on God for everything: eternal life and temporal life

Selling all tested his compliance with the first section of the 10 Commandments

The man fails this test

He had great possessions, and they had him

He was accustomed to trusting himself and his resources temporally

He was unwilling to truly trust God with time or eternity (his initial question was What do I need to do to inherit eternal life, he was relying upon his own ability to secure eternity).

This exchange prompts should leave us saddened, this man is representative of many people we know: they are good people by human standards but are unwilling to trust God. Like this rich, young ruler, they will turn away to their own destruction, and there is little anyone can do about it. Trusting God enough to save our souls and salvage our lives is a personal choice that can only be made individually.

This exchange prompts Jesus to make a statement on the difficult nature of salvation.

II. Who then can be saved? Matthew 19:23-26

Matthew 19:23–26 NKJV

23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

A. Jesus understood and employed idiomatic language

An idiom is a phrase that has a meaning that is not conveyed by the words used

some common examples of idioms

spill the beans

break a leg

piece of cake

I could eat a horse

he has a hollow leg

We use and understand idioms as colorful, expressive statements. So did Jesus

Jesus made two statements, only one of which was an idiom

it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Why?

Because it requires trusting God, not themselves and their own wealth

Trusting God is harder when you have wealth to trust

People who have no wealth often find it easier to trust God: they have nothing else to trust

The camel passing through the eye of a needle was an idiom

There is no need to make it literal by insisting he was talking about a real door and camels crawling…though that is almost equally comical

Thread made from camel’s wool was common

whether or not this was a common idiom or one Jesus coined on the spot isn’t relevant: people understood what He meant as He drew attention to the difficulty of wealthy people trusting Him for salvation

B. Jesus’ idiom was not lost on the disciples

Most people, even poor people, have a tendency to trust on themselves and their resources to provided for their needs, wealth is a matter of degree

Most people, even poor people, are going to have difficulty trusting God for everything in time and eternity, trusting wealth is a matter of degree

Most people are going to find salvation hard to secure or endure

God can and does save people who are willing to trust Him to do it

This prompted an interesting further question on the part of the disciples. They had sold all and followed Him. They were wholly relying on Jesus both for time and eternity. They had no wealth on which to rely. So what had they traded for? What was the return, payoff, or reward for doing what the rich, young ruler had failed to do?

III. We have left all and followed you. What shall we have? Matthew 19:27-30

Matthew 19:27–30 NKJV

27 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” 28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, 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 lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

A. Regeneration

regeneration is the spiritual rebirth of an individual soul that trusts God for salvation

we see it clearly in Titus 3:5 “5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”

we also see it in a related word used by both John and Peter

John 3:3 “3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.””

John 3:7 “7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”

1 Peter 1:23 “23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,”

Regeneration usually refers to the individual, we could throw an indefinate article at it (the word a: a regeneration)

The Regeneration

Jesus uses a definite articly (the word the)

this regeneration refers to the regeneration of all creation seen in the Revelation and mentioned by Luke (who used a different word to describe the same event) in Acts 3:21 “21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”

B. Reward

Future, or delayed, gratification has always been a key aspect of the reward of a Christian life

Specific reward

Jesus mentions a reward for the Apostles of ruling in His kingdom

other passages indicate that believers will join them in some level of similar administration

2 Timothy 2:12 “12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”

Revelation 5:10 “10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.””

The specificity of the Apostles’ reward is clearer than that of the reward to believers, but they are not left out

General reward

We will inherit eternal life and all that that promises

We will receive a temporal reward as well, simply described here as a hundredfold

As believers with some experience, we understand that there are many rewards to trusting God for salvation in this life. They are hard to list or quantify, may not make a lot of sense to unbelievers but are nevertheless real

General warning

first and last here refer to priority, importance, or influence, not time

many people who think themselves, or are thought by others, as first among men, will be last

many people people who seem unimportant, humanly speaking, will find themselves at the head of the class

Conclusion

The second half of Matthew 19 is a discussion about salvation: how do you get it and what good is it? The answers are equally clear: you get it by trusting God with both eternity and time and it is of great value in both eternity and time.

We also see the allowance and importance of asking questions. God is not afraid of our question. In fact, He welcomes them, answers them and wants us to know what we are getting ourselves in to. The only things He, or we, say just accept and believe are those things that the Bible clearly reveals that we are incapable of understanding . Everything else can, and should, be questioned, discussed, and unpacked.

At the end of the day, all of the questions we might have should lead us to the same conclusion. I will trust God with both eternity and time. The sad reality we see portrayed here though, is many will not be willing. We can but trust God and keep being His witness.