Matthew:19:16-30

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rwp @Matthew:19:16 @{What good thing } (\ti agathon \). Mark (Mark:10:17 |) has the adjective "good " with "Teacher ." {May have } (\sch “\). Ingressive aorist subjunctive , "may get ," "may acquire ." rwp @Matthew:19:17 @{Concerning that which is good } (\peri tou agathou \). He had asked Jesus in verse 16 | "what good thing " he should do . He evidently had a light idea of the meaning of \agathos \. "This was only a teacher 's way of leading on a pupil " (Bruce ). Songs:Jesus explains that "One there is who is good ," one alone who is really good in the absolute sense . rwp @Matthew:19:20 @{What lack I yet ?} (\ti eti huster “?\) Here is a psychological paradox . He claims to have kept all these commandments and yet he was not satisfied . He had an uneasy conscience and Jesus called him to something that he did not have . He thought of goodness as quantitative (a series of acts ) and not qualitative (of the nature of God ). Did his question reveal proud complacency or pathetic despair ? A bit of both most likely . rwp @Matthew:19:21 @{If thou wouldest be perfect } (\ei theleis teleios einai \). Condition of the first class , determined as fulfilled . Jesus assumes that the young man really desires to be perfect (a big adjective that , perfect as God is the goal , strkjv @5:48 |). {That thou hast } (\sou ta huparchonta \). "Thy belongings ." The Greek neuter plural participle used like our English word "belongings ." It was a huge demand , for he was rich . rwp @Matthew:19:22 @{Went away sorrowful } (\ap ˆlthen lupoumenos \). "Went away grieved ." He felt that Jesus had asked too much of him . He worshipped money more than God when put to the test . Does Jesus demand this same test of every one ? Not unless he is in the grip of money . Different persons are in the power of different sins . One sin is enough to keep one away from Christ . rwp @Matthew:19:23 @{It is hard } (\duskol “s \). With difficulty . Adverb from \duskolos \, hard to find food , fastidious , faultfinding , then difficult . rwp @Matthew:19:24 @{It is easier for a camel to go through a needle 's eye } (\eukop “teron estin kam ˆlon dia tr ˆmatos rhaphidos eiselthein \). Jesus , of course , means by this comparison , whether an eastern proverb or not , to express the impossible . The efforts to explain it away are jejune like a ship 's cable , \kamilon \ or \rhaphis \ as a narrow gorge or gate of entrance for camels which recognized stooping , etc . All these are hopeless , for Jesus pointedly calls the thing "impossible " (verse 26 |). The Jews in the Babylonian Talmud did have a proverb that a man even in his dreams did not see an elephant pass through the eye of a needle (Vincent ). The Koran speaks of the wicked finding the gates of heaven shut "till a camel shall pass through the eye of a needle ." But the Koran may have got this figure from the New Testament . The word for an ordinary needle is \rhaphis \, but , Luke (Luke:18:25 |) employs \belon ˆ\, the medical term for the surgical needle not elsewhere in the N .T . rwp @Matthew:19:25 @{Were astonished } (\exepl ˆssonto \). Imperfect descriptive of their blank amazement . They were literally "struck out ." rwp @Matthew:19:26 @{Looking on them } (\emblepsas \). Jesus saw their amazement . rwp @Matthew:19:27 @{What then shall we have ?} (\ti ara estai h ˆmin ?\) A pathetic question of hopeless lack of comprehension . rwp @Matthew:19:28 @{In the regeneration } (\en t ˆi palingenesi ƒi \). The new birth of the world is to be fulfilled when Jesus sits on his throne of glory . This word was used by the Stoics and the Pythagoreans . It is common also in the mystery religions (Angus , _Mystery Religions and Christianity_ , pp . 95ff .). It is in the papyri also . We must put no fantastic ideas into the mouth of Jesus . But he did look for the final consummation of his kingdom . What is meant by the disciples also sitting on twelve thrones is not clear . rwp @Matthew:19:29 @{A hundredfold } (\hekatonplasiona \). But Westcott and Hort read \pollaplasiona \, manifold . Eternal life is the real reward . rwp @Matthew:19:30 @{The last first and the first last } (\hoi eschatoi pr “toi kai hoi pr “toi eschatoi \). This paradoxical enigma is probably in the nature of a rebuke to Peter and refers to ranks in the kingdom . There are many other possible applications . The following parable illustrates it .

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