Matthew 19
by David Groendyk

The COVID-19 pandemic, I believe, is exposing many ways in which both America and the rest of the world generally live out of accord with biblical principles. Over the past week, I’ve been sharing some ways with TYM how Christians have the opportunity to respond as witnesses to Christ through this pandemic. One of these ways we’ve seen America exposed is that we are a highly individualistic culture. Now, we probably didn’t need a pandemic to tell us that, but we’ve seen it more and more lately, and we’re seeing even secular authors call for some sort of change in the way Americans think. What do I mean by individualism? What I mean is that, as individuals, we often think of our own personal needs before we think of the collective community’s needs. For instance, if I asked you, “What restaurant do you want to go eat at tonight?” my guess is that 99% of you would only think about what kind of food you wanted to eat, rather than thinking about what business you wanted to support or who you wanted your money to go to. That example is especially pertinent now, considering the fact that so many small, family-owned companies will unfortunately have to go out of business due to the economy shutting down. Now, why do I give this long introduction about individualism? Because Jesus exposes some of our individualistic tendencies in Matthew 19. However, the choice Jesus sets up for us is not putting your own needs first vs. putting the community’s needs first. The dichotomy he sets up is that we can either put our own needs first or we can put God’s will first. How does he do this?

The first way Jesus exposes our selfish desires is in marriage (vv. 1–9). Often in biblical times, men would simply divorce their wives for no good reason other than they were unhappy with them (vv. 3, 7). Jesus says that that should not be! Divorce is reserved only for the gravest of circumstances, and even then, it’s not commanded but only allowable. These Pharisees who approached Jesus had a very selfish mindset when it came to marriage. And so, it leads us to ask of our marriages: why are you married? What is your ultimate goal in your marriage? We learn elsewhere in Scripture that the ultimate goal of marriage is to be a picture of Christ and the church (see Ephesians 5), that is, to be a picture of the gospel itself. Is that what you are striving for in marriage? How do you and your spouse respond to rough patches in your marriage? Do you seek ways to fulfill God’s purpose for marriage? Or do you selfishly try to win the argument, put your spouse down, gossip behind their back, manipulate them until you get your way? What does your marriage say about your heart? How can we pursue God’s purposes in marriage rather than our own?

The second way Jesus exposes our selfish desires is in material wealth (vv. 16–30). This rich young man Jesus interacts with is dead-set convinced that he has done a good job keeping God’s commands (v. 20). Then Jesus tells him to sell all that he has. He does NOT tell him this because all Christians are supposed to live in poverty or because selling everything is some sort of prerequisite for salvation. Jesus knows this man’s heart, and he knows he really loves his possessions. This young man doesn’t really want eternal life if it means he can’t have nice things. He’s not really ready to surrender his entire life to Christ. He still wants to be “on top” in this life. He is quite selfish in his desire for eternal life, and Jesus exposes it, for this rich young man and for us. Our desire to acquire great wealth often (though not always) stems from a desire to be on top, to be #1. That’s why Jesus says it’s so difficult for a rich man to enter heaven. Rich men are usually putting themselves first rather than Christ. They’re trusting in themselves rather than in God.

In fact, I think this is precisely why Matthew sandwiches this little story about children coming to Jesus (vv. 13–15) in between the selfish Pharisees and the selfish rich young man. Children have to inherently trust. They are so helpless and powerless and weak in the world, they need to be carried by someone else. That’s why the children are so richly praised, because they are examples of faith. We are meant to fall back onto and rest in the arms of Christ alone for salvation, and we are to surrender the entirety of our lives to him.

So, be like children! Put your whole trust in Christ. Be willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of his gospel and for the sake of following him. And be good witnesses to the superiority and supremacy of Christ in all things, even during a time of pandemic.