The Christian life is that man should live in the kingdom of the heavens. This life begins with steps, where Jesus teaches us today how to enter this new world; He teaches us, through His discussion with the rich man, how to become perfect, how to become like Him.
The discussion between Jesus and the rich man revolved around the steps of righteousness — the commandment, money, and discipleship. The commandment that Jesus reminds them of, that is, the Ten Commandments, very often stands as an obstacle between us and the kingdom of the heavens, because many believe that applying the commandment makes man righteous, and that it is sufficient for us to be righteous in God’s eyes. But as Paul the Apostle says: “By the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before Him” (Rom 20:3). And the Gospel of the judgment takes us to understand that the commandment does not save us. For Jesus did not reward those who did not kill, did not steal, and did not commit adultery, nor did He say to the righteous: “Come into My Father’s kingdom, because you did not kill and did not steal.” Rather, the criterion of the judgment lay elsewhere. And here I do not enter into the judgment and its criterion, but only to mention that the commandment is not a criterion for salvation.
Since the criterion of the judgment was not the keeping of the commandments, we understand today why Jesus did not content Himself with asking about it, but extended the commandment to him and returned it to its fundamental and original role for which it was found. And this is what makes us ask: what is the commandment, then? That is, what are the Ten Commandments? The commandment is the tool that makes us know what evil is, what sin is; but it is not a criterion of righteousness, nor a criterion of goodness. As Paul the Apostle says: “For by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Rom 20:3). So the commandment, or the law, is the tool for knowing that killing, theft, envy, adultery, and the like are evils and sins. And the commandment does not, in return, tell us what righteousness is — exactly like laws. The law tells you that speeding is a violation that is punished, and killing is a crime that is punished, and theft likewise; but this law does not make you a good citizen, nor does it tell us how one can be a good citizen, nor the meaning of being a good citizen; it only protects you from being a bad citizen. Likewise, the commandment spares man from being evil, but it does not make of him a good man; it only prevents a man from sinning, but by it he will not become a righteous man. That is, the commandment, like the law — its application enables a man to obtain a certificate of no conviction against him, only.
The commandment is the first step that helps man in his journey toward perfection. It is the foundation upon which I build my course, and through it I declare that I wish to be a good man, and to enter into a new world — the world of Jesus, which makes man righteous and good.
The second step that Jesus asked of the young man — “sell all that you have and distribute to the poor” — does not mean that Jesus was asking man to become poor and a beggar; for if poverty entered one into the kingdom, then God would not be just. Therefore Jesus’ request is not connected to money, but to what he has; that is, that he renounce his possessions, and not [cling to] his possessions. And here comes the true key to following Jesus: is man ready to renounce what he has and follow Jesus? Jesus’ commandment is renunciation — of whatever the heart of man is attached to, even if it be a needle, a pen, or a stone. Jesus tries here to free this young man from what binds his heart. For the disciples, like Peter and John, when Jesus said to them “leave everything and follow Me,” did not leave money; rather they renounced and left behind tattered nets and worn-out boats. They renounced what was for them the axis of their life and their work, and the source of their livelihood. For the net and the boat, for a fisherman, are a source of life and a source of security; without them he neither eats nor drinks. But the disciples transferred the center of their hearts from the boats to Jesus; they changed the source of their life.
As for this rich man, he could not free his heart from his wealth. He saw money, for him, as security. Therefore he went away sorrowful; he went away in pain. How could he give up the source of his life and security and give it to the poor? Distributing to the poor is not only a good deed, but it was a test: give up the source of your life and give it to be a source for others. This request, for the young man, was a test in which he examined himself: do you accept to give the source of your life to others that they may live? Do you accept to make what is yours theirs? But he went away sorrowful, and this was the answer: I cannot follow You.
As for following Jesus, it is the way to perfection. Jesus said to him: “If you wish to be perfect, renounce, and come, follow Me.” Perfection is bound to our following Jesus wherever He goes — to the resurrection. For perfection is not in poverty, nor in man’s being an ascetic; for if it were so, all the vagabonds of the earth would be perfect, and all its rich would be fuel for hell. But renouncing money means that I free myself from everything and am not a slave to anything. Money, or anything else, is a tool I use, and not an absolute source of security and identity. The question for me here is: what is the thing that, if I lost it, I would feel sorrow and abandon Christ? Money, a mobile phone, a laptop, a position, a beloved — where is my security?
“Come, follow Me” — this is the moment in which the stage of man’s entering the kingdom of God truly begins. It is the true moment in which man begins to become perfect; it is the moment in which man sets out to make of himself a source of life for others. It is not enough that you do not kill, but you must grant life to people; it is not enough that you do not steal, but you must help others; you must not only refrain from adultery, but protect the right of others to life. Thus Jesus said in the judgment: “I was sick and you visited Me, hungry and you fed Me.” Following Jesus is that we live as His disciples and become like Him, active in the world; we are able to change this world and pour into it goodness and righteousness.
” In the end, the question directed to each one of us today is no longer: “Which commandments have I kept?“, but rather: “What is the thing that constitutes for me a source of security, and which I refuse to renounce in order to follow Jesus?“.
For true righteousness is not merely keeping a commandment or obtaining a certificate of innocence, but rather that courageous renunciation which is followed by a true following of our Teacher. This course is not a passing event, but a whole life that begins now, and from this very moment; when we free ourselves from our fears and our false security, to truly become disciples of love, and make of our existence a source of life and joy for others — then we become perfect.