Pile of Rubbish or the One Good Deed

Spirituality / The Faith

In my daily morning Bible study in the Gospel of Matthew (People's Bible Commentary - Matthew) I came across something quite interesting.  In this passage from Matthew chapter 19 a rich young man approaches Jesus and asks what he can do to get to heaven.  The passage is as follows:

Matthew 19:16-30 (English Standard Version)

The Rich Young Man

 ¹⁶And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" ¹⁷And 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." ¹⁸He 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, ¹⁹Honor your father and mother, and,You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ²⁰The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" ²¹Jesus 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.

 ²³And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Again 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." ²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" ²⁶But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." ²⁷Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" ²⁸Jesus 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. ²⁹And 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. ³⁰But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

As you can see, living a righteous life - the entrance to Heaven - is difficult, might I say impossible.  However, with God, all things are possible.  The author in the Bible commentary explains it like this:

Anyone with such confidence in his own abilities might be compared to a man who owes a huge debt to his banker.  He worries about it and works had to earn the money to pay the debt.  Finally, he believes he has enough to pay the debt in full, and he joyfully goes to the bank.  The banker examines the money and then sadly informs the unfortunate fellow that it is all counterfeit.  It looks like real money, but it is completely worthless.  Our own virtues and good works are just as worthless in God's sight.  They may look good to us and to others, but they cannot deceive God.  The rich young man thought all he had to do was to add one more good work to the pile he had already accumulated.  But he needed to strip off the garments of his own righteousness and put on the garments of the righteousness that Christ has purchased with His blood.

I like this explanation.  Our good works are important to our neighbor as God doesn't need them.  The author rightly points out that they can not save us. Thanks be to God that we have the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 

I remember a couple of years ago that I made a fire in the backyard.  It was one of those glowing perfect fires that we all sat around and enjoyed.  I sat there and started thinking, "Man is this great."  However, when I went inside to the perfectly clean air for the night, I realized how much I smelled and was in the need of a good rinse.