ALMS - MATTHEW 19:16-22
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him,Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which?Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him,If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. KJV
In this portion of scripture we see the Apostle Matthew’s witness of Jesus conversation with a wealth young man. We start at verse 16 only to enlighten the reader about the history leading up to verse 21. Verses 16 through 20 basically tells us that the young man was a keeper of the law. Not only did he practice the law but he was very respectful to the Lord Jesus. However, we do notice that even though this young man kept the law he seemed to want reassurance about reaching Heaven. Many of the people Jesus encountered during His earthly public ministry had to make a decision to follow the new way of Christ or stay with the traditional teachings of the Law. This brought many followers of God to the valley of decision. On the one hand you had the proven Law of Moses that you trusted in all your life. This Law and all the patriarchs who wrote the Law with the testimony of the prophets were the foundation of Jewish people’s lives. The only problem was the religious leaders, such as the scribes and Pharisees, that represented the Law were not satisfying the hearts of the Jewish people in their hunger to taste the real and living God. Jesus, on the contrary, was not breaking the Law of Moses nor was He endorsing the totality of the Law. Jesus showed the people God’s heart and perfectly represented the loving face of the Father God. Although this was all new to the Jewish people they could not deny the public demonstration of His love for them. It is said in battle, “It is better to die with someone who loves you than to serve the rest of your life with someone who doesn’t”. This question of choice is still being presented to people today. Many must choose to follow the new way of love as a disciple of Christ Jesus or choose to follow some lifeless religion that only paints a bleak picture of God according to someone else’s theology. There are many religions in the world but there is only One Heavenly Father of the world. When the young man confronts Jesus with the question, “What can I do to get to Heaven?” the Lord validates the established Word of God. When using the term, “keep the commandments” it forced the young man to look pass the law all the way unto the totality of the words of the prophets. This is why in verse 18 the young man ask the Lord, “Which commandments”. As a teacher that conveys deep truths in simple understandable terms, the Lord replies the same commandments that are taught to all the Saints of God, the Ten Commandments. Notice Jesus did not refer to these instructions as the Law but rather chose to keep things simple by keeping the importance of the original ten commandments given by God to Moses. This pointed the young man back to what he already believed in which is, “I am right with God” a sense of relief and exuberance came upon him. Since being raised under the shadow of the Law by the scribes and Pharisees he probably lost his assurance of salvation by observing their cold heartedness. In verse 20 we hear the confidence of a young man who now knows he has a clear path to Heaven. The young man eagerly replies to Jesus that he kept all those commandments from his childhood until now. In the height of his satisfaction he makes a presumptuous move by asking the Lord Jesus, “What lack I yet?” This bold statement of personal examination before a public crowd proved to be disastrous for the young man. Principle of Wisdom, “Never discuss your personal state with God publicly because you can not gain from man the approval of God”. What that means is if God were to complement you publicly at your request would not you receive the glory of men. If the Lord were to reveal your weakness before others would not you reap the shame of men. In this particular case the Lord was not upset with the young man He was simply trying to show the young man that if he desired to follow Him he must be willing to walk pass the commandments of Moses unto the cross of Jesus. The young man needed to grow in his commitment to Christ because no one can truly please the Father God in this dispensation unless they are willing to follow Jesus. Notice in verse 21 what Jesus said to the young man, “If you will be perfect (more mature)”, go and sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven and come and follow me”. This was a mouth full because the Lord Jesus pointed out four specific things to the young man. Three of the things mentioned to the young man were commandments and one of the items mentioned was revelation about the Kingdom of Heaven. Remember earlier the young asked Jesus what he could do to have eternal life. So to think that he was all set only to find out that he is still lacking was too much for the young man to handle. Generally speaking you don’t have to be a mature one (perfect) to make Heaven. However, if you sell out to completely follow the steps of Jesus maturity (obedience) is required. One must be willing to grow in the knowledge of God while saying yes to obey God’s commandments, which is His Words. The first commandment, “Go sell what you have” (the word “and” was added by the translators and in this account we will omit it because it does not change the intent of Jesus). This tells the young man to cut loose of his older way of thinking (the world’s system) that the accumulation of things translates into success. This is one of the first steps toward maturity in Christ known as crucifying the lust of the flesh and the eyes. Next Jesus commands him to give to the poor which is why this article is entitled “Alms”. Historically giving to the poor as known as “Alms” and it is note worthy that Jesus desired to test the young man’s heart to see if he had a willingness to reach out to the less fortunate. The first test challenged his mind (his way of thinking) while the next test challenged his heart (his compassion for others). Giving “alms” requires more heart than giving an offering in a church. Many people can give an offering without touching a person which makes their gift a personal offering directly given to God. There are some who think they love God and have no problem honoring God with their substance but would not think about reaching out their hand to pull a beggar out of the gutter. We see this in the actions of the rich men in Luke 21:1-4 because they gave much to the offering of God but offered nothing to the poor widow woman who was right in their midst. “Alms” typically requires for you to put forth the extra effort to not only understand the situation of the less fortunate but also share a portion of your personal life through conversation and substance. The Lord knew that if the young man could not see the goodness of helping others as the ultimate purpose for selling what he had in abundance he would never truly understand the mercy of God. Remember Jesus gave up His riches in Heaven to help us beggars upon the earth. Therefore the Lord was not asking the young man to do something He had not already done. After that the third item the Lord Jesus reveals to the young man is that he would have treasure in Heaven. This means your treasure in Heaven is not measured by how well you kept His commandments on the earth. However, there is a measurement on how well did you show the love of God to other people. Finally in the fourth issue Jesus commands the young man, “come follow Me” (again the word “and” was added by the translators and in this account we will omit it because it does not change the intentions of Jesus). This was asking the young man to totally trust Him. It is one thing to listen and obey a good person but it is an entirely different matter to lay down your life and follow him wherever he goes. Obviously according to verse 22 this series of commandments was too much for the young man to digest at one time. Hence that is why we made the statement earlier not to ask God publicly what should be discussed privately in your prayer closet with God. What was the primary reason he did not obey the words of Jesus as indicated in the later part of verse 22, “for he had great possessions”. This is the typical mindset of many in the world, they believe in God and go to church but lack the maturity to wholly give themselves to God’s Will when it conflicts with their own. This is one reason why giving “alms” is such a blessing because it is necessary to help you reach a level of maturity that treasure others as much as you treasure yourself. The Lord does not teach us to give “Alms” without purpose but He does encourage us to have compassion for the less fortunate which motivates us to give “alms” if we can. This young man had the resources to be a blessing to the poor but choose to ignore the cry of the poor people around him. Since the Lord had to tell the rich man to give to the poor it was a clear indicator that he was not. However, what the rich man probably did not realize is that his decision to disobey Jesus crippled his ability to grow in God and left his account empty in the ultimate Bank of Heaven. Please remember Child of God this is only an example of a specific rich young man so don’t try to do exactly what Jesus told this man to do. These three commandments were customized for this rich young man because he asked Jesus a personal question about his responsibilities before God. One of the signs of spiritual maturity in Christ Jesus means you receive your own personal revelations from Christ because you know what God is speaking to you specifically. Trying to walk in another person’s instructions from God can prove harmful for you and your family. Purpose to love God first by following His Word in your daily life and the specific life changing instructions will come after you have proven yourself faithful to follow His general written instructions to all Christians upon the earth. Knowing that this young man’s attempt to get intimate information from the Lord he did not know intimately was a mistake. As we spend time with the Lord Jesus and our Heavenly Father we learn that they only feed us to our level of eating to give adequate time to digest their words. In this example glean the main principle of loving others as much as you love yourself according to verse 19. If you do that first giving “alms” to the less fortunate will be easy when you have the resources simply because you first loved them with the Love of God shed abroad in your heart. Notice, dear child of God this is more of an example of what not to do because we can read the Lord’s displeasure with the rich man’s decision to walk away from God’s plan. When we disobey the spoken words of Jesus Christ we are refusing to follow the commandments of our Heavenly Father God. Although “Alms” is spoken of in verse 21 it is not the main theme, only a highlighted point of the story. The key is don’t make the same mistake of the young man by seeking eternal life without desiring to follow Jesus. When completely following the Lord Jesus the giving of “Alms” is just one of the many things you will do when walking His path for your life. Amen!
In His Love, Eric & Angela Foster