And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. In Mark (Mark 10:29-30) the specification is so full as to take in every form of self-sacrifice: "There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My sake, and the Gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this present time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." This glorious premise is worthy of minute study.
First, Observe how graciously the Lord Jesus acknowledges at once the completeness and the acceptableness of the surrender, as a thing already made by the attached followers whom He had around Him. 'Yes, Peter, thou and thy fellows have indeed given up all for Me, and it makes you beautiful in Mine eyes; but ye shall lose nothing by this, but gain much.' Next, Observe how our Lord identifies the interests of the kingdom of God with the Gospel's and with His own-saying alternatively, "For the kingdom of God's sake," and "for My sake and the Gospel's." See the note at Matthew 5:11; and at Luke 6:22. Further, Observe the very remarkable promise-not of comfort and support, in a mere general sense, under persecution, and ultimate deliverance out of all this into eternal life-but of "an hundred-fold now in this time;" and this in the form of a re-construction of all human relationships and affections, on a Christian basis and among Christians, after they have been sacrificed in their natural form, on the altar of love to Christ. This He calls "manifold more," yea, "an hundred-fold more," than what they sacrificed for His sake. Our Lord was Himself the first to exemplify this in a new adjustment of His own relationships. (See the notes at Matthew 12:49-50, and Remark 3 at the close of that section; see also the notes at 2 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Corinthians 6:18.) But this, it is added, "with persecutions;" for how could such a transfer take place without the most cruel wrenches to flesh and blood? Nay, the persecution would haply follow them into their new and higher circle, breaking that up too. Well, but "in the world to come life everlasting." And
`When the shore is won at last, Who will count the billows past?' (-KEBLE)
The foregoing promises are for everyone that forsakes his all for Christ - "There is no man," etc. But in Matthew 19:28, these promises are prefaced by a special promise to the Twelve: "And Jesus said unto them, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." The words "in the regeneration" х en (G1722) tee (G3588) palingenesia (G3824)] may be joined either to what goes before or to what follows after; and this, of course, materially affects the sense. In the former case it is, "Ye which have followed Me in the regeneration;" the meaning of which is, 'Ye who have followed Me in the new kingdom or economy which I am now erecting-the new life now begun.' Among the few who take this view of it are Hilary among the Fathers; Erasmus and Calvin, among the moderns. But by far the most and best interpreters, with whom we agree, connect the words with what follows: "Ye which have followed Me shall, in the regeneration," etc. But opinions are divided as to what is meant in this case by "the regeneration," and consequently, as to what is meant by the promise that the Twelve should "sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
One class of interpreters, understanding by "the regeneration" the new Gospel kingdom which Christ was erecting, would paraphrase the words thus: 'Ye who have forsaken all and followed Me as no others have done shall, in the new kingdom which I am setting up, and which shall soon become more visible and stable than it now is, give law to and rule the great Christian world'-which is here set forth in Jewish dress, as the Twelve tribes of Israel, to be presided over by the Twelve apostles on Twelve judicial thrones. In this sense certainly the promise has been illustriously fulfilled; and so Grotius, Lightfoot, etc., take it. But the majority of interpreters refer it to the yet future glory; and Luke 22:28-30 seems to confirm that interpretation. In this case it points to the time of the restitution of all things, when the great apostolic founders of the Christian Church shall be exalted to a distinction corresponding with the services they have rendered. Perhaps there is no need to draw a very sharp line of separation between these two views of the promise here made to the Twelve; and we do better, probably (with Calvin), to see in the present fact, that the "holy temple" of the Christian Church is "built upon the foundation of the apostles," and those "prophets" that supplemented their labours, "Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Corner-Stone," the assurance that in the future glory their place would correspond with their services in that high office. The reply of our Lord to Peter closes, in Matthew and Mark, with the oft-repeated words, "But many that are first shall be last, and the last first." See the note at Matthew 20:16, and Remark 4 at the close of that section.
Remarks:
(1) Is it not affecting to think how near this rich young ruler came to the kingdom of God without entering it? His irreproachable morals and his religious earnestness, amidst so much that was hostile to both; the ingenuousness with which he looked up to the Lord Jesus as qualified to solve his difficulties and relieve his anxieties on the subject of salvation, though belonging to a class that regarded Him with bitter hostility; and the courage with which he ran to Him, and knelt before Him in the presence of so many, with the eager inquiry, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" - when one thinks of all this, and then reads that, after all, "he went away" from Christ, how sad does it make the heart! But we must get to the bottom of this case if we would fully profit by it. What, then, was the defect? One thing only he lacked; but that, as we have said, was fundamental and fatal. "if any man love the world," says the apostle, "the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15).
Now this was just what this youth did. Others might not have detected it; but He whose eyes were as a flame of fire stood before him. Had anything else been asked of him, he might have stood the test. But the one thing that was demanded of him was the one thing he could not part with-his possessions. He might have kept these and gone to heaven if the Lord had not expressly demanded them. But for this, had he only sat loose to them, and been prepared to part with them at the call of duty, that had been quite enough. For while many a one covets the world he does not possess, some sit loose to the world they do possess. The former are idolaters, and "no idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." The latter have, in the eye of Christ, "left all and followed Him, and they shall have treasure in heaven." Thus this youth, instead of keeping, as he thought, all the commandments from his youth up, never kept the first and great commandment, which is to love the Lord our God with all our heart. Had he done so he would not have gone away from Christ. And thus, too, just as in the human body, one may want an eye, or a hand, or a foot, or all of these, and other members too, and yet be a living man, because none of these are vital; whereas the heart, being essential to life, cannot be wanted: so the soul may be spiritually alive, and on its way to glory, notwithstanding many imperfections; but there are defects, even one of which incompatible with life: "Without faith it is impossible to please God;" and "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His;" and "Covetousness is idolatry."
(2) While every condition in life has its own snares, the danger of wealth lies in the tendency to idolize it; and it is not unlikely that the apostle had this incident and the reflections that follow it in view when he thus directed Timothy: "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" (1 Timothy 6:17-19). At the same time, this and numberless exhortations to the rich show the folly of taking our Lord's directions to the rich young ruler as a general direction to part with all worldly possessions to the poor in order to get to heaven. In that case such passages as those just quoted would have no meaning at all. Christianity was not designed to obliterate the distinction of ranks and conditions in life, but to teach and beget in the different classes of society the proper feelings toward each other, and toward the common Lord of all.
(3) Christians should learn from Christ Himself to appreciate the excellences even of the unconverted, while not blinded by these to what they fundamentally and fatally lack.
(4) The Human excellences of the Lord Jesus are not to be regarded as on a level with those of mere men. Though human in their nature, they are the excellences of the Only begotten of the Father, which take them quite out of the category of ordinary excellences, even though these were faultless. If something of this kind was not underneath our Lord's hint to the young man about there being none good but One, it will be difficult to make any dignified sense out of it at all; but if it was, all is intelligible and worthy of Jesus. And thus Socinianism, instead of finding the support here which it is so fain to catch at, is only baffled by it.