Post by Once4all on Aug 14, 2011 18:47:42 GMT -5
During today's sermon, Matthew 19:18-22 was mentioned, which got me off on a rabbit trail. So while the preacher continued his sermon, I was busy combing through my Bible doing my own study. He probably thought I was diligently following along. I was still listening, but only with one ear.
Matthew 19:18-22 NASB
(18) Then he *said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS;
(19) HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
(20) The young man *said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?"
(21) Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
(22) But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
As a quick refresher, here are the 10 commandments from Exodus 20, abbreviated for space conservation:
From Exodus 20:2-17 NASB —
(3) "You shall have no other gods before Me.
(4,5) "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; ...
(7) "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
(8) "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
...
(12) "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
(13) "You shall not murder.
(14) "You shall not commit adultery.
(15) "You shall not steal.
(16) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
(17) "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
It is generally accepted that the first four commandments honor God and the remaining six honor others.
To the rich young man (or ruler), Jesus quoted the bottom six commandments. (Jesus: "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." Young man: "Which ones?")
My first thought was Did Jesus quote all six? No, he omitted the last one about coveting! I thought I was onto something. I thought that Jesus told the young man to sell all his possessions because coveting of possessions was the one commandment the man had not kept (and Jesus did not quote).
However, Jesus did quote six commandments. The last one was "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Why would Jesus add a commandment not of the 10 after quoting the previous five almost verbatim?
So then my next thought was Maybe Jesus didn't add a commandment, but simply stated the last commandment in terms of its meaning rather than its specifics.
The tenth commandment is all about coveting things that belong to your neighbor. Neighbor. Don't covet his house, wife, servants, animals. Can that not be shortened to say simply, "Love your neighbor as yourself"?
So which is it? (If either.) Did Jesus omit the commandment about coveting because that was where the rich young man was weak? Or did Jesus include it, only restating it as to love your neighbor as yourself?
Elsewhere in Scripture, Jesus makes the point that all of God's commandments can be grouped under two great commandments:
Mark 12:28-31 NASB
(28) One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?"
(29) Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;
(30) AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'
(31) "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
Paul and James also sum up the whole Law by quoting the one commandment about how we should love others:
Romans 13:8-9 NASB
(8) Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
(9) For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Galatians 5:14 NASB
(14) For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
James 2:8 NASB
(8) If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well.
So getting back to my original question, could amassing possessions be a form of (or perhaps a symptom of) the sin of coveting? If so, then Jesus was very pointed in his rebuke of the rich young man. The young man perhaps would have realized on reflection of Jesus' words that not all of the "six" commandments were mentioned and, therefore, he had not really fulfilled all those things that Jesus listed, as he said he had (Matthew 19:20), since the last one Jesus mentioned (loving your neighbor as yourself) would include the commandment against coveting.
It's actually a pretty good example of what some people do; they toss out or ignore the commandments they do not want to keep. By being blind to them, they can say in good conscience (to themselves), "Yes, I have kept all those," conveniently omitting the ones they have not kept.
Jesus did that very thing for the rich young man, sort of baiting him into patting himself on the back ("All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?") Jesus then used that to shine the light of truth on the young man's self-deception.
Matthew 19:18-22 NASB
(18) Then he *said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS;
(19) HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
(20) The young man *said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?"
(21) Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
(22) But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
As a quick refresher, here are the 10 commandments from Exodus 20, abbreviated for space conservation:
From Exodus 20:2-17 NASB —
(3) "You shall have no other gods before Me.
(4,5) "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; ...
(7) "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
(8) "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
...
(12) "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
(13) "You shall not murder.
(14) "You shall not commit adultery.
(15) "You shall not steal.
(16) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
(17) "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
It is generally accepted that the first four commandments honor God and the remaining six honor others.
To the rich young man (or ruler), Jesus quoted the bottom six commandments. (Jesus: "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." Young man: "Which ones?")
My first thought was Did Jesus quote all six? No, he omitted the last one about coveting! I thought I was onto something. I thought that Jesus told the young man to sell all his possessions because coveting of possessions was the one commandment the man had not kept (and Jesus did not quote).
However, Jesus did quote six commandments. The last one was "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Why would Jesus add a commandment not of the 10 after quoting the previous five almost verbatim?
So then my next thought was Maybe Jesus didn't add a commandment, but simply stated the last commandment in terms of its meaning rather than its specifics.
The tenth commandment is all about coveting things that belong to your neighbor. Neighbor. Don't covet his house, wife, servants, animals. Can that not be shortened to say simply, "Love your neighbor as yourself"?
So which is it? (If either.) Did Jesus omit the commandment about coveting because that was where the rich young man was weak? Or did Jesus include it, only restating it as to love your neighbor as yourself?
Elsewhere in Scripture, Jesus makes the point that all of God's commandments can be grouped under two great commandments:
Mark 12:28-31 NASB
(28) One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?"
(29) Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;
(30) AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'
(31) "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
Paul and James also sum up the whole Law by quoting the one commandment about how we should love others:
Romans 13:8-9 NASB
(8) Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
(9) For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Galatians 5:14 NASB
(14) For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
James 2:8 NASB
(8) If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well.
So getting back to my original question, could amassing possessions be a form of (or perhaps a symptom of) the sin of coveting? If so, then Jesus was very pointed in his rebuke of the rich young man. The young man perhaps would have realized on reflection of Jesus' words that not all of the "six" commandments were mentioned and, therefore, he had not really fulfilled all those things that Jesus listed, as he said he had (Matthew 19:20), since the last one Jesus mentioned (loving your neighbor as yourself) would include the commandment against coveting.
It's actually a pretty good example of what some people do; they toss out or ignore the commandments they do not want to keep. By being blind to them, they can say in good conscience (to themselves), "Yes, I have kept all those," conveniently omitting the ones they have not kept.
Jesus did that very thing for the rich young man, sort of baiting him into patting himself on the back ("All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?") Jesus then used that to shine the light of truth on the young man's self-deception.