DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY: FOR GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE (Mt 19:23–30 ).
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. (24) Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” (26) Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” (28) Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
Gospel Commentary from the Navarre Bible, Commentary to the Gospel of St. Matthew(with permission)
- 24-26 By drawing this comparison Jesus shows that it is simply not possible for people who put their heart on worldly things to obtain a share in the Kingdom of God.
- “With God all things are possible”: that is, with God’s grace man can be brave and generous enough to use wealth to promote the service of God and man. This is why St Matthew, in chapter 5, specifies that the poor in spirit are blessed (Mt 5:3).
- 28 “In the new world”, in the “regeneration”: a reference to the renewal of all things which will take place when Jesus Christ comes to judge the living and the dead. The resurrection of the body will be an integral part of this renewal.
- The old people of God, Israel, was made up of twelve tribes.
- The new people of God, the Church, to which all men are called, is founded by Jesus Christ on the Twelve Apostles under the primacy of Peter.
- 29 These graphic remarks should not be explained away. They mean that love for Jesus Christ and his Gospel should come before everything else. What our Lord says here should not be interpreted as conflicting with the will of God himself, the creator and sanctifier of family bonds.
Dear friends, God is never outdone in generosity. For every one thing we give Him, He rewards us with a hundrefold! It is worth while following our Lord, to be faithful to him in every moment, to give up everything for his sake, to set no limit to our generosity where He is concerned. He says to us in the words of Saint John Chrysostom:
The gold that you plan to lend, give it to me, for I will give you better interest and better security. That body that you plan to enlist in someone’s militia, enlist it in mine, because I will outbid everybody in pay and reward… His love is great. If you wish to make him a loan, he is ready to receive it at lavish interest. If you wish to sow, he buys you the seed. If you wish to build, he says: build on my property! Why run after the things of men, who are poor beggars and are worth nothing? Run after God, who in exchange for little things will give you far greater
(St John Chrysostom, Homilies on St Matthew’s Gospel, 76, 4).
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