Matthew 19:21
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Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
FINAL DEPARTURE FROM GALILEE--DIVORCE. ( = Mar 10:1-12; Luk 9:51). (Mat 19:1-12) And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee--This marks a very solemn period in our Lord's public ministry. So slightly is it touched here, and in the corresponding passage of Mark (Mar 10:1), that few readers probably note it as the Redeemer's Farewell to Galilee, which however it was. See on the sublime statement of Luke (Luk 9:51), which relates to the same transition stage in the progress of our Lord's work. and came into the coasts--or, boundaries of Judea beyond Jordan--that is, to the further, or east side of the Jordan, into Perea, the dominions of Herod Antipas. But though one might conclude from our Evangelist that our Lord went straight from the one region to the other, we know from the other Gospels that a considerable time elapsed between the departure from the one and the arrival at the other, during which many of the most important events in our Lord's public life occurred--probably a large part of what is recorded in Luk 9:51, onward to Mat 18:15, and part of John 7:2-11:54.
Open source ↗19:21-22 By calling the man to go and sell and come, follow me, Jesus revealed that the man had not in fact kept the first of the ten commandments (Exod 20:3). His possessions—his wealth and security—had become his god (see Matt 6:20, 24; 13:44-46).
Open source ↗Cross-references
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Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need.
In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.