Matthew 19:23-30, The Poverty of Riches and the Riches of Poverty (2)

After all we said in the previous post about “the poverty of riches” you might look at 19:27-29 and ask, “Isn’t Jesus rewarding them for their poverty?”  If that is actually your question, we would say you are half right in that Jesus is speaking of reward.  He is not saying anything about their salvation.  The phrase, “in the regeneration,” refers to the earthly manifestation of kingdom of heaven, the Messianic Kingdom, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory. 

Of course, if you are half right, then you are half wrong, and that is a dangerous thing.  Satan is really good at “half-truths” which are no truth at all.  Jesus does not reward them for their poverty.  The reward is for their faith, their obedience to Him when He called them to follow Him. 

What had they done?  They left all and followed Christ.  How can this be?  Peter still had a wife, because he still had a mother-in-law (Mt. 8:14-15).  To leave all and follow Christ is to yield one’s life and expectations and priorities and schedule to Christ.  That is what they did.  It is not necessary to give up your lands or money to follow Christ.  For the rich ruler Jesus called him to this because this was his hindrance to faith (19:21-22).  On the other hand, in the early church people sold their lands and gave the money to the Lord (Acts 4:32-37).  When you attach yourself as a disciple to a Master, you commit to obey the Master in every situation.  You trust the Master to do and command what is right.

Keep that in mind as you think about the idea of a hundredfold in v29.  You hear this spoken of often these days in the “health and wealth” circles.  Give God a dollar, you will get $100.  But think about it.  Jesus is saying this to men who have left all to follow Him.  It is not about the abundance of possessions; it cannot be, according to Jesus (Lk. 12:15).  Here is a quote from Matthew Henry that might be helpful:

First, A hundred-fold in this life; sometimes in kind, in the things themselves which they have parted with. God will raise up for his suffering servants more friends, that will be so to them for Christ’s sake, than they have left that were so for their own sakes. The apostles, wherever they came, met with those that were kind to them, and entertained them, and opened their hearts and doors to them. However, they shall receive a hundred-fold, in kindness, in those things that are abundantly better and more valuable. Their graces shall increase, their comforts abound, they shall have tokens of God’s love, more free communion with him, more full communications from him, clearer foresights, and sweeter foretastes, of the glory to be revealed; and then they may truly say, they have received a hundred times more comfort in God and Christ than they could have had in wife, or children.

In the end, I believe the bottom line is this: The suffering of this present age is not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18).  When you have chosen to follow Christ, you can trust Him to keep His word.