Jerome: For Our Saviour does not reject this witness to His goodness, but corrected the error of calling Him Good Master apart from God.
Chrysostom: Wherein then was the profit that He answered thus? He leads him by degrees, and teaches him to lay aside false flattery, and rising above the things which are upon earth to cleave to God, to seek things to come, and to know Him that is truly good, the root and source of every good.
Origen: Christ also answers thus, because of that He said, "What good thing shall I do? For when we depart from evil and do good, that which we do is called good by comparison with what other men do. But when compared with absolute good, in the sense in which it is here said, "There is one good," our good is not good.
But some one may say, that because the Lord knew that the purpose of him who thus asked Him was not even to do such good as man can do, that therefore He said, "Why askest thou me concerning good?" as much as to say, Why do you ask me concerning good, seeing you are not prepared to do what is good. But after this He says, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Where note, that He speaks to him as yet standing without life; for that man is in one sense without life, who is without Him who said, "I am the life."
Otherwise, every man upon earth may be, not in life itself, but only in its shadow, while he is clad in a body of death. But any man shall enter into life, if he keep himself from dead works, and seek living works. But there are dead words and living words, also dead thoughts and living thoughts, and therefore He says, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
Aug., Serm., 84, 1: And He said not, "If thou desirest life eternal; but, "If thou wilt enter into life," calling that simply "life," which shall be everlasting. Here we should consider how eternal life should be loved, when this miserable and finite life is so loved.
Remigius: These words prove that the Law gave to such as kept it not only temporal promises, but also life eternal. And because the hearing these things made him thoughtful, "He saith unto him, Which?"
Chrysostom: This he said not to tempt Him, but because he supposed that they were other than the commandments of the Law, which should be the means of life to him.
Remigius: And Jesus, condescending as to a weak one, most graciously set out to him the precepts of the Law; Jesus said, "Thou shalt do no murder;" and of all these precepts follows the exposition, "And thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." For the Apostle says, "Whoso loveth his neighbour has fulfilled the Law?" [[Pro 13:10]]
But it should be enquired, why the Lord has enumerated only the precepts of the Second Table? Perhaps because this young man was zealous in the love of God, or because love of our neighbour is the step by which we ascend to the love of God.
Origen: Or perhaps these precepts are enough to introduce one, if I may say so, to the entrance of life; but neither these, nor any like them, are enough to conduct one to the more inward parts of life. But whoso transgresses one of these commandments, shall not even come to the entrance in unto life.
Chrysostom: But because all the commandments that the Lord had recounted were contained in the Law, The young man saith unto him, "All these have I kept from my youth up." And did not even rest there, but asked further, "What lack I yet? which alone is a mark of his intense desire.
Remigius: But to those who would be perfect in grace, He shews how they may come to perfection, "Jesus saith unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go, and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor." Mark the words; He said not, Go, and consume all thou hast; but Go, and sell; and not some, as did Ananias and Sapphira, but "All." And well He added, "that thou hast," for what we have are our lawful possessions. Those therefore that he justly possessed were to be sold; what had been gained unjustly were to be restored to those from whom they had been taken. And He said not, Give to thy neighbours, nor to the rich, but to the poor.
Aug., de Op. Monach., 25: Nor need it be made a scruple in what monasteries, or to the indigent brethren of what place, any one gives those things that he has, for there is but one commonwealth of all Christians. Therefore wheresoever any Christian has laid out his goods, in all places alike he shall receive what is necessary for himself, shall receive it of that which is Christ’s.
Rabanus: See two kinds of life which we have heard set before men; the Active, to which pertains, "Thou shalt not kill," and the rest of the Law; and the Contemplative, to which pertains this, "If thou wilt be perfect." The active pertains to the Law, the contemplative to the Gospel; for as the Old Testament went before the New, so good action goes before contemplation.
Aug., cont. Faust, v. 9: Nor are such only partakers in the kingdom of heaven, who, to the end they may be perfect, sell or part with all that they have; but in these Christian ranks are numbered by reason of a certain communication of their charity a multitude of hired troops; those to whom it shall be said in the end, "I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat;" [[Mat 25:35]] whom be it far from us to consider excluded from life eternal, as they who obey not the commands of the Gospel.
Jerome, Hieron. cont. Vigilant., 15: That Vigilantius asserts that they who retain the use of their property, and from time to time divide their incomes among the poor, do better than they who sell their possessions and lavish them in one act of charity, to him, not I, but God shall make answer, If thou wilt be perfect, "Go and sell." That which you so extol, is but the second or third grade; which we indeed admit, only remembering that what is first is to be set before what is third or second.
Pseudo-Aug., Gennadius, de Eccles. Dogm. 36: It is good to distribute with discrimination to the poor; it is better, with resolve of following the Lord to strip one’s self of all at once, and freed from anxiety to suffer want with Christ.
Chrysostom: And because He spake of riches warning us to strip ourselves of them, He promises to repay things greater, by how much heaven is greater than earth, and therefore He says, "And thou shalt have treasure in heaven." By the word treasure He denotes the abundance and endurance of the reward.
Origen: If every commandment is fulfilled in this one word, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," and if he is perfect who has fulfilled every command, how is it that the Lord said to the young man, If thou wilt be perfect, when he had declared, "All these have I kept from my youth up." Perhaps that he says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," was not said by the Lord, but added by some one, for neither Mark nor Luke have given it in this place.
Or otherwise; It is written in the Gospel [Source note: ed. note: see above, p. 4, note b] according to the Hebrews, that, when the Lord said, "Go, and sell all that thou hast," the rich man began to scratch his head, being displeased with the saying. Then the Lord said unto him, How sayest thou, I have kept the Law, and the Prophets, since it is written in the Law, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself?" For how many of thy brethren sons of Abraham, clothed in filth, perish for hunger? Thy house is full of many good things, and nothing goes thereout to them.
The Lord then, desiring to convict this rich man, says to him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor;" for so it will be seen if thou dost indeed love thy neighbour as thyself. But if he is perfect who has all the virtues, how does he become perfect who sells all that he has and gives to the poor? For suppose one to have done this, will he thereby become forthwith free from anger, desire, having every virtue, and abandoning all vice? Perhaps wisdom may suggest, that he that has given his goods to the poor, is aided by their prayers, receiving of their spiritual abundance to his want, and is made in this way perfect, though he may have some human passions.
Or thus; He that thus exchanged his riches for poverty, in order that he might become perfect, shall have assistance to become wise in Christ, just, chaste also, and devoid of all passion; but not so as that in the moment when he gave up all his goods, he should forthwith become perfect; but only that from that day forward the contemplation of God will begin to bring him to all virtues.
Or again, it will pass into a moral exposition, and say, that the possessions of a man are the acts of his mind. Christ then bids a man to sell all his evil possessions, and as it were to give them over to the virtues which should work the same, which were poor in all that is good. For as the peace of the Apostles returns to them again, [[Mat 10:13]] unless there be a son of peace, so all sins return upon their actors, when one will no longer indulge his evil propensities; and thus there can be no doubt that he will straightway become perfect who in this sense sells all his possessions.
It is manifest that he that does these things, has treasure in heaven, and is himself become of heaven; and he will have in heaven treasure of God’s glory, and riches in all God’s wisdom. Such an one will be able to follow Christ, for he has no evil possession to draw him off from so following.
Jerome: For many who leave their riches do not therefore follow the Lord; and it is not sufficient for perfection that they despise money, unless they also follow the Saviour, that unless having forsaken evil, they also do what is good. For it is easier to contemn the hoard than quit the propensity [Source note: ed. note: Vallarsi reads ’voluptas,’ which would seem to make the passage mean, ’It is easier to relinquish avarice than pleasure.’] .
Therefore it follows, "And come and follow me;" for he follows the Lord who is his imitator, and who walks in his steps. It follows, "And when the young man had heard these words, he went away sorrowful." This is the sorrow that leads to death. And the cause of his sorrow is added, "for he had great possessions," thorns, that is, and briars, which choked the holy leaven.
Chrysostom: For they that have little, and they that abound, are not in like measure encumbered. For the acquisition of riches raises a greater flame, and desire is more violently kindled.
Aug., Ep. 31, 5: I know not how, but in the love of worldly superfluities, it is what we have already got, rather than what we desire to get, that most strictly enthrals us. For whence went this young man away sorrowful, but that he had great possessions? It is one thing to lay aside thoughts of further acquisition, and another to strip ourselves of what we have already made our own; one is only rejecting what is not ours, the other is like parting with one of our own limbs.
Origen: But historically, the young man is to be praised for that he did not kill, did not commit adultery; but is to be blamed for that he sorrowed at Christ’s words calling him to perfection. He was young indeed in soul, and therefore leaving Christ, he went his way.
Ver. 23. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, "Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.24. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."25. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, "Who then can be saved?"26. But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."
Gloss., ap Anselm: The Lord took occasion from this rich man to hold discourse concerning the covetous; "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, etc."
Chrysostom: What He spoke was not condemning riches in themselves, but those who were enslaved by them; also encouraging His disciples that being poor they should not be ashamed by reason of their poverty.
Hilary: To have riches is no sin; but moderation is to be observed in our havings. For how shall we communicate to the necessities of the saints, if we have not out of what we may communicate?
Rabanus: But though there be a difference between having and loving riches, yet it is safer neither to have nor to love them.
Remigius: Whence in Mark the Lord expounding the meaning of this saying, speaks thus, "It is hard for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of heaven." [[Mar 10:24]] They trust in riches, who build all their hopes on them.
Jerome: Because riches once gained are hard to be despised, He saith not it is impossible, but it is hard. Difficulty does not imply the impossibility, but points out the infrequency of the occurrence.
Hilary: It is a dangerous toil to become rich; and guiltlessness occupied in increasing its wealth has taken upon itself a sore burden; the servant of God gains not the things of the world, clear of the sins of the world. Hence is the difficulty of entering the kingdom of heaven.
Chrysostom: Having said that it was hard for a rich man to eater into the kingdom of heaven, He now proceeds to shew that it is impossible, "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Jerome: According to this, no rich man can be saved. But if we read Isaiah, how the camels of Midian and Ephah came to Jerusalem with gifts and presents, [[Isa 60:6]] and they who once were crooked and bowed down by the weight of their sins, enter the gates of Jerusalem, we shall see how these camels, to which the rich are likened when they have laid aside the heavy load of sins, and the distortion of their whole bodies, may then enter by that narrow and strait way that leads to life.
Pseudo-Chrysostom: The Gentile souls are likened to the deformed body of the camel, in which is seen the humpback of idolatry; for the knowledge of God is the exaltation of the soul. The needle is the Son of God, the fine point of which is His divinity, and the thicker part what He is according to His incarnation. But it is altogether straight and without turning; and through the womb of His passion, the Gentiles have entered into life eternal. By this needle is sewn the robe of immortality; it is this needle that has sewn the flesh to the spirit, that has joined together the Jews and the Gentiles, and coupled man in friendship with angels. It is easier therefore for the Gentiles to pass through the needle’s eye, than for the rich Jews to enter into the kingdom of heaven. For if the Gentiles are with such difficulty withdrawn from the irrational worship of idols, how much more hardly shall the Jews be withdrawn from the reasonable service of God?
Gloss., ap Anselm: It is explained otherwise; That at Jerusalem there was a certain gate, called, The needle’s eye, through which a camel could not pass, but on its bended knees, and after its burden had been taken off; and so the rich should not be able to pass along the narrow way that leads to life, till he had put off the burden of sin, and of riches, that is, ceasing to love them.
Greg., Mor., xxxv, 16: Or, by the rich man He intends any one who is proud, by the camel he denotes the right humility. The camel passed through the needle’s eye, when our Redeemer through the narrow way of suffering entered in to the taking upon Him death; for that passion was as a needle which pricked the body with pain. But the camel enters the needle’s eye easier than the rich man enters the kingdom of heaven; because if He had not first shewn us by His passion the form of His humility, our proud stiffness would never have bent itself to His lowliness.
Chrysostom: The disciples though poor are troubled for the salvation of others, beginning even now to have the bowels of doctors.
Aug., Quaest. Ev., 1, 26: Whereas the rich are few in comparison of the multitude of the poor, we must suppose that the disciples understood all who wish for riches, as included in the number of the rich.