Yeshua’s Final Journey ~ Part 2

In our last post, we begin a new chapter dealing with the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry to count down. In this post, Yeshua Blesses the Children and Talks to A Rich Young Man.

Yeshua Blesses the Children

¹³ Then children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray for them, but the talmidim rebuked the people bringing them. ¹⁴ However, Yeshua said, “Let the children come to me, don’t stop them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ Then, after laying His hands on them, He went on His way. ^[1]

Yeshua Talks to A Rich Young Man

¹⁶ A man approached Yeshua and said, “Rabbi, what good thing should I do in order to have eternal life?”

Eternal life describes life in the kingdom of the Messiah, which starts now but extends forever (compare John 3:16–17).

He said to him, ¹⁷ “Why are you asking me about good? There is One who is good! But if you want to obtain eternal life, observe the mitzvot.” ¹⁸ The man asked him, “Which ones?” and Yeshua said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t give false testimony ¹⁹ honor father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Yeshua names the sixth – ninth, and fifth of the Ten Commandments. These deal with interpersonal relationships, as does “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which subsumes the others (see Romans 13:8–10).

²⁰ The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; where do I still fall short?” ²¹ Yeshua said to him, “If you are serious about reaching the goal, go and sell your possessions, give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me!” ²² But when the young man heard this, he went away sad because he was wealthy. ^[2]

If you are serious about reaching the goal. Usually, and with equal justification, rendered, “If you want to be perfect.” Yeshua sees the young man’s attachment to his possessions as a hindrance to faith. He commands the man to rid himself of whatever prevents him from committing to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the only instance of someone declining to follow Yeshua after a direct invitation.

In our next, we will continue to explore Yeshua’s Final Journey.

Click here for the PDF version.

^[1] Mattityahu 19:13–15.
^[2] Mattityahu 19:16–22.