DavaoPlus: [New post] The Rich Young Man

Respond to this post by replying above this line

The Rich Young Man

by rpstoledosj

Matthew 19, 16 - 22

What did it mean to be rich in the time of Christ?

A Jew in Nazareth, in the region of Galilee, lived in a trading zone. He could run a business dealing not only with the locals but also with foreigners. Those who engaged in farming, manufacturing, fishing, and building could make good money. While it was – overall -- less wealthy, compared to the regions of Judea and Syria, its wealth was better distributed. Farms were small, but their owners worked directly on them. Galilee was also semi-autonomous; its inhabitants probably did not pay taxes directly to Rome. Galilee was better off than the regions of Judea and Syria. The Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus described both of thee latter regions as fessae, i.e., a Latin word meaning 'exhausted' by taxes.[1]

A Jew in the region of Judea, where Jerusalem was, functioned differently. It had large landholdings, often the result of political favoritism. (Some things never change.) Hence, our Lord's parables probably referred to these. Mark's parables describe vineyards with tenant farmers, an absentee landlord, and slaves to collect rent. These vineyards had to be large to be able to sustain tenant farmers[2]; slaves were not paid. Luke mentions debts of a hundred measures of oil and a hundred measures of wheat, which would have needed a medium-sized estate to generate.[3]

To be rich then meant to have these large possessions. Somebody perceptive enough to compare the economy of Galilee, supported by those with modest possessions, against the economy of Judaea, skewed in favor of the better politically connected and built on the backs of the poor, would have been upset by the disparity, the oppression needed to maintain it. There was one such prophet from Galilee.[4]

For the rich young man in today's Gospel to claim that he had been following all the commandments, he was not saying something trivial. It proclaimed that he had produced his wealth without taking advantage of others. He had gained it without the benefit of lineage. For a Jewish man could only acquire wealth if he had already married or if his father had died. Business acumen was the foundation of his wealth.

It is understandable then that the young man went away sad because Jesus told him to give up everything he had rightfully gained to gain eternal life.

I wonder why the young man did not ask Jesus to explain his words. Maybe he did not know that Jesus had rich disciples such as Matthew, the former tax collector, and Zaccheus, still a tax collector.

Or maybe he realized that what the Lord was asking him was to be free. As free as Matthew, who walked away from his tax booth, or Zaccheus, who offered to reimburse anybody he may have cheated, fourfold. What was our Lord asking of the young man? Our Lord was asking the rich young man to be free of everything that was holding him back. But how can one hold back from God when one's eternal life is at stake?

Here we need to hold a mirror to our faces.

What is holding us back? What would we grab if suddenly we were confronted with death? If we were to lose everything, what would be the last thing that we would give up?

Our Lord is asking us to let go of whatever gets in the way of following Him, whether it is riches, esteem in the eyes of the world, even relationships.

The story ends with the rich young man walking away.

Did he become like Joseph of Arimathea, who revealed his faith in Jesus after it seemed it was all over, or like the rich man at whose feet Lazarus was waiting for table scraps, or like the rich man who wanted to build his granaries where he could store his perishable riches?

Did he eventually choose eternal life?

Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.[5]

St. Ignatius of Loyola