Matt 19:27–30 — Heavenly Reward For Christ’s Followers

The Rich Young Ruler in Context

I think it’d be useful to briefly review the context that we looked at last Sunday, that is the story of the rich young ruler. Of course, we know that he’s a ruler only from Luke’s account. Luke’s parallel to this passage refers to him as a ruler, that is a ruler of the synagogue. Matthew’s account doesn’t mention that particular detail, that he is a ruler, and simply refers to him as a rich young man. And so many of your Bibles will have as the heading there in bold, the rich young man, rather than the rich young ruler.

But we can also even see in this account, in Matthew’s account, that he is a religious man. He claims to have kept the commandments He is coming to Jesus in a respectful tone, speaking of him as a teacher and asking what he must do in order to inherit or to have eternal life.

And so that ties in well then with Luke’s reference to the fact that he’s not only a religious man, but he is a respected leader in the Jewish community as a ruler of the synagogue. And we saw that this man is also a moralist. He’s not only rich, he’s not only a ruler in the synagogue, but he is a moralist.

He believes that there is something he can do in order to gain eternal life. And when he asks Jesus what he must do, Jesus answers him according to the first use of the law. Jesus is not preaching the gospel here when he says, if you would enter life, then keep the commandments. He is preaching the first use of the law, that is the law that if kept would lead to eternal life, but we all fall short of keeping that law. This moralist, this rich young moralist, thinks that he has indeed kept the law.

Look at his astonishing claim there in verse 20, after Jesus listed off several of the Ten Commandments, as well as Leviticus 19, verse 18. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This man said, I’ve done all that. I’ve kept all of these commandments. What do I still lack?

And so Jesus here, assuming that his question is correct, which it is not, but assuming that his question is correct, simply continues with his first use of the law and calls him to perfection. If you would be perfect, according to your thinking, that you could be a moralistic achiever of righteousness, if you would be perfect then, and he notches it up to the nth degree, then he says, go sell all that you possess, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. Notice that prefatory comment there, if you would be perfect.

So Jesus here is not preaching the gospel. He is simply continuing the first use of the law and calling him to the highest possible obedience, the highest possible righteousness, which is truly impossible. Of course, the man still did not get it. He still did not humble himself and recognize his need.

He heard this and he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. And Jesus then turns to the disciples and says, you see how difficult it is for a wealthy moralist to be saved. The problem with this man is not simply that he’s rich. The problem is that he is a rich moralist. He views his wealth as a sign of God’s blessing upon him. And so he is unable to enter the kingdom because of his hard heart and thinking in his pride that he is able to earn salvation. That’s why Jesus says, it’s easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich moralist to squeeze into the kingdom based upon his righteousness.

Now at this point, the disciples, they are astonished at this in verse 25. And they say, who then can be saved? It seems like it’s impossible for anyone to be saved if that is the standard. And then Jesus says, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. That is, it’s impossible for man to change his heart, to come to a recognition of his sin and inability, and to humble himself and come to Christ.

But it is possible with God. The Holy Spirit can change the hard, moralist heart and change his heart and bring him to faith in Christ. This is a wonderful passage, isn’t it? This statement here in verse 26 that with God all things are possible. This is a wonderful proof text for the sovereignty of God in salvation. It’s impossible for sinners to come to Christ apart from God. It is a work of God’s grace in giving us that humility, that recognition and conviction of our need, and that true humble faith in Christ.

Notice the contrast between this man and so many of the other people that come to Jesus throughout the Gospels. For example, in the next chapter, in Matthew chapter 20, in verses 29 to 34, this is right before Jesus is about to enter into Jerusalem. The triumphal entry will happen in Matthew 21. But as he is going along with his crowd, about to enter into Jerusalem, outside of the gates of the city of Jericho, which is basically one day’s journey towards Jerusalem, it says there were two blind men who were sitting by the roadside. And when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. And of course, the crowds rebuked them, but they cried out all the more in their desperation.

Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. Notice the contrast between these men and this hard-hearted, rich, young moralist. They recognize their sin and their need. They come to Jesus not with this respectful dignity of, Since you’re a teacher, you can show me how I can be saved by works.” No, they come with humility and trust and call Him the Son of David. That is, they recognize that He is the Savior, that He is the Messiah, and they call out for mercy. And they won’t be deterred by anyone who says, oh no, you’re not worthy. They come in humble faith, trusting in the Lord.

And Jesus says, what do you want me to do for you? And they said, Lord, let our eyes be opened. Interesting contrast there, isn’t it? What do you want me to do for you? That’s not what the rich young ruler was asking. He wasn’t asking, what can Christ do for me? He was asking, what can I do for God in order to earn salvation by my own works and my own merit?

We Have Left Everything

Now at this point, we have this interesting segue in verse 27, back in chapter 19, verse 27, where something happens that’s kind of interesting. You know this happens a lot in human interactions, where you’re talking about some other thing, right? Some other story, some other incident, some other person’s life. But you immediately ask yourself, well, what about me? I have something similar to that. Maybe you want to tell your own story about something that relates to what you just heard.

Peter is watching this whole dialogue between Jesus and the rich young moralist. And he’s listening to all this teaching about Jesus, about how it’s impossible for a rich, proud moralist to enter the kingdom unless God changes his heart. And then Peter is immediately saying, well, what about me? What about us, the disciples? He says, look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us? What then will we have?

Now, this is a little bit confusing because the way that Peter is segueing from the situation with the rich young moralist to himself and the disciples raises this bit of a dilemma for us in the text, which is that it seems as though, if you go back to what Jesus said in verse 21, to the rich young man, if you would be perfect, go sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me.

It seems as though, based on Peter’s reaction here, that this is the same call of the gospel that Peter and the disciples heard and that they resonated with. And so it raises the question of, well then, is verse 21 the law or is it the gospel? If you would be perfect, go sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. The way I’ve been interpreting that in terms of the whole flow of the argument up to that point is that this is the law, right? This is Jesus turning up the law to the highest possible degree and saying, well, if you really wanna be perfect, if you really wanna have salvation by merit, then this is what you have to do. But because of the way Jesus uses this language that sounds very similar to the call of discipleship and the call of the gospel to those that are believers, when he uses that language, come follow me, it creates this dissonance and confusion in our minds. I think the solution here is this, that verse 21 and verse 27 are completely different.

Verse 21 is Jesus’s way of trying to show the rich young moralist his sin, to show him the height of what the gospel requires. But when we turn to the disciples and their understanding of the call to follow Christ, we’re talking about the call of responding to the gospel in following Christ. It’s interesting as well that Peter says, we have left everything, And yet, that’s not technically true. They didn’t do exactly what the rich young ruler was called to do. They didn’t sell all their possessions and give to the poor.

If you go back to Matthew 8, verse 14, that’s the story where Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever and Jesus healed her. But in that verse, it just mentions, kind of as a throwaway, that Jesus went into Peter’s house. in order to heal Peter’s mother-in-law.

So Peter still kept his house. And we know some of the other disciples as well. For example, Matthew, the tax collector, he also kept his house. In the other gospels, in Mark and Luke, it tells us that he held a great feast in his own house, and he invited Jesus to come to that feast. That’s when he was eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners.

The disciples did not do what Jesus told the rich young ruler to do. They did not sell all their possessions and then come to Christ and follow Christ. Rather, in response to the call of the gospel, they followed Christ and then as a result, they did not hold tightly to their possessions and families because their allegiance was to Christ. And that meant that they might lose all things as a consequence of their allegiance to Christ.

Remember in Matthew chapter 10, go back to Matthew 10, where Jesus says in verses 34 and following, he’s talking to the disciples. This is the section where Jesus is commissioning the disciples to go on their mission to Israel, to preach the kingdom to Israel.

He says, do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. And he doesn’t mean that literally, like literal warfare. He’s talking about conflict. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

So clearly what Jesus is talking about to the disciples, and what Peter is reflecting on here when he says, see, we’ve left everything and followed you, is not that they have to do some great heroic deed of taking all of their possessions, liquidating them, giving all the money to the poor, and then they can be disciples.

But rather, he’s talking about the implications of what it means to be a follower of Christ. If you have thrown in your lot with Jesus, the Messiah, who is a suffering Messiah, who’s going to go to the cross, then allegiance to this suffering Messiah means losing all earthly things as a consequence. or losing all those earthly things, earthly relationships, earthly possessions, if there is a conflict between allegiance to Christ and those earthly things. They must be willing to hold lightly to their earthly possessions and their earthly families and relationships if allegiance to Christ implies that.

And of course, that’s different for every person, right? Some of the family members of some of the disciples also became followers of Christ. Remember Peter’s brother Andrew. But there are other disciples who may have had a different situation with their relationships. Peter’s claim then in verse 27, see we have left everything and followed you, is not quite the same thing as what Jesus said to the rich young ruler.

The reason why it seems similar is because the first use of the law and the third use of the law, that is the use of the law for believers as a rule of life to show our gratitude to the Lord, has the same content. The first use of the law and the third use of the law have the same content, which is to obey the Lord, to follow him, to have our allegiance only to Christ. And if that means that we lose some relationships, or if we have to lose certain earthly things, that is the call of what it means to follow the Lord. The first use of the law and the third use of the law have the same content, and so formally they seem the same.

But there’s a vast difference between what Jesus said to the rich young ruler, go and do this heroic, mighty deed in order to be perfect and enter life, versus what he says to his followers who believe in Jesus, which is, if you love father or mother more than me, then you are not worthy of me. You must have your allegiance to me only, and then let the chips fall where they may. And in God’s providence, that could be different for different people. Not everyone is called to lose those things, but if he does call us to, if the choice is Christ or those other things, then we must follow Christ.

And we see this clear distinction between the first use and the third use of the law in our text in verse 29. Notice there’s a key phrase in verse 29. Everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, underline that phrase, that’s the key. That’s what makes all the difference in the world.

Jesus didn’t say that to the rich run ruler because the rich run ruler doesn’t believe in Jesus. He doesn’t have this allegiance to him. He doesn’t have this sense of coming to Christ like the blind men and seeking mercy and forgiveness and grace from Christ. but the disciples have left all things, that is, they are sitting lightly by all those earthly things, whether possessions or families and relationships, for my namesake, that is, for the sake of Christ. So Peter asks Jesus, see, we have left everything and followed you.

What then will we have? Jesus said to them, truly I say to you, this is verse 28, in the new world, when the son of man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. That phrase, in the new world, it could also be translated as in the regeneration, as it says in the ESV footnote. or in the renewal, that is, the restoration of all things, the new heavens and the new earth. When the desert will blossom like the rose, when the earth is filled with the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Now this verse, verse 28, is another difficult verse. We saw that verse 21 was a difficult one and we had to kind of wrestle with that and see how it fit in the context. Well, verse 28 is also another difficult verse. There are two main interpretations, or actually others, but two big ones, two main ones, of verse 28.

There is the premillennial literal interpretation that refers to the millennial reign of Christ over a restored national Israel. And then there is the amillennial future interpretation that takes it in a symbolic way, where the 12 tribes of Israel are not referring to ethnic national Israel, but to the whole people of God, whether Jews or Gentiles who are now part of the people of God by faith in Christ. I think that the second one is the most reasonable interpretation of this verse. The premillennial interpretation that it refers to the millennial reign of Christ for a thousand years over a restored national Israel has a major difficulty with it and that is that you have that preceding phrase right at the beginning of it that explains when this will happen.

Truly I say to you in the new world not in the earthly millennium, but in the renewal of the new heavens and the new earth. When the son of man will sit on his glorious throne, then you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones and so on. That difficulty there in the new world wipes away the millennial interpretation because according to the premillennial view, The millennial reign of Christ and their interpretation, which will happen on earth for a thousand years over national Israel and Israel reigning over the nations, that will happen prior to the renewal of all things.

That will happen in this fallen world that is still affected by sin and the curse and all of the fallen things of this cursed world. It’s not in the renewal, it’s not in the new age of the age to come. And so I think that that pretty much rules out that interpretation. However, we do have to recognize that the amillennial interpretation, that this is referring to the new heavens and the new earth, Although we have that phrase in the New World to kind of like we can plant our flag right there and say, see, that proves our view. Yet it also has this difficulty, which is that how do we explain then this language that seems so literal and so focused on national Israel that they will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel? How do we explain that part?

And I think the answer is that the scripture often uses a certain way of speaking that is a certain idiom. It’s the idiom that the prophets used in the Old Testament. where the prophets would use earthly language that sounds very national, sounds very Israelite focused and very earthly, but they’re using it as a way of speaking about the age to come in the dawn of the new age in Christ. For example, just to give you an illustration of this prophetic idiom, the way the prophets spoke in their particular idiom and their language, just look at Ezekiel 37 and verses 24 to 28, which we know is referring to the final fulfillment, the consummation of all things, because it refers to God dwelling with his people forever, right?

But in that context, it says that my servant David will be king over them. And we all know that it’s not David who is literally going to be reigning over the new creation. Or even if you’re a dispensationalist and you hold to a millennial view, even they wouldn’t say it’s literally David who’s reigning over the millennium. It’s Christ, right? It’s Christ. He’s the Messiah. He’s the son of David.

And so the prophets will use language that is based upon the Old Testament picture with King David reigning over God’s people in the land, over the 12 tribes and so on, they’ll use that language as an idiom, as a way of speaking about the symbolic reality that will be fulfilled in a new way.

This fits in with the entire Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew is the most Jewish of all of the Gospels. But throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew repeatedly tells us that all of this Jewish way of thinking about Christ and his messianic reign is fulfilled spiritually in Christ. Remember, Matthew has these fulfillment quotations all throughout the Gospel of Matthew, that this occurred in the life of Jesus. whether it was the virgin birth or healing the sick, this particular thing occurred in order to fulfill what was written by the prophet Isaiah or Jeremiah and so on.

And Jesus himself has that way of thinking about the Old Testament. In Matthew 5, verses 17 to 18, what did Jesus say? This is Jesus’ way of interpreting the Old Testament, of interpreting the law and the prophets. He says, do not think that I have come to abolish the law. or the prophets, I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

For truly I say to you, we often quote verse 17 without verse 18. Verse 18 is very interesting. Truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. That’s an interesting phrase, until all is accomplished.

He’s saying that all the stuff that was spoken of in the Old Testament, not just in the law, all of the commandments, but also in the prophets and their picture of this new restored order, when King David will reign over God’s people and God will dwell with his people forever and ever, all of that is fulfilled through his person and work. The eternal state that is after the day of judgment, after the resurrection, when all sin and sorrow and evil is done away with, is so far beyond our capacity to grasp that we need metaphors to understand it.

Sometimes we also call this typological idiom. It’s prophetic idiom because it’s the way the prophet spoke, but it’s also typological idiom, using the types and the shadows to describe the future reality in Christ. Now, with regard to the disciples themselves in particular, we might have a question. Is there some specific thing about the disciples here that they’re gonna sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel? How can we see that in the new creation? How can we see that in the eternal state?

Well, the closest thing I can think of that would help to bring that out is the teaching in the book of Revelation at the very end of the Bible. Remember in Revelation chapter 21, where the angel said to John, come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. So we know this is the church, this is the people of God, including Jews and Gentiles. I will show you the bride. And what did he see? He carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

It had a great high wall with 12 gates. And at the gates, 12 angels. And on the gates, the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, probably not like a layer of 12, but 12 separate foundation posts going around the city. And on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. So there you have both the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes as a way of picturing this glorious New Jerusalem, which is not a literal city made out of jewels and stones and giant pearls.

Remember, each of the gates is said to be a pearl, right? This is all typological language, speaking about something that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, that we can hardly imagine what it is. We’re even told at the beginning, this is the Bride of Christ. So the Bride of Christ is the people, it’s us, it’s not just stones and bricks and so on.

But the point is that there you see in that eternal state that the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles have some significance in that eternal glory. The point of what Jesus is saying here is this, that there is a great reversal that is going to happen. a reversal from suffering now to kingly glory hereafter. The disciples are sharing in Christ’s sufferings and so too they will also share in his kingly glory. What a remarkable idea that the Messiah will share his kingly authority with his followers And that promise is extended not only to the 12, but to all Christians, to all of us. 2 Timothy 2, verse 12. If we endure, if we endure those trials and tribulations, that cost of having our allegiance be only to Christ and sitting lightly to all earthly possessions and all earthly relationships, if we endure, we will also reign with Christ. Isn’t that wonderful? we will also reign with Christ.

A Hundredfold and Eternal Life

And then in verse 29, Jesus broadens the scope. In verse 28, it seems like he’s focusing just upon the 12, but then in verse 29, he broadens the scope to all disciples. He says, and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, because of your allegiance to Christ, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Notice that language there of everyone in verse 29. So he broadens it from the 12th to everyone, all disciples.

And he says that we will gain something that will be incalculably greater than what we have lost. He uses this language of a hundred fold. What we will gain in the life to come will completely outweigh what we lost in this life. and we will have eternal life, we will have treasure in heaven. Again, that does seem to tie back, doesn’t it, to what Jesus said to the rich young moralist. He said to the rich young moralist, going on the basis of trying to be saved by the law and by works, he says, if you would be perfect, go and sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

And come, follow me. Of course, we know that that way is not possible for us. We cannot have treasure in heaven by keeping the law, but that is still the result that is held out for us in Christ. That those of us who have left everything to follow Christ, to make Him our first priority, to seek first the kingdom, even if it means sitting lightly to these earthly things, even if it means in God’s providence that some human relationships will be broken, We will have a hundredfold. We will have treasure in heaven.

The blessings are totally eschatological. That is, they’re totally in the future. Now, in this life, is the time of the cross. Now, in this time, is the time of following Christ, even if it is costly. But the Lord Jesus promises that he will repay us. I use that word repay in quote marks, right? Because it’s not like a legal quid pro quo. It’s not like we’re earning these rewards. But he’s saying, this is the blessed comfort that I give to you, my disciples. And not just to the 12, but all of my disciples, all of us here today. You will be repaid for all that you lost.

The First Last and the Last First

And then he concludes in verse 30, but many who are first will be last, and the last first. I think here that the context makes clear what he means by that. The first would be those that are the first in the eyes of the world, like the rich young ruler. If ever there was someone who seemed to be first in line to enter the kingdom, at least from an earthly point of view, it would seem to be this man. He’s godly, he’s respected in the synagogue, he’s a leader in the Jewish community, he’s financially blessed, he seems first, but Jesus says prominent people like that will actually be last.

By contrast, those who are the last in the eyes of the world, like these two blind men by the side of the road, like the Roman centurion earlier in the Gospel of Matthew, who begged Jesus to heal his servant, or like the tax collectors who are despised by their fellow countrymen, or like the little children in the passage we did a few weeks ago in Matthew 19, verses 13 to 15. or the disciples themselves who were fishermen. They’re nobody great in God’s eyes, in the eyes of the world. But these men, these who are last in the eyes of the world, who have no importance, no status, no money, they are the ones who will be first in the kingdom of God. Verse 30 is very important because it tells us that in the kingdom of God, no one earns their status. In the kingdom of God, it operates on the basis of grace, rather than by human achievement, so that no one can boast. Once more, we see, as I mentioned before, that this section of the gospel of Matthew, Matthew 19 to 20, is a key section in the gospel in which Jesus is teaching the disciples the paradoxical values of the kingdom under the shadow of the cross.

He’s about to go to Jerusalem to die. We’ll see that in chapter 21 in the triumphal entry. And as he’s about to go to the cross, and he’s making these three passion predictions that are scattered throughout this section, that the Son of Man is going to go, and he’s going to be betrayed, and he’s going to be killed.

In the shadow of the cross, Jesus is teaching these paradoxical values. that the kingdom of heaven is not earned, but it is rather a gift of grace. And those who think that they are earning it will lose it, and those who think that they’re losing it will actually gain it by grace. Following Christ may be costly now, but It is worth it in the ultimate perspective.

We will have treasure in heaven. We will reign with Christ. We will receive a hundredfold. All that we lose out on in this world because we have followed Christ, because of our allegiance to Christ, whether that be earthly promotion and earthly status, or even earthly relationships, all that we have lost out on in this world because of our allegiance to Christ is nothing in comparison with what we will gain in the age to come. The greater riches that will be bestowed upon us as a gift of grace that Christ is dispensing to his disciples, to his followers, will outweigh all that we have lost.

There are two verses in the New Testament where Paul makes this exact same point. Romans 8, verse 18, he says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. And 2 Corinthians 4, verse 17, This light, momentary affliction, in comparison with the glory to come, it seems light. Right now it seems a little bit heavy, but in comparison with the glory to come, it’s light and momentary.

It’s preparing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.