Did Jesus Really say to Give Away EVERYTHING?

Did Jesus really say give all you have to the poor?

Yes, he did. Or maybe. In fact he said to sell up the lot and give away! Sounds impossible? But -  look very carefully!

The most quoted form of this command comes to us from Matthew, Mark and Luke. The pericope goes this way:

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions (Mark 10:17-22 ESV). Sell all, and give.

A man whose name and address we do not know speaks to us here and now.... That man was asking Jesus about having (inheriting) eternal life. I wonder how often that question came before Jesus? (Luke gives two occasions - see below.) The man is described as rich, as a ruler and as young. In 2025 we have a young ruler of 21 years (Senator). In those days adulthood was not considered to start at 18 years (!), but rather at 30 years. Thus, he may not have been young in our eyes? He did have status from holding a responsible position in the synagogue - Luke calls him a "ruler"; a religious leader. Moreover, he was a rich man; an important man in his community.

All the more striking that such a man came running, and knelt before Jesus in the road (so Mark tells it). Unless it was a Roman road (unlikely) he knelt in the dirt.  This man was serious. Then there was a conversation. I wonder if Jesus told the man to stand so they could talk?

The three synoptics have comparable reports on the rich man. Mark (and Luke) tell us that Jesus acknowledged the man's familiarity with the Law of God; with the Commandments and all that implies.

Starting as a boy, that man had applied himself to keeping God's Law. He knew it all. He was not half-hearted in his obedience. But, somehow, he knew he had a problem. Did he reflect on the daily sacrifices? Had he heard John the baptiser? Had he heard the message Jesus was delivering? How large was his concern? Why did he call Jesus "good"? Did he know that only God is good? Did it mean he had a watered-down view of God's holiness?

God's unbending standard was there and the man knew that standard and, underneath, feared he had failed to reach it. The sacrificial system said that. Failure would be, or could be, fatal to life eternal. This might be a reminder of the writing of Paul: All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23 CEV). I think, deet inside, we know that is true, even if we "grey it out" in our (my) own case.

There was one thing the man needed to do, Jesus said. He needed to make his assets liquid and give (distribute) to the poor and join with Jesus. All of our witnesses tell us that the man was saddened by the prospect of no longer having great possessions. He was invited to follow but rather went away. Did he go that broad, easy way which leads to destruction (so said Jesus - see Matthew 7:13). I wonder if perhaps at some later stage the man's conscience prompted him to repent and take up his cross and follow Jesus? 

Pause here to note it was to the poor Jesus told him to hand over wealth. To the poor. Moreover, it was to "give" (a completed action), not to go on giving, and not "all".

Concern for the poor was nothing new in that community. Their Law (ie God) said it was an offence to oppress the poor or to deny justice to the poor. It was an offence under God's Law to make the poor suffer or go in want. The word "poor" enters the Bible early, in its second document (Exodus) and comes many, many times.

Wait! Did Jesus expect or require all of his followers to fulfil this command and invitation? We can read of Jesus wanting followers; of him inviting people to follow. However, we will not find any other instance of Jesus directly telling a person to give away everything.

In fact, on the contrary, quite close to the end of his time on earth, Jesus told his followers to sell their cloaks and buy a sword! (See previous post.) Thus, they had at least some personal assets at that late stage.

That man on the road is the one and only instance of a person hearing such a challenge. Jesus called people to follow him and they did. There is no indication that they gave away all that they had. It is a mistake and wrong to put that instance forward as the "norm" for the follower, if only we could.

However, what we do find is Jesus advising his followers to build up treasure in heaven! This is earlier in Luke, chapter 12. There is an injunction similar to that given to the rich young boss.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. (Luke 12:33-34 NRSVUE). Taken literally, that means to sell up and divest myself of money - and so become one of the poor and starving.

The above injunction comes in a collection of teaching Jesus gave his disciples. The introduction goes like this: Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God” (Luke 12:15-21 NLT). I think it is clear that Jesus wants his followers to use their wealth in ways God approves. He wants us to not be possessed by what we own. To give away greed!

If I look ahead into the happenings in the months and years following Jesus' resurrection and ascension, I see the followers using "treasure" to help one another. So, in Jerusalem: They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need (Acts 2:45 NIV). I see Paul able to travel and stay and tell people the Good News of Jesus. Partly Paul funded himself by working in his trade. He had resources. Paul was able to take up a collection for believers back in Judaea and deliver it to them. I do not see the believers stripping themselves of everything in order to become poor.

Paul encouraged the believers in Corinth to be generous to the needy believers who shared their faith in Jesus: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9 CSB). His poverty; our enrichment.

Near the end of Jesus' earthly life he defended a woman's generous action and said: You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me” (John 12:8, NLT). That is evidently true, whatever may be our system of benefits.   

So, wealth (possessions and money), may be used well. Wealth may be a trap.

As is often said, I, today, am wealthy by the standards of those days. Quite probably every reader of these words would be classified as wealthy, otherwise how could you be reading here?

So, I think it is clear that Jesus did not intend his followers to be greedy wealthy, nor to be penniless beggars. It is clear Jesus wanted and invites everyone to join with him, to be his follower. It is also clear that Jesus paid the price to make it possible to receive eternal life.

It is possible to receive eternal life. So said Jesus: “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life (John 5:24 CSB). So also: I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand (John 10:28 CSB). It has already happened! This mortal body yet remains to put on immortality but the transfer to eternal life has taken place for all who believe.

Paul the convert become apostle put it very succinctly: Sin pays off with death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23 CEV). The gift is so much better than the wage earned! No comparison!

Responsibility rests on each and every follower. The gift is given to each and every follower.

Jesus' own poor programme

Jesus considered the poor in practical terms. This money moment was in the evening after they ate and drank Jesus' body and blood (!) and before the late night garden prayer and arrest. What was in the mind of Judas, I wonder?
After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. So Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.” None of those reclining at the table knew why he said this to him. Since Judas kept the money-bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or that he should give something to the poor. After receiving the piece of bread, he immediately left. And it was night (John 13:27-30 CSB). I am not aware of anything more than this incidental mention. However, it seems clear that all present would not think it strange for their treasurer (Judas) to be giving money to the poor on their behalf. It must have been familiar enough. 

Jesus then, with the group, kept a money-bag, evidently containing money! As it were, Jesus' money belt.

Jesus on life that lasts.

And he said to all (his followers), “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:23-27 ESV). Well, there is their puzzle about seeing God's kingdom. However, it is clear that Jesus is talking about his return in glory and about having a life that you can keep.

On another occasion Jesus was questioned about eternal life, though not in a genuine way.

An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.[a] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10: 25-29 NRSVUE). These words are followed by a famous parable, which I think the expert did not like. He wanted to put Jesus to the test, but see how he did not want to accept this answer Jesus gave:

Jesus replied:

As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead.

A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. Later a temple helper[a] came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side.

A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine[b] and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, “Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.”

Then Jesus asked, “Which one of these three people was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by robbers?”

The expert in the Law of Moses answered, “The one who showed pity.”

Jesus said, “Go and do the same!” (Luke 10:30-37 CEV)

A man who had used what he had to help another in need. A man whose ethnicity could not be uttered. This was done despite ill-will between their communities. I wonder if it was an actual event Jesus knew about? He made his point and the law expert avoided the despised name.

One prominent man (Paul) had heard what Jesus said and took it to heart: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23 NRSVUE). Clear? Such a brief explanation. Thanks be to God.

May you be blessed by God

Allen Hampton

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