Asking Jesus “What is required, or which commandments must I keep?” is the wrong question.
Perhaps not completely the “wrong question”, but I find it curious that stuck between two episodes of people asking Jesus, “What must I do to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven?” we have:
13 Then little children were brought to him that he should lay his hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Allow the little children, and don’t forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these.” 15 He laid his hands on them, and departed from there.
The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these!
We have, in the last two reflections, zeroed in on this idea that we cannot do everything necessary to enter eternal life.
What is required? What Law(s) must we keep? What sins, such as divorce, are unforgiveable? These, and a hundred other questions have at their root our desire to earn God’s favor.
We need Jesus.
In fact, when we see all that Jesus does for our lives, the offering of himself on the Cross, we realize:
All human merit shrivels in the presence of the burning self-giving love of God.
Perhaps this is why Jesus continues to tell the disciples of his future, or what awaits him in Jerusalem.
Perhaps it is why Matthew is making the point again that we must come to Jesus. Matthew has seen the Risen Lord. Matthew knows that the only path is that we must follow Jesus. Jesus must be at the center of our lives.
Consider again the prior two reflections. “What must we do?” so that God will love and accept us? The answer is GOOD NEWS. We must accept His Love. We must trust that he truly loves us—while we were unlovable.
Spend a moment giving God thanks for His Love of us. Spend a moment zeroing in on following Jesus.