The question of possessions has periodically become central in Christian history, if not for all, then for many Christians. People appeared who asserted that a Christian not only...
The question of possessions has periodically become central in Christian history, if not for all, then for many Christians. People appeared who asserted that a Christian not only can, but absolutely must, be poor, completely and absolutely poor; otherwise he will have to forget about salvation and the Kingdom.
Some of the stories told by the evangelists can indeed lead to such thoughts, especially at first glance. Meanwhile, Jesus Himself was not completely destitute: in the community of disciples that He headed there was a common purse, which is mentioned in one way or another in all four Gospels. That purse, admittedly, was managed by Judas Iscariot, which has undoubtedly served at all times as an additional argument for supporters of complete and absolute poverty. Yet the apostles themselves reacted to the Savior's words about the difficulty of salvation for the rich, and in such a way as if all of them were rich men. If the matter were material wealth, money, or possessions in general, they would have had nothing to worry about; but, as is clear, the disciples understood that the Teacher meant something more.
The young man who was speaking with Jesus was indeed materially rich, but the matter was not material wealth as such. Jesus simply answers the question asked: what do I lack for the Kingdom? This is precisely the question the young man asks Jesus, expecting an answer like the one learned rabbis and teachers of the Torah often gave then. He thought that, like them, Jesus would offer him some special means: a prayer, for example, or a special ascetic exercise, or some secret connected with observing the norms and rules of ritual purity - in short, something that would allow him to enter the Kingdom. He did not expect the simple answer about the commandments: "All these I have kept from my youth." There was nothing special in that; most observant Jews could say the same about themselves. The young man, however, is seeking something precisely special; he wants to receive the key to the Kingdom, and he is looking for it as he goes from one spiritual teacher to another.
Jesus can offer him only one thing: complete poverty. Not poverty in the literal sense, but poverty as readiness to give up what one considers one's own. In the Kingdom no one has anything of their own. Each person uses everything he needs, but does not appropriate what he uses. He does not cling to it with his heart, which remains free. This task is harder than completely renouncing possessions, and this time the disciples understood their Teacher very well. Such poverty is not so much a human matter as God's, as Jesus tells them.
