Matthew 19:21

‘Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.” '

So Jesus now gives him his answer, the answer to which He has been aiming. He has claimed to love his neighbour as himself, so let him become like a little child in his response to Jesus. Let him show his love for his neighbour. Let him sell all that he has, and give it to his poor neighbours (in the same way as, if he had been poor, he would have wanted others to do to him). And then let him come and follow Jesus. Here was the ‘good thing' that he could do. And if he did it he would inherit eternal life, for no one could ever come wholly to Jesus like this and be disappointed. Jesus would do the rest. We should perhaps note that implicit in the idea of ‘following Jesus' is listening to Him and responding fully to His words. Jesus is not just saying ‘sign on and join the ranks'. He is saying ‘respond to Me and to all I am and to all I say like a little child would, and leave the consequences to Me' (compare John 10:27). He is saying ‘believe in Me and follow Me'.

For if he does this he will be being ‘perfect' (complete) like his Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48) because he will be distributing all that he has on the undeserving (Matthew 5:45) and then following the great Life-giver Himself, the One sent from God, the source of all truth. He will be ‘letting go, and letting God'. Furthermore by doing this he will lay up his treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6:19), (a confirmation that the contents of the sermon on the mount really are in mind in this passage). Thus if he is genuine in seeking goodness he now knows how it can be brought about, by wholly following Jesus, with all his temptations and burdens laid aside, and thus being open to all that Jesus can give him. Then the way to eternal life will have opened before him.

The later Rabbis taught that no one should immediately give away more than one fifth of their wealth. And there was wisdom in what they said. For men should give time for thought concerning such things. But Jesus' very point is that the case was different at this point in time. For this was another indication (like the idea of possibly not marrying because the Kingly Rule of Heaven was here) that the Messianic age was here. The Kingly Rule of Heaven is among them, and is about to burst on the world. Now is the time to press forcefully into it. Now is the time for a man to put all else aside and throw in his lot with Jesus. It was neck or nothing time.