Verse 22
But his countenance fell at the saying, and he went away sorrowful: for he was one that had great possessions.
In the last analysis, he only thought he wanted eternal life. The allurement of this world's emoluments was, in his eyes, a benefit too great to forego. Having a choice between eternal life in the world to come and the good life here and now, he chose the latter. This is not hard to understand, because it is a choice being made by millions of people every day.
He went away sorrowful ... This was the price required by his choice; and it is a price that all must pay who renounce eternal happiness in favor of temporal comforts. Sadness must ever be the lot of any man who deliberately turns away from the world's only Saviour. One may see a hundred fallen countenances on any street corner in a few minutes. For comment on Matthew's fuller account, see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 19:16-17. Turlington observed that "Only here in the gospels is a command of Jesus to follow him clearly rejected."[29]
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