Lucas 18:21

And he said, All these things have I observed from my youth up. And when Jesus heard it, he said unto him, One thing thou lackest yet: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Matthew has the significant question of this young ruler, "What lack I yet?" And, since that is the question that Jesus here answered, we have another example of the supplementary nature of the Gospel accounts.

Cox mentioned the "soul hunger" of this young man. "It was a case of youth asking for life, the rich seeking a treasure, hunger amidst plenty. Life was before him and wealth around him, yet he hungered."[29] Tinsley remarked that "In this particular instance, Jesus obviously thought discipleship must involve renunciation of possessions."[30] The true explanation lies much more probably, however, in the fact that this young man was called to accompany Jesus and the Twelve, perhaps as some kind of an apostle; and apostleship did require renunciation of possessions, a test that all of the Twelve met, as Peter mentioned a bit later. At any rate, it would have been the height of folly for Jesus to have invited him to "follow" in THAT company without meeting the test they all had met and passed.

The allegation that one cannot be a follower of Jesus Christ except on condition of selling and distributing all of his earthly possessions is based partially upon Jesus' words here; but it is impossible to sustain such a thesis, either from this or any other passage in the New Testament. It has just been noted that Christ's word here was to this young man, and not to all; and the reason for this requirement in his case is easily discernible. In order to be an apostle, or to accompany Jesus, as this young man was invited to do, it was absolutely necessary to renounce all earthly possessions; but such was never made a universal requirement of Christianity (see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 19:21).

Lamar was correct in the deduction which he made from this, saying:

Our Saviour, in all these wonderful lessons about worldly goods, means nothing tending to the disorganizing of society, or to the undervaluing of earthly riches, but to infuse a principle that shall uplift them to higher uses, and consecrate them to worthier objects.[31]

[29] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 56.

[30] E. J. Tinsley, The Gospel According to Luke (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969), p. 169.

[31] J. S. Lamar, op. cit., p. 229.