ABOUT THIS EPISODE
The rich young man greats Jesus by calling Him, "Good Teacher." Jesus asks the question, why do you call me "good?" The young man asks Jesus "what must I do to enter the kingdom?" Notice Jesus does not dispel the young man's understanding that one must do, i.e. requiring some effort or work on our part, to enter the kingdom of heaven, but rather answers his question by first instructing him to keep the commandments. But, the rich young man knows that even though he has done this, he is still lacking something. Jesus looks at him in love and asks him to give up the very thing in the world that is most dear to him. Jesus then turns to his disciples and answers Peter's noting that "we have given up everything, what is our reward?" Jesus explains that they will be the judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. How is this realized, or has it been? Where is this, can we see it? We look to Venerable Bede and St. John Chrysostom to gain insight. We also look to the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible to gain additional insight.
