[27] "Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
[28] "Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [29] And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. [30] But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."
Mark and Luke add a qualifying statement to verse 29, that this will happen "in this present age" and in the age to come.
Anyway, I believe that this verse has been used many times throughout the history of the Church to justify all sorts of things, but especially financial abuses. It is interesting that Jesus adds these comments immediately after He tells a rich man that he needs to sell everything and give to the poor, then follow Him. These verses are a great example of how we can take things out of context and focus solely on them, forgetting quickly that which Jesus just said.
I guess it isn't that surprising as many of us, myself included, have a hard time remembering what the Lord said to us yesterday.
Anyway, my reflection on today's verses does not provide answers, but more a comment on context. Jesus is speaking to his Apostles directly, and to us generally. He had just finished speaking to the young rich man, telling him that His riches and possessions were what stood between him and real relationship with the Lord, and eternal life. The young man's response illustrates Jesus' point exactly, for when given the choice between riches and possessions or following Jesus, he walked away from Jesus. The Lord was addressing the nature of our hearts, the strength of the pull of possessions, and the ability of this focus to pull us away from that which is infinitely better - relationship with Him and eternal life.
In this context, Peter proclaims that they have left everything - essentially demonstrating that they didn't have the same problem (remember Matthew AKA Levi was a tax-collector and likely wealthy). Jesus looks right at them all and responds as copied above, they will receive authority in the new age, relationships and blessings in this present age and the age to come, and eternal life. I imagine they all were looking around at each other and high-fiving after Jesus answered in such a way. It is important to note that they are all still thinking the Kingdom of God was going to be an earthly kingdom, and thus Jesus' answer seemed to confirm their beliefs!
What I was thinking about this morning, was what they actually DID receive in that present Age. In Mark's version he adds one more thing they will receive "persecutions" (Mark 10:30). History tells us that most of them would be martyred for their faith, and certainly they all endured the persecutions of the early church that occurred after the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54 - 8:3). James was killed by Herod quite early (Acts 12: 1-2) and the rest were scattered all over. What we don't see much of is the rest of their actual lives, and what material wealth they inherited or enjoyed. I believe the reason this is the case is that they all came to understand that the Lord's prophecy to them wasn't about individual possessions and wealth, or a specifically earthy kingdom like David experienced. In fact it was after day of Pentecost that the church grew rapidly and people were selling possessions and giving to the church so that they could care for all in need (Acts 2:45) and they were feeding and providing for hundreds or more, providing daily bread distribution (Acts 6:1-4).
Thinking about that early church life, there must have been a sense of community and oneness, sort of like a giant family gathering were everyone was related and loving each other, looking out for each other and experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit present in their gatherings. I am sure, thinking specifically about the Apostles, that they were now welcomed in most any home, in any family, in any gathering of believers, and they were experiencing the riches in "this present age". It wasn't about them, it was about the Body of Christ, and they came to understand that after the day of Pentecost. Later on they were given peoples and churches to care for and teach. Again, the scriptures do not tell us much about their personal lives, but we know from Church history that all of them were active and given to serving the church in many places, with thousands of people responding to the Gospel. The Apostles were held in special honor for they were Jesus' selected one's, and were considered to be the eldest brothers in the family of the church, the Body of Christ. In summary, they had left everything, but received hundreds of times as much in return, just as Jesus had promised, it just wasn't in the form of individual riches and possessions. They were wealthy in ways that were clearly far beyond their imagining, for their inheritance included the gentiles (Acts 10 & 11 and beyond).
So, bringing this back into context of our lives, our choosing to follow Jesus should not be about individual wealth acquisition, or financial blessing, or reward. Our following of Jesus should be about doing that which He commanded, loving each other as He loved us, being a part of the Body of Christ. The Kingdom and its expansion individually is our charge and commission, and in the midst of that we will be blessed beyond comprehension, both in this present age and in the age to come!
Amen!
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