Matthew 19:20 (WEB)
The young man said to him, “All these things I have observed from my youth. What do I still lack?”
Fathers and councils · 34
Ambrose of Milan
“But when he said that he had fulfilled all the commandments of the Law, there is given to him a counsel that he should sell all that he had and follow the Lord, for these things are not imposed as commands, but are offered as counsels.” — editor's note: S. Matt. xix. 18–21.
Read the whole comment“Jesus said unto him: If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thy goods and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me.”” — editor's note: S. Matt. xix. 20, 21.
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Augustine of Hippo
“All these, saith he, have I kept.” — editor's note: Ibid. ver. 20.
Read the whole commentChapter LXIII.—Of the Little Children on Whom He Laid His Hands; Of the Rich Man to Whom He Said, “Sell All that Thou Hast;” Of the Vineyard in Which the Labourers Were Hired at Different Hours; And of the Question…
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John Chrysostom
“Then since Jesus mentioned those out of the law, he saith, “All these things have I kept from my youth up.”” — editor's note: Matt. xix. 20. [R.V. omits “from my youth up.”]
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Tertullian
“That rich man did go his way who had not “received” the precept of dividing his substance to the needy, and was abandoned by the Lord to his own opinion.” — editor's note: See Matt. xix. 16–26; Mark x. 17–27; Luke xviii. 18–27.
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Clement of Alexandria
“Now, just Lot (for I pass over at present the account of the economy of regeneration) would not have been drawn into that unhallowed intercourse, had he not been intoxicated by his daughters, and overpowered by sleep.” — editor's note: [Does our author here use the term “regeneration” with reference to the restitution of all things? (Matt. xix. 20; Acts iii. 21.) He touched upon the subject…
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Cyprian of Carthage
“Jesus saith unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”” — editor's note: Matt. xix. 17–21.
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Catena Aurea on Matthew
- JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
He that asks this question is both young, rich, and proud, and he asks not as one that desires to learn, but as tempting Him. This we can prove by this, that when the Lord had said unto him, “If thou wilt enter into…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
But I for my part, though I deny not that he was a lover of money, because Christ convicts him as such, cannot consider him to have been a hypocrite, because it is unsafe to decide in uncertain cases, and especially…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
This may seem a discrepancy, that Matthew here gives it, “Why askest thou me concerning good?” whereas Mark and Luke’s have, “Why callest thou me good?” For this, “Why askest thou me concerning good?” may seem rather…
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But because he had styled Him Good Master, and had not confessed Him as God, or as the Son of God, He tells him, that in comparison of God there is no saint to be called good, of whom it is said, “Confess unto the…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, because he sought eternal life, (and eternal life consists in such contemplation in which God is beheld not for punishment, but for everlasting joy,) and knew not with whom he spake, but thought Him only a Son of…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
For Our Saviour does not reject this witness to His goodness, but corrected the error of calling Him Good Master apart from God.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Wherein then was the profit that He answered thus? He leads him by degrees, and teaches him to lay aside false flattery, and rising above the things which are upon earth to cleave to God, to seek things to come, and…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
Christ also answers thus, because of that He said, “What good thing shall I do? For when we depart from evil and do good, that which we do is called good by comparison with what other men do. But when compared with…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
And He said not, “If thou desirest life eternal; but, “If thou wilt enter into life,” calling that simply “life,” which shall be everlasting. Here we should consider how eternal life should be loved, when this…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
These words prove that the Law gave to such as kept it not only temporal promises, but also life eternal. And because the hearing these things made him thoughtful, “He saith unto him, Which?”
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
This he said not to tempt Him, but because he supposed that they were other than the commandments of the Law, which should be the means of life to him.
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
And Jesus, condescending as to a weak one, most graciously set out to him the precepts of the Law; Jesus said, “Thou shalt do no murder;” and of all these precepts follows the exposition, “And thou shalt love thy…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or perhaps these precepts are enough to introduce one, if I may say so, to the entrance of life; but neither these, nor any like them, are enough to conduct one to the more inward parts of life. But whoso…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
But because all the commandments that the Lord had recounted were contained in the Law, The young man saith unto him, “All these have I kept from my youth up.” And did not even rest there, but asked further, “What…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
But to those who would be perfect in grace, He shews how they may come to perfection, “Jesus saith unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go, and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor.” Mark the words; He said…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
Nor need it be made a scruple in what monasteries, or to the indigent brethren of what place, any one gives those things that he has, for there is but one commonwealth of all Christians. Therefore wheresoever any…
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
See two kinds of life which we have heard set before men; the Active, to which pertains, “Thou shalt not kill,” and the rest of the Law; and the Contemplative, to which pertains this, “If thou wilt be perfect.” The…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
Nor are such only partakers in the kingdom of heaven, who, to the end they may be perfect, sell or part with all that they have; but in these Christian ranks are numbered by reason of a certain communication of their…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
That Vigilantius asserts that they who retain the use of their property, and from time to time divide their incomes among the poor, do better than they who sell their possessions and lavish them in one act of…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
It is good to distribute with discrimination to the poor; it is better, with resolve of following the Lord to strip one’s self of all at once, and freed from anxiety to suffer want with Christ.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
And because He spake of riches warning us to strip ourselves of them, He promises to repay things greater, by how much heaven is greater than earth, and therefore He says, “And thou shalt have treasure in heaven.” By…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
If every commandment is fulfilled in this one word, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” and if he is perfect who has fulfilled every command, how is it that the Lord said to the young man, If thou wilt be…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
For many who leave their riches do not therefore follow the Lord; and it is not sufficient for perfection that they despise money, unless they also follow the Saviour, that unless having forsaken evil, they also do…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
For they that have little, and they that abound, are not in like measure encumbered. For the acquisition of riches raises a greater flame, and desire is more violently kindled.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
I know not how, but in the love of worldly superfluities, it is what we have already got, rather than what we desire to get, that most strictly enthrals us. For whence went this young man away sorrowful, but that he…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
But historically, the young man is to be praised for that he did not kill, did not commit adultery; but is to be blamed for that he sorrowed at Christ’s words calling him to perfection. He was young indeed in soul,…
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Cross-references · 17
Cited together in Concerning Widows Chapter 12.
Cited together in The Instructor II.9.
Cited together in The Instructor II.9.
Cited together in The Instructor II.9.
Cited together in Concerning Widows Chapter 12.
Cited together in The Instructor II.9.
Cited together in Concerning Widows Chapter 12.
Cited together in Concerning Widows Chapter 12.
Cited together in The Instructor II.9.
Cited together in The Instructor II.9.
Cited together in On the Duties of the Clergy I.11.
Cited together in On the Duties of the Clergy I.11.
Cited together in The Instructor II.9.
Cited together in Remigius of Auxerre on Matthew 19:16–22 (2) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in On the Duties of the Clergy I.11.
Cited together in On the Duties of the Clergy I.11.
Cited together in Origen on Matthew 19:16–22 (3) (Catena Aurea).