In this chapter we will cover Matthew 19:13 through 20:16. Although this is a long portion of the Word, it is nevertheless quite simple. The parable found in Matthew 20:1-16 is a definition of the Lord's words at the close of chapter nineteen. This passage begins with little children being brought to the Lord Jesus. When the disciples tried to prevent the children from receiving the Lord's blessing, the Lord rebuked them, and laying His hands on the children, He blessed them. This reminds us once again that the kingdom people must be like little children. Whether we are old or young, we all need to be like little children. Children are very simple. They are poor in spirit, and in a sense, pure in heart, fulfilling the requirements of Matthew chapter five. For the sake of the kingdom we need to be poor in spirit and pure in heart. Because children are not rich, it is quite easy for them to be like this. Grown-ups, on the contrary, are rich. Some are rich physically, others are rich psychologically, and still others are rich in their dreams. They dream of being rich. Little children are poor in every sense of the word. We must rid ourselves of such dreams and become like little children. If we fail to become like little children, we will be like a rich man coming to the Lord.
Following the incident with the children, we are told of a rich man who came to the Lord Jesus seeking eternal life (19:16-26). He was seeking the zoe life. He already had the bios, the physical life, and the psuche, the soulish life. Now he was seeking after the zoe life, the divine and eternal life, which he thought he could inherit by doing good. Addressing the Lord as "Teacher," he asked, "What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" (19:16). The Lord Jesus was very wise, and His answer revealed something very significant. The Lord responded, "Why are you asking Me concerning that which is good? One is good" (19:17). What does this reveal? It tells us that if we call the Lord good, we must recognize that He is God, for no one is good except God. The Lord was saying that if you call Me good, you must recognize that I am God.
We should not think of ourselves as good, because we are not God. Only God is good. This indicates that we are unable to do anything good because we ourselves are not good. How can a man who is not good do something good? It is impossible. Can an evil tree bring forth good fruit? (Matt. 7:18). We are not good. We must be convinced that we cannot do anything good. If we consider ourselves to be good, this is blasphemy against God. We all must realize that we are not good because we are not God. Only God is good.