Luke 18:22

22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. ¹Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have ²treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

Luke 18:22 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 18:22

Now when Jesus heard these things
That he had kept all these commandments, and that ever since he was a child, and to that very time:

he said unto him, yet lackest thou one thing;
not but that he lacked many other things, and even every thing: for he had performed no one thing as it should be: but Christ said, partly in answer to his pert question, "what lack I yet?" and partly by an ironical concession, granting he had kept them all, as he had said, yet one thing was wanting; and chiefly with a view to mortify his pride and vanity:

sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me;
(See Gill on Matthew 19:21).

Luke 18:22 In-Context

20 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'"

21 And he said, "All these I have kept from my youth."

22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!

Cross References

• 1. Luke 12:33; [Luke 16:9; Luke 19:8; Acts 2:45; Acts 4:34, 35; 1 Timothy 6:18, 19]
• 2. Matthew 6:19, 20