And he said to them, Verily I say to you, There is no one who has left home, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
Peter had just watched a rich ruler turn away from Christ. He speaks up: he and his companions had done what that man would not do. The Lord's reply lists the ties a follower may have to loosen. It attaches to them a promise so large that the real question becomes whether anyone loses by following Him.
Peter's words sound confident. One writer hears in them an echo of the rich man's own trouble. The Lord's reply meets it with both kindness and correction.
Peter's question no doubt shows a modified form of the rich man's trouble, so far as disciples may be affected by it. They had left all — little or much as it might be — to follow Him: what would they have for it? So what they gave up still has some value for them. And what they will get in return is a matter of concern. The Lord's answer seems one of encouragement, mixed with a certain amount of reproof. They shall have what the rich man might well crave — eternal life. And they shall have it in the present too. Had they not begun to taste that blessing yet? They will have "manifold more" than all that they had given up.
The Lord does not stack the losses up; He separates them. One writer weighs these small words in Mark's parallel account.
Notice the separating word "or" in Mark 10:29, and the joining word "and" in Mark 10:30. One might be called to surrender "houses, or brothers, or sisters," and so on. Such a person shall receive a hundredfold, which is expanded into "houses, and brothers, and sisters," and so on. These two little words, "or" and "and," add weight to the gracious declaration.
The same writer applies this to readers who have not had to give up everything.
Peter and the rest had left all. Such a full surrender might not be required from everyone. So the Lord graciously speaks of leaving house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children for the gospel's sake.
A promise of repayment can become the very reason a person follows Christ.
Our Lord shows that God will be no one's debtor. For every loss suffered because of His name, everyone will receive a hundredfold in return and inherit eternal life. But He adds a warning: many who are first will be last, and the last first. Where there is faith, Christ is the motive. Reward is only the encouragement of the one who follows the Saviour. It cheers him when he is already on the way. Make the reward the object, and everything becomes mercenary. In every case, however, God never forgets. He always repays.
The repayment does not all wait for later, and it is not counted in property.
The Lord Jesus did not flatter Peter for this. He gave the solid assurance that anyone who leaves his own possessions or his natural relatives for the kingdom of God's sake will receive many times as much even in this present world. That person will also receive the infinite blessing of eternal life in the age to come. The Lord did not speak of material blessings. He spoke of what is far more vital and valuable: the present joy and blessing of the grace of the Lord Jesus, the sweetness of communion with Himself.
Some keep present blessing and eternal life apart. One writer uses this verse to show that they belong together.
Take Luke 18:29-30. There is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive manifold more in this present time. In the age to come he receives eternal life. Do not both come together here? Among the four Gospels, only John treats eternal life as a present gift of grace. It is the special privilege, known and enjoyed, of the one who receives and follows the rejected Christ.
Why does following Christ cost anything at all? One writer points to the road Christ Himself walked.
Suffering, persecution, loss, for the kingdom of God's sake — why should that be? The secret of it is plainly stated. The Son of Man, whose day of power is coming, first had to suffer rejection and death.
- Occasion — Peter's boast carries a trace of the rich ruler's own trouble. The Lord answers with encouragement mixed with reproof.
- Measure — "Or" separates the losses. "And" gathers the repayments: what a person gives up one by one, God gives back in full.
- Motive — Reward cheers the follower who is already on the way. Make it the goal, and following turns mercenary.
- Now — The manifold more is present, not material: the joy of grace and communion with Christ Himself.
- Then — Eternal life in the coming age crowns it all. The cost makes sense because men rejected the Son of Man first.
who shall not receive manifold more at this time, and in the coming age life eternal.
Peter had just said that he and the others left everything to follow Jesus. This verse is the Lord's reply — a promise paid in two parts. What arrives now, and what waits in "the age to come"?
Peter spoke right after the rich man turned away. The Lord's answer cheers the disciples, and it also corrects them.
They had left all — little or much as it might be — to follow Him: what would they have for it? Clearly what they gave up still has some value in their eyes, and their compensation matters to them. The Lord's answer seems one of encouragement, which also carries a certain blend of reproof. They shall have what the rich man might well crave — eternal life; but in the present also — and had they not begun to taste that blessing yet? — "manifold more" than all that they had given up. Such is God's mercy! They may have thought they gave up much for Christ, but in fact they were only bankrupt beggars when His grace laid hold of them.
The return is real, but the world would not count it as profit.
This profit does not appeal to the man of the world, who measures things by the size of his bank balance. It is more real than that.
Paul's life shows what that payment looks like.
If we find this hard to understand, it is because we fail to value the spiritual favours that make up the "manifold more." Paul illustrates that saying for us. Read Philippians 3. See how he counted up the spiritual wealth poured into his heart after he had "suffered the loss of all things." He was like a camel stripped of every rag it had carried. He passed through the needle gate, and found himself loaded with favours on the other side.
The verse lists relatives given up. The Lord repays much of that loss in kind, with a wider family.
I found the blessing of the Lord on everything. I found myself outside the world, but in the family of God. I found myself to be a brother to all who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. I found I had ten thousand unknown brothers. If you follow the Lord you will find yourself among the people of God, among those who will take a deep interest in you.
One item on the list stands apart from the rest.
The word "mothers" shows that this is not meant in a natural sense only. Yet the matching return is the enjoyment of real present things. In the Church we find what fills the gap a hundredfold — the gap these losses made. Love for Christ and the Church may give infinitely more than a hundredfold to the one who gives up a wife. Yet that loss is never repaid in kind… Christ alone can make it up.
But the promise raises a question: should the reward be the reason for following?
Notice that the Lord speaks only of giving up natural ties for His own sake — and for the gospel's sake, which this Gospel alone adds, most fittingly. Peter too speaks of leaving all and following Him. To leave for the sake of the reward would be worthless, and, what is more, never lasts. Christ is the only attraction that works. He is the motive that governs a renewed heart… Rewards will follow later, but saints follow the Lord, not the rewards.
The phrase "the age to come" marks a period of time, not a place.
Eternal life is always life in Christ for ever, but we get it in heaven. Two words are translated "world to come" in the New Testament. In Luke 18:30 it is the age to come, Messiah's time, which may be in heaven.
In that age, what changes is not whether believers have life, but how they enjoy it.
Peter and the rest had left all. Such a full surrender might not be required of everyone. So the Lord graciously speaks of leaving house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children for the gospel's sake. Such will receive in the age to come life everlasting. He speaks here of the future, when such will enjoy everlasting life in person, and not only in soul.
- Cause. The promise answers Peter's claim that they had left everything. It encourages, and it also reproves: those who counted their losses were bankrupt beggars when grace took hold of them.
- Currency. The "manifold more" comes as spiritual wealth, not money. Paul lost all things, then came through the needle gate loaded with favours.
- Family. The Lord repays lost family ties inside the family of God. The wife is the one exception, and Christ alone makes that up.
- Motive. Leaving things for the reward is worthless and never lasts. Christ Himself is the only attraction that holds a renewed heart.
- Completion. The first instalment is real now. In the age to come, believers enjoy the same life in person, not only in soul.