Exceedingly Astonished

Matthew 19:25 - Upon hearing this the disciples were exceedingly astonished, "Who then can be saved?"

The disciples are completely taken by surprise. According to everything they had been taught, being rich was a sign of God's blessing. This theology favors the rich to the extreme detriment of the not-rich. It is an attitude that still persists today in the US, where the rich are happy to exploit it for political and economic advantage. The implication was that the world was just. i.e. if one works hard, one will be rewarded. If one has not been rewarded, one has not been working hard.

This is the exact thinking that describes many people today - especially the white, working class people everyone seems so worried about. Many Trump voters have this fallacy, this deep story, that the rich must have worked hard and if they work hard, they, too can be rich. Their sympathy is for the rich rather than the poor, who are judged to be lazy and moochers. Because the speaker themselves are not rich only means that they have been cheated. It's a great cover story for the systemic racism, classism, sexism, heteronormativity, and ableism that pervade American society.

Our investment in this view of reality is so great that it is difficult to recognize the concept of systemic oppression and generational poverty. When we hear this we often think that means, we are the bad guys. Somehow. No one wants to be the bad guy so we reject it. Trouble is, that is not the point at all. It only makes us gullible and easily swayed by those who would take advantage.

This is the response that Jesus is trying to root out of his followers. It's NOT rich people who will have an easy time getting into heaven; it's the oppressed, the marginalized, the prostitutes, the poor people, the orphans, and widows who will walk right through the gate. Jesus is turning the world upside down. Instead of rising up a rigged ladder on which we'll get nowhere, Jesus calls us to climb down from the ladder, look around to see where we can help others. How can we participate in Jesus' mission of liberation?

Another thought I have about this verse that I'll work through is what does Matthew mean by 'saved'? Saved from what? Was this Matthew's expression or was it a common theology of the time? Was it Jesus' expression? What were they trying to avoid? Hell? Clearly it means to enter heaven somehow but how did they conceive of that? This is one of those words that we skip over because we've heard it so many times, we think we already know.  We forget to think about what it might have meant to the speaker or the author.
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