Thus, in the case of the young man with "great possessions," Jesus, according to Matthew prefaces His counsel to sell his goods and give to the poor with the significant condition, "if thou wilt be perfect" (Matt. XIX:21). To the same effect are the accounts of Mark and Luke. "One thing thou lackest," viz., in order to be perfect (Mark X:21; Luke XVIII:22). Evidently Jesus took the concrete case of the young man to impress on His hearers one of His ideals--the high standard He set for those who aspired to be His immediate followers and the ministers of His Word. In His instructions to the twelve and the seventy, He laid down rules of conduct which practically eliminated the acquisition or possession of wealth (Matt. X:2, 9, 10; Mark VI:8, 9; Luke IX: 3; X:4). But He set no such severe standard for the rank and file of His followers, nor did He withhold His favor and countenance from the possessors of riches, as though they were evil doers. Nearly all the persons named in the Gospels as intimate friends and associates of Jesus (outside of the apostles) were, apparently, more or less prominent, and belonged at least to the well-to-do class. Joseph of Arimathæa, a disciple of Jesus, and one "waiting for the Kingdom of God," and who placed His body in the sepulchre, was a rich man (Matt. XXVII:57; Luke XXIII:50, 51). Nicodemus, who assisted Joseph in the burial, brought a hundred pound weight of myrrh and aloes indicating that he was not a poor man (John XIX:39). According to John he was the man who came to Jesus by night and was a "ruler" of the Jews (John III:1, 2; VII:50). Lazarus, whom Jesus "loved" and with whose family He was very intimate (John XI:5; Luke X:38), could not have been a poor man, since his sister anointed Jesus with an ointment "very precious" and worth more than three hundred pence (Mark XIV:3, 4, 5). On one occasion Jesus invites Himself to visit in the house of Zacchaeus, who was "chief among the publicans," rich, and a "sinner" (Luke XIX:1-7). Levi, the publican, gives a "great feast" for Jesus, which He approves by His presence (Luke V:29). On another occasion He goes to the house of one of the "chief Pharisees" to eat bread on the Sabbath day (Luke XIV:1). Several times He commends the qualities of thrift and economy (Matt. XXV:21, 23; Luke XII:42-44; Matt. XXV:3, 4; XXIV:45, 46; Luke XIX:17, 19). He constantly extols charity--the generous giving to the poor--as one of the chief virtues, but the practice of this virtue on a considerable scale necessarily implies the prior accumulation of riches.