Mark 10: 17 –22
Richey Rich
17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” 20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Both Matthew and Luke wrote in their Gospels this same sermon of our Lord, so let’s see what they listed.
Luke 18, “18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. 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 this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
Matthew 19, “16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to Him, “Which ones?”Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
This story is not out of place. I believe our Lord put this here as a continual example of what He Is teaching His disciples.
Look at this guy – Mr. Perfect. Everything a normal sinful person in this world seeks to be – healthy, young, rich, and has power and influence. However, with all a man could want, he was still lacking something. In Psychology we call this ‘overriding symptoms.’
In this further example of His teaching our Lord Jesus’ authority again comes out. He is depicted as the One Who lays down the rules for entry into His Kingdom. And it also illustrates something else. He has just been speaking of how it is necessary to receive His invitation to join Him like a little child, and now here was an important and wealthy man who wanted guidance. Our Lord Jesus makes the demand that he forgets all his encumbrances, and with the heart of a little child forsake all and follow Him.
For the point was that he could not come and receive eternal life like a little child because his wealth got in the way. It prevented the most important decision a person needs to make in being of prime importance. So at the best any allegiance would have been a half-hearted allegiance as he tried to serve both God and Mammon. He wanted the best of both. As you and I both know it doesn’t work that way. And when he goes away disappointed, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ then goes on to point out that eternal life is not to be earned by dedication to good works. Rather it is a gift which is received by those who with unencumbered hearts follow Him. His point is that it is those who in their hearts have disregarded earthly things who will receive eternal life in the world to come. And why have they done this? It was ‘for His sake.’ This was another huge claim to being unique. The thought is not that they receive eternal life because of what they have sacrificed. It is that their sacrifice reveals their love for Him, in that they do it for His sake, following Him in childlike trust. It is this love and trust which evidences that they are true servants of God. Thus they will receive eternal life.
17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
The action demonstrated the young man’s eagerness and also his awe of this great prophet. He clearly had some knowledge of The Lord Jesus, and his longing was to inherit eternal life. He gave the appearance of being just the right kind of person to make a disciple.
‘Eternal life’ here equates to coming under the Kingdom of God as is brought out in verse 23. But the eternal life he was seeking was that taught by the Pharisees, life in the future eternal kingdom, for they believed steadfastly in the resurrection from the dead and eternal life in the future Kingdom. He had seen how they strove to obtain it and he wanted to ensure his part in it as well. He had probably himself struggled hard, following the dictates of the Pharisees, but up to now he knew that he had not achieved it. He was aware that what he had learned was not enough. Something more was needed.
We have here an interesting contrast to the young children. They came only to receive in a way that was free and undeserved, but he in contrast came to ‘do’. He wanted to put in a great effort, or possibly find some crucial key to the problem, some extra special deed, that would enable him to achieve his goal. Consequently it was going to be very difficult for him to enter into the Kingdom of God, for there were too many barriers in the way.
Please note the term ‘Good teacher.’ The unusual application of the adjective to the respectful title of ‘Teacher’ spoke volumes about the young man’s attitude of mind. In Jewish circles it was almost unique. Goodness was seen as belonging only to God. But he was thinking in terms of achieving goodness, in the way that the Pharisees sought to achieve it, and he had considered many teachers, but all had failed to come up to his exacting standards.
Now, however, he had been watching our Lord Jesus and listening to Him, and as he had considered our Master Jesus. As a result of his thinking, he had been filled with admiration. He had seen in our Great King One who was almost there, no, One who might already have achieved it. And therefore One who could perhaps now give him the secret and enable him to achieve it as well.
The problem was that his thoughts were all in terms of achievement. And so enthusiastically he describes our Lord Jesus as ‘good’, and desires to attain to a similar goodness. He too wanted to be ‘good, like the Lord Jesus was. And so while enthusiastically he describes Him as ‘good’, it is with the wrong idea in mind. He sees in Him someone who had made Himself good, and He wants to know how to achieve it too. It was necessary for him first to be disillusioned about the possibility of achieving goodness. This fact is brought out by his statement, ‘What must I do?’ In effect he was saying, ‘You have almost achieved it, teacher. Show me what you did. Show me what I have to do.’
18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
The Lord Jesus asked him why he calls Him uniquely good. He was not by this denying His own goodness. That was not really the question at issue. He was rather asking the young man to think through what he meant by ‘goodness’, and to recognize what quality was in his mind.
He needed to realize was that as far as he was concerned that goodness that he was speaking about was unattainable, because it was a goodness that was only true of God. And the truth therefore was that no one could become good in that way, because only God is essentially good. In other words He was stressing that true goodness is something that is beyond men, because it is something innate, not earned, and He wanted the young man to recognize the fact.
Thus for the young man to have suggested that even our Lord Jesus was good when he thought of Him as a mere prophet demonstrated the inadequacy of his thinking, for it revealed that he did not know what true goodness was. Indeed if he really did think that our Lord Jesus was truly good let him consider what the consequences of that thought would be. It would be to put our Holy Lord Jesus on the divine side of reality.
What God’s Great Messiah wanted recognized was that to find goodness men must find God and that such goodness was not something for another to achieve, or that was achievable by men on earth. They could only become absorbed into His goodness. What the young man was seeking was therefore impossible. Our Lord leads this man toward this conclusion by probing further his thinking.
19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
Our Lord Jesus began by putting before him something of the standards God required of man. The requirements outlined follow the second part of the Ten Commandments, the part that could be actually demonstrated before men.
Perhaps had the young man considered the words further he might have hesitated in his claim to goodness, but he was young and constrained by the standards he knew, and perhaps a little self-righteous, and so he thought that he had not failed as regards the commandments. And yet in spite of that he knew that he lacked something, although he was not sure what. It was in fact because in his heart he did fail, because he had a failing which controlled him without his realizing it, the deceitfulness of riches.
It was not that the young man coveted what others had, he owned too much for that, but that he loved what he had to such an extent that it gripped his life and prevented him from being totally outgoing towards God. And that was what our Lord Jesus was building up to.
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
The young man had been brought up as a good and respectable Jewish boy and he had responded to the teaching he had received. Obedience to the Law of Moses had been a passion of his life. And He could think of nothing that he had omitted. As far as he was aware he had committed no major sin. But, of course, the truth was that he had not got beneath the surface of the Law.
21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
Please note that our Lord Jesus looked at the eager young man and loved him. Then Jesus went straight to the root of his sinfulness, a sinfulness of which he himself was as yet unaware. Like an arrow from a bow the words of El Roi – The Strong One Who Sees all - went straight to his heart. His particular sin was that of love of money and luxurious ease and riches So to now give this young man the answer he was seeking, our Lord Jesus commanded him to rid himself of his stumbling block by selling everything that he possessed and giving it away and then coming and following Him. Our Lord Jesus knew that in his case he had to be totally freed from it.
Certainly the disciples had done this. But this young man had even more to lose, and he was not yet ready for it, for his wealth gripped his heart. We should note that his coming to The Lord Jesus had shown him what the real truth was. At least now he knew what the stark fact was. He was not, as he thought, approaching a certain higher level of goodness, so that he was almost there. Rather he was sinful, utterly sinful, because his wealth was more important to him than God. His privilege had become his idol.
So Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord our Righteousness - had achieved His aim. The man’s self-righteousness had been broken down, and shown for what it was, and he knew now that by his actions alone he could not hope to achieve eternal life, for he could not face the price that was demanded. He was unwilling to sacrifice all that he had.
If the young man was to find life he must get rid of the idol that came between him and God. Without that he could never love God truly. Loving God like that was the one commandment that he had failed to keep, to love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, and if he would find eternal life it was that that had to be remedied. It was true that only God could inspire the necessary love within him to turn away from his idol, but it was for him to first cast out the hindrance to that love.
Please note that our Lord Jesus was not just saying, give up your worldly treasure and you will receive eternal life. The giving up had to be in order to follow Jesus fully. That was the crux. For eternal life was found in knowing Jesus Christ and in knowing the One Who had sent Him.
‘And come and follow Me.’ Jesus was offering the young man a full answer to his question, and it was to be found in Him. As he responded to Jesus with his hindrance left behind him he would soon find the life that was life indeed, the free gift of eternal life in Christ, for God would work faith within his heart.
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
As he thought of what was involved the young man’s face changed, and a despairing look overtook it. What was being required was too much for him. And he went away sorrowful. What a contrast with how he arrived. He did not run now. He walked off with drooped shoulders. We are reminded of our Lord Jesus’ words earlier in chapter 8 verses 36-37. ‘What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life’, and ‘what should a man give in exchange for his life.’ And this man seemed unwilling to face the cost.
Stop and think of our Lord Jesus’ look as He saw this young man walk away. He knew how hard it was for the young man but He was willing to wait for the word sown to work in his heart, producing either good grain or being choked by weeds. It would determine what kind of ground he was, that which had been prepared by God or that which was barren and would never bear fruit. The young man had to be left to decide. We do not know what the final outcome was. Perhaps he did return to follow the Lord Jesus. But he would never again say, “All these things have I done.” He had learned a vital lesson. He was not as ‘ready for anything’ as he had thought. There was at least one commandment that he was not prepared to keep. And now he knew it.
What a sad contrast there is between this man and the children who were brought to our Lord Jesus, whom He would not allow His disciples to turn away. Here He let the man go because it was his own free choice.
How about you? You also have to make a decision. Are you willing to forsake all to follow our Lord Jesus Christ? Please give this point serious consideration because your eternity lies in the balance.
