MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
CENTRAL CHRISTIAN, BROWNSVILLE, TX
I am going to read this morning from the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, vs’s 16-26. The same incident is also recorded in Mark & Luke, but I have chosen to read it as recorded in Matthew 19. (READ Matthew 19:16-26.)
Undoubtedly, as I read this passage you recognized it as being about a young man we often call the "Rich Young Ruler."
A. I am concerned right now because it is possible that I’m in danger of losing your attention for a couple of reasons.
1. First of all, this is such a familiar Bible story. So you may think, "I already know everything about this, so I can shove my mind into neutral & quit listening to the preacher." You see, familiarity often breeds contempt.
2. Secondly, you may tune me out because you may assume that there is nothing in the life of this Rich Young Ruler that applies personally to you.
B. Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that there are four things about ourselves that we don’t think that we are.
1. First of all, we never consider ourselves rich. I have never met a person who really thinks he is rich, because there are others who have much more. I’ve met a few who I think are rich, but in their own eyes they’re not.
And since this young man is described as rich, we automatically assume that what Jesus says to him does not apply to us because we’re not rich.
2. Secondly, we seldom think of ourselves as being young, even when we are. As teenagers we tried to convince others that we were mature. A few years later we often commented about how old we were getting. Now, we’re complaining that we have gotten old before our time.
This man is described as young & rich, & most of us are neither.
3. Number three, we have very little authority. Children complain that their parents are unfair & that no one ever listens to them. Husbands complain that their wives don’t respect them. Wives complain that they don’t have equal rights. On the job someone else always has more authority than we do. The result is that we never see ourselves as people of authority.
He is rich & young & a ruler. Obviously, we are not like him at all.
4. The fourth thing that we are not is underweight. I must admit that has nothing to do with the story of the Rich Young Ruler, but I decided to throw that in because it seems that almost everybody is on a diet. Whether you weigh 95 pounds or 195, almost everybody feels overweight. So I just stuck that in for extra measure.
I’m assuming that some of you have already tuned me out. Please tune me back in now because even though you are familiar with this story you might find some things about this man that really do apply to your life as well.
I. WHY DID HE COME TO JESUS?
A. Why did he come to Jesus? Let me suggest 3 reasons why he came.
1. First of all, Mark tells us that Jesus is saying "good-bye" to the people of that city. He has been teaching & preaching, making friends & changing lives.
The rich young ruler must have stood on the edge of the crowd for days listening to Jesus teach & preach. Maybe a battle had been going on within him, "I really should go & talk with Jesus. He speaks with authority, & not like any other teacher I’ve ever heard." Yet, he just hasn’t done it.
But now everybody is saying "good-bye." He watched people with tears in their eyes, saying, "Good-bye Jesus. Thank you for coming. Thank you for the change that you have brought into our lives & our town."
Perhaps he thought, "I may never have the opportunity again. I had best take advantage of this moment." So on an impulse he rushes up to Jesus. The Bible says that he ran to Him.
2. Perhaps the second reason he came is that he saw in Jesus a quality of life that he did not have, but that he really wanted.
In the verses just before the ones we read we find mothers bringing little children to Jesus. As this rich young ruler watched the love that Jesus had for them & saw the children returning that love, he must have thought, "Jesus has something I would like to have. But I don’t know how to get it." So he came to Jesus.
3. Maybe there was a third reason. Undoubtedly, he saw something in the lifestyle of Jesus that was in sharp contrast to his own life.
Wherever the young ruler went he was followed by an entourage of people. Many important decisions were placed upon his young shoulders. Constantly he had to be deciding about this & that. His life was full of pressures.
Yet Jesus, who was always surrounded by crowds, was completely relaxed & at ease - able to cope with every situation that presented itself.
Maybe this young man thought, "I would like to be like that." So he ran to Jesus.
B. I wonder how he mustered up enough courage to do that? He was a man of honor & prestige. He surely worried about his reputation. By the world’s standards Jesus should have been coming to him. But here was a ruler running up to Jesus to ask the most important question that anyone can possibly ask.
"What shall I do? What good thing can I do, that I might inherit eternal life?"
II. WHAT DID JESUS TELL HIM TO DO?
A. Jesus answered him by asking, "Are you familiar with the commandments?" "Which ones?" he asked. "You know the ones. Don’t murder. Don’t steal. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t bear false witness. Honor your father & mother, & love your neighbor as yourself."
The young ruler answered as any good Jew would have answered. "All these I have kept." "What do I still lack?"
Now it so happens that we have another record of this whole incident in the "Gospel according to the Hebrews," which was one of the very early gospels which was not included in the New Testament. Its account gives us certain very valuable additional information. Let me read it to you.
"The second of the rich men said to Him, ‘Master, what good thing can I do & live?’ He said unto him, ‘O man, fulfill the law & the prophets.’ He answered Him, ‘I have kept them.’ He said unto him, ‘Go, sell all that you own, & distribute it unto the poor, & come, follow me.’
"But the rich man began to scratch his head, & it pleased him not. The Lord said unto him, ‘How can you say, ‘I have kept the law & the prophets? For it is written in the law: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; & lo, many of your brethren, sons of Abraham, are clad in filth, dying of hunger, & your house is full of many good things, & nothing at all goes out of it to them.’"
Here is the key to the whole passage. The rich young ruler claimed to have kept the law. In the legal sense that might be true; but in the spiritual sense it was not true, because his whole attitude to his fellow-men was wrong. In the last analysis his attitude was utterly selfish.
That is why Jesus confronted him with the challenge to sell all & to give to the poor. This man was so shackled to his possessions that nothing less than this surgical excision of them would do.
If a man looks on his possessions as being given to him for nothing but his own comfort & convenience, then his possessions are a chain which must be broken. But if a man looks at his possessions as a means to helping others, then his possessions are his crown.
B. Now, I want you to notice a couple of things about the prescription Jesus gave him.
#1, Jesus didn’t ask him to give for a particular project. I am convinced that some churches approach stewardship in the wrong way. They ask us to give "so that we can buy new carpets" or "so that we can paint the building" or "so that we can pay the preacher."
Those are not the reasons that Jesus gave for giving. He said, "Give before what you possess possesses you." Not, "Give to a project." He was saying, "You are on a dangerous precipice in life & your wealth is about to master you. I prescribe that you give it away before it ruins your life."
#2, Jesus could have asked the rich young ruler to finance the ministry of Jesus & His apostles. And the rich young ruler might have been very happy to do just that.
The rich young ruler could have said, "Here Jesus, here’s lots of money. Go out & buy horses & chariots to travel in. Hire Lazarus & Mary & Martha to accompany you & make them into a magnificent musical team. Lord, now you have enough money to travel all the way around the world preaching your great message to thousands of people."
But Jesus didn’t ask him for one single cent. How unusual that must have appeared to him. He probably was used to people coming one after another with their hands out saying, "Give me. Give me. Give me."
But Jesus said, "Give it away." He didn’t ask for one cent for Himself. Rather, He told him to get rid of it before it possessed & corrupted his life.
III. WHAT DID THE YOUNG MAN DO?
Now comes one of the most touching scenes in all the Bible as this man on his knees before Jesus stares at the dust.
What would it be like to follow Jesus? "I would be free from the pressures & responsibilities - the doubts & fears. I would be following this man who possesses that indescribable something that I so much desire."
But on the other hand, there was the banquet being thrown for him that night. There was the wardrobe of clothing he just purchased. There was the beautiful young lady his family had picked out for him to marry. There was the new chariot that he had just ordered. So what is he going to do?
Luke says, "When he heard this he was extremely sad because he had great wealth, & he stood up." I imagine that Jesus helped him stand up, & then looked deep into his eyes as the Rich Young Ruler turned & sadly walked away.
A few moments before he had run to Jesus. Now he walks slowly away, & as he turns his back on the Lord, Jesus says to His apostles, "It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven."
IV. THE CAMEL AND THE EYE OF A NEEDLE
A. Some Bible commentators have had difficulty with that. They have suggested that Jesus was probably referring to the Needle Gate - one of the gates into the ancient city of Jerusalem. It was a low gate & a camel trying to get through with a load on its back would have to get down on its knees to squeeze through it. It was difficult, but possible.
But I think Mark & Luke leave no doubt in their gospel accounts. Mark uses the word that means the needle of a seamstress. Luke, a physician, uses the word that means the needle of a surgeon. Jesus is saying, "I am talking about a real needle."
Some of us who are having difficulty with our eyesight know how hard it is to get a piece of thread through the eye of a needle.
ILL. Ethel & I saw people ride camels when we were in Israel. And there is no way that any camel could get through the eye of a needle.
B. So the obvious question is, "Then how can anyone be saved?" And Jesus answered, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
You see what He is saying? By ourselves we can’t save ourselves or one another. But that which is impossible for us is possible for God. God can & will save us, if only we will come, deny ourselves & follow Him.
ILL. An old woman ran out of money, & couldn’t pay any of her bills. The landlord was threatening to throw her out if she didn’t pay her rent soon.
She had only a few candles to keep her warm. And one cold day she was warming her hands over a candle.
Just then a knock came at her door. But she was afraid to answer for fear that it was the landlord, coming to kick her out of her humble abode. She blew out her candle & sat quietly in the dark, waiting for him to leave.
Two weeks later she found out that the knock on the door had not come from the landlord, but from a friend who had come to bring her enough money to pay her rent & all her debts. If only she had opened the door. What a difference it would have made in her life!
APPL. Now how about you? How many of you have rejected the gentle knocking of the Savior who wants only to come in & free you from the burden of your sins?
This morning, God is still knocking on the door of our hearts. Rich or poor - young or old - powerful or weak, He invites us to come to Him.
