The Rich Young Ruler And The Dark Side Of Love Series

(Full disclosures: 1, this message is based on a sermon preached at First Baptist Church, Chamois, MO, on 2-26-2023. This is not an exact transcription.

(2, Sermon Central has accepted another message on this text, called “Go thy way-Jesus and the rich young ruler” but this is a different message.)

Introduction: This is the last Sunday in February, the traditional month of love. We’ve seen some of the good and the best of love, with Isaac and Rebekah, and some of the worst, the dark side of love with Samson and his Philistine “bride.” Let’s hope none of us have to go through that kind of “love”, such as what she and her friends did to Samson. In a word, that isn’t love, no, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Our text comes today from Mark’s gospel, chapter 10

Text: Mark 10:17-27, NASB: 17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 And looking at him, Jesus felt a love to him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property.

23 And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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.” 26 And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, ‘Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

<opening prayer>

I’ve used this text before, and there are times this message still speaks to me in many ways. For one thing, it shows how someone can see the Truth in front of them, but will still reject it—or Him. Another thing is that someone can be sincere at first but sincerely uninterested after hearing what they, he, or she, really didn’t want to hear.

So let’s see what’s happening at this moment. In the context, Jesus and the disciples are on their last journey before Calvary. In what could be just a few days, He is going to be arrested and crucified—the worst form of death anyone could suffer. And just earlier, He had blessed any number of small children. :”Jesus Loves the Little Children” is a song that could be sung for over 2000 years!

And as Jesus heads towards Jerusalem, one of the strangest things in the Bible took place. Comparing the words of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we can find this man, who came running to Jesus, was rich, young, and he was a “ruler”, probably the “ruler” of a synagogue. But no matter who he was, he was concerned enough to come to Jesus and ask Him something very important.

By the way, for some deeper Bible study, use any kind of concordance and see how many times a person was “running” for one reason or another. One of my favorites is the story of Abraham, who ran to various places when the Three Visitors came to his place (Genesis 19). Now, Abraham was 99 years old and he was still able to run! When I turn 65, that will make me officially an “old man” or senior citizen, and running is a lost art for me! I’m only one-half of Abraham’s age at the time, and I probably have one-tenth of his running ability!

The young man, as I’ll call him, ran to Jesus and as Mark records, “knelt before Him.” Dr. Lightfoot and some other commentators explain that this wasn’t worship, but a token of deep respect from a learner to a leader. “For it is written, ‘AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD’” Paul wrote in Romans 14:11, but this young man may have had something different in mind.