Topic: Rich Young Ruler
(Mark 10:17-22) We see here “what seemed to be an earnest young man who came running to Jesus. The man humbly knelt down, complemented Jesus on being ‘good,’ and asked how he could obtain everlasting life,”(2) obviously thinking eternal life must be related to someone being good. So, let me ask you something, “Would you consider yourself to be a good person?” I think most of us would, and there are a lot of people who believe they’ll go to heaven simply by being good; but by whose standard are we measuring our goodness? Are you really good enough, and are you willing to stake your life on it? Notice that Jesus corrected this young man concerning the word “good.” He said, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (v. 18). His reply seems kind of strange, because if anyone were good it was certainly Jesus.
The conversation continues with Jesus asking the young man if he knew the Ten Commandments, if he were familiar with them. He wanted him to see that he didn’t quite measure up, that he wasn’t really good enough through his own efforts; but instead, he self-righteously stated that he had kept every single one of the Commandments, even from his very youth.
No matter how good we think we are, we will always fall short (21-22). Here, Jesus wasn’t telling the young man here that he could obtain eternal life by selling everything he had and giving it to the poor. If this were true, then any one of us could buy our salvation either through cash or by doing any number of good deeds. The focus here was not on working one’s way to heaven; but we can see that the young man didn’t understand what Jesus had intended by His statement. Jesus was simply expounding on God’s standard of goodness. Jesus used the Law to expose the man’s hidden sin: this man was a transgressor of the First of the Ten Commandments.
The First Commandment is this: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). To this young man his money was his god, and one cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24) He thought he had kept the Ten Commandments from his youth, but he still fell short in one area, revealing that he didn’t quite measure up. In James 2:10, we read, “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” So, after hearing this, are any of us really good enough?
So, now that you’ve heard the impossible demands of the Law and have come to understand your guilt before God, and have learned how your own works will lead to falling short of God’s righteousness and spending an eternity in hell; allow me to share with you the good news of the gospel, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The rich young ruler walked away sad and grieving because he did not want to give up his money. What is it that Jesus is asking for you to give up? Will you walk about from Jesus or will you believe?
See you Sunday,
Dr. Scott Kallem