The Rich Young Ruler
In the three and a half years of Christ's earthly ministry, He held thousands of conversations and counselled perhaps many hundreds of people. The Gospels record only a portion of those exchanges, indicating that those dialogues chosen for inclusion in the Bible are of particular importance to us, and we should pay close attention to the lessons there for us.
In this world of sin it is easy to get our values distorted . Property, money, material possessions, or a large bank account seem to give us security, but it is all a dream. We came into this world with nothing and it is certain we will go out with no material possessions. Jesus has promised us eternal life if only we believe on Him and determine to dedicate our lives to Him. So many are bartering away eternity because they consider this world more important, their values are all mixed up. The rich young ruler who came to Jesus had this problem.
As Jesus looked at this young man, he saw in him such promise and such potential. And we are told that as Jesus beheld him, He loved him. And, yet, the story ends in tragedy.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all say that he went away sorrowful. He came to Jesus with a question and went back sad because he did not like the answer.
Now how did we get the term "Rich Young Ruler?" The word translated "ruler" in Luke 18: 18-30 is used of various Jewish leaders, including those in charge of a synagogue and members of the Sanhedrin. Matthew's account (19:22) adds another detail and refers to the ruler as a "young man.” Luke 18:23 tells us "he was a man of great wealth.”
That's why we call him “The Rich Young Ruler”.
He was a wealthy man, and a young man. His eyes were set on religious matters - on teachers, eternal life, good deeds. He had the look of a seeker: he seemed willing to listen and eager to learn. He seemed a disciple-in-the-making. But his story has a dark end. It was he that inspired Jesus famous words "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom." Matthew was there to watch the unfolding of this man’s confrontation with Christ. Let us examine his account of the fateful meeting.
Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life.? Mark tell us that he ran to Jesus and fell at His feet and asked "What must a person do in order to enter into eternal life?" How would you answer this? Those who know the gospel message would answer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will have eternal life."
And this young man in his fine robes, immaculately groomed, came running to Jesus and he is found kneeling in the dirt of the roadside at the edge of town, with a burning question on his heart.
Most of the wealthy, religious people who asked Jesus questions in public were trying to trick him into some imprudent statement -- "Should we pay taxes to Caesar?" (Luke 20:22). "Why do your disciples pluck grain on the Sabbath?" (Luke 6:2). "This lady was caught in the very act of adultery. Shouldn't we stone her as Moses directed?" (John 8:4). But this man's question was no trick. It was a sincere question to which he needed to know the answer -- how to inherit eternal life.
This young man came, not to tempt Christ, but to learn from him. We know that he was not a Sadducee because it is clear that he believed in eternal life and wanted to attain it—an unusual goal for someone of his position and age. Sadducees do not believe in the life after death. A man of wealth will often trust his riches and not be interested in what God has to offer. The young do not often look beyond today, much less to the far reaches of eternity.
The question tells us several things about the young man: 1.He must be feeling inadequate in his spiritual preparation somehow or he probably wouldn't ask the question. 2.He believes that eternal life is something that one earns or merits by what he does. Ask the common man or woman in your community and you'll probably come up with a similar belief. You go to heaven if you do good. You go to hell if you do bad things. Well, only very bad things. Eternal life is a reward for what you do on earth. That's what people tell you.
The young man's question betrays both his superficial understanding of inheriting eternal life, and his superficial understanding of a person's ability to do good deeds that are pure, unmixed by ulterior motives. The Prophet Isaiah scathing words 750 years before -- "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6) -- have somehow escaped the young man.
The young ruler came rushing to Jesus, and falling to his knees (Mark 10:17-31) he asked "Good teacher, what good thing need I to do, so that I may have real and unending life?" Jesus, perceiving the youth’s mistakes, answered with a question, a question that would prove the depths of the young ruler’s knowledge of God. "Why do you call me good?"
Jesus was in the habit of asking such disarming questions. The young man did not recognise with whom he was talking - the giver of eternal life. The young ruler saw Jesus as a moral man, a man of insight and depth, but he did not recognise His divine authority To the young man Jesus was another teacher.
Christ's response to all this is interesting. He first establishes that none are truly good except God, and to Him goes all glory. Then Jesus tells him to "keep the commandments "Which commandments" he asked.
Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honour your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ ” Only Matthew list the "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." Luke and Mark does not include this commandment." Jesus listed the last six of the Ten Commandments, the ones dealing with human-to-human relationships. He did not mention the first four because the Jews of the time were well-versed in the mechanics of the first four commandments, in terms of the letter of the law, so Christ lists the ones in which they were weakest.
It seems so simple, right? In order to have eternal life, "keep the commandments." How do we who claim the law has been done away, get around this simple instruction? Verses, such as John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments," reinforce this straightforward directive.
The young ruler tells Christ that he has kept the commandments since he was a child. What else should he do? Jesus does not contradict him. In Mark's account, it says He looked at him and "loved him." Possibly, this man was adept at keeping the letter of the law, but he was coming up short in abiding by the spirit of the law.
Suppose for a moment that the wealthy youth had never violated the commandments Jesus presented to him. Suppose that he had never murdered - not even with his tongue. Suppose that he had not committed adultery -not even in his heart. Suppose that he had not stolen - or even envied. Suppose that he had never spoken less than the whole truth. Even still he was unaware of his own faultiness. Did you notice that Jesus only presented him with the parts of the 10 commandments that deal with man-to-man relationships. The other commandments have to do with God-to-man relationships, and this young man had obviously not fulfilled those commands.
If he had fulfilled them, he would have immediately recognised Jesus as the Son of God. But he did not recognise Jesus, and he did not tell the truth to Him about his behaviour. He was tragically blind.
The last commandment which Jesus had mentioned, and which the rich young ruler had claimed to have kept from his youth, was "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The Lord was now going to put this to the test. Did he really love his neighbour? Would he be willing to give his riches to his poor neighbours? Before this man was ready to be saved, he needed to see himself as a guilty lawbreaker. Only then would he be ready for the good news, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save guilty lawbreakers.
All of the Ten Commandments are summed up in two commandments, which have been called the two greatest commandments: "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40).
The rich young ruler claimed to have kept the commandments from his youth up. The plan of the Lord Jesus was to clearly demonstrate to this man that he was guilty of breaking the two greatest commandments.
1) He did not love God with all his heart because he refused to believe Him and refused to follow Him (verses 21-22).
2) He did not love his neighbour as himself because he was unwilling to give to his poor neighbours (verses 21-22).
Whatever the case, Christ does not attempt to sermonise on this point. The way the young man phrased his question, "What do I still lack?" smacks a bit of pride or self-righteousness. In effect, he says, "I'm keeping the commandments and have done well in that regard all my life. Show me where I'm coming up short." The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” 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.”
Jesus proposes that the man sell all his property and give the proceeds to those who are least able to reciprocate -- the poor. James says in 1:27 : "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world"
When the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, For he had great possessions. He knew what this meant: Christ's high standards and his own ambitions and desires were incompatible. Being both thoughtful and well-intentioned, he went away "sorrowful." He wanted the heavenly treasure, but he wanted also the temporal advantages his riches would bring him. He was sorry that such conditions existed; he desired eternal life, but he was not willing to make the sacrifice. The cost of eternal life seemed too great, and he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions
Too many are like the rich young ruler. They long for the privilege of everlasting life, but are unwilling to put Jesus first in this life. Not every person is required to give up all wealth, but this young man had made riches his god, and was in fact breaking the first and second commandments. Riches were his idol. In a very real sense he has broken the first commandment: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). Nor can he obey the Shema which, as a devout Jew, he recites twice a day: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:4).
Now we know selling one's possession and giving to the poor is not a condition for receiving eternal life. When the jailor asked, "What must I do to be saved?" the answer was not, "Sell what you have and give to the poor, and thou shalt be saved" What Jesus was trying to do with the rich young ruler was to bring him to the point where he admitted he was a sinner and an idolater in that he had made money his God. Then Jesus would have told him that salvation was based on faith in him as the saviour of the world, not on works but the grace of God.
And then the scriptures say " He went away sad.." In a way, this is his only mistake. A man can misunderstand the divinity of Christ, and misunderstand God’s grace and still be saved if he will commit to staying with God. Peter, Andrew, John, Matthew, and the others did not fully understand the Lordship of Jesus, and they certainly did not fully understand the plan of grace, but they stayed with Jesus. They were willing to commit to a lifestyle of learning Him. They apprenticed themselves to Him, for the long term. That is the way to be saved. If you are willing to launch out with Christ on the long journey from brokenness to wholeness, if you are willing to walk all the way, every hard step, then you are a wise men, even if you are not young or wealthy.
There is no doubt. Eternal things have top priority. There are many things in this life we must do that are not spiritual – our work, household chores etc., and these we should do to the best of our ability. The way we go about our mundane tasks can be a good Christian witness to the community. It is only when these things crowd out spiritual things, and become all absorbing to the exclusion of the spiritual, that they are wrong. As long as the spiritual is top of the list, we have nothing to fear.
My dear friend, is there anything, any hindrance, that you are unwilling to give up to follow Jesus? You may not be wealthy, but if there is something you possess, or that possesses you, laying it down is a vital part of following the Master. He must have your all, as he calls gently to you: "Come, follow me."