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Oct 30, 2022

The Rich Young Ruler

Passage: Mark 10:17-27

Preacher: Andrew Repsold

Series: Christ Connections

Keywords: wealth, pain, goodness, idols, priorities, loving god, self-deception, crucifying the flesh

Detail:

Mark 10:17-27

The Rich Young Man

17 And as he (Jesus) was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must 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, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

Matthew 19 adds…

27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Observations about this young man:

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

  1. a man ran up (eagerly seeking)
  2. and knelt before him                        (respectful/reverent…not flippant)
  3. and asked him, “Good Teacher,         (recognizes Jesus as wise regarding  

                                                understanding God and the Law and eternal things)

  1. what must I do to inherit eternal life? (spiritually minded, thinking about life after death, and it appears from his words that he is desiring the kingdom of heaven).

It appears that this man is intent on orienting his life around eternal things and values.

Truth #1: Some who appear to be seeking truth and God (and may partially be seeking to do good in areas of their life), may not ACTUALLY be seeking

Jeremiah 29:10-13

Matthew 7:7-8

Personal examples: atheist debate I was watching this week.

-myself at times.

18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

What is Jesus doing here???  This can be a confusing statement. Let me try and say this statement two different ways and see if you can see how this verse gets interpreted two different ways.  (test my acting skills here)

Way 1: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Way 2: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

  1. Is Jesus trying to tell the man something about himself?

Example: “I am not good because I am not God. don’t speak such heresy”.

 …or is Jesus trying to get the man to think about what it means to be good so that the man realizes that HE is not good or God? That he is a sinner…an idolater.

Example: “What do you mean by good? Are you calling me good in the same way you think that you yourself are good (by observing the law pretty well, by comparing yourself to people who murder and covet, dishonor their parents, commit adultery)? Do you recognize that you are not good? That only God is good and you are an unrighteous idolater in desperate need of the grace and mercy of God who is perfectly good.”  

The context of this encounter with Jesus makes it seem obvious to me (once you think about it) that the second interpretation is the correct and accurate understanding of this verse.

Combine this with the fact that Jesus accepts worship when none of the angels do and declares himself to be the “I am” and I think it is clear.

18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments (notice how these commandments all have to do with external dealings with other people): ‘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, all these I have kept from my youth.”

In other words, “I am good!” Look at my life…it is one of consistent good behaviors. Clearly, I am good. If anyone deserves to have eternal life with you, to “get into” heaven it is me because I AM GOOD.”

I must point out here, the parallel of attitude that the vast majority of people have today about their goodness too.

Just ask 10 people this week: Do you think you are a good person? Why?

9 will likely respond exactly like this rich young man: “Yes. I haven’t done really bad things like murder or steal or commit adultery.”

I think Jesus purposefully avoided the commandments about the heart so that this man would verbalize his belief that he viewed himself as a good guy.

  1. You shall have no other Gods’ before me

 Or,

Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul, mind and strength.

Jesus: I’m going to reveal to you now that you are not good just because you haven’t murdered someone. You are wicked and in need of God’s mercy.

21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

So according to this text, how does the young man fail (according to Jesus)? He does not sell all that he has and give to the poor in order to follow Jesus.

  1. (regarding another wrong interpretation…an incorrect understanding of this text)

Is Jesus saying that salvation is earned by selling all your possessions and having no wealth?

  1. Those who have any wealth are going to hell or own anything material cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, therefore if you want salvation, sell everything and take a vow of poverty.

No…notice Zacchaeus and the differences and similarities between him and the rich young man (in Luke 19, which is located shortly after the rich young ruler in chapter 18)

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Similarities:

-both rich

-both seeking Jesus

Differences:

-one is willing (eager) to part with his wealth. He sees the value of the kingdom of heaven as superior to his wealth.

-one is not. He idolizes his possessions more than following the teachings and person of Jesus.

Notice further: Zacchaeus still possesses half of his possessions, some of his wealth and his job as a tax collector.

So back to our question earlier…

  1. (regarding another wrong interpretation…an incorrect understanding of this text)

Is Jesus saying that salvation is earned by selling all your possessions and having no wealth?

No. He is getting to the root of this man’s sin. Namely, he likes his money and possessions too much….more than Jesus.

22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Big Lesson: Following God wholeheartedly will involve moments of sadness and pain as we deny our flesh and pick up our cross (crucify your flesh in this way/moment) and follow him.

Many people (myself included at times) assume that if something feels wholesome and good then it must be of the Lord (because God desires good things for us) and visa versa.

And if we had our glorified bodies then that would be true because we would only desire righteous things and properly see the place of everything God made and designed.

But (as we saw from Romans 7 and 8 when I preached a while ago) we are still at war with the flesh (somehow its love of sin that is in our bodies passed down to us from Adam) as long as we have these earthly bodies which means we are going to have desires which if we pursue, will indeed satisfy a part of us…the flesh but it will result in death.

Personal examples:

-frivolous and excessive entertainment

-pursuing wealth and possessions

-eating poorly instead of exercising

-uninstall a social media app

-throw away your cigarettes

Application: Identify (with the help of the Holy Spirit) the thing(s) in your life that you have a hard time letting go of in order to obey God or follow him wholeheartedly. What draws your heart away from God so that if asked to leave it, would result in sadness.

Getting rid of these things will result in sorrow and pain as your crucify your flesh… but it is worth it!!!!   And God wants that for you and wants to help you crucify the flesh.

Notice the following verses

  1. God wants to help you in your pursuit of him and crucifixion of the flesh:

23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is[a] 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

  1. It is worth IT!! (to forsake your fleshly desires)

Matthew 19 adds…

27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Matthew 6:19-21

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Pastors as financial advisors, retirement planners, etc.

Luke 12:4-7

Have No Fear

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.[a] Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?[b] And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Ephesians 6:8

5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

Romans 14:10

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall confess to God.”

12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Benediction?

Revelation 3:21

21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.