The Rich Young Ruler
Scripture Reading this morning is found in Mark chapter 10:17. ” Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” 20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches 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 greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?” 27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” 28 Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.” 29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
This rich young ruler came running to Jesus seeking eternal life. But the barriers of his wealth stood in the way. He sincerely wanted eternal life – “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” In the verse we were told that he chase after Jesus, and then publicly knelt before Jesus – no religious leader in the whole of the gospel ever did that, the closest religious leader was Nicodemus, and even he came secretly by night. Let us look at this passage a bit closer.
1) HE CAME TO THE RIGHT SOURCE
This young rich ruler came seeking for the right thing and at the right source – eternal life from the only one who could give it. How close can one get? Eternal life – the divine ability to be alive with God and the things of God forever and ever! This man could understand the full meaning of what he is asking! And he came to the right source. It is not surprising then how he could ever had become so wealthy at such a young age. His ability to go smell where the opportunity lies, the right connections, the right timing of his investments, his right insight and judgment of things in life & business, his right links and relationships with people at right places; his sharpness and shrewdness of things that created opportunities for him to be where he is today. There are people like that in our society today who made all their fortune because they came to the right source. For this man, he had achieved at his age what many older people could not have done in their lifetime, and after getting everything important in his present life, he wanted the ultimate prize – eternal life! And he came to the right source.
2) HE APPLIED THE SAME PRINCIPLE
“Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” The emphasis was doing all the necessary things in life to get to where is! He applied the principle in accumulating his wealth and his success. I will DO what it takes to get what I want, and as a young man, he has done it.
He applied the same principle in religious life and social life. 20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” As far as his actions go, he was blameless. He had done everything.
There is a saying that goes like this – “Those who believe money can do everything are frequently prepared to do everything for money”. How true! It is so easy to take the easy way up. People especially in position of authority who betrays their principles for one shot of glory or wealth or power – it is so easy to make a fortune when you are in those positions. It may just be a small signature at the dotted line in exchange for a sum of money or a contract or a favour; it may be a moment when you were told to close an eye to a sleazy deal in exchange for a large reward; kickbacks, hidden commissions – I have true stories of a Christian accountant who will not sign the cheque and sat on it for months unless he has a cut of 10% from the supplier; horrific stories what people are prepared to do to get what they want. This young man said to the Lord Jesus, what must I DO, tell me what needs to be done, Lord and I will DO it – only give me what I want! The ultimate wish in my life would be fulfilled. He thought that by applying the same principle like how he gained his wealth and his merit, he would gain eternal life.
3) HE WANTED IT ON HIS OWN TERMS
Not only he applied the same principle, he wanted it on his terms. 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” The man was rich, Jesus knew that so Jesus told him to liquidate his estate and give the money to the poor. The man was a religious ruler, and Jesus knew that, so Jesus told him to take up the cross and follow him. Do you love me more than your own possessions, and do you love me more than your own life? Jesus offered him in exchange the gift of eternal life. Well, it’s like a cliff-hanger! Wealth Vs Eternal Life! It is strange that eternal life that meant so much to him suddenly became so trivial now. He found the pearl of great price and he would have sold everything he had to get it but it didn’t happen? He found the treasure on the ground and he would sell all he had to buy the land in order to get the treasure but it didn’t happen? The key to the kingdom is “how much is it worth to you”, how much value do you put into it? If it is worth so much to you and if you hunger it so much, you would give up everything for it, yes even your own life. And that was something this rich young man cannot accept. It’s too costly! He came to Christ with his own terms which is – on one hand I have the whole world in all its glory,riches and power that I worked so hard for and on my the other hand – the blessing of eternal life. He came prepared to tell Jesus that he was the most qualified person on earth who deserved it, he didn’t see himself as a condemned sinner before a holy God who needed forgiveness and repentance; he had a superficial view of God.
That’s what wealth can do to us sometimes! This afternoon, what is standing in the way between us and God is our self-accomplishment and self-importance. Let me tell you when it will happen to us? When we find ourselves engrossed with my own things, when we find ourselves in our own world; when we imagine ourselves as kind of superior to others because of our profession or our position, when we start to reflect on our successful lifestyle! When we reached that stage, we seem incapable of recognizing other people’s interest, let alone God’s interest!. When we are totally consumed about ME! Reminds me of Ivana Trump the daughter of Donald Trump the property billionaire. She once said that I only go to places where my name is on the building. This is the language of power and wealth. They are consumed with themselves. They are incapable of showing any sympathy for you. Like the self-indulgent rich man with poor Lazarus in Luke 16, he was oblivious to the diseased and the sufferings of Lazarus who laid outside his gate hoping for a few table crumbs, they are inclined to be interested only in themselves, they lost their soul through their wealth.
This young accomplished man measured his own faith by his own terms – In society – I am honest, I have integrity, I am wealthy because of my effort; I made it; in the synagogues – I am a devout Jew, I am a religious leader; I am close to God, I am blameless. My future – incredibly bright! Jesus looked at him in the eye and said in today’s language – You are not good enough for me.
4) HE FAILED TO INVEST IN ETERNITY
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Imagine in your mind a man
The man walked away from God
with clenched fist walking away silently. The word sorrowful or grieved literally means – like seeing a storm cloud gathering in the horizon. This man was walking out of the sunshine into a dark storm. He wanted to get salvation on his own terms and he was totally shattered.
He came to the right source, he applied the same principle in all his life, he wanted his own terms and finally no 4 he failed to invest in eternity. He wanted eternal life and found out he has never in his whole life ever invested in eternity.
The disciples were shocked. He was so different in terms of attitude compared to the Pharisees and the scribes; he showed himself to be beyond the hypocritical religious attitude of the rest; he recognized a deep spiritual need, he knew he did not possess the life of God that satisfy, and that is why this story is so sad, and so tragic. He is so near, yet so far! If this man were to come into our gospel rally; he would be the first to raise his hand or come forward to the front pews and sign a card to say YES, I want to become a Christian. He was eager and ready, he was ripe for the harvest, he would be classified as a hot prospect as far as modern evangelist would say. And yet Jesus say NO. And he walked away sad. Jesus knew this man’s heart was not ready to believe in him and we want to find out what it was, just as the hearts of many people today who express interest in him and are not ready to believe.
Just a few days ago I was talking to someone who was my former contractor in my house, and I was glad to find out he became a Christian about a year ago. He was eager to learn about the bible, he did all the alpha courses in his church but he started to fall back into his old ways. He started questioning whether God did forgive him and he went back to smoking, and then he started doubting whether God exist, and why he feels so unsaved. And I spent the next 30 minutes standing underneath the streets light, telling him that I cannot explain your feelings but I can explain the facts of what Jesus did for you. The truth is he expressed interest in Jesus Christ but he was not ready to give up his old life. And because he never wanted to give up his old life, he wanted some sympathy or some approvals so that he could go on doing what he wants to do.
In the case of this young man, his wealth had just robbed him of God’s greatest blessings, eternal life. All the treasures he ever knew were all the treasures on earth. The real wealth that Jesus was looking for in this man was not his earthly riches. In other words, Jesus saw him as a very poor man – a paradox; of poverty in riches. Jesus told his shocked disciples “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches 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.” The word ‘hard’ is equivalent to ‘impossible’. It is difficult for rich people not to be closely tied to this world from which they got their wealth. A person’s heart is where his treasure is. The wealthy usually find it hard and seemingly unnecessary to treasure the things of God. Even Christians run the danger of being sidetracked and trapped by their possessions. All that may explain why it is so hard for the rich to enter God’s kingdom. This young man wanted kingdom citizenship at no cost.
V28 Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.” Lord, we came on your terms. Peter was speaking for all the 12. They have left everything to follow him. Peter saw the religious ruler missed out of salvation, what more a group of ordinary men. In the Jewish context, a rich men is blessed because he has found favour with God, how could a devout men like that missed out? V29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
Lay up your treasures in heaven.................
Jesus was referring to the reign of Christ one day in eternity where he will be sovereign and he will be the supreme Lord whom all will worship and his kingdom will bring prosperity, healing, health and blessings. Those who renounce their possessions and became poor for Christ’ sake in this present world are going to share with him in his reign and his triumph. The one who gives up everything for Christ’s sake not only will inherit eternal life but also share the family of God. He will have a host of new fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters with whom he will forever be united with God’s divine family. Many of whom he has never even seen or heard of before. The believers in Christ will have blessings now, blessings in the millennial kingdom and blessings throughout eternity. To be poor for the sake of Christ is to be rich indeed. To be rich for the sake of comfort & self-fulfilment is to be poor. We must worry for our present generation.
The church in Laodicea in Revelation 3 were described like this. “17′Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing”. And he went on to say “you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked”. There is nothing wrong with wealth but because wealth can provide all physical needs and a great many things beyond needs, the wealthy are inclined to rely on their wealth to buy whatever they want, do whatever they want to do and there is little reason to depend on God. An attitude of total self-sufficiency plagued the church at Laodicea. Jesus found nothing of great eternal value. My question to us this afternoon, is what can God find in us that is valuable to him, in terms of eternal value? The real wealth that Jesus can find in us! The real living faith that Jesus can find in us! Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also. The amount of investment & time & energy you spent every day is where your heart is!
What an appropriate message for a culture like ours. People in history today are wealthier than any period of time in our modern civilisation. It was reported just a few days ago that China alone has a record of 130 billionaires this year alone despite the global financial meltdown. And there are large numbers who are not in the radar screen as well. In the US, there are 359 billionaires in America alone. It is staggering but sadly it does show how all these wealthy people are squandering their blessings on things that cannot last. This generation is in serious spiritual trouble and everyone is showing little concern of anything of eternal value. Probably the saddest observation of all is that people in churches differs little from those of the world. The lifestyles of most professing Christians are not substantially different from anyone else. Too many has adopted the world’s indulgent attitude towards money. Almost every form of materialistic extravagance and excess has found its way into the fellowship of believers. It is as if believers has forgotten its mandate to invest in eternity. Christians today have more money at their disposal than at any time in human history. Christians today are richer than at any period in our history and yet the spiritual state of the churches has never been so impoverish. God does not give you riches to amass and stockpile, but to use it for his glory. True enjoyment of wealth comes not from possessing it, but from investing it as God intended—in things that count for eternity.
Jim Elliot, the martyr in South America wrote shortly before his death – He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. May the Lord help us to invest our lives in things that count for eternity.
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