The Rich Ruler: Truth
Mark 10:17-22 8/20/06
And 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 for 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.
We know little or nothing about this man who came to Jesus other that what Mark tells us: he was rich and he was some sort of ruler. Perhaps he was a Pharisee, although the Scriptures typically designates someone to be a Pharisee, if in fact he is. He was obviously a pious person. He had a deep respect for the Law and, perhaps, had some kind of respect for the Master. Maybe he had heard Jesus teach or had seen Him perform a miracle and felt that because of Jesus’ power there was good indication that he was a righteous man. It could be that he was an official of the people in local government and had heard others speak about this miracle worker.
We can only surmise what his motives and intentions were for coming to Jesus. Was he truly seeking eternal life? Could it be that the local elections were on the horizon and to keep himself looking like he was associated with this charismatic new Rabbi that he would go to Him and have Him validate his religious credentials.
All the accolades and respect that would seem go with riches, power, status, prestige do not provide the lasting satisfaction that they are supposed to. Could it be that this man had everything that a person could possibly dream of, but he still seemed empty? You would think that if you had done everything this guy did and had everything he had that he would certainly have a confidence that all would have been great in his life. I mean, wasn’t material wealth, respect and approval of people, in Jesus’ day, signs that you were a righteous person?
Being a rather suspicious person myself, I have always wondered by the way he approached Jesus if there could not have been a little buttering up of Jesus when he said, “Good teacher.” Isn’t there an element of people in our society today who think that because “God is good,” He must, therefore, do what we suppose a “good God” will do, or at least what we imagine a “good God” would do? Or another group that believe that God is so good that He would not send anyone to hell…or for that matter…there is not hell, except for what we experience on this earth. That when Christ died on the cross he died for the sins of every man and therefore, people like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Slobadan Malosovitch, Robert Mugabe and all others have all been forgiven and will be in heaven. To me, there would not be much “good” about a God, who declared in His Word that salvation required faith in His Sovereign grace, but, Who, in the end, did not really apply that standard.
If there is nothing good about a God like that (and there isn’t, to be sure), neither is there anything good about a man who seeks to shortchange eternal truth by gaining entrance into an eternal inheritance based upon his good works. But for those who live outside the wonder and grace of God, isn’t that what the essence of eternity boils down to…man’s goodness vs. God’s goodness? What it amounts to is the attempt for a person to measure his own “goodness” in comparison to the character of Jesus Christ. Paul leaves us little room for argument in this matter of Whose character qualities or inherent personal righteous one needs to stand on when it comes to eternity:
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Because “all have sinned;” because “none are righteous;” because all were “by nature children of wrath,” it is clear that there is nothing inherently good within us. It, therefore, is incumbent upon all who would attempt to get to heave based on works, be perfect in the fulfillment of the Law. But since Jesus, Himself, said that He came to fulfill the Law, we have to say that it takes a perfect person to do the impossible. So to say I could accomplish righteousness by means of living perfectly in accordance with the Law would be little more of a profaning the Law. Those who would profane the remarkable clarity of the Ten Commandments should have little hope of co-habitation with God in eternity. You will recall that Jesus made reference that in His teaching on the “SOTM.”
"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20
(vs. 19-20)
There is a big problem with the law when a person tries to gain eternal life by it: who decides when someone has fulfilled them to the degree that they are fulfilled? Do I do them once and say that I have done them? Must they be obeyed each time with the same intensity as the time before? Then, one must look at the motive…are the laws obeyed out of a sense of awe and wonder at the holy, righteous Giver of the Law. Was his response, i.e., “I have done those from my youth up” a response of arrogance, or was it “well, I have been doing that, but I sense that it is not enough?”
Prior to the coming of the Messiah, there was a complete misunderstanding about the law…to inherit eternal life through the keeping of the law he would have had to have done it with a pure heart, with pure motive, 100 per cent of the time. That is what Jesus did. That is why He was able to say:
"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17
Well, I think that the man seems to have thought that he had accomplished all that was needed and was wanting Jesus to tell him that what he had done was sufficient. If Jesus had asked the man to run through the whole gamut of laws and man-made requirements what do you think that the fellow would have said? Check. Check. Check. Or would his response have been, “Well, lets see…you know after thinking about it, Teacher, as much as I hate to admit it, there probably were a few times (not very notable ones, though) where I may have “messed up.” Had he ultimately been accountable to another person, not so unlike himself, he probably could have gotten away with a remark like that. But, in eternal matters mankind is not pitted against sinful flesh. We are accountable to a Righteous Judge is knows, not just what we have done, but the motive.
Motive always plays such an important role in our actions. To onlookers, it may seem that our actions look good. It could be said: “I see him every Sunday at the offering box faithfully giving his tithe.” Because this person is there every Sunday the assumption might be…faithful in attendance, faithful in giving. But what if the person is only giving $10 when he should be giving $100? If he is living solely for the acclaim of man, he has missed it. We can actually work the plan so well that we forget that God sees and knows all things.
Vs.21-22
The first thing to note here is that Jesus did not confront him and tell him that he was fully mistaken. He didn’t stick His finger in his face and say, “Look, brother, you can’t fool me; I know all things. I know that you think you have done everything, but you haven’t.” No. The word says that “Jesus felt a love for him.” Jesus’ response to him was the same that came to you and me. When the Spirit came to our hearts, there was no condemning action. There was convicting action. There was the light of truth that came to us to let us see that we were not complete in our works or perceptions of ourselves. My standing before God does not have anything to do with how I perceive myself or even how others think of me. Had I been living close to my parents when I committed my life to Christ, I would have probably made some public confession of my faith in Him. Without a doubt, there would have been some that would have said, “I thought he was such a good boy. I thought he was already a Christian.”
When Christ came to me, I felt that gaze of love. I felt the “wonder of His grace.” There was, however, no little sense in me that my being received by Christ was going cost me a lot. In fact, Jerry Regier, the Director of the UT Campus Crusade for Christ, told me that my decision would cost me everything. And he was right. I did not gain respect for having committed my life to the Lord, I lost respect. I lost friends. Some family members thought I was crazy. My workmates called my “Preacher Man.” I was ridiculed at work and given the worst jobs. But, I had peace, joy and the forgiveness of my sins. I knew that I had been given a power to live life abundantly.
Unfortunately, the man obviously did not spend much time evaluating the prospect of what Jesus said to him. There was no response like, “I had no idea that it would cost me everything. Can I have some time to look at this thing?” His problem was not that he was rich, but what those riches meant to him…he had a huge idol standing in his way. It was not so much his money, but the value it had in his life. It was his life. His identity. His love. His hope. His security. He could not see life without it. I think Peter did have a sense of where the man was coming from, although Peter, himself, was almost in the same vein as the man, just a little different perspective. This encounter was recorded in all three synoptic gospels, but I particularly think Mark’s use of words gives us the best word picture, “but at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved.”
“But when he had heard these things, he became very sad; for he was extremely rich.” (Matthew 19:23) Luke’s account has this, “But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieved; for he was one who owned much property.” (Luke 18:22)
Living out His truth in practice:
A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. Proverbs 15:13
As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man. Proverbs 27:19