This event is recorded in Luke 18:18-30 / Matthew 19:16-30 / Mark 10:17-31, but it’s in Mark’s account that we find the most detail concerning the event. Jesus and His disciples were leaving the region of Judea and heading towards Jerusalem when a young man ran up to Him and fell before Him, Mark 10:17.
The young man who addressed Jesus was rich, Luke 18:23 / Matthew 19:22 / Mark 10:22. He was doing well for himself; he was the kind of man everyone in society would look up to and strive to be like.
We must remember that he was a ruler with some position in society, Luke 18:18. He was a young man with responsibilities and status. This is important to understand because these positions were what James and John sought, Matthew 20:20-28 / Mark 10:35-45. This is what this young ruler had but could not give up.
There must have been something about his religion which was lacking something he knew something wasn’t right with his religion. Later, we see that he had been obedient to the law, Luke 18:21 / Matthew 19:20 / Mark 10:20, and he was a ‘good’ person, but still something wasn’t missing from his life.
He was honest with himself and humble enough to call Jesus a ‘good teacher’, Luke 18:18 / Mark 10:17, which was a sign of respect. We know He was concerned about his own spiritual welfare because he ran up to Jesus requesting information on how to receive eternal life, Luke 18:18 / Matthew 19:16 / Mark 10:19, he was honestly looking for answers.
Mark’s and Luke’s accounts leave out something very important. In Matthew’s account, notice the young man asked Jesus, Which commandments? Matthew 19:17-18. This is very important to understand, as we shall see in a moment. Before we get into the text, let’s address a question which is often raised.
The young man who addressed Jesus was rich, Luke 18:23 / Matthew 19:16-30 / Mark 10:17-32. However, we must also remember that he was a ruler with a position in society. The positions for which James and John sought in the following case of Mark 10:35-45 are what this young ruler had but could not give up.
The young man wanted to know how to receive eternal life, Luke 18:18 / Matthew 19:16 / Mark 10:17. In other words, he was asking, What must he do to be saved? Which is the question the disciples asked, Luke 18:26 / Matthew 19:25 / Mark 10:26.
He did everything right since he was a young man, including keeping the last six of the ten commandments, Exodus 20:12-17. However, he failed to keep the first and greatest of the commandments to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength,’ Matthew 22:37-38.
The one thing he lacked was giving up his wealth, Luke 18:22 / Matthew 19:20-21 / Mark 10:21. He loved money more than God, Colossians 3:5. His wealth had become his security, Luke 18:24-25 / Matthew 19:23-25 / Mark 10:23-25.
Everett, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Jesus wanted this man to understand that no one could achieve salvation through good works, not even a Jewish “teacher.” Thus, Jesus said that there was no one who was good except God, Isaiah 64:6’.
The question, if Jesus was God, then why did He say, that ‘no one is good except God alone,’ is often used by people to try and disprove the deity of Christ. There are two possibilities for how to answer this question. Jesus could be saying, don’t call me good because He isn’t good or at least not as good as God the Father, or He means something a lot deeper than we think.
Notice that Jesus never says He is not good, but the rich ruler recognises He is. The rich ruler calls Jesus ‘good teacher’, Luke 18:18 / Mark 10:17. Jesus asks the rich ruler, ‘Why do you call me good’, and then He says, ‘No one is good, except God alone’, Luke 18:19 / Matthew 17:19 / Mark 10:18.
Jesus is saying either I am God and good, or I am neither God nor good. Or put another way, Jesus was saying if you address me as a ‘good teacher’, then I can’t help you, for no man is good. Only as God can I do anything to help you, Luke 18:27 / Matthew 19:26 / Mark 10:27.
Jesus wanted the young man to acknowledge Him as God. He wanted the rich ruler to see Jesus as God, who is good, not a mere good teacher. Jesus’ question was designed not to deny His deity, but rather to draw the rich ruler to recognise Christ’s divine identity.
It’s clear that Jesus was testing the young man when He said, ‘no one is good, except God alone’, Luke 18:19 / Matthew 17:19 / Mark 10:18. Jesus wasn’t denying His deity; He wanted the man to acknowledge His deity.
If he genuinely believed Jesus is God, Hebrews 1:3, instead of walking away sad, he would have followed Him to secure his eternal inheritance, Luke 18:22-23 / Matthew 19:21-22 / Mark 10:21-22.
Smith, in his commentary, says the following.
‘What he is doing is trying to awaken the consciousness of this man to the fact that he has received a divine revelation. He is getting close. “Why did you call me good?” The reason why you called me good is that you, though you don’t realise it, have recognised something about me.’
How can Jesus be God if no one is good except God alone? Think about it this way. Jesus claims only God is good, but the rich ruler and Jesus also claim that Jesus is good, and so, common sense tells us that Jesus is claiming to be God.
If Jesus is good, what does that make Him? It makes Him God, 1 Chronicles 16:34 / Psalm 25:8 / Psalm 119:68. After all, He is the Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1:1-3 / John 1:14 / Philippians 2:5-11. He said, ‘I AM the Good Shepherd’, John 10:11.
Notice at this point, Jesus doesn’t answer his question regarding eternal life, but what He does do is address the man’s comment about Jesus being ‘good’, Luke 18:19 / Matthew 19:17 / Mark 10:18. We see that the real problem which people were facing was simply this: how can sinful people approach an all-good God? John 14:6 / Romans 7:24-25.
Erdman, in his commentary, says the following concerning Jesus’ response to the young man.
‘The perfect goodness of God was a universal doctrine of Judaism, and it is evident that the Lord was here building the young man’s thoughts toward the recognition of Jesus as God. It is the equivalent of our Lord’s saying, ‘Look, don’t you know that if I am good, as you say, then I am therefore God?’
Notice that Jesus only quoted the last five of the Ten Commandments, Luke 18:20 / Matthew 19:18-19 / Mark 10:19 / Exodus 20:12-16 / Deuteronomy 5:16-20. Why did He not quote the first five commandments?
It’s clear that Jesus was trying to lead this young man into a deeper understanding of the truth, by not quoting, ‘love God with your heart, mind, soul and strength’, Deuteronomy 6:4-7 / Matthew 22:37-40 / Mark 12:30-31 / Luke 10:27, implies that the young man wasn’t obedient to these commandments, but had no real problem keeping the others.
In other words, the young man won’t receive eternal life simply by keeping only part of the law, he couldn’t receive eternal life by law-keeping, and he couldn’t save himself, no matter how obedient to the law he was, James 2:10. What’s the point in keeping any of the law, if you don’t love God with everything you’ve got.
Matthew gives us more information at this point. The young man asked Jesus a very important question. ‘What do I still lack?’ Matthew 19:20. If his question tells us anything, it tells us that he’s honest with himself and sincere regarding his question about eternal life.
Notice the young man ticked all the boxes, ‘yep, Jesus, I haven’t broken any of the commandments you’ve quoted to me’, Luke 18:21 / Matthew 19:20 / Mark 10:20. I can imagine Jesus looking at this young man with a smile on His face, He loved him, He loved his honesty, and He loved his sincerity. What a refreshing change from those who were always trying to oppose Him.
Jesus loved the young man enough to tell him the one thing he lacked in his life, Luke 18:22 / Matthew 19:21 / Mark 10:21. He still lacked one thing, Philippians 3:6-7, he was good, but he knew that he still lacked something, Acts 10:1-6 / Galatians 3:21. The problem with the young ruler wasn’t with his outward appearance of religiosity, but with his heart.
In order to come into a right relationship with God, this particular rich person had to relieve himself of that which emotionally kept him from dependence on God. He was self-sufficient in his riches and self-confident in his performance of the law from youth. He, therefore, felt that he didn’t need to trust in the grace of God.
If he wanted to receive eternal life, he first needed to be right with God and for him to be able to do that, he had to give up the very things which he treasured most in his heart, his possessions, Luke 18:22 / Matthew 19:21 / Mark 10:21. He had to learn to depend on God rather than being self-sufficient and self-confident to receive eternal life.
Because Jesus tells him to ‘go and sell everything he has and give it to the poor’, Luke 18:22 / Matthew 19:21 / Mark 10:21, this tells us that Jesus saw in this man’s life the very thing which was lacking from this man’s life. It suggests that Jesus saw that this guy was greedy and all he cared about was himself and his wealth, Matthew 6:19-21.
He was to sell all that he owned, give the proceeds to the poor, and start following Him, Luke 12:33 / Acts 2:45 / Acts 4:34-35 / Acts 12:12 / Acts 21:8. He must be willing to sacrifice to follow Jesus, Luke 18:22 / Matthew 19:21 / Mark 10:21, in the same way the other disciples did, Matthew 9:9 / Mark 10:28.
Anyone who wants to be a follower of Christ must submit to God’s will to receive eternal life. For the young man, this would mean not only giving up his possessions but giving up his position as ruler, and as we read next, these sacrifices were just asking too much of him.
Jesus always knew what was in the hearts of people. He knew them better than they knew themselves, and for this young man, his problem was in his heart. Notice that he didn’t get angry with Jesus, he didn’t get all self-righteous with Jesus, he simply dropped his face and went away sad, Luke 18:23 / Matthew 19:22 / Mark 10:22.
I can imagine this young man coming to Jesus, thinking he was right with God, thinking he had been obedient to God all his life, thinking that he only had to make a few small adjustments to his life to receive eternal life, only to come face to face with the reality of the condition of his own heart. The man really wanted eternal life, but not at this great price.
Incidentally, this is the only account in the whole of the Gospels where Jesus commands someone to ‘follow Him’, and the command is rejected. Like so many people who come to Jesus for salvation, they long to be saved, but when Jesus points out the costs involved, they too leave sad because they just can’t bring themselves to sacrifice so much in order to follow Him, Luke 18:22 / Matthew 19:21 / Mark 10:21 / Luke 14:25-33.
Notice that Jesus didn’t say ‘it’s impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God’, He said it’s ‘hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God,’ Luke 18:24 / Matthew 19:23 / Mark 10:23. The reason it is hard is simply because of what has just happened with the rich young ruler. The rich had a tendency to trust in material possessions and not in God.
They believed that one’s wealth was a sign that God was working in one’s life; they were wrong. The earthly treasures are more important to them, and their wealth and position in society are just too much to sacrifice, Luke 18:24-25 / Matthew 6:20 / Matthew 13:22 / 1 Corinthians 1:26 / 1 Timothy 6:9-10.
Notice also He calls them ‘children’, Mark 10:24, and then gives them an illustration which even a child can understand the impossibility of it, a camel going through the eye of a needle, Luke 18:25 / Matthew 19:24 / Mark 10:25.
No one is sure where this figurate phrase originated, but some do believe it may have been taken from a gate in the walls of Jerusalem that were so small that it was difficult for a camel to enter. Whatever the source of the metaphor, the principle is still the same: it’s difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.
The disciples ask Jesus a question, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Luke 18:26 / Matthew 19:25 / Mark 10:26. It seems the disciples were in shock, not so much with the rich young ruler’s leaving but with Jesus’ teaching to the rich young ruler.
Remember, the Jews believed that if someone was rich, then that meant that they were highly favoured by God, but they were even more highly favoured by God if they kept the commandments. The disciples must have looked at the rich young ruler and thought, ‘Wow, God has richly blessed him; he must be a prime candidate for eternal life!’
They must have thought, as many of the Jews did, if this young, rich ruler couldn’t be saved, then who on earth can be saved? Now obviously the Jewish thinking was wrong, the disciples’ thinking was wrong because no one can be justified before God by keeping the law, because all sin, Galatians 2:16.
It’s a sad fact that many people follow in the rich young ruler’s steps; they desire eternal life, as long as they don’t have to make too many sacrifices. Jesus referred to these people when He remarked about how difficult it is for those who are rich to enter heaven.
Jesus tells them that God and God alone has the power to let people see the foolishness in trusting in their wealth instead of trusting in God, Luke 18:27 / Matthew 19:26 / Mark 10:16 / Romans 1:16. Even some of the Old Testament heroes who were abundantly rich had to trust God instead of their riches, Luke 13:28.
Peter also asked a question, ‘What then will there be for us?’ Matthew 19:27. Peter and the others indeed left everything to follow Jesus, Luke 18:28 / Mark 10:28 / Matthew 4:20 / Luke 5:11, but here Peter is wondering what he will receive for such a sacrifice as leaving everything behind to follow Jesus.
The shock of Jesus’ teaching really got Peter thinking about his and the disciples’ situation. They obviously didn’t understand what Jesus was teaching, and so, Jesus answered him with three promises. They will be blessed with numerous earthly possessions, their families will multiply a hundredfold, and they will receive the greatest reward of all, eternal life, Luke 18:29-30 / Matthew 19:28-30 / Mark 10:29-31.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning the disciples sitting on thrones and becoming judges of the twelve tribes, Matthew 19:28.
‘From the parallel place, Luke 22:28-30, it is evident that sitting on thrones, and judging the twelve tribes, means simply obtaining eternal salvation, and the distinguishing privileges of the kingdom of glory, by those who continued faithful to Christ in his sufferings and death.’
Jesus says that those who leave these family relationships and possessions in order to follow Jesus will receive a hundredfold in this life, Luke 18:29-30 / Matthew 19:29 / Mark 10:29-30. Jesus says, ‘many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first’, Luke 13:30 / Matthew 20:16 / Matthew 19:30 / Mark 10:31.
This simply means that just because you choose to follow Jesus before others, it doesn’t mean you’ll stay faithful to Jesus to the end; others who come later may well remain faithful to the Lord. A good example of this is Judas, who was one of the first among the apostles and Paul, who was the last of the apostles. Judas didn’t remain faithful to the end, but Paul did, and so in this example, we see that Judas actually ended up being last and Paul ended up being first.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning the first and last, Matthew 19:30 / Mark 10:31.
‘The Jews, who have been the first and most distinguished people of God, will, in general, reject the Gospel of my grace, and be consequently rejected by me. The Gentiles, who have had no name among the living, shall be brought to the knowledge of the truth and become the first, the chief, and most exalted people of God. That this prediction of our Lord has been literally fulfilled, the present state of the Christian and Jewish Churches sufficiently proves. To illustrate this fully, and to demonstrate that the Jews and Gentiles were now put on an equal footing by the Gospel, our Lord speaks the following parable, which has been unhappily divided from its connection by making it the beginning of a new chapter.’
As Jesus talked to the rich man, He observed that he lacked only one thing; he only needed to get rid of his possessions. It became obvious that Jesus had properly diagnosed the man’s need because the man was unwilling to do so; he indeed was valuing his possessions over the Lord.
To follow Jesus, we must give up anything in our lives that is more important to us than He is. Interestingly, this man lacked only one thing. Some people have the idea that one sin is not all that bad; they think that while they may be failing in one area, at least they serve the Lord faithfully in all the others. This story shows clearly that even one thing can keep a person from being accepted by God.
I can only imagine what the rich young ruler must have thought if he had heard Jesus’ three promises to the disciples. Maybe he would have thought twice, maybe he would have followed Jesus, but sadly, it was these three blessings he actually turned away from. He forfeited his soul for wealth and his position of power, Mark 8:36. Is there one thing in your life that’s stopping you from following Jesus?