Mark 10:17-31
The Rich Young Man
17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[d]“
This account is an excellent contrast with the previous story of the children. Jesus had just talked about how we need to be like children to enter the kingdom, dependent, humble, and eager to believe and receive from him. Now a young man comes to him with the opposite attitude. His first question is wrong in two respects. First, he called Jesus “Good teacher”. Of course, Jesus was good, and a great teacher, but the point is that no rabbi was called by that title, because it implied sinlessness and complete purity. Notice that Jesus did not deny that he was good, he simply asked the man why he called him that. Jesus was sinless, but this man did not know that. If he had followed Jesus’ advice later, he would have found out how sinless Jesus was. What Jesus was really saying back to him was, “Do you know what you’re really saying when you call me good? You’re saying I’m God. Be careful who you say that to”.
The young man’s question is also wrong-headed in that he asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. His attitude was understandable, given that he was following the religious customs of the time, which was very much oriented toward salvation by works. Also, he may have gotten rich by doing, so he thought he could enter Heaven by doing as well.
20“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
The young man was proud of how he had kept the law. He recognized that Jesus was teaching that there was something beyond keeping the law, and he wanted to know what it was. But he did not want to hear Jesus’ answer. Be careful about asking God what he wants you to do. He just might tell you. Jesus knew exactly what was dearest to the young man, and went straight to it. The question he asked Peter after the resurrection, “Do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15) is the question he asks all of us. Are we willing to give up that which is dearest to us in order to follow him?
23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is[e] to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
The common belief at that time was that if you were rich, you had God’s favor, and if you were poor, it was because God was displeased with you. Therefore, if you were rich, you must be righteous. That’s why what Jesus said after the rich young man left was so shocking to the disciples. Unfortunately, there are still people who believe that stuff today. It’s called “prosperity gospel”. The idea that God wants us to be materially wealthy is not Biblical. Material wealth leads to self satisfaction and a lack of dependence on God. There are wealthy people who give sacrificially and are wiling to give up all they have to follow Christ, but the truth is, most of us have a tendency to feel that we can take care of ourselves, especially if money is not an issue for us. This is especially true in modern day America, where so much of our culture is aimed at accumulating money and things. Most of us don’t think of ourselves as rich, but by world standards, we are. If we are honest, how many of us would be willing to do what Jesus asked the rich young man to do if we had been in his place?
28Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Jesus had to throw persecutions in with all the other things we would receive, didn’t he? The disciples had already done exactly what Jesus had asked the rich young man to do. They were walking the same path Jesus walked, and they would meet the same end, eventually. Jesus was beginning his journey to Jerusalem to be crucified. When he invited the rich young man to follow him, he knew that, of course. Though the disciples left everything to follow Jesus, during the course of their ministries, they did not become rich by the world’s standards, but they did gain thousands of new family members in the family of God. They had homes to stay in wherever they went. And they received persecutions. But though the world did not consider them rich or important during their lives, history counts them among the most influential people who ever lived, and in the kingdom of God they are equal to, if not greater than the patriarchs. In the millenial Kingdom, and in the Kingdom of Heaven, there will be many who are great that we never heard of in this world, and many who are considered “superstars” in the Christian world will be among the least.