Something Missing? - Mark 10:17-22

Something Missing?

Mark 10:17-22

Introduction: The story of “The Rich, Young Ruler” is one that is repeated in all three of the so-called Synoptic Gospels. Once again, each one contains some variation is details, exactly the kind of thing you would expect from eye witness testimony. This man came to Jesus searching, he seemed to realize that something was missing from his life despite his religious and personal accomplishments. He was seeking, but he was not ready for the answer that he received from the Lord. Our tendency is to jump ahead to the end of the story and immediately to question the man’s motives. But this is not one of the lawyers who come to Jesus to test Him. This man runs to catch up with Jesus, and falls on his knees before Him, and asks Him about the way to life. And, importantly, the text tells us that Jesus loved him.

       The three questions Mark has been answering in his gospel are before us again in this story: 1) Who is Jesus? 2) Why did He come? And 3) What does it mean to follow Him? Since Peter’s confession of faith in 8:29, and Jesus’ call to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Him (8:34) the emphasis has been on what it means to be a Christ-follower.

     The context illuminates what is happening here. Jesus had just spoken about receiving the kingdom like a child. As Jesus sets out on His way to Jerusalem, this man runs up to Him with a question about “life.” As a Jew who knew the Scriptures the man was asking about life in the Kingdom. The question is an important one it seems to me. He wants to know if he is on track, is he on the right path. He is looking for assurance. That is important for all of us.

The Maine* Idea: Faith in Jesus, believing who He is and trusting in what He did for us, is the only way to True Life, a new life that will result in a new direction.

I. Jesus answers the man’s query first indirectly, with a question of His own: He essentially asks, “Who do you say that I am?” (17-18). This was not a deflection of the question, it really invited this young man to consider the heart of the matter. The foundational issue is recognizing who Jesus is and responding to Him.

¹⁷ 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. 

     The beginning of this encounter tells us something about the man who comes to Jesus. We know from the other gospel accounts that the man was a “ruler” (Lk 18:18), that He was “young” (Mt 19:20), and as we’ll see later in this account in Mark, that He was wealthy. Hence, we refer to him as “the Rich, Young, Ruler” even though we don’t have the latter two details in Mark. He was a respected person, a person of prominence. If he came into most churches he would be greeted and engaged in conversation. This guy would look like an ideal member and a potential leader! This stands in contrast to the little children that were being brought to Jesus in the preceding context. For a reader of the gospel, one might already wonder if a man like this would be ready to receive the kingdom like a little child? 

       First of all, we see a sense of urgency, as the man “ran up” to Jesus. Running in public would have been considered rather undignified for a person of stature. The man doesn’t seem concerned about that however. Jesus was leaving, and he had an important question to ask while he still had the opportunity. He seems determined to seize the opportunity. Was this “ruler” a member of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem? Did he have some knowledge of what they were already planning to do when He got there? We don’t know. It is quite a contrast to the story of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus in private, at night, with his questions (John 3). We have to acknowledge that this rich young ruler showed some discernment by coming to the One, the only one, who could meet his deepest need, and some transparency in the way that he did it. He was willing to be vulnerable and he came with a searching heart.

       The man shows remarkable respect as he runs up and falls on his knees before Jesus. Think about who this young man is, a ruler, hence a leader who has risen in stature among his countrymen, and wealthy, someone who has been successful in building some comfort and security in this life. But he clearly knew that it was not enough. This doesn’t seem to be the approach of a self-righteous, arrogant person who thinks he is OK. Something was missing, and he knew it. So, he comes, and falls on his knees before this itinerate teacher, maybe around the same age as him, but widely regarded as a prophet, or something more, yet a man with no wealth or official status, with nothing of this world other than the clothes on his back, and he asks Him the most important question of his life. “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

       A “good” question (or, a question about good?). “…what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Many commentators and preachers seem to fixate on the word “do” in the man’s question. Is the man assuming that the life He seeks to inherit is based on human effort, his own good works? Maybe, but it is the same verb that we see in other contexts that doesn’t seem to rile interpreters in the same way. For example, we see in Acts 2:37, after Peter’s Pentecost sermon, that “…they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” They use the same word that we see in this context. Likewise, a little further on in Acts, the Philippian jailer asks Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). Those questions aren’t so different from that of the rich young ruler, are they? We’ll return to that question when we look at point two, below, and the second part of Jesus’ reply to the young man.

       Jesus doesn’t seem disturbed by the verb that the young man uses, but He seizes first on the adjective that the man uses to describe Him, “Good teacher…” That word becomes an opportunity for Jesus to provoke the man to think about the deeper, and correct, meaning of his own words. He asks, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone!” It is as though Jesus is asking, “Do you know what you are saying when you call me good? Do you realize who I really am? Only God is good, so do you mean to say that you recognize Me as God?” It isn’t too different than the question Jesus asked the disciples back in Mark 8:29, “Who do you say that I am?” The man never responds to that question by the way. In fact, when he addresses Jesus again, he simply calls Him “teacher.” It is as though he wants to stop using language that evoked any questions. He had enough questions of his own, he was looking for answers not questions!  He was respectful, yes, but far from grasping who it really is that stood before him! Apparently, he did not yet understand that Jesus IS the answer!

       Jesus engages him further, giving him an opportunity to express his heart—and, at the same time, to expose his need. Because faith in Jesus, believing who He is and trusting in what He did for us, is the only way to True Life, a new life that will result in a new direction.

II. Jesus then reveals the man’s perspective: The man thinks “Life” comes from obedience. He was right to connect the two, but the truth is that obedience comes from life, and life is expressed as obedience (19-20)!

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." 

      You know the commandments… When Moses received the ten commandments from God on Mount Sinai, they were written on two stone tablets by the finger of God. By their very nature we can’t miss that God is revealing absolute truth, an idea not too popular today. Many echo the words of Pilate these days, “What is truth?” It’s like some interpreters of the US Constitution that say it means whatever people today say it means. Others say no, it must mean what the framers intended. God’s Word is truth. The Ten Commandments were a succinct statement about morality and faithfulness, what God expected from His people. The first four commandments (based on the Protestant numbering) deal with God-ward commands, love the Lord alone, no idols, don’t take His name in vain, keep holy the Sabbath), while the rest addressed our attitudes and actions toward other humans. Jesus starts with the so-called second tablet of the Law, the man-ward commandments, those that have to do with loving our “neighbors.” Remember, Jesus is the discerner of hearts. He knows our thoughts, and He knows our need. He starts with these laws because they were where the young man was striving to please God. It seems to me that Jesus starts here because this man really treasured these commands and was trying to live them.

      “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth…” Now we can imagine Jesus breaking out his notes from the Sermon on the Mount and confronting the man on how he inwardly failed to keep the deeper intention of even these commandments. (Most of us who preach or teach on this passage are quick to do exactly that!) We can imagine Jesus doing that, but that would be only our imagination. How did Jesus respond to the man’s answer? The Bible tells us that He loved Him. It seems unavoidable that Jesus saw something commendable in this inquirer. He, of course, knew the man’s heart. As a “son of the covenant” did He see a sincere love for the Torah, a wanting and seeking to be obedient to the Law of God?  Could it be that in all of his love for the Law, this young man had forgotten the primacy of loving the One who gave the Law? After all, faith in Jesus, believing who He is and trusting in what He did for us, is the only way to True Life, a new life that will result in a new direction: Life, then obedience. Life as obedience!

III. And He exposes the man’s need: Do we desire the Giver more than His gifts? Do we love Jesus more than life (21-22)?

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.

       Jesus knew the heart of this rich, young, ruler. He meets him at the point of his need. He loved him enough to tell him the truth. For all of his religiosity there was yet something that he lacked. Jesus has a way of breaking through our camouflage and our masks. He knows our hearts. Does that scare you? It shouldn’t. He knew the truth about you, and He still loved you so much that He laid down His life for you! Jesus knew this young man’s heart, and He “loved him.” So, He said what he needed to hear, knowing what was holding him back. He essentially pointed him back to the first tablet of the Law, and to the first commandment: “Are you willing to love me with your whole heart, mind, and soul?” By the way, we don’t know the heart or the thoughts of other people. But we do know that they need God. So, we need to love them enough to tell them the truth. This man had great possessions, and Jesus knew that his love for his wealth stood in the way of him loving God whole-heartedly. He needed a heart check. Jesus was, after all, on His way to Jerusalem, and to Calvary. That is not the way of comfort and security. It is the way to the Cross.

       Think about Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah in Genesis 22. God called Abraham to give up what he loved, the one on whom his hopes and dreams hung. Offer your son, your only son, Isaac. This was the son of promise, the son of Abraham’s old age, the one on whom all of his hopes and dreams hung—the son God himself had promised to him. Give him up? Offer him as a sacrifice? God essentially asked Abraham, “Do you trust me?” You know that story, Abraham and the boy went up the mountain. Abraham bound his son and laid him on the wood, preparing to offer him to God. And when he raised the knife to slay the boy God intervened—Now I know that you fear God, I know that you love me!

       Back in our passage in Mark, this rich young ruler had either inherited great wealth, or had worked to achieve it. Money meant prestige, comfort, security. We, as American Christians in the 21^st century, can relate to him. Even people considered poor in America are materially “richer” than 90% of the inhabitants of earth! (Why do you think there is a caravan passing through Mexico toward the border!). We are wealthy, and we are very attached to our “stuff.” Guess what, the Pharaohs tried, they were buried with riches and even servants, but you can’t take it with you! It was all there for thieves or archaeologist to dig up. Jim Eliot, one of the five young missionaries who lost their lives in reaching out to the Auca Indians in Equador, said: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” And there is so much to gain!

       Jesus told the man to leave behind the things to which he was so attached, and to “…come, follow me…” Do those words sound familiar? Those are the same words that He had used as He was calling the twelve (cf. 1:17; 2:14). It is an invitation to discipleship, to become a Christ-follower. It is the same phrase He used when He explained the call to discipleship in Mark 8:34. It is a call to death, and an invitation to life, eternal life, abundant life, kingdom life. Here the One who is truly good stood incarnate before this young man. Emmanuel, God with us. And He loved him, and He told him to let go and to follow. “You still lack one thing,” Jesus said. That was an answer, and a call, for which he was not prepared.

       This rich young ruler had great promise. He came to the right person. He asked the right question (or at least a good one!). But he wasn’t ready for the answer. The man’s reaction revealed where his heart was. His possessions had become an idol. Jesus was asking him, “Do you love me more than this? Will you trust me?” But it seems he felt the comfort that his wealth brought him here and now was not worth trading for the Via Dolorosa that would come with following Jesus – even if that meant hope for the age to come. He wouldn’t let go of the things that he could not keep to gain what he couldn’t lose. Tragic!

      As Jesus will say in the following explanation there will be suffering as we live as kingdom citizens in a fallen world, yes, but also blessing. Eternal life is a quality of life, a path we walk in His presence. The man went away sad, disheartened. What (or who) did he go away from? He walked away from Jesus, the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Rather than following Him, he said “I love my goods more than I love the One who is Good.”

What is God saying to me in this passage? Faith in Jesus, believing who He is and trusting in what He did for us, is the only way to True Life, a new life that will result in a new direction (and a new obedience).

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? There is a warning in the story of the rich, young, ruler. We can be religious, seemingly good and respected by people, and still be far from God. Idolatry was not just a problem in the ancient world! Was it D.L. Moody who said, “You don’t have to go to far-away lands to find idols, American is full of them!” Yes, American Idol is not only a television show, it is a religion that is pervasive in our country—even finding its way into churches. We treasure our stuff rather than treasuring God.

       Jesus doesn’t call all of us—or even many of us—to sell all that we have and give it to the poor. But he does tell us that we must love Him more than anything—to be willing to dedicate it all to Him—and to take up our cross and follow Him. Is there something in your life that you treasure more than God? The young man was right to see a connection between salvation, eternal life, and obedience. He just had the order wrong. It is not obey to find life, it is receive life, then walk in obedience. Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-10,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Life, then obedience. Life as obedience! Have you decided to follow Jesus? How then, should you live?  Trust and obey, there is no other way! AMEN.