Mark 10:17-31

Please take your copy of God's Word out and turn to the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 10.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

Let me say to those of you across the hall, thank you for your patience.

I stepped across the hall over there to see how things were going with the sound

and realized that we had forgotten to mount the camera high enough

to see what was happening on stage when everybody was standing up.

So on the TV across the hall, it was a wall of plaid.

You guys wearing plaid? Yep, your backs.

Which is no big deal. Please stand up during the singing.

But we'll get that all sorted out.

And also, it's a little warm in here.

You know, I think about that kind of thing.

We cooled the room to 68 before you guys all got here,

but apparently our BTU calculations were not quite correct.

And you guys are putting off more heat than the air conditioning is keeping up with.

So we'll cool it more next Sunday so that we can keep up with you.

Mark, chapter 10. We're continuing our verse-by-verse exposition,

Mark 10 · chapter mention

and we have come to verse 17, and I'll read to you through 31,

and then we'll pray.

And as he, being Jesus, was setting out on his journey,

a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him,

Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus said to him,

Why do you call me good?

No one is good except God alone.

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.

And he said to him,

Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.

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.

Disheartened by the saying,

he went away sorrowful,

for he had great possessions.

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,

How difficult it will be for those who have wealth

to enter the kingdom of God.

And the disciples were amazed at his words.

But Jesus said to them again,

Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

And they were exceedingly astonished

and said to him,

Then who can be saved?

Jesus looked at them and said,

With man it is impossible,

but not with God,

for all things are possible with God.

Peter began to say to him,

See, we have left everything and followed you.

Jesus said,

Truly I say to you,

there is no one who has left houses or brothers or sisters

or mother or father or children or lands

for my sake and for the gospel

who will 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.

But many who are first will be last

and the last first.

This is God's word to us,

written for his glory and our good.

We would all do well to listen to it

in order to believe its promises

and obey its commands.

Let's pray together.

Father,

Father,

our sufficiency

at all times

comes from you.

But there are moments in our life

that are particularly marked

where we feel that need

to such a greater degree.

And this, for me,

is one of those times.

And so, Father,

I would ask that you would

work in me by your spirit

to preach your word

well to your people.

And I would also ask

on behalf of them

that you'd work

by your spirit

in their hearts

to take this word

and apply it appropriately

to their lives.

Bring about

greater degrees

of repentance

and faith

so that we will

exalt

the name of Jesus.

And it's in that precious name

I pray.

Amen.

Well, once again,

we have before us

a pericope

found in all three.

Pericope's just a biblical text.

Found in all three

of the Synoptic Gospels.

That is,

this story is recorded

here by Mark,

by Matthew

in chapter 19

of his Gospel account,

and in chapter 18

of the Lucan account.

Anytime this happens,

not that we should neglect

any other text,

but we should really pay

careful attention.

All three of these writers

felt it important,

were led by the Spirit

to record these things

for us.

We should give it

extra attention.

What can we glean

from this text

for our living

to the glory

of God?

I have to tell you

as I study the parallels,

I'm so very pleased

to be preaching

from Mark's account

as it's my favorite account.

And I'll tell you

in a little while

why his particular account

is my favorite.

He has been

so punchy so far.

He moves so quickly

through the beginning part,

up through about

the middle of chapter 8,

moving us along,

hurrying us along

in the narrative.

And here,

he begins to slow down,

and he gives us

some beautiful details

that even the other

authors do not.

And once again,

I have bitten off

more than I think

any of us can chew

on a Sunday morning

in one sitting.

So,

I'm going to deal today

with the evangelistic aspect

of this text.

And next week,

I'll deal with

the financial,

the wealth aspect of it.

And we'll see what

true wealth is

in God's economy.

So,

the evangelistic aspect,

you heard me correctly.

Remember that Jesus

was a preacher

of the gospel.

He was also

the fulfillment of it.

He was the reason for it,

but he was a preacher

of the gospel.

Mark 1.15,

he says,

the time is fulfilled

and the kingdom of God

is at hand.

Repent and believe

in the gospel.

All of the miracles

that we see recorded

all are just giving

credence to the thing

that he's saying.

It's the message

that mattered most,

not the miracles.

So,

he's a preacher

of the gospel.

And we would rightly see

the rich young ruler

as a seeker.

This is an evangelistic

encounter.

Right?

That by the young man's

estimation doesn't end

very well,

but there's much

that we can learn

from the way

that our Lord

deals with him.

Now,

we see that Jesus

is setting out

on a journey.

He has presumably

left the house.

We see in verse 10,

he's in a house

with his disciples.

So,

he has left that.

He's setting out

on a journey.

He's currently in the region

of Judea

and beyond the Jordan.

We see that in chapter 10,

verse 2.

And he's working his way

towards Jerusalem.

This is in the months

leading up to

his crucifixion.

He has largely

left his public ministry

and he's now

turned his attention,

his focus,

his sights are set

on teaching the disciples

the things they will

need to know

once he departs

from them.

He gets some

interruptions

in that process,

but through this

last half of chapter 8

and through the end

of chapter 10,

he lays down

foundational truths

that they must

receive

and understand

to continue

to follow him

after his death.

We know he's going

to be delivered.

He's said now

three times,

he'll say it again

in the coming verses,

8.31

and 9.31.

He's foretold

that he's going

to be delivered over

to his tormentors

to be crucified.

And all of this

is interrupted

by a man.

Mark's account

simply says

a man.

He is commonly

referred to

as the rich

young ruler.

And we arrive

at this by looking

at the various

accounts.

So Luke 18.18,

he's called

a ruler.

He was likely

a ruler

of a local

synagogue.

Which is a lay

position.

It wasn't a

Levitical position.

It was a lay

position.

It was the person

that managed

the storehouses.

All the provisions

being there

was an office

manager of sorts.

But it was a

highly esteemed

position

and it was

highly lucrative.

Religion was

a big business

in this day.

Much wealth

came with it.

We also know

that he was rich

because Mark's

commentary in

verse 22,

for he had

great possessions.

So here we see

the rich and

the ruler

part of that.

Matthew 19.20

says that he

was the

young man.

Now this

position that he

likely held

as a ruler

of the synagogue

was an esteemed

religious position

that was prominently

held by older

men.

They were

typically called

elders as a

result.

Not the way

we speak of

biblical elders

in a modern

church setting,

but as old

men that

held this

position.

And somehow

this young

man had

come to

be this

ruler.

Which means

that he

was probably

especially

pious.

From the

outside he

seemed to

observe the

law very

well,

which is what

granted him

this position.

He certainly

considers himself

pious as

we'll see

soon.

This man

is in the

very prime

of his

life.

He has

in this

cultural

setting

everything

he could

possibly

want.

Much

wealth.

Much

esteem.

In the

culture's

estimation,

he was

the most

right

with God.

But yet,

he knows

that he

lacks

something.

And all

humanity

knows this.

All

humanity

apart from

Christ

knows

that there

is

something

missing.

Some

people call

it,

in a kind

of trite

fashion,

a God

sized hole

in our

hearts.

All

humanity

knows that

we were

created for

something in

particular,

and that

was to

exalt

the

creator.

And when

we're not

doing that,

things just

don't go

that well.

Even when

they seem

to be by

the world's

standards.

People spend

their lives

pursuing

this thing

that they

can't quite

put their

hands on,

that they

know they

need to

be fulfilled.

He

recognizes

that it's

this concept

of eternal

life.

He comes

to Jesus

seeking.

And he

comes to

Jesus with

a great

expression

of humility.

Now keep

in mind

that this

young man

is a rich

young man,

and the

record in

Mark is

that he

ran up

and he

knelt

before him.

People

with money

in this

day did

not run

because they

could afford

to have

somebody else

run for

them.

They would

have a

servant who

would go

fetch

whatever

instrument

they may

need or

go send

a message

to somebody

else.

It was

considered

degrading

to run.

No running

for exercise

in these

days.

Running

did not

happen.

This would

have been

an expression

of humility.

And beyond

that,

he kneels

down

before him.

Jesus.

And he

says,

good teacher,

what must

I do

to inherit

eternal life?

He gets

that he

doesn't have

it.

Matthew 19

16 says,

teacher,

what good

deed must

I do

to have

eternal

life?

And in

verse 20,

Matthew 19,

what do I

still lack?

How is it

that I

get this

thing?

Now,

the Jews

of this

day,

and I

would presume

Jews of

ours as

well,

have a

proper view

of salvation

and eternal

life.

In fact,

I think in

a lot of

ways,

they get

it more

right than

we do.

Certainly,

this man

would have.

They believed

that to have

eternal life

was not simply

that they

would go on

living,

right?

That we

live this

life now,

we die,

and we

continue to

live,

although it

does mean

that,

but that it

was to have

the very

life of

God.

God

himself has

eternal life,

and therefore,

for us to have

eternal life,

what great

gain that

is to

us.

A proper

biblical

understanding of

what it means

to have

life in

Christ is

aligned with

this,

that we

have life

now and

forever

more.

In a sense,

we bring

heaven to

earth when

the Spirit

of God

comes to

dwell in

our hearts.

Joy is

restored.

The ability

to live

under the

pressures of

sin,

the ability

to stand

up under

the temptation

of sin

exists because

of what we

now have.

Now,

what the

life of

God was

exactly,

they

misunderstood.

This is

what Jesus

has been

teaching the

disciples all

along.

Chapter 8,

verse 34.

What is

he predicting?

He's predicting

his death.

And my

brain just

went blank.

31.

Yep,

that's a

typo.

And he

began to

teach them

that the

Son of

Man must

suffer many

things and

be rejected

by the

elders and

the chief

priests and

the scribes

and be

killed and

after three

days rise

again.

Nope,

it wasn't a

typo.

Verse 34.

If anyone

would come

after me,

let him

deny himself

and take

up his

cross and

follow me.

What is

it going to

look like to

be a

disciple of

Jesus Christ?

What is

it going to

mean to

have the

life of

God?

It's

going to

mean that

we

emulate

him.

Jesus,

incarnate

God,

in flesh

suffered

for our

sake.

Again,

chapter 9,

verse 35.

If anyone

will be

first,

he must

be the

last of

all and

servant of

all.

Beyond

our text,

chapter 10,

verse 31.

But many

who are

first will

be last

and the

last

first.

Look at

verse 43.

But it

shall not be

so among

you, but

whoever would

be great

among you

must be

your servant.

And whoever

will be

first among

you,

must be

slave of

all.

For even

the Son

of Man

came not

to be

served,

but to

serve,

and to

give his

life as

a ransom

for many.

This rich

wrong,

you would

have thought

he had

everything

he needed,

and what

he was

coming to

Jesus for

was that

one more

thing.

Let me

add the

bonus on

top of

all the

things I

already

have.

And he

missed

the point

that for

him to

gain

Christ,

he had

to give

up all

that he

had.

So what

answer would

you have

given such

a man who

comes to

you in

such a

humble

position,

asks such

a seemingly

heartfelt

question?

Imagine that a

man runs up to

you today after

the service,

whatever restaurant

you may go to,

kneels down before you

and says,

good teacher,

what must I do

to inherit

eternal life?

I imagine that

you would tell

them,

repent and

believe,

right?

You'd use

Bible language.

You might say,

look to Christ,

place your faith

in him,

or pray this

prayer.

In a different

setting,

one might say,

walk the aisle,

or here,

read this tract,

right?

And all these

things would be

well motivated,

of course,

right?

We want people

to respond to

the gospel.

We want people

to understand the

very essence of

what it means to

place faith in

Christ.

I believe this

is the answer

we would give

them all.

Isn't this

exactly what

Jesus did

when Nicodemus,

another ruler

of the Jews,

sought him out?

John 3,

14 and 15.

It says,

Moses lifted up

the servant

in the wilderness,

so must the

Son of Man

be lifted up,

that whoever

believes in him

may have

eternal life.

Or in John 6,

28,

when Jesus is

teaching the crowds,

they say to him,

what must we do

to be doing

the works of

God?

Jesus answered

them,

this is the

work of God,

that you believe

in him whom

he has sent.

Or you could

be taking your

cues from Paul

and Silas when

the Philippian

jailer asked

them in Acts

16,

30,

sirs,

what must I

do to be

saved?

And they

said,

believe in

the Lord

Jesus and

you will be

saved.

We see a

biblical pattern

for this type

of response

to such

a question.

So why

does Jesus'

answer vary

from this

pattern?

What can

we learn

from Jesus

about his

evangelistic

methods and

therefore the

proper evangelistic

methods?

Is it

possible

that you

have and

are presuming

that you

may have

something to

teach Jesus

about evangelism?

Is it

possible that

evangelical

Christians

have been

sharing

Christ

wrongly?

So why

does his

answer vary?

And the

key to that

is in

Jesus'

immediate

response

to the

man.

Verse

18,

he says,

why do

you call

me good?

No one

is good

except

God

alone.

Now it's

interesting,

isn't it?

Because we

could rightly

call Jesus

good,

right?

Jesus,

who lived

a sinless

life up

to this

point.

of course,

had not

sinned.

If anybody

on earth

was to be

called good,

it would

have been

Jesus.

But this

man did

not know

who he

was.

This man

did not

have a

clear

revelation

that he

was the

Christ.

He simply

comes to

him,

a man he

knows has

been traveling

and teaching

about the

kingdom of

God,

who has

done many

miracles,

and he

applies very

loosely,

he throws

a term

on him

that is

good.

He doesn't

get it,

which is why

Jesus responds

in the way

that he

does.

Further,

he should

have known

his scriptures.

This man

certainly would

have studied

them.

Romans 3,

10-12,

where Paul

quotes from

Psalm 14

and Psalm 53,

which this

young ruler

would have

had,

one of the

few copies,

he would have

had access

to it.

Paul sums

it up for

us and

says,

none is

righteous or

good,

no not one,

no one

understands,

no one

seeks for

God,

all have

turned aside,

together they

have become

worthless,

no one does

good,

not even

one.

No one

does good,

no one

is good,

except God

alone.

And Jesus'

response

redefines for

us what

goodness is.

He sets

God up as

the standard

for goodness.

He makes

goodness

objective

rather than

subjective.

If I compare

myself to

you,

I might

come out

okay.

I also

may not.

If I compare

myself to

God,

in every

case,

I will be

left with

no doubt

that I

need the

goodness

of Christ.

God

alone

is good.

Matthew

19-16

kind of

pointily

says,

Teacher,

what good

deed must

I do

to have

eternal

life?

This man

thought that

he could

amass for

himself merit

by the way

in which

he lived.

He was

incredibly

delusional.

He thinks

that he has

kept the

law.

He thinks

that he

is righteous

by his

own

doing.

Do you

remember the

parable of the

Pharisee and the

tax collector?

Peter?

In Luke,

it's recorded

just before the

telling of this

particular

story.

Let me read

that to you.

Luke 18,

beginning in

verse 9.

Jesus also

told this

parable to

some who

trusted in

themselves that

they were

righteous and

treated others

with contempt.

Two men

went up to the

temple to pray,

one a Pharisee

and the other

a tax collector.

The Pharisee

standing by

himself prayed

thus,

God, I

thank you that

I am not like

other men,

extortioners,

unjust,

adulterers,

or even like

this tax

collector.

I fast twice

a week.

I give tithes

of all that

I get.

But the

tax collector

standing far

off would not

even lift up

his eyes to

heaven,

but beat

his breast

saying,

God, be

merciful to

me, a

sinner.

I tell you,

this man went

down to his

house justified

rather than the

other.

For everyone

who exalts

himself will

be humbled,

but the one

who humbles

himself will

be exalted.

The Pharisee

compares himself

to the tax

collector and

finds himself

righteous.

The tax

collector is

honest with

who he is

before God

and says,

I am a

sinner.

Please have

mercy on me.

I cannot

merit that

on my own.

I cannot

earn it.

It must be

your gracious

extension

of mercy.

mercy.

This is the

good news

of the

gospel,

beloved.

This is the

wonderful news

of the

gospel.

That apart

from anything

we could

possibly do

to earn

God's favor,

he extends

it to us

all the

same.

But good

news isn't

good news

without bad

news,

is it?

There certainly

is bad

news.

I just

read to you

Romans 3.

10-12,

none is

righteous.

No, not

one.

No one

understands.

No one

seeks for

God.

All have

turned aside.

Together they

have become

worthless.

No one

does good.

Not even

one.

We learn in

Romans that

the wages

of sin

is death.

This is

what due

to us is

the just

punishment

for our

sin.

What has

been accounted

to us

is death

because of

our sin.

And none

of us have

escaped this.

Not a

single person

in my

hearing can

say I

am without

sin.

You're

not.

By your

nature are

sinful before

Christ.

I praise

God in

Romans 3.

Paul keeps

writing because

he could because

of the gospel.

He had so

much more to

say about

the gospel.

Verse 21

and 22,

but now the

righteousness of

God has been

manifested apart

from the law.

Although the

law and the

prophets bear

witness to it,

the righteousness

of God

through faith

in Jesus

Christ for

all who

believed.

Martin Luther

called it the

great exchange.

Jesus took

on our

sin on the

cross.

He took

the wrath

of God

that was

due us

and he

gave to

us his

righteousness.

This is how

we stand

before God.

Not by

anything that

we could

earn.

Right?

You're

deluded if

you think

that walking

an aisle

or praying

a particular

prayer is

what makes

you in a

right standing

before God.

If someone

has misled

you in

that way,

if you

hang the

surety of

your salvation

on some

experience,

some date,

let me warn

you,

urge you,

do not let

that be your

surety.

It's on the

work of

Christ in

your life.

Do you

have the

Spirit of

God?

Do you

love Him

more than

the things

of this

world?

God

the rich

young

ruler was

not truly

humble.

He

was in

exterior

fashion.

He did

not really

recognize

his

poverty.

Do you

recognize

yours?

He knew

something was

missing,

but he

did not

come to

Jesus

seeking

for God,

but rather

what he

could gain

from God.

He was

exalting

himself.

He was

self-righteous.

proud.

He possessed

this outward

appearance of

humility,

but inwardly

was totally

proud.

And Jesus

surmises all

of this from

one word,

good.

But he

probes further.

He quotes

the latter

half of the

Ten Commandments.

It's six.

I know there's

ten.

It's a little

more than the

latter half.

The latter

half of the

Ten Commandments.

Those that

deal with

relationships

between men.

You can

find that in

Exodus 20

and the

restating of

it in

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5.

Verse 19.

Do not

murder.

Do not

commit

adultery.

Do not

steal.

Do not

bear false

witness.

Do not

defraud.

Honor your

father and

mother.

The young

man knew

these laws.

He didn't

scratch his

head at

these things.

He knew

these things

and we

see that

in his

response.

But he

fails to

see the

purpose of

the law.

The purpose

of the law

was that it

was meant to

teach our

need for a

Savior.

The law

sets up

God's

standard for

righteousness.

A righteous

that we

cannot

possibly

achieve.

And I'll

say it

again.

We need

the righteousness

of Christ

that is

granted to

us through

repentance

and faith.

The law

was always

meant to

point us

to this

great

reality.

Paul recorded

in Galatians

Galatians 3:23–26

chapter 3

verse 23

through 26.

Now before

faith came

we were held

captive under

the law

and imprisoned

until the

coming faith

would be

revealed.

So then

the law

was our

guardian

until Christ

came in

order that

we might

be justified

by faith.

But now

that faith

has come

we are no

longer under

a guardian

for in

Christ Jesus

you are

all sons

of God

through faith.

Now in

Jewish

culture

young people

had very

little value.

In fact

when they

were very

young

they weren't

really even

considered

sons and

daughters.

They didn't

have the

rights

that sons

and daughters

had in

the household.

And placed

above them

was a person

that was hired

out called

a guardian.

They were

kind of a

taskmaster.

They were

the person

that made

sure that

they got

to school

that they

learned the

Torah

and they

did all

the things

that they

were meant

to do.

And they

were given

permission

to be rather

violent with

the children.

They kind

of beat

them in

to

submission.

And see

what Paul

is saying

here about

the law

being our

guardian

until

Christ

comes.

In verse 26

for in

Christ Jesus

you are

all sons

of God.

We've been

set free

from the

demands

of the

law

that none

of us

could keep.

We've been

given the

righteousness

of Christ.

The law

aims us

at Him.

Put another

way,

John Bunyan

in his

wonderful book

The Pilgrim's

Progress.

If you have

not read

The Pilgrim's

Progress,

you are

behind

most

Christianity,

you need

to pick

it up

and read

it.

And it's

the story

of a man

named

Christian

in his

journey

to the

celestial

city.

And he

meets along

this journey

a wonderful

character

that travels

with him

for quite

some time

named

Faith.

And Faith

has had

some experience

prior to

their meeting

together

and he's

recounting

that experience

here.

Faith says,

But good

brother,

hear me

out.

So soon

as the

man

overtook

me,

he's

journeying

up a

hill,

so soon

as the

man

overtook

me,

he was

but a

word

and a

blow,

for down

he knocked

me and

laid me

for dead.

But when

I was a

little come

to myself

again,

I asked

him,

wherefore

has he

served

me?

So why

did you

hit me?

He said,

because of

my secret

inclining

to Adam

the first.

And with

that,

he struck

me another

deadly blow

on the

breast and

lay at

his foot

as dead

as before.

So when

I came

to myself

again,

I cried

him mercy,

but he

said,

I know

not how

to show

mercy.

And with

that,

he knocked

me down

again.

He had

doubtless

made an

end of

me,

but that

one came

by and

bid him

forbear.

So there's

a man

faced on

his journey,

this man

keeps knocking

him out.

When he

comes to,

he has a

conversation

with him,

and he

knocks him

out again.

Show me

mercy,

I don't

know how

to show

mercy.

And then

stop.

Christian

asks,

who was

that

that bid

him

forbear

or to

stop?

And

faith

says,

I did

not know

him at

first,

but as

he went

by,

I perceived

the holes

in his

hands and

his sides,

that I

concluded

that he

was our

Lord,

so I

went up

the hill.

And

Christian

responds,

that man

that overtook

you was

Moses.

He

spareth

none,

neither

knoweth

he how

to show

mercy to

those that

transgress

his law.

And

John Bunyan

is not

saying here