Mark 10:17-31

I'll just open this up by praying for us tonight.

Lord, those are great words for us to recite and to sing, that we would surrender all to

you.

And I just pray that that would sink from our mouths into our minds and right down into

our hearts as we look to love and to serve you, Lord, to surrender all things to you,

and that we may find true joy, true satisfaction, that you would truly be all that we need.

In Christ's name, amen.

Tonight we'll continue to look at the book of Mark.

We'll be in chapter 10, starting in verse 17.

We kind of see in this section of Mark, Jesus continues to teach his disciples and to show

them the nature and the character of the kingdom of God.

So, and right here in this passage, we'll begin with verse 17 and go through verse 31.

And I'll read that for us as we start.

And as he 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, 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've 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, children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God.

It is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter in the kingdom of God.

And they were exceedingly astonished.

And he said to him, and they 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 house 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, 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 verse.

Hmm.

There was this missionary.

He left his home.

He gave up his culture.

He gave up his language.

He buried three of his family members in one year.

He was robbed for almost everything he had.

But except send the guy to jail.

Because of the harsh penal code, he writes him a letter.

In the midst of all this, I guess he's in China, by the way.

And in the midst of all this, there's the Boxers' Rebellion.

In the missionary agency he's working with, they lose 58 of their people and about 21 of their children.

And in the midst of that, he takes no reparations.

He takes no action to defend them against that.

But yet, his whole goal in that is to reach the people of this country and to see that they know Christ.

And towards the end of his life, he makes this statement.

He says, I never made a sacrifice.

Wouldn't that be kind of odd or strange?

Maybe for some of us, kind of romantic, that kind of thing where I never sacrificed anything.

And can you imagine that?

Everything you've been through, every agonizing decision you've made,

everything that you've given up, whether voluntarily or involuntarily,

of course we were like, that's a sacrifice.

We've given this up.

We've let this thing go of value that we've treasured for so long.

And could you make that kind of statement at the end of your life?

You said, I've never sacrificed anything.

But what does he mean by this?

What does his life say about this?

In kind of interpreting life, it seems to say,

it means living a life of following Jesus brings a certain fullness

and a certain satisfaction that comes by no other means.

It doesn't come by staying in the comfort of your own home

or your own country, in his case.

It only comes by following Christ and knowing his will

and treasuring just the fullness and the joy that comes in him.

So as we look at this rich young ruler tonight,

we see certain things about him.

Not all of these are bad things.

Not all of these are good things.

But we definitely see here him being sincere.

As you kind of look in verse 17, it says,

And as Jesus was setting out on his journey,

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

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

So Jesus is on his way, and this guy just kind of runs along

and kneels before him.

From the different, from the gospels,

we kind of see that he's wealthy, he's rich, he's a ruler,

so he runs out and kneels before Jesus, this teacher.

And that to be kind of a strange thing for him to do during that time,

being in his kind of position of authority,

him being a ruler, him having that status in society.

But we see him running out before Jesus.

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

So we see a sincerity there,

him not just thinking about himself,

but what's to come,

him thinking about eternal life.

Wouldn't that be kind of a noble thing

for him to earnestly to be seeking about

what will happen in his life as it comes to an end?

And what if we kind of all thought that way?

Like, if I knew what was to happen when I die,

like, would that change how I live now?

And I think he was kind of in that same mode here.

He was wondering, like, if I die,

what is going to happen to me?

So, he's sincere, he's earnest,

he's anxious to know where his life is headed.

And Jesus says 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 just considering this,

Jesus starts off,

why do you call me good?

God is good.

Only God is good.

So, he gets the mind of this rich,

young, little working.

He gets him to kind of see how he's defining good.

Because either, right here,

he's going to say,

well, if only God is good,

then who is the good teacher I'm talking to?

Is he defining Jesus as being good?

And in that, defining him,

making him to be God?

Well, his view of goodness

is merely from a human standpoint,

where he's subjectively comparing himself

to others around him

and coming up with his own moral standard,

where he's kind of saying,

well, according to these things,

he's good.

He teaches people.

I'm good.

I'm rich.

I'm a ruler.

People respect me.

So, how's he defining good here?

And of course,

he doesn't take the Peter approach.

He doesn't run up and say,

you are the Christ.

We don't see that here

because we see how the rest of the passage goes.

We see it doesn't go in that direction.

It takes another turn.

Because his response is,

teacher,

all these I've kept from my youth.

Hmm.

What does he mean by this?

He's kept all these things from his youth.

He's never stolen.

He's never lied.

He's always honored his father and mother.

He's never murdered.

He's never bore false witness.

Not in any aspect.

Between the law and the Talmud,

he's been able to keep himself holy

and pure and undefiled in every way.

The holiest guy I know.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So,

what are we seeing here in his response?

Could it be self-righteousness?

Is he truly that genuine,

that he's never sinned,

that he's never

done anything wrong in his entire life?

And as we get to his response,

we're going to see that,

that this is all self-deception.

He's blinding himself in,

and thinking he's obtained some type of perfection in this life

that he can kind of hang his head on.

And we can see that,

that we were all born into sin,

that not outwardly,

we tend to do these things a lot,

but in our minds and in our hearts,

we can,

we can see us,

ourselves,

hating our brother,

and Jesus calls that murder.

And can we somehow undo this nature?

No.

And yet,

we see this guy here,

he's,

he's externalized the law that was given to him.

It's by saying,

what must I do?

In all his,

in all his life,

these are just things that he's been doing.

He's kind of building his checklist up.

He's doing all these things,

and he's considering himself good.

And we kind of see that

every wrong thought,

every misplaced emotion,

every thoughtless action

judges us guilty before God.

God in his holiness is unique and perfect

and moral in every way,

and we can't measure up to that standard.

He can't even tolerate a single sin.

As we kind of,

as we see where sin kind of derived from,

we see Adam,

we see Eve,

we see this one sin

separates man from God completely.

So he's,

in his holiness,

unique and perfect

and set apart from us.

He's not ordinary,

he's not casual

in any way,

shape,

or form.

He's,

he's not us.

He's holy,

he's perfect.

And all of us have been tainted in some way.

And a quote from,

from J.C.

Rowe says,

so long as we think we can keep the law,

Christ profits us nothing.

And we're going to see this in,

in the life of this rich young ruler.

So his,

his ignorance,

he's searching for this other,

this other tool,

this other thing that he can kind of

add to his arsenal of,

of his to-do list,

where he said,

I've done this and this and this.

And these things have,

have caused me to gain eternal life.

But it all just boils down to a trap.

It's,

it's become a trap from him

because he doesn't,

he's not seeing where,

where those things are leading him.

And,

we kind of go on.

And it says,

Jesus looking at him,

loved him and said to him,

you lack one thing.

Go sell all you have

and give to the poor.

And you will have treasure in heaven.

Come,

follow me.

So we see here,

he's kept all these things,

yet,

yet he's lacking.

And,

and I think when Jesus tells him

he's lacking,

he's probably not thinking

in the same way that,

that Jesus thinking.

Because in his self-righteous state,

he's,

he's thinking that he's done

all that he can do.

And he just kind of

needs a,

an extra piece of that.

He just needs kind of

a bonus to,

to boost him along

a little bit.

So Jesus

kind of tells him,

or,

or better yet,

reveals where,

where this rich young ruler's

heart,

heart is at.

And we see him

go away.

It says,

disheartened by

this saying,

he went away sorrowful,

for he had great possessions.

He loved money

better than he loved his soul.

He loved his possessions

more than he loved himself.

It's not much the fact

that he had money.

The fact is that

he trusted in it.

He took comfort in it.

He made it

security for himself.

It was the one thing

that Jesus wanted him

to give up

that he,

he couldn't live without.

isn't this kind of

the,

the story that we all face?

A little raise here,

a raise there.

Maybe paid a lottery

a little bit

and

get a little extra money

and,

and that'll bring comfort

into our lives.

We can

take all the trips

that we were thinking

about taking.

We can

pay off all the debt

that we have

and,

and that will somehow

kind of put us

in a position

where we,

where we no longer

need anything.

And does God

kind of fall

under that category

in our comfort?

Do we,

do we really need him?

Do we really seek him out?

Is he really

the one

that we're trusting in

and trusting to provide

for us in that

when we have

all that we need

right here?

So what do we do

to,

to keep our good

intentions good?

How do we,

how do we

fend against this?

I think it's

just knowing

that,

that Christ is Lord

and just knowing

that he's Lord

over all that we have,

whether it's our lives,

our,

our time,

our talents

and gifts,

our money,

not just 10%

of those things,

but all of it,

he calls us

to be good stewards

in the way we

handle our time,

the way we handle

our money

and all these things.

So,

just with that,

I love your soul

better than you

love your possessions.

and,

and next,

Jesus,

Jesus responds

to him.

It doesn't just kind of,

in there,

he just doesn't,

doesn't walk away

disheartened.

It says,

Jesus looking at him

loved him.

Hmm.

so this guy,

he,

he's overwhelmed

by

this demand

that Jesus makes

on his life.

He,

he's about to go away

disheartening

and,

and Jesus looks at him,

loves him,

and,

and tells him

what he needs to hear.

And,

you may think

this is,

this is kind of unloving.

He's,

he's putting too high

a demand on this man.

Or,

we may think

it's pretty reasonable.

This guy's pretty wealthy.

He can afford

to give it away.

He's in the one percent.

He can do a little bit more

for society,

pay some extra taxes

or something.

And then we get to,

then we continue

to look at verse 21.

Maybe it's unreasonable

because we look

at this verse

and,

if he has to do this,

then I have to do this too.

Jesus is commanding him

to do this.

See,

he's also commanding me

to give up everything

I have.

Don't we kind of

think that way?

We'll end up

selling off

all our possessions,

moving to some

deserted island

where we read

the Bible to cannibals

or something like that.

But Jesus looks at him

and he loved him.

He had his best benefit

in mind.

He wanted to see

this man prosper,

not in the way

that the rich young ruler

wanted himself to prosper,

but in a different way.

He sees this guy

caught up in his

self-righteousness

and the comfort

that his wealth

kind of brings to him.

And we see

that's why he

experiences this anguish.

He's holding this thing

so tightly

that

he just can't let it go.

And yet Jesus

knows this already.

He's God.

He knows that this man

is coming to him.

We kind of see that

in his dialogue

with the Syrophoenician woman.

Well, the Samaritan woman

at the well,

we see that there,

him knowing

and poking

and prodding

and asking these questions.

But yet here,

he still extends love

to this guy,

even though his affections

are elsewhere.

Not only does he love him,

he promises him treasure.

And he says,

and you will have treasure

in heaven.

Come and follow me.

And I guess this isn't

the treasure he wanted.

And we see in this

statement that

Jesus is offering him

this treasure,

this treasure of eternal life

that he's so desperately

looking for.

but yet,

he's so,

so tied to his

earthly possessions

that

he's unwilling

to let this go.

And this idol

in his heart

just dethrones God

and

it draws his affections

away from this good teacher

who,

who he's running to

for,

for this great answer

that he thinks

is going to

impact his whole eternity.

And we kind of

respond to

our,

our idolatrous actions

in,

in the same way.

God couldn't possibly

want me to get rid of that.

It's just so near

and dear to my heart

that

I really can't let it go.

And then we kind of

justify,

justify when people

try to hold us accountable.

God knows my heart.

I mean,

indeed he does,

but,

but do you know your heart?

Are you deceived

like this rich young ruler?

And have you confronted

the,

the things in your heart

that,

that pull you away

from Christ?

And going back

a few chapters

to,

to Mark chapter four,

he's,

he's telling the parable

of the sword here

and,

and I definitely think

it,

it applies,

applies to the rich young ruler

here when,

in verses 18 and 19,

he says,

and others are sown

among thorns.

There are those

who wear,

who hear the word,

but the cares of the world

and the,

the see,

the seefulness of riches

and the desires

of other things

enter in

and choke the word

and it proves

unfruitful.

so this,

our fruitfulness

leaves him kind of,

kind of useless.

He,

he goes away

and

we never know

if

this ever

comes back

and he ever

thinks about it again

but he walks away

disheartened

and sorrowful.

you see Jesus here

lovingly offering

truth

and

this great gift

that should be

satisfying this young

rich ruler's soul

but yet he couldn't

give himself fully

to Jesus

because,

because of these

possessions

and

we see here

Jesus' verdict

on the love

of money

and Jesus looked around

and said to his disciples,

how difficult it is

for those who have wealth

to enter the kingdom of God

and his disciples

were amazed

at his words

but Jesus said to them,

children,

how difficult

it is

to enter the kingdom

of God

it is easier

for a camel

to go through

an eye of an eel

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?

through this account

Jesus just continues

to preach

that the demands

of the kingdom of God

are so,

so radically different

than our expectations

and the bar

is set high.

If the gate was broad

then we all

would enter.

If everyone

could follow

their own path

to God

then why would

he be so strict

here

as to say

that it's harder

for a rich

to enter

the kingdom of God

than the camel

to pass

through an eye

of a needle

the biggest animal

they ever seen

in Palestine

at this time.

Not only was he saying

that it was

a difficult puzzle

that could

be sometime

someday

eventually figured out

this was

an impossibility

and the same

holds true

for the rich

who merely

trust in their riches

who are merely

satisfied

by the riches

that they have.

Their difficulty

turns into

an impossibility

at this point.

And we're quick

to point out

the explicitly

bad things

that we see

in our own lives

and around us

murdering

stealing

lying

and all of these

things but

what about

our idolatrous

attitude

towards good

things

the good

things in our

lives

that we desire

and hope

for

what is our

attitude like

towards those

things?

Are we merely

trusting God

because he's

going to get us

those things

or

are those

things just

kind of icing

on the cake?

Are they

extra?

Are we truly

satisfied in

Christ?

And as we

continue to move

through this

passage

we see here

we see him

here with his

disciples

and they were

exceedingly

astonished

and said

to him

then who

can be

saved?

And Jesus

looked at them

and said

with man

it is

impossible

but with

God

for all

things

are

possible.

You can

almost hear

them gasp

here

because as

he says

this twice

they were

amazed

they were

astonished

if this

guy comes

to him

somehow

has a

leg up

on them

on the

highway to

heaven

then

what are

their chances?

How can

they get

there?

And this

is right

in line

with first

century

Jewish

thinking

that wealth

and prosperity

those things

were signs

of blessing

from God

that people

that had

these things

were blessed

they had

favor

on their

lives

and

somehow

that

status

showed

that

God

delighted

in them

in a

sense

so these

bunch of

fishermen

were together

and they

were wondering

if this

guy

who's

followed

the law

who's

has this

status

who appears

to be

blessed by

God

can't answer

the kingdom

then what

about us?

How can

we be

saved?

And we

see here

the disciples

having to

unlearn

some of

the things

they grew

up with

in their

society

and in

their

culture

they had

to

unlearn

the things

that they

were

hearing

about

salvation

they had

to unlearn

the things

that they

were learning

about

deliverance

from

their

sin

and what

they

would

look like

their

good works

were becoming

useless

their ethnicity

was pretty

much awash

and high

social

standard

high social

standing

was becoming

meaningless

as they

began

as they

continued

to hear

and to

learn

and to

follow

Jesus'

teaching

God

but surely

there

can be

something

they

can

cling

to

but

Jesus

continues

to tear

all this

down

he

continues

to

remove

all of

these

other

things

and

deconstruct

everything

that

their

worldview

kind of

brought

together

for them

so who

can be

saved

and he

looked at

them

and said

with man

it is

impossible

but with

God

for all

things

are

possible

with

God

so

in this

the rich

young

ruler

sheds

light

on what

we should

hold dear

to our

hearts

he

he gives

us

this picture

kind of

contrasting

what comes

in the

passage

before

where

the disciples

are kind

of holding

the little

kids off

from coming

and like

Jesus is

like no

let them

come to

me

but we

see the

rich young

ruler

coming

here

he seems

to have

access

he comes

he kneels

and Jesus

in this

shows us

that

the rich

who

who value

their treasure

who value

their possessions

they're more

far off

than those

little children

that you've

seen before

and we

see here

the gospel

isn't

gained

it's

received

and this

is just

a valuable

lesson

right here

that

by faith

alone

through

grace

alone

in Christ

alone

that's where

our salvation

comes from

that's

that's

where

we're

saved

he says

with man

it is impossible

but with God

all things are

possible

and yet

in that

he makes

a promise

to them

as well

we see

we see

Peter here

maybe a little

antsy

after this

he sees

this

rich

young ruler

coming

he

he's

observing

what's

going on

he's

he's

seeing

he's

he's

hearing

and Peter

says

see

we have

left

everything

to follow

you

and Jesus

said

truly

I say

to you

there is

no one

who has

left

house

or brothers

or sisters

or mothers

or fathers

or children

or lands

for the sake

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

and in this

we see

Jesus

kind of

going back

to what he was

saying to the

rich young ruler

come and follow

me

he's promising

these things

as they follow

him

the rich young

ruler

leaves this heart

and then we see

the disciples

here

they're still

persevering

they're following

Christ

and Peter interjects

like we've left

everything

he seems to be

searching for

an answer

from Jesus

to give him

some hope

like this guy

he's not

leaving anything

behind

but we've

left everything

and for the

present

he says

they'll receive

a hundredfold

and we don't

see them

we don't

see the

disciples

going back

to their

homes

we don't

we don't

see them

obtaining

great wealth

throughout

the

history

that is

to unfold

after this

they're

moderate

for their

faith

so

how is

this

true

and Christ

gives us

such a

marvelous

family

of brothers

and sisters

of mothers

and brothers

as we

as we

as you

kind of think

about Mark

3

verse

verse 35

where he says

whoever does

the will of God

he is my

brother

and my

sister

and mother

so we

see

so we

see here

manifested

in our

day

the church

the body

of Christ

knitted

together

all of us

being many

members

being this

family that

he's talking

about here

but yet he

also says

persecutions

that may turn

some of us

off

but he says

persecution

will come

with these

things

and I

just kind

of think

about

the book

of John

right before

his high

priestly

prayer

and at the

end of

chapter 16

he says

I have said

these things

to you

that in me

you may

have peace

and in the

world

you will

have

tribulation

so he

continues

to promise

them

suffering

persecution

knowing

what's

in store

for them

once

he

leaves

and

suffering

can

be an

ugly

thing

it can

break

the

strongest

of people

that we

know

in Tim

Kell's book

walking

with God

through pain

and suffering

he says

while the

world views

lead us

to sit

in the

midst

of life's

joys

foreseeing

the coming

sorrows

Christianity

empowers

its people

to sit

in the

midst

of the

world's

sorrows

tasting

the joy

to come

and at

the end

of the

day

persecution

it makes

us more

like Christ

we see

the apostles

in jail

we read

Paul's

letters

where he's

always talking

about this

identifying

with Christ

and his

sufferings

and as

we read

Hebrews

the joy

set before

him

that came

of suffering

so

persecution

is

is just

another thing

that we

as Christians

have to

face

and to

embrace

as we

walk

this

journey

and in

the age

to come

he promises

eternal

life

and

Keller

also says

in this

book

but

resurrection

is not

just

consolation

it is

restoration

we get

back all

the love

the loved

ones

the goods

the beauties

of this

life

but

unimaginable

degrees

of glory

and joy

and strength

can you

imagine

that

unimaginable

glory

and Paul

talks about

this weight

of glory

that is

to come

that

whatever we

lose here

whatever we

gain here

in the life

to come

there is

there's just

so much

more waiting

for us

my friends

this is

eternal

life

Jesus

promises

abundance

only found

in him

that

he's not

a means

to joy

he's not

a means

to happiness

he's not

a means

to great

possessions

he's the

end of

all those

things

joy

is

Christ

is joy

he is

happiness

he's everything

that we

are looking

for

and jumping

back to

verse 17

we see

here

Christ is

setting out

on a

journey

in all

three of

the synoptic

gospels

Matthew

Mark

and Luke

we see

this story

in the same

place

in all

of them

he's

setting out

on his

journey

with his

disciples

and they're

heading to

Jerusalem

and we

all know

what happens

there

it's kind

of a

final

showdown

of sorts

and we

see this

rich young

ruler

kind of

meeting him

on the way

to that

and Christ

is giving

him a

glimpse of

that

and the

things that

he's telling

them

and the

instructions

that he's

giving them

as he's

heading to

the cross

at this

point

and he's

teaching his

disciples

and preparing

them for

that very

thing to

come

he's

continuing

to disciple

them

and teach

them

and give

them this

hope for

the rough

road that

is to

come

and about

the nature

and the

character of

the kingdom

of God

that they

will have

something to

hope in

and even

going back

to chapter

eight he

he continues

to he

he starts

to instruct

them this

way

and in

verse 34

he says

if anybody

will come

after me

let him

deny himself

and take

up his

cross and

follow me

for whoever

would save

his life

will lose

it

whoever

loses

his life

for my

sake

and the

gospels

will save

it

for what

does it

profit a

man to

gain the

whole world

and forfeit

his soul

wealth and

possessions

are fleeting

marriage and

family

those things

aren't

ultimate

the idea

here is to

to take

hold of

Christ daily

treasure him

above everything

because he's

worth more

than all

those things

and I

just want

to leave

you with

one thought

from 2

Corinthians

8-9

and though

he was

rich

yet for

your sake

he became

poor

so that

you might

so that

you by

his poverty

might become

rich

I'll pray

for us

Lord

Lord that

we would

give you

all our

affections

that we

would

lose the

illusion

of power

that we

think we

have over

our lives

and all

the hard

work that

we

put in

to claim

the things

that you've

blessed us

with

that we

would come

to you

to surrender

ourselves

and our

lives

to give

back all

the things

that you've

given us

and

that we

would

treasure

you

as the

giver

rather than

the gifts

that

with our

whole hearts

we would

seek to

love you

and to

know you

and to

follow you

and it's in

your name

that I pray

Amen