The Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10:17-31
Gregory Perry | Sunday, January 17, 2021
Copyright © 2021, Gregory Perry

At first, all we are told in Mark 10 about the one who approaches Jesus is that he is a man. We later find out in this passage that he was a man who had a lot of money. Now, in Matthew 19, he is described as a young man, and then in Luke it adds that he was a ruler (Luke 18), presumably a ruler in a local synagogue. So when you put it all together, you have the rich young ruler, and that is how we will be referring to him as we go forward this morning.

This account of the rich young ruler confronts us with the following question that I want us all to ask: What is eternal life worth to you? How much are you willing to pay for it? What are you willing to give up in order to receive eternal life?

What we learn in Jesus’ famous encounter with the rich young ruler is that the answer must be: everything. If there is something in this world that you are not willing to give up to receive eternal life, then you surely will not receive it. The story of the rich young ruler’s interaction with Jesus is ultimately a tragic tale. He misses out on the one thing needful. And he even seems to know it. In the end, he just cannot bring himself to do the one thing he must do in order to gain eternal life.

From this passage we will look this morning at four points. We will look, first, at the earnest question; second, we will see the deflating answer; third, the tragic response; and, fourth, the hard teaching.

1. The Earnest Question of the Rich Man (v. 17)

While the rich young ruler does many things wrong in this encounter, we have to at least give him credit for how he begins his meeting with Jesus. He takes the proper approach and he asks the right question.

What is the proper approach? The rich young ruler approaches Jesus in a fit manner. He comes in earnestness. The text tells us that he runs up to Jesus. He is not coming to Jesus in some apathetic, indifferent spirit. No, he is desperate and most earnest in seeking the counsel of the Lord. He is so earnest because he is aware of his need. He knows what he lacks, and he is desperate to learn how he can possibly receive what he so badly needs.

People who think they already have something will not seek it. This is why Satan wants us to presume that we already have what we truly lack. We tend to come to God, if we admit it to ourselves, too casually and ambivalently, as if we don’t really need anything from him, as if we are doing God a favor by praying to him. But we must come to him as what we are—poor and needy—and we must seek him with all our heart. We need to cry out to God in our desperate need.

We see that the rich young ruler comes in humility. He humbles himself before Jesus. He falls on his knees before him. If we want God to hear our prayers, we too must come and humble ourselves before him. He does not hear the prayers of the proud.

And this rich young ruler asks the right questions. In verse 17, he says, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” This question indicates that he knows what he lacks. He lacks eternal life. This rich young ruler seemingly has it all. He is rich, he is young, he is powerful. But he knows that he is missing the one thing needful. And the truth is, he can have all other things in this world, but without eternal life, he has nothing. Likewise, a person may have nothing in this world, but if he has eternal life in Christ, then he has everything. This man knows that something vital is missing. Remember Augustine, who in the Confessions, says, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee, O God.”

This man was restless. With all his wealth, he was restless. He knows that he is missing eternal life, and he so desperately needs it. So he humbly comes to Christ asking what he must do to inherit eternal life.

But we should tremble at the fact that this man comes to Christ with the proper approach, and he comes asking the right question, and yet he goes away from this encounter not entering into the kingdom of God. His proper approach and right question are necessary, but not sufficient in and of themselves. Yes, we need to come in the right way and have the right request. But if we do not listen to the Lord’s response and then act accordingly in faith, then all our earnestness in coming to Christ will have been in vain.

So in application of this point, I ask this: Does this man’s earnest approach to Christ put us to shame? Before we shake our heads at this man’s failure in the end, we should ask ourselves: Do I have even a semblance of such fervency in my personal prayer life? We should be convicted that even this man, who lacked eternal life, approaches Jesus far more earnestly than we most often do. May we beware of the dangers of falling into spiritual complacency and lukewarmness.

2. The Deflating Answer of Jesus (vv. 18–21)

Jesus does not answer the rich young ruler’s question directly. Instead, he answers his question with a question. He says, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Jesus begins his response by clarifying who he is. The rich young ruler should know whom he is addressing. He refers to Jesus as “Good teacher,” but Jesus is much more than “Good teacher.” Simply put, Jesus will not save those who see him as a mere man. Even if they call him the greatest of mere men, a good teacher, as the rich young ruler calls him, cannot give us eternal life.

Jesus is challenging the man’s casual use of the word “good.” Scriptures attest that only God is good. Romans 3 tells us that among fallen men, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10–11). So when Jesus points out that only God is good, he is not denying that he himself is good, nor is he denying being God. Quite the opposite. Jesus is implying that he is God. He is indirectly asserting his deity. In other words, note who is speaking here. “I am the good one.”

Jesus begins by implying his deity because when you come to Christ, you must first understand who he is. There is a required orthodoxy that we must have. In order to be saved by him, we must recognize him as the incarnate Second Person of the holy Trinity, infinite God who came in time and space, and took on human nature.

We read about him in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word”—speaking about Jesus—“and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The apostle Paul, in Romans 9:5, speaks of Christ as being “God over all, forever praised!” And Paul says in Colossians 2:9–10, “For in Christ all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” This Jesus is God. We must recognize him as such.
There is something else at work with Jesus’ challenging this man to understand God’s absolute standard of perfect goodness. In asserting that God alone is good, Jesus is calling attention to the fact that the rich young ruler is, in fact, not good. As we will see, this ruler had been trusting in his own goodness, in his own law-keeping, to save him. So Jesus is poking a hole in his groundless hope by asserting that only God is good.

After clarifying who he is, the God-man, Jesus then shows the rich young ruler what he lacks in verses 18–21. He says, “You 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.’ Verse 20: “‘Teacher,’ he declared.’” Notice, he does not call him “Good Teacher.” He just calls him “Teacher.” He thinks he is applying the word that Jesus spoke. He missed the point. “‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy.’” Verse 21: “Jesus looked 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.’”

Jesus begins by repeating to him the second table of the Ten Commandments, which has to do with our obligation to one another. He recites these commands because he knows that this is where the rich young ruler had put his hope and trust. He was counting on his own track record of having kept all these commandments. Jesus was testing the rich young ruler’s understanding both of himself and of the law of God. And he miserably failed the test by foolishly asserting that he has kept all these commandments his whole life. In other words, the rich young ruler is building a case for his own righteousness before God. He is counting on his own merit to save him.

The rich young ruler’s affirmation that he has kept all these commandments only exposes his shallow view of sin. To say we have kept all the commandments shows that we do not understand the heart of God’s law. This rich young ruler’s wrong view of his own ability to keep the law of God was like that of Saul of Tarsus before his conversion. In Philippians 3, Paul describes himself. He saw himself as faultless in legalistic righteousness. That is how this rich young ruler sees himself: faultless in legalistic righteousness.

Jesus especially highlights the heart behind true law-keeping in the Sermon on the Mount, when he expounds upon God’s commandments. For example, you can break the sixth commandment without literally murdering a person. When I despise someone in my heart, Jesus says I am murdering him in my heart. The seventh commandment extends beyond just committing the act of adultery. To look lustfully upon a woman, Jesus says, is to commit adultery in your heart. The Lord Jesus summarized the heart of the law as being to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. And only a delusional fool thinks that he has perfectly accomplished this feat.

Simply put, we are deceived if we think that we can perfectly keep God’s law. We are fools if we trust in our law-keeping to save us. And yet so many people do this. They think that they are going to be good enough to go to heaven. God never intended to give his law as a means by which we can be saved. The chief purpose for which God gave us his law was to convict us of our sin, that we would see our guilt in breaking this law. We would then see our need for one to save us from the condemnation that is due us for our sins. In other words, the law’s main purpose is to lead us to Christ. We see this in Romans 10:4 where the apostle Paul says, “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” In other words, “the end of the law” means the final purpose of the law is to point us to Christ, that we might see our unrighteousness and therefore see our need for his righteousness. Or in Galatians 3:24, Paul says it even more clearly. He says, “For the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.”

Coming back to our passage, we are told in the middle of this passage that Jesus had pity on this young man. It says, “He looked at him and loved him” (v. 21). This reminds us of the glorious reality that Jesus shows love for sinners. In fact, he came into this world not to save the righteous, but he came to save sinners—sinners like you and me. The love of Christ for sinners is especially demonstrated on the cross, as we read in Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus then tells the rich young ruler, “One thing you lack.” You have many other things. You are rich. You are young. You are healthy. You are relatively righteous. But you lack the one thing needful. Jesus Christ is the one thing we need for eternal life. As Jesus himself said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Or in Acts 4:12, the apostle Peter says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Only in the name of Christ can we be saved. The rich young ruler failed to see his sin and he missed the coming of the promised Messiah, the one who came to save his people from their sins. He missed the Savior, even though he was now speaking to him face to face.

Jesus then gives this vital instruction. He says, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” He tells him to sell all and follow Christ. Notice that Jesus does not give him a watered-down, seeker-friendly version of the gospel. You can find that in many churches today. This is not easy believism and cheap grace. He is not trying to sell the rich young ruler a form of Christianity that will cost him nothing.

The omniscient One knows the heart of the rich young ruler. He knows that he is enamored with his treasures in this world. So Jesus gives him this specific charge. He demands that he sell everything. When he says to sell everything, he is highlighting the rich young ruler’s idolatry and crass materialism. Jesus knew that this man’s love of money occupied the place of God in his life. In other words, he lived in constant violation of the first commandment, the commandment to have no other gods before him. This young man is to store up treasures in heaven, and he cannot serve two masters. He cannot serve both God and money.

But more generally, this is the gospel call to every sinner. Jesus graciously says that he will never cast off anyone who comes to him, but he always demands that whoever comes to him must always put away their gods, whether that idol be a possession, a position, a person, or a passion. Remember Jacob before he went to Bethel. What did they do? They threw away the household gods. He knew he could not go to the house of God with the idols.

Saving faith is always selling all and following Christ. The gospel call is to give our whole life to Christ. This is what Jesus himself said more plainly than you could possibly imagine in Luke 14:33. Jesus said, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

The key is in the final charge. He said, “Then come, follow me.” This is a call to faith. To believe in Christ is to repent of all your sins and commit to following him in every aspect of your life. It is not just mental assent: “Yes, I believe all these things about Jesus, and I go and do my own thing.” No, it is saying, “I believe in Jesus. I trust in him, and I am committed to following him.” The one who believes in Christ is a follower of Christ, for Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life. As we read in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him”—rich or poor, old or young—“shall not perish but will have eternal life.”

One application I want to make from this point is that, as evangelists, when we go and share this gospel with others, we always are to make the cost of discipleship clear and press all to count the cost before surrendering their lives to Christ. The amazing and divine love of the Lord Jesus Christ demands my soul, my life, and my all. This is the gospel that we must declare. We need to set before unbelievers the Lord’s absolute call for them to repent of all their sins, to surrender all, and to follow Christ. So don’t pull any punches. Tell the whole gospel. Count the cost, sell all, and follow Christ.

3. The Tragic Response

The third point is the tragic response of this rich young ruler. We see this in verse 22. The rich young ruler’s response to Jesus’ call to sell all and follow him proves to be nothing less than tragic. The verse says, “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth.” He went away sad because he could not bring himself to give up his idols. He counted the cost of discipleship and he determined that the cost was too high.

Jesus was simply asking too much. This rich young ruler was surely even willing to give up much, but he was not willing to give up all. This is too often the approach many try to take with God. They offer to God all the things that they are willing to give up, but they are not willing to give up all. I said this before about God’s call for us to put everything on the altar. We can put even ninety-nine percent of the things in our lives on the altar. But if there is that one percent that we are not willing to give up, that we hold back in our pockets and do not put on the altar, then we have not put all on the altar. And it is really that one percent, that thing you are not willing to give up. For this rich young ruler, it was all his possessions. But it may be something else for us. And that one percent in our pockets shows really where our heart it. It is the thing that we are not willing to give up for God. It is the thing that has become an idol to us and is keeping us from eternal life.

It can come in the form of dream home, or in a prestigious job that you covet, or that next promotion that you think you must have. Or it can come, and it often does come, in the form of a relationship with some guy or girl that God clearly does not want you to maintain. Are you willing to give up all for eternal life?

This rich young ruler went away sad because Christ was telling him to give up his wealth which he had come to love so dearly. Not that it is bad to have wealth, but Jesus knows that this was his idol that he loved more than God. He prized his great wealth more than gaining eternal life.

This man could either hold on to his idol of riches and let go of Christ, or he could let go of his riches and take hold of Christ. But he could not have both; none of us can have both. Jesus made clear that he and we cannot serve two masters. And, tragically, this man chose wrongly and to his own eternal loss. No one who left everything for Christ ever went away sad. Instead, they always go away walking and leaping and praising God because they have found the one thing needful. They have found eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Many today will go to churches, and they will not go away sad, but for a different reason. They will go home perfectly happy because the seeker-friendly false evangelist has given them a false gospel. (GWP) He has sold them the lie that they can have both Christ and their idols, both Christ and their sins. Notice that Jesus does not tell itching ears what they want to hear in order to gain followers. No, he gives the unvarnished truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And his truth alone is what sets us free.

The other thing we see from this passage is what our pastor says to us all the time—three words: Too much money. The abundance of wealth is not sinful in itself, but it very often hinders those who have it from entering the kingdom of God. Giving up all to follow Christ does not seem so daunting when you do not have much. God has blessed many of us here with abundance of riches, and there is nothing wrong with that. Moreover, even if we are not rich relative to those around us, the reality is that we live in a nation of unprecedented prosperity. In this country, we enjoy the highest standard of living in the history of the world, at least for now. So we all must beware of the pitfalls of prosperity. Every single person here must beware of the pitfall of prosperity. It is real.

First, we have to be careful that we do not fall in love with our wealth. It is easy to become so attached to our material riches that we begin to forget what is infinitely more important. Why do you think your prayer life is so dry? Because you are so comfortable in this life and happy with your worldly riches. We must see that all we have belongs to God, and he has the right at any time to demand back what he has given to us. He gives and he takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Second, we need to beware of what Jesus calls “the deceitfulness of riches.” Think about how many times in the Scriptures that Jesus speaks about this kind of thing. Remember, Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12, and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. Both of these parables were to warn against the dangers of possessing an abundance of riches and trusting in those riches. And in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, he explicitly warned his disciples against storing up treasures on earth.

Third, we can easily become arrogant, proud, self-satisfied, and worldly in our wealth and comfort. And then we even ever so gradually become blind to our greater spiritual need. Prosperity tends to mask our lowly condition. This is what the risen Lord Jesus Christ was saying to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3. He says to them, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and I do not need a thing.’” Then Jesus says, “But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”

It is at least fitting that this rich young ruler went away sad. He did not go away walking, leaping, and praising God for his worldly wealth. No, his money, in fact, weighed him down. He left in despair because he missed out on eternal riches. He refused to let go of his worldly wealth, his riches that will perish with him.

Peter and the other disciples, on the other hand, did differently. In verse 28, Peter rightly points out that, unlike the rich young ruler, they had left everything and followed Christ. Sometimes Peter just makes these boasts that do not mean anything, but this one is actually true. This is what he did. You read about it in Matthew 4:18–20: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’” And what does it say, that they went away sad? No. “At once they left their nets and followed him.” That is what the rich young ruler should have done. That is what we all must do—leave everything and follow Christ.

Though the disciples had surely signed up for a life of difficulty, they did not go away sad. In fact, they go home even from this encounter full of joy because Jesus pronounces this blessing on them. In verses 29 and 30 he said to them, “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age . . . and in the age to come, eternal life.”

What is the application? I say to everyone here: Do not go away sad, having heard the true and complete gospel, the gospel that tells you that you must surrender all and follow Christ to gain eternal life. Don’t turn your back on God’s gracious call. I don’t know what that one thing is for you that is keeping you from coming to Christ. But surrender that one thing and come to Christ. Don’t reject his kindness and provoke his severity. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved once for all. And being redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, you will experience joy unspeakable and full of glory. You will be filled with joy in God’s presence, with eternal pleasures at his right hand.

4. The Hard Teaching of Jesus

After the rich young ruler goes away sad, Jesus takes the opportunity to instruct his disciples who remain. He begins by asserting in verse 23, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples are astonished by this statement. They cannot fathom that a person with worldly riches would be especially hindered from entering the kingdom of God.

But Jesus digs in and continues, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” That is true for everyone. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (vv. 24–25). We are then told that the disciples are even more amazed at what Jesus says here, and they ask each other, “Who, then, can be saved?” (v. 26). Jesus was turning their accepted standards completely upside-down. The common understanding of Jews at the time was that the rich had every indication of being honored and blessed by God. It is not that they necessarily thought that every rich person was saved, but the one accepted by God would surely experience material prosperity. Therefore, material riches was at least one indication of God’s favor.

Yet Jesus is clearly teaching here that worldly riches can actually be a serious hindrance to entering God’s kingdom. In fact, it is more of a handicap than an advantage. Spiritually speaking, the rich are underprivileged rather than overprivileged. Jesus says that a rich man being saved is as impossible as a camel going through the eye of a needle. This statement should not come as a shock to his disciples. After all, the rich young ruler just evidenced this point. He could not bring himself to give up his many riches in order to save his soul. He clung to his worldly riches after having gained the whole world. And yet he forfeited his soul, even though he saw his great need for eternal life.

In Hebrews 11, we are told that Moses regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt. But this rich young ruler regarded his treasures in this world as more valuable than eternal life in Christ.
Then Jesus gives an essential teaching in verse 27. He says, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Yes, a camel going through the eye of a needle is naturally impossible. It would take a supernatural work of God to accomplish such a feat. Likewise, it takes a work of God for a rich man, or any man or woman, for that matter, to enter into eternal life. Only God can make the camel go through the eye of a needle, and only God can bring a rich man or any man to salvation.

Salvation is God doing for sinful man what is impossible for fallen man to do for himself. Salvation is impossible with man because a sinner cannot save himself. He can try, but he cannot save himself. He is unable to fulfill the perfect requirements of God’s law. We see in Romans 8:7–8, the apostle Paul says, “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law.” So the sinful mind does not submit to God’s law. Then he says, “nor can it do so.” Total inability. “Those controlled by the sinful nature,” he says, “cannot please God.”

The holy and just God will not let the guilty go unpunished. And sinful man is guilty before the holy God. Therefore, every sinner, rich or poor, must pay for his sins. The richest man in the world has no advantage. He cannot buy his way into heaven. The only way he can pay for his sins is in eternal hell, and the wages of sin is death, eternally.

Man cannot save himself. He cannot make atonement for his own sins or for the sins of another. Only Jesus Christ, the God-man who perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law, could offer his life to God as an acceptable atoning sacrifice for our sins. Only Christ could pay the infinite price that we owe.

In Acts 20:28 the apostle Paul says, “Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” We are purchased by the blood of Christ through his death on the cross on our behalf. Salvation is a work of God; it is not a work of man. And what Jesus is making clear here is that salvation is only possible for God. The Bible makes it clear throughout that it is God who does the saving work. In Jonah 2:9 we read that Jonah, though he was in the belly of the great fish, declares, “Salvation comes from the Lord.” In Psalm 3:8, the psalmist says, “From the Lord comes deliverance.” In Psalm 37:39–40, we read, “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.”

Many other times we see this. In Revelation 7:10 we read, “They cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” Salvation is always God’s work. That is why we declare soli Deo gloria—to God alone be the glory! Salvation is his work in our behalf for our good.

Not only was it he who had to accomplish our redemption through Christ, but it is also only God who could apply it through the Spirit’s work of regeneration. Salvation is nothing less than God raising the dead to life. We are dead in our sins and we, being dead, cannot raise ourselves from the dead. So especially in Ephesians 2 we are told that we “were dead in our transgressions and sins.” Then it says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive.” We cannot resurrect ourselves. “He made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” And he goes on to say, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” We are born again, regenerated. For what purpose? To do good works now—not works that save us. But having been saved, we walk in obedience to God in thanksgiving for what he has done, for the salvation he has won for us.

The general principle that Jesus is teaching his disciples here and he is teaching us this morning is that God is able and man is unable. Ralph Waldo Emerson, the transcendentalist, famously wrote a treatise called, “Self-Reliance” in which he calls on his readers to “trust thyself.” That is a counsel given to the damned. That is a counsel that will send you to hell. To trust yourself and rely on your own righteousness and lean on your own understanding is a fool’s errand that can ultimately only lead to hopeless eternal despair.

Conclusion

Finally, I close with this. This is why we pray to God for salvation—for our salvation, first, and then also we are praying for others to be saved. We are praying that God would save them. We cannot save ourselves and we cannot save others. We are praying for God to do what only he can do. We cannot raise the dead, so we cry out to God, praying for him to save us. And then we cry out to him to save our children, to save our neighbors, to save our fellow students, our co-workers, our relatives. We pray to God to save all these people.

To come to true saving faith, you must humble yourself and admit that you cannot save yourself. You must surrender all and follow Christ. There is not a separate gospel for you. This is the gospel for everyone. Surrender all and follow Christ. Only then can you come to the Lord Jesus, the one mediator between God and man, and trust in his redeeming blood shed on the cross to save you from your sins. Then you will go away from here, not sad, but walking and leaping and praising God now and into eternity. Amen.