Passage: Mark 10:17-31

The Big Idea

A rich young man ran to Jesus with the right question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” but he asked it the wrong way. Jesus showed him that no one is good but God, and then, with love, put His finger on the idol in his heart: his wealth. The man walked away sad. With people, salvation is impossible; with God, all things are possible. All religion comes down to do or done, and the gospel is done. Jesus, who was rich, became poor so we could become rich. The question He puts to all of us is simple: is Jesus plus nothing really enough?

The Human Condition

Who am I? Why am I here? How do I live the good life? What’s my purpose? Where will I go when I die?

These are crucial questions. How you answer them sets you on a road that leads toward God or away from Him, toward Jesus or away from Jesus.

Today we meet a very nice young man who’s thinking about eternity. He wants answers, so he comes to Jesus. He wants to find the way, the reason, the why. Above all, he wants to go to heaven when this life is over.

These are great questions, the right questions, and he takes them to the right Person. But then there’s a problem. He doesn’t like the answer. His heart is closed to it.

Jesus will answer these questions thoroughly. But are we willing to accept His answer?

If we are, it’ll be because we learned the last lesson: how to receive the kingdom like a little child, humble and dependent. Humility before Jesus and faith in Jesus. “Jesus, I need You. Jesus, I trust You.” Put those two together and you’ll be just fine!

The Wrong Question (Mark 10:17)

As Jesus was setting out on His journey, a man ran up, knelt before Him, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus was about to leave, and this nice young man urgently ran to Him and respectfully laid out his concern.
He wanted to go to heaven, to be right with God, to have eternal life: the life of God and with God.
But he didn’t know how it works. You can tell from the way he asked: “What must I do?”

When the gospel is deep in your heart, those words sting, because you know you can’t do anything.

It’s a core truth of the Bible: people are completely incapable of saving themselves. It’s more impossible than Michael Jordan jumping to the moon. Or me dunking a basketball.

We can’t save ourselves. No religion, no good deed, no heroic act, no philosophy, no political party. If you do it, it won’t work!

“Jesus, I want to earn my salvation, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes. What do I need to do?”

All the world’s religions can be summed up in one of two words: do or done. Either I’m saved by what I do, or by what Someone else has done. Christianity is a done relationship.

Jesus didn’t tell him what to do, because that’s not the way. There’s nothing he could do. Instead, in His perfect wisdom, Jesus exposed the flaw in his thinking.

“No One Is Good but God” (Mark 10:18-20)

Jesus said, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”

The man casually called Jesus “good,” but he thought goodness was something people could achieve.
That’s true: no one is really good, not in the absolute sense, not compared to God.
Jesus exposed the major flaw in his thinking. He thought a person could be good enough. Jesus said only God is good enough.
(And notice the hint for anyone listening closely: if only God is good, and Jesus is good, then who is Jesus?)
The young man didn’t see how impossible it is for us to be good. He was blind to how deep sin lives in his heart. He knew he needed saving, but not how much he needed it.
By the standards of his day, he was a “good man.” But not compared to God’s perfect standard.
And the problem isn’t that God’s standard is too high. It should be high. We just aren’t good.

Jesus went right on to prove His point. “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.'”

Jesus listed the commandments about how we treat other people.
He left out the first ones for now. We’ll see why in a minute.

The man said, “Teacher, I’ve kept all these since I was young.”

Maybe true, maybe not. In an outward sense, probably true. He really tried to do right. He did his best and put in the effort.
It doesn’t matter. Jesus knew he wasn’t good. Jesus sees the heart. He saw the sin living and thriving deep in this young man’s soul. However hard he tried, he fell short.

Why? How? Jesus showed him.

“Jesus Loved Him” (Mark 10:21)

Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you’ll have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

Jesus tenderly and truly loved this man.
Like a wonderful doctor, He diagnosed the fatal problem.
The first commandment was broken: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
“You try hard to do good to people, but you’ve pushed God aside.”
God must be your God, your everything. You must value nothing above Him. He must rule without rival. That’s the standard of the Law and God’s original design. And this man didn’t keep it.
Jesus knew this young man had an idol: money and possessions. His heart loved them more than it loved God.
So by telling him to sell everything, Jesus exposed the sin that was hidden even from the man’s own eyes. He drew it out like poison from a wound.
And Jesus generously offered Himself in place of the wealth: “I’m worth it. I’ll reward you more than money ever could. I am God! Don’t trust in wealth. Trust in Me alone.”
When we turn our backs on our idols and the things we trust, we become like little children: simple, humble, dependent.

This is what it means to be saved and to be His disciple. He is everything. He is Lord. He’s our only hope.

Marriage, children, possessions: each one in this chapter teaches us to trust Jesus alone, not ourselves and not our own goodness.

How does that make you feel?

He Went Away Sad (Mark 10:22)

The man’s face fell at these words, and he went away sorrowful, because he had great possessions.

If you choose to trust Jesus alone, leave everything behind and follow Him, you won’t regret it.
But if you keep your idols, keep your own goodness, and stubbornly hold on to your own way, you’ll go away sad. You’ll find yourself separated from Jesus, and realize you were the one who walked away, not Him.
Idols never truly satisfy: money, houses, relationships, jobs. Jesus must be our chief concern. We must be willing to give up anything and everything for His will, and His love compels us to.

The Camel and the Needle (Mark 10:23-27)

Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed.

Not because riches are evil.
But because our hearts are prone to self-sufficiency and to trusting idols.
Back then, people assumed that if you were rich, God had blessed you.
Jesus wasn’t condemning wealth or praising poverty. This isn’t a call to a monastery. The point is this: wealth breeds self-sufficiency and self-confidence.
And self-sufficiency keeps us from Jesus, and so from heaven.

The disciples were shocked. So Jesus made the point with some humor instead of a lecture.

Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

A deliberately absurd picture to make His point.

They were even more astonished and said to each other, “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.”

Finally they got it! Who can? No one!
But God can! So come to God for your salvation, not to yourself.
With man it’s do. With God it’s done.

Everything You Left (Mark 10:28-31)

Peter began to say, “Look, we’ve left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly, I tell you, there’s no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for My sake and the gospel’s who won’t receive a hundred times as much now in this present age, 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.”

Peter was summing up what he was learning: “Jesus, You’re teaching us to trust only You and leave everything behind. Well, we have, right?”
Jesus said, “Yes! And you’ll find everything you ever wanted in Me. I’ll reward you. You won’t lose.”
Surely Christ means that He Himself makes up for every loss. In His family we gain brothers, sisters, mothers and homes all over the world.

That’s how Hudson Taylor understood it. At the end of some fifty years of missionary work in China, he said, “I never made a sacrifice.”

Wiersbe makes a helpful point: in the world’s eyes the rich young ruler stood first and the poor disciples stood last. But God sees from eternity’s perspective. Those who are first in their own eyes will be last in His, and those who are last in their own eyes will be honored as first. What an encouragement for true disciples!

The Truly Rich Young Ruler

This rich young ruler was probably not far in age from Jesus, who could also be called a rich young Ruler. But Jesus left His riches behind to serve God as the perfect Servant, the Messiah.

Paul says you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that through His poverty you might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Leave it all behind to serve God. Jesus did it. This man couldn’t. Will you trust Him enough to?

Tim Keller observed that the heart of the gospel is about giving up power, pouring out resources and serving, and so the center of Christianity is always moving away from power and wealth.

In effect, Jesus was saying to the rich young ruler, “Imagine life without your money. All you have is Me. Am I really enough?”

Do you truly believe that the person who has Jesus plus nothing actually has everything? That’s the question Jesus put to this man. It’s the same question He puts to us. How will you answer?

Grace Takeaway

The rich young man wanted to know what to do, and Jesus loved him enough to show him the idol he couldn’t see. Salvation is impossible for us and possible only with God, because it’s not about what we do but about what Jesus has done. He became poor so we could become rich. Let go of whatever you’re holding instead of Him. Jesus plus nothing is everything.

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Possessed by Possessions