Portraits: The Rich Young Man

What does it say? (Mark 10:17-22)

English Standard Version (Chapter 10)

17 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?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

What does it mean?

The rich young man wants to inherit eternal life (go to heaven) and wants to know how.

Jesus points out God’s commandments, not to tell him, “do this and you’re good!” but to show him his sinfulness.

In verse 17 the rich young man’s question assumes that there are works that can be done in order to earn or work towards salvation by human means.

In verse 18 Jesus’ question is not implying that Jesus is NOT good but that all goodness comes from God and that we should confuse/conflate God’s goodness with how good we think we might be.

Lexham Context Commentary: New Testament Rich Young Ruler (10:17–22)

10:19 Jesus points the man to God’s commandments. Matthew explains quite explicitly that Jesus tells the man that if he wants eternal life, he needs to keep the commandments (Matt 19:17). Paul explains that those who seek to gain life by obeying commandments must do so perfectly and are therefore cursed (Gal 3:10), because all have sinned (Rom 3:23). Jesus is not expecting this sinful young man to gain eternal life by works. In the garden of Eden, humankind broke the original covenant of works (Gen 3). Ever since the fall, God has preached the covenant of grace in Christ (Gen 3:15). Whenever he reiterates a covenant of works, as he does with the rich young ruler, it is for the purpose of reminding humanity of its fallenness and showing humanity its sinfulness and how there is no hope in works, so that they might turn to Christ (Lev 18:5; Rom 3:20).

10:20 - dude thought he was doing good at keeping the commandments and wanted to make sure he covered everything and there wasn’t anything else he needed to do.

10:21 - Then Jesus tells him to sell all his stuff, give it to the poor, and follow Him. Because the young man - in his pride- proclaimed he had kept all the commandments since his youth, this was Jesus testing him on the 10th commandment about covetousness.

Lexham Context Commentary: New Testament Rich Young Ruler (10:17–22)

10:22 The young man can’t bring himself to obey Christ because he loves his wealth more than he loves the thought of following Jesus. Jesus successfully shows the rich young man that he is in the grip of a soul-destroying covetousness. He loves money more than he loves obeying God. Whether the man understands Jesus’ point is another matter, but Christ lays the foundation for conviction of sin in the young man’s life.

Just because you have more money than someone doesn’t make you greater than them. Just because you have less money doesn’t mean you are less than them. You can have all the money and fame in the world and still be empty and hopeless.

How should I respond?

3 points

Just because you think you are a good person doesn’t mean you are by God’s standards.

Check your motives - instead of focusing on how “good” you think you are, submit to God’s goodness and strive for His kingdom and righteousness.

Check your desires - Instead of focusing on how much you have, focus on how much you can help others. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:34)

Check your pride - Look to what scripture says and emulate it. Humble yourselves before the LORD, and he will exalt you. (James 4:10)

Instead of focusing on what you have or how good you think you are, look to what Jesus says about goodness and treasure and seek after that.