In Search for the Truth

Introduction

Matthew 19:16-30 “And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

He said to him, “Which ones?”

And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, 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.”

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

We have learned in the past two weeks that Jesus draws a crowd of many different people. He caught the attention of scribes and teachers. He caught the attention of towns people. He caught the attention of the demons who were possessing people.

Today we are going to see how a rich, young man came to Jesus. We will study what He is seeking and finish with what he found.

Have you ever asked a question with the intent of leading someone to an answer? Maybe there is something you want and you ask your parents or a sibling in a sneaky way to get it. Illustration:- grandparents, after school dessert and dinner.

The rich dude (should we name this dude?) in this story was doing acting in a similar way. He was asking a question to get confirmation of his life style.

1. Seeking a Future

We see (name) looking for eternal life and he is willing to do anything to get it. Do you notice the the different terms used for heaven?

Young man (name) - eternal life (vs. 16)

Jesus - kingdom (vs. 23)

Disciples - saved (vs. 25)

It is rare for these three times to be found in the same area of Scripture. This just shows that we have 3 different character styles of people: the newbie to Jesus’ teaching, the divine understanding, the disciple’s limited knowledge of Jesus’ work.

Let’s look at Jesus’ response really quick. Who is Jesus saying is good? - Jesus is not admitting his own sinfulness or hinting at his deity. The rich man would have appreciated neither of these points. Rather, he is diverting attention from the young man’s inadequate criteria for entering into life and focusing on the standard of divine goodness. This is to “keep the commandments.”

(Name) was searching for a quality of life and he hoped his lifestyle was the ticket. He came to Jesus (known for His great teachings).

Sometimes this is us trying to search for a better life. We search for more freedom than what parents permit. We search for friendships that approve our lifestyle. If you continue to search for what is better you will always miss what is best. This dude was seeking a future with a better lifestyle. To get what is better in this world it takes sacrifice. You want the nicer, phone, game, car; well that takes more money; more money means more work; more work means less free time; less free time means less use of the phone, game, or car. We seek a future of what is better, we miss the best Jesus offers. (Name) clearly missed the BEST Jesus was offering. Why would he come to Jesus?

After Jesus answered him, (name) came with another question: “Which ones?” This leads to the second point...

2. Seeking Confirmation

(names) search for commandments to keep was a search to see if he had been following the correct command.

1. You shall have no other God's before me.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

4.Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy.

--5. Honor your father and mother.

--5. Thou shalt not kill.

--7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

--8. Thou shalt not steal.

-9. Thou shall not bear false witness.

--10. You shall not covet.

Do you notice anything special with the commandments Jesus shared? While Jesus was naming off the commandments, the rich young ruler was good according to his standards.

3. He Found the Truth