Crushed by the Law

The Rich Ruler

Welcome & Opening Prayer

Mr. Lim in Singapore

“I’m fine. There’s no pain, it’s already getting better!”

Going to die, if he hasn’t already. Why?

Because he values his leg more than his life. His misplaced and skewed values have blinded him to the true costs, and it will cost him everything.

Read Luke 18:18–30

Verses 18–21:

We’ll take this in a few chunks. First let’s look at verses 18–21.

Jesus the terrible evangelist?

wealthy, interested, influential — great convert!

or Jesus, the great physician?

Jesus gave him a life-saving diagnosis

Like Mr. Lim, the ruler didn’t want to hear it

Like Mr. Lim, this rich ruler had skewed values, misplaced priorities. He was blinded to what was killing him.

The Diagnosis

Two problems with the ruler’s question:

"Good teacher”

Superficial, flippant use of “good” — like “I love pizza.” Really? You love it?

Jesus picks up on this, and presses on it. “Does it hurt when I do this?”

Correcting his relative use of “good,” like he was saying “relatively good, compared to other people.”

Jesus is saying: your scale of morality is broken. Only God is good.

2. “What must I do?”

Now the problem isn’t “can I get to heaven by perfectly obeying the Ten Commandments.” That’s possible — but only for God himself.

The problem is thinking that you can perfectly obey.

The Commandments

“You know the Commandments… adultery, murder, steal, false witness, honor father and mother” — why these? Why just five of the Ten?

Jesus is brilliant. He’s testing the ruler on the First Commandment. He’s seeing if he has any other gods before God.

Verses 22–24

Jesus the Physician tested his diagnosis by telling him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor”

He became very sad, because he was very rich.

You Cannot Serve Two Masters

Earlier Jesus said “You cannot serve two masters.” Values challenge values. If you deeply value wealth, it will challenge and push out your value for other things.

That’s what the first commandment is about: “You shall have no other gods before me.”

That means that the thing we are to value most is God — we shall put no other value above him.

When confronted by this diagnosis, the rich ruler reacted like Mr. Lim. He’d rather keep the rotten leg and tell himself that everything’s fine.

Not Just Money

Is Jesus just talking about money here?

Read 18:26-30

Despair: “If he’s out, who’s in?!”

Jesus doesn’t say “Ah, I’m glad you asked. It’s hard for wealthy people to get in, but it’s easy for poor people to get in!”

No, Jesus is talking about VALUES here, not just wealth. 

Look again at verse 29: [READ verse 29-30]

Jesus lists off a bunch of other things that people value. Things that are easy to value more than the Kingdom of God.

House

Wife

Brothers

Parents

Children

That one stings, doesn’t it? If we value our homes, our spouses, siblings, parents, or children more than the Kingdom of God, then we’re no better than the rich ruler.

This rich ruler didn’t just like silver and gold.

He liked that people looked at him and thought “Ah, God must favor him!"

that people knew how important he was

that he could do “big things for God” with his money, giving many alms to the poor

that all the comforts of the world were at his disposal

So of course, when he audience sees that even this guy couldn’t get into the kingdom, they completely despair. “If not him, then who can?!"

Jesus Brings Comfort to our Despair

When the audience despairs, and Peter says “Hey Jesus, don’t forget, we’ve left everything for you!” …I kind of expect a rebuke, don’t you?

“Now Peter, don’t get cocky… don’t start crowing about yourself…"

 But Jesus is so kind, isn’t he? When confronted with despair, Jesus brings comfort.

Jesus gets right up in our faces about our broken values. 

But anyone who has given something up for Jesus will one day, even in this life, say “It was ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT.” 

What we’ve gained is better by far than what we’ve lost.

We gain:

A home

Intimacy

Brothers and sisters

Spiritual mentors, and spiritual kids

All that’s gained in this life, and even more so in the next.

*Eternal Life - a Quality, not Quantity

Illustration

*Don’t squander this gift in this life. (community)

When John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) was brought before the empress Eudoxia, she threatened him with banishment if he insisted on his Christian independence as a preacher.

    “You cannot banish me, for this world is my Father’s house.”

“But I will kill you,” said the empress.

    “No, you cannot, for my life is hid with Christ in God,” said John.

“I will take away your treasures.”

    “No, you cannot, for my treasure is in heaven and my heart is there.”

“But I will drive you away from your friends and you will have no one left.”

    “No, you cannot, for I have a Friend in heaven from whom you cannot separate me.

I defy you, for there is nothing you can do to harm me.”

Conclusion

The most valuable thing you bring to Jesus is nothing. But he will give you absolutely everything.

Let go of your religiosity. You can’t do the right thing every time. You can’t have perfect motivations. You won’t resist every temptation to sin. Don’t bring your religiosity to Jesus. 

Ask God to renovate your value system. We all cling to worthless things, and it blinds us to what really matters. Like Mr. Lim in Singapore, are you dragging around a rotten leg with you that you won’t get treated?

Don’t tell the doctor he’s wrong

Bring your rotten wealth to Jesus — faith is agreeing with his diagnosis, and trusting your physician with it

Here’s what we can do, right now. We can rest in the comfort that Jesus offers, and move forward by faith.

Crushing or Burden-Lifting?

If we bring our "goodness” to Jesus and say “Look what I’ve done. What else can I do to earn eternal life?” he’ll throw the book at us.

He’ll give us the full force of the Law, and it will crush us.

If we bring our rotten leg to the physician, he’ll heal us.

If we bring our brokenness and weakness and inability to Jesus, he’ll say “come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Time of Prayer & Discussion

We have all been confronted by the words of Jesus here this morning. This isn’t in the Bible so we can say, “Pfft, look at that stupid rich ruler. I’m glad I’m better than him.”

We are him.

William, sell your toys — no coaching needed to feel sad

So let’s spend a few minutes in silent prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to show us by the light of his word what we are valuing more than him. 

Then I’ll close, and we’ll walk in the light a little bit together and talk about how this passage has challenged us, and how it glorifies Jesus to us.