What Is Good?

Everyone’s Need

Here we have a man that runs to Jesus because he is lacking something he needs. Before we get into what he needs i would like to discuss what he already has. Matthew, Mark and Luke record this incident, so we have an idea of who he is. First he is a ruler. Probably a ruler in the synagogue because he is familiar with the law. This office is normally held by older men who have lived a little more life and had many more experiences. The fact that he is a young ruler reveals that the people in his area see him as a righteous man. Secondly, we see that he is a man that owns much property. He is a good business man that people respect. He is a leader in his community. He has authority and power to make decisions because he is a ruler. SO we see that this man essentially has everything that the world has to offer. He has popularity, money, power, and religion. You may say what else does a person need? We will find out later on in the sermon.

Although this man has everything the world has to offer, he knows that he doesn’t have the one thing that will bring eternal life. So we see him run to Jesus. This is unusual because men of authority did not run in this day. We find him kneeling before Jesus. A person of authority bowed before no one. This is such a substantial scene that Matthew start the story with the word “behold!”. He knows that he does not possess eternal life and he knows that Jesus can tell him how to get it.

He asks Jesus what he must do to receive it. This is the wrong question. If you ask the wrong question then you will get the wrong answer.

The world can never satisfy the soul

This man had everything yet was woefully incomplete. The comfort of this mans life is similar to ours. Most of us here today do not lack anything materially speaking. We all have food, water, clothing, and shelter. We are very rich relatively speaking. Most of us here have relationships that we have the ability to influence. So most of us here have authority. The very fact that you are sitting in church this morning demonstrates that you have some level of religion. It seems like you have everything. But for some, you may be like the rich young ruler and asking what am I missing. I have everything I need so I should be content. My life should be fulfilled and satisfied because I have everything I need, but for some reason your life is not satisfying or fulfilled. There is something missing. What is it? It is eternal life! so you may be asking the same question the rich young ruler is asking; What must I do to get it? The answer is not what you might think. It is not being a better person or doing more things. Let’s take a look at how Jesus answers this question.

Who Is Good?

This rich young ruler had the wrong idea of what good is. The Greek word is agathos. It means to have an inward and outward perfection. This is why Jesus said that only God is good. The rich young ruler had turn the word good into a relative meaning. Meaning that because he thought he did well in obeying the law he was good.The word good is not relative but absolute. Only the people that are perfect are good.

He thought he was good because he believed he had kept the law since he was a youth. He believed he was good because he excelled morally so the people made him a religious leader. He thought he was good because God had blessed him with riches. This was a belief that god blesses those who are “good”. He believed he deserved eternal life because he was good. He was asking Jesus what more do I have to do to earn eternal life.

Jesus crushed him with the answer. He said that in order for him to receive eternal life he had to recognize that he was not good and need a savior to give him eternal life. You may be asking where does Jesus say that in the text. Let’s look!

Jesus said one thing you lack : go sell all you have give to the poor and follow me and you will have treasures in heaven. I find it interesting that the only law that deals with other people that Jesus left out was covetousness. This is what the man struggled with. He wanted the things of the world more than he wanted God. This is a transgression of the first law.

The law was never meant to make us good. The law was given to show us that we are not good and in need of a Savior.

Goodness test

Lets take a look at how good we are. I want to first look at the 6 laws that God gave regarding how we are to live with one another.

1. Honor your father and your mother. Have you ever disobeyed your parents? YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

Z YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

2. You shall not murder. You might say I never killed anyone so I am good on that one. Jesus says “you have heard that [k]the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be [l]liable to the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be [m]guilty before the court Have you ever been angry with someone? YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

3. You shall not commit adultery. You might say I have been faithful to my wife as long as we have been married. Jesus says You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Have you ever looked at another person and had an impure thought? YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

4. You shall not steal You may say I never took anything from anyone. Have you ever withheld your tithe fro the Lord? Or have you not given 40 hours of work but got paid for 40 hours? YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

5. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Have you ever told a lie? Congratulations you just have! YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

6. You shall not covet. Have you ever wanted something someone else had? Let me take you back to your childhood. Did you ever scream MINE. YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

Now let’s take a look at the laws pertaining to our relationship to God!

1. You shall have no other gods before Me. Have you ever wanted something more than God? YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol. You may say I have no crazy little figurines that I worship. Have you ever worshipped anything other than God? ( Yourself -pride; Money, Job, ect..) YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. This is more than using those two words. Have you ever been known as a christian and acted in the flesh? YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Do you set aside one day a week for worship every week? Do you take care of things you should have taken care of on Saturday on Sunday? YOU ARE NOT GOOD!

If we are honest with ourselves we have broken everyone of the ten commandments. If this is the case how can we say we are good? We say we are good because we prioritize sin and compare ourselves to others. This is how we come to the conclusion that we are good. We say at least I haven’t_________. Or at least I am not as bad as __________.

You see the law was never meant to make anyone good. The law was given to show us that we are not good and that we need a Savior. The law will do one of two things. It will either drive you to Christ or drive you to hell!

Will You Receive Eternal Life This Morning?

The rich young ruler made his choice. The Bible says he was saddened and went away grieving for he was one who had much property. You see he violated the first commandment. His comfort and wealth were his god. He desired to have them rather than follow Jesus.

All sin begins with the first commandment. YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME! We are all guilty of this in our own lives. Until we recognize this and ask for forgiveness, we will never inherit eternal life.

You cannot be good enough to get into heaven. We must put our faith in one who is. Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly. He was just like us in the fact that he was tempted in every way just like we are.

15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus understands everything you are going through because he has been through it himself. He even knows where we have sinned and given into temptation. But because he loves us he gave his life for us.

Jesus died on a cross to take our punishment for violating the law. He is willing to forgive us and save us if we are willing to admit that we are a sinner, ask Him to forgive us and save us. and follow him.

So I conclude with this: WILL YOU RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE THIS MORNING?