What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Notes
Transcript
What must I do?
What must I do?
B&S,
If you were to die today, and then in a moment, appear before God, and God Almighty would ask you:
“Why should I let you into my kingdom?
What would you say?
Is it even a worry, anymore?
///////////////////////////
It was a worry for a certain young man, “a rich young ruler,” as Luke calls him!
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus is on a mission: He is on His way to Jerusalem, where ...
31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days.
Along the way, Jesus has been teaching His disciples, showing how all of Scripture, is a revelation, of who Jesus really is!
Jesus is the Son of God:
God Himself declares it so!
At Jesus’ baptism ...
11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”
And, as we saw last week, at Jesus Transfiguration ...
7 A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him!”
As we have been walking along with Jesus, taking note of what Jesus taught,
we also saw Him do miracles (that is to say, super-natural deeds, which no human being can perform, but with the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives);
and we have seen Him inaugurate a whole new social order (the way He relates to women; the way He exposes the hypocritical social structures of a society who claim privilege and power - think about Sabbath Worship, for instance!)
And yet, though many have seen Jesus act, and have heard Him speak, teach, admonish, plead, cry in despair ...
… Jesus’ followers
Do you get it, yet, loved ones?
As you have been like a tour group following on this journey of Jesus from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, from the crib to the cross,
have you come to really understand who Jesus is?
Some, by the grace of God, will receive Jesus, before others!
Like little children, or those who have child-like faith!
14 When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Those who do not receive Jesus in their hearts, even like children receive the love of their parents ...
will not receive eternal life!
15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Some will come close to receiving Jesus’ pardon, but still cling to easy come easy go earthly securities
Like the rich young ruler of our text.
Something has happened to this young man, a 1st Century yuppy, by all acounts ...
He was young
He was upwards
He may have been the equivalent of a professional - what we do know, is , that he was rich!
Importantly, he has somehow been impressed by this travelling preacher and miracle worker;
And it seems probable, that he is not as confident as his title (Rich Young Ruler!) might afford him ...
… because he comes asking for something - no more, he runs, when he hears Jesus is in town, pleading!
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
He runs
He pleads
And he asks the question, which we assumed in our opening:
“Lord, if I were to die today, what must I do in the little time left, to ensure I will receive eternal life?????
In my notes, I have underlined the following words in this sentence:
I
do
ensure (inherit)
receive
But before we deal with these words one by one,
please note the mood of the young man in our story as the story unfolds:
In verse 17, we see the young man is worried, but carefully optimistic, perhaps even excited
He ran … knelt ,,, and asked … a rather pressing question!
He is carefully confident:
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 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”
But soon, his mood would change ...
22 But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.
Dismayed! (“Down cast”)
Jesus’ mood is also on display in this passage:
Jesus is resolute - He must go to Jerusalem, where He knows He will suffer … and die
He is saddened, even angry that people do not get it, that He has come to serve them
33 But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
And yet, even now, as Jesus meets this young man, he is filled with love and compassion:
21 Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
But … His is a love that the world does not understand!
This is the love that would save the world that God once created good, and it was corrupted by mankind!
This is a love that would demonstrate that the only love that is true love, is to love God, our creator, with all our heart strength and mind
… and to love our neighbour as we love ourselves, but more purely ...
But for now, this man is focused on:
I
do
ensure (inherit)
receive
And that’s the problem!
There is nothing I
can do
To inherit
and receive
Because the qualification to receive everlasting life is
Jesus
who … did
to secure an inheritance (kept in heaven by the Father)
and gave away everything - by being a faithful servant!