V16
This young man comes to Jesus asking what “good deed” He can do to get eternal life. He seems to have had knowledge of the commandments and so we can assume that He knew the Law given by Moses (Torah). The purpose of the law was to show people what God required of them. The Law is a set of directions (do’s and don’ts’s) that to be perfect, people would have to obey it (in its entirety) in order to inherit God’s kingdom.
But you see, therein, lies the problem. And this, in my view, is exactly what I see in this beginning part of the conversation Jesus has with this young man:
- Can a person in their own power keep the whole law and be perfect?
- Can you enter God’s kingdom because you have obeyed the commandments and have therefore “worked for it” and so you “deserve to enter”?
This person wants to be counted as “good” or “righteous” and He thinks that this goodness comes from doing “good” deeds.
V17
In this verse, Jesus first deals with this aspect of being “good.” Jesus says ““Why ask me about what is good?” and “There is only One who is good.”
This story is also seen in Mark 10:17-22. And in this account of the story, it says “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.”
When you first read this part of the response, you might think Jesus is denying that He is God. But He is actually not. Jesus simply answers the guy in a wise way. To make it simple, if I am to paraphrase this statement, Jesus is essentially asking the guy:
“God is the only one who is good, and so by calling me good teacher, are you saying that you know that I am God?“
And
“If you know that I am God, will you carry my words as such?“
Jesus wanted the young man to truly understand what He was saying by calling Him “good teacher.”
And then Jesus goes ahead to reveal where the problem is with the young man. In this short conversation, Jesus reveals what sin is and ensures we are able to see why we need a savior. In essence, Jesus, in very few words, lays out and explains everything that the Apostle comes to much later explain in the book of Romans about the law.
Jesus tells the young man that if He wants to get eternal life, He needs to keep the commandments.
V18-21
Jesus starts telling the young man some of the commandments He must keep and the young man replies that He has actually kept those commandments already. And then He proceeds to ask Jesus what else needs to be done for Him to get eternal life.
When we read the account in Mark 10:17-22, we see that Jesus looked at him and loved him and then He said “One thing you lack” and then goes to explain what the man lacks. Jesus then says that the young man needs to sell everything, give it to the poor and follow Jesus.
For me, as I read this, I find a number of things very striking:
First, I clearly see that Jesus answers this question (about what else must be done) by connecting it to the aspect about him the “good teacher” i.e. him being God.
From this first understanding, the second thing I see is that Jesus did not at first mention all the 10 commandments. He had left some out . And I see that this response from Jesus is directly connected to the first two commandments:
Exodus 20:3-5a NIV – “You shall have no other gods before me.” “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them;”
Jesus (who is God), already knew what the problem with this young man was– His wealth. The issue is that there was already something that was a god in his life and therefore the Lord, the true God was not the only God in his life. From the commandments above, we see that we are not to have any others gods apart from God. God is to be worshipped alone; He alone must be God in our lives. He must be the first and the last!!
By telling the young man to sell his wealth, give it to the poor and come follow him, Jesus was essentially telling him to let go of his other god, submit to the ultimate leadership of Jesus and become his disciple. He was telling the young man that He should not have any other god. As seen above, Jesus connects this with the aspect about being called “good” and is showing the young man the real implication of calling Jesus good and what that means for the young man. Being God, Jesus directly deals with the young man’s idolatry.
He was telling the young man that getting eternal life only comes by submitting to Him and is not based on good deeds. If there is to be a “good deed” to be done, then it is only submitting to Jesus and letting Him truly be the center of our lives. It means obeying him, making him our Lord and savior and depending on him completely. It means putting our complete and full trust in the Lord and no one or nothing else… not our wealth, our actions, our intellect, our positions, our cunning ways, not anything else!!
V22
Sadly, the young man could not come to let go of his wealth and so He did not become a disciple of Jesus.
V23
After the young man hears this and leaves, Jesus puts even more weight on what He was saying by showing how big of an idol wealth can be. Wealth can easily take up the place of God because it gives you the prestige, power, positions and you feel that you have the answer to all things because you have money. The rich person can find himself/herself in the very bad trap of wondering why they need God.
Dear friend, wealth in itself is not bad, but what it can cause is bad. Be careful. If the Lord gives you wealth, take great care that it does not take God’s place and make you forget God. This is what the Lord told the Israelites:
Deuteronomy 8:10-18 NIV: When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
On the other hand, it is also possible that we may not be wealthy and we have financial problems. While this difficulty most of the time leads to God, we might also find ourselves exalting the suffering more than God. The worry and anxiety can become our god, and we might complain and forget the Lord. Let us all remember, The Lord must be our God in all situations. Don’t forget the Lord. At his time, He will fix those problems.
V25-26
The disciples were astounded, they could not see how anyone then could be saved. But Jesus says “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
In essence here, Jesus is telling the disciples that a human being can never be good enough to earn eternal life. It is only possible with God, through his Mercy to our lives by sending Jesus to die for our sins. Because of his sacrifice on the cross, “with God, it is possible.” We only need to accept him and make him the Lord of our lives.
V28
Jesus tells the 12 disciples their reward for being his followers. They will judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
V29-30
And everyone who gives up everything to follow Jesus, anyone who values their relationship with Christ as more valuable than ANYTHING, they will also be greatly rewarded. But if we value anything more than Him, we will lose everything. Do not endeavor to be first in this world.
Questions to Ponder
- Is God truly first in your life?
- Is there anything you have prioritized more than God?
- Are you in idolatry?
- Do you trust your “good deeds” to get you salvation? Are you telling yourself “I am a good person” “I don’t do many wrong things like other people do?” “I am not a terrorist/rapist/thief/murderer/corrupt.” or do you recognize that you are a sinner in need of a savior?