Mark 10:17–31 17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 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 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jesus is on a mission. He is setting out on a journey to Jerusalem where He, by His Own Words, will be betrayed and delivered into the hands of ruthless, evil men and killed. Now, as He sets out on this journey, a rich, young ruler runs up to Him with an urgent question.
The rich, young ruler kneels before Jesus and asks a question that has been nagging him: “Good teacher, what must I do? What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The successful ruler is setting out on a journey too, and he wants to be prepared. He reverently asks Jesus a sincere question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Any rabbi, any teacher, could have answered this question. And like any other rabbi would have, Jesus points this man to the Commandments—specifically, to the second table of the Law dealing with love towards your neighbor. Interestingly, Jesus gives them out of order. Jesus starts with the fifth through the tenth, “Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud,” (9th & 10th commandments combined). Then, Jesus goes back to the fourth commandment, “Honor your father and mother.”
Jesus doesn’t give the man anything new. Jesus points the man to Moses, to the Commandments. These Commandments had been around for 1500 years, and Jesus places them before the man once again. But the question continues to burn in the man’s mind. Something is still missing, “Jesus I’ve taken care of all of that stuff. I have followed those commandments. I have not killed or committed adultery or stolen or lied or coveted. I have loved and honored my parents. My integrity is intact, but something must still be missing.”
Notice v. 21, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him”.
Jesus sees a rich young man who has a clean conscience—there is nothing in his life for which he needs to repent. Jesus sees this young man who has his whole life together and still seeks out Jesus to ask this important question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus, looking at him, loved him.
Jesus loves this rich and powerful young man who has clean conscience but still lacks the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. Something is missing; he knows something is missing, but what is it? The ruler is even seeking for the answer in the right place; he is asking Jesus.
“You still lack one thing.” Jesus commands, “Go, sell, give, and follow.”
Imagine this from the disciples’ perspective because this would be threatening to them. For several chapters now, the disciples have repeatedly misunderstood Jesus. They have argued about who is the greatest (Mk. 9:34). They have hindered a man who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name (Mk. 38). They rebuked children from coming to Jesus (Mk. 10:13). Now, this rich, powerful man kneels before Jesus. He could be the model disciple. He is not asking Jesus any dumb questions. He is young. He is rich—God must be pleased with him. He is good looking (it is hard to be young and rich without being good looking). He is morally upright. In the disciples’ minds, if he joins their group, he will obviously be the greatest among them.
But at Jesus’ words, “You still lack one thing. Go, sell, give, follow,” the man is ‘disheartened’ (lit. clouded over) by the saying. He walks away sorrowful, grieved. Just as Jesus was grieved in His spirit “even to death” (Mt. 26:38) in the Garden of Gethsemane. This ruler’s face clouded over and his heart was grieved, because he had many possessions.
Jesus watches the man leave. “How difficult,” He says, “How difficult it will be for those who have stuff to enter the reign of God!” The word translated ‘wealth’ here just means “things, stuff, possessions,” the word can even refer to debt.
Jesus had looked at this young man with love, and now Jesus watches the clouded over, grieved man leave. You can see Jesus kicking at the ground saying this solemnly, and the disciples are amazed and speechless. Jesus broadens His statement, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the reign of God!”
Now, many different explanations have been offered with this whole camel-eye-of-a-needle parable that Jesus gives. Some people have tried to say that Mark wrote this wrong, there is a word that is just one vowel different that refers to rope. So Jesus really said, “It is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle.” Nope.
Others have said that the “eye of a needle” refers to a gate that was small, so you had to completely unload your camel of everything to get it to fit. Nope.
Neither of those explanations really work. What Jesus is saying here is literally impossible. A camel will not fit through the eye of a needle. And that is easier than to enter the reign of God. The impossible is easier than entering the reign of God
Even though the disciples have not been understanding Jesus from the middle of Mk. 9 all the way into Mk. 10, they finally start to get it now. They come to the right conclusion with this eye of a needle stuff. “Who can be saved?”
In the eyes of a 1st century Jew, this rich young ruler had everything going for him. In that culture, his wealth proved that God was pleased with him. He was respectful. He lived a virtuous, moral life. He was striving to love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbor as himself. Nothing more could be done. “Who can be saved?”
So why did Jesus point this young man to works of the law? Jesus did not ask other followers to sell all their possessions. Joseph of Arimathea was wealthy; he had a brand new tomb (Jn. 19:38), 1%er. Nicodemus provided enough spices for a royal burial (Jn. 19:39) 1%er. Plenty of rich people had faith in Jesus, but Jesus didn’t make them sell everything. Why make an additional requirement for this man? Why add an additional hurdle for him? Why would Jesus require something extra for eternal life, especially something He knew this man wouldn’t do? “Who can be saved?”
It is not what you do or do not do that allows you to inherit the reign of God. And it isn’t what you have that keeps you from inheriting the reign of God; it is who or what you have as your ruler.
You see this rich, young ruler was ruled by the things he had—power, wealth, stuff. He prefers hold on to his things for another 30, 40, 50 years. But not matter what, this rich, young ruler will give up everything he has. Eventually, he will die and leave everything behind.
And Jesus had been hinting at this all along. Jesus gave a hint when He responded to the ruler’s address to Him as “Good Teacher.” Jesus responded, “No one is good except God alone.”
The young man wanted to earn a status of being good, but “No one is good except God alone.” This rich young ruler wanted to know, “What must I do?” and he wouldn’t accept help. He wanted a checklist—not charity. He wanted his own merits—not mercy. He wanted a guide—not grace. He wanted law—not love.
And he left. He left, and Jesus didn’t stop him.
Jesus did what would most help this man—Jesus continued and set out on His journey. I’m sure He thought about the rich young ruler as He journeyed to Jerusalem. He was delivered into the hands of evil men; He was killed. Jesus, the Good Teacher, shoved a camel through the eye of the needle. He did something even more difficult. Jesus shoved the whole world, and you, through the holes in His hands and feet. He made the impossible possible.
Jesus brought God’s reign. You are not limited to what you can do. Jesus reigns now and forever, and He wants to give you His inheritance. Amen.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
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