The Rich Young Ruler

Welcome
Prayer

(Corona Virus Quarantine Week Two)
Luke 18.18-30
April 5th 2020

So, we left off last week at verse 17 so lets now read starting at verse 18.

The Inquiry of the Rich Young Ruler

Luke 18:18 ¶ And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. 20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. 21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. 22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. 23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of GodGod’s spiritual reign—fulfilled and present, not political or future.! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? 27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. 28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. 29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, 30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

Context of the Rich Young Ruler's Question

Luke 18:18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Matthew only says that this was a certain man but Luke add that he was a ruler. We will also learn that he is stated as having great wealth and when we get to verse 20 we will also learn that he is considered “young.” Because of these terms it is believed that he was in all probability associated with the Pharisees, that he was ambitious, and of course its also the reason why we refer to this story as the story of the rich, young ruler. We also have an issue here between the translations as The Revised Standard Version (RSV) translates this verse as the man saying: “"Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" and not referring to the teacher himself as good. That is not that big of a problem because in Marks version of the same story IN the RSV it has the rich young ruler calling him good. Which is what gives us the context of the reason why Jesus says what he will say to him in the next verses.

Now, the Jews and even more-so the Pharisees, believed that they could do good things as a means to earn eternal life. This was standard operating stuff with ancient Israel and so it is not any surprise here. However, Yeshua and Paul came and disabused them of this notion through all sorts of passages and illustrations – one which is even provided here in this teaching. And so we have the reason for the question. But before Jesus answers him, he calls him out on something really important.

Jesus' Response

So the man says, Good master, what must I do (verse 19) 19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. See, the scribes and Pharisees would not receive Yeshua as “the Son of YHWH” or “having come from YHWH.” This was well established amidst their dialogue and it seems that Jesus was particularly sensitive of this greeting the young rule gave to him. I am of the impression that this was Jesus calling the man out immediately on an inconsistency between the contents of his mind and heart and the words of his mouth. In other words, his greeting was hollow – there was nothing behind it but fluff which was used as a means to grease the tracks of their conversation. I don’t think Jesus appreciated it – and I think he saw right through it, and this was the direct shining of light onto what was a bit of hypocrisy in the young man. So, the rich young ruler came and addressed Yeshua as good – a title that Yeshua points out.

The Goodness of Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler

This situation at hand was not a question about Yeshua being good or not, though we can discuss this, but it was however a direct response to the Pharisees rejection of Yeshua having come from YHWH or His being the Son of God or God with us.

But first, was Jesus good? In our sense of the word, of course he was good – he was the best, right? But in the sense of Godly Good – which Jesus here says himself, there is non-good but God, I do not think we can say that Jesus was good . . . yet. I say this because God, who Jesus established as the only good one, could not lie, die, or be tempted. We know these things from scripture – clearly. And of course what was in Jesus of Nazareth could not do any of those things either. But prior to his resurrection, Jesus could be tempted, he could (though he didn’t) lie, and he did die. So in the Godly sense of Good, the flesh that was born of a woman, was not good – not yet. And that need to be taken into consideration when we parse this passage out for meaning.

In any case, Jesus calls the young man’s perfunctory salutation out directly, as if to say: “Your group denies that I am YHWH or that I am the Son of YHWH. But only YHWH is good – so either I am YHWH or not. So, if you think I am YHWH, calling me good is fine. But if you don’t, why do you call me good?” We do not receive any sort of response from the rich young ruler for this, which leads me to believe even more that Jesus did this to make a point with him, and not to necessarily get him to respond or change his mind on the spot about his views of Jesus. The response appears to be more of planting a seed in his heart.

The Commandments and Their Purpose

In any case Jesus continues and says:

20 You knowest the commandments,

In Matthews account Jesus simply replies to the question, “but if you keep the commandments you will enter into age-abiding life.” And then the rich ruler asks: Which? (as in which commandments) and that lead Jesus to list the ones to follow. But here in Luke all of this is missing, and Luke just has Jesus offer up a smattering of the ten commandments for the rich young ruler in what seems like a sample, and rehearsing five of the ten, says “Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother.”

And he stops there. I like Matthews account better because there Jesus says: Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

A Lesson in Commandments

Do you know why I like Matthews version better? Because to me it better represents the mind and way of the Master Teacher. How so? The rich young ruler came to him with a question about how he might gain eternal life, how he might be saved in the Kingdom of Heaven. We know from his reply (which is to come) that he believed he had earned an entrance by his good deeds and righteous living.

And knowing this, the master teacher, listing some of the commandments, sets this boy up for failure. So in Matthews account he recites the following commandments in this order, when asked which, says

Thou shalt do no murder (well, that ones easy enough)
Thou shalt not commit adultery (many people can keep that one in the sense that it was given)
Thou shalt not steal (many can keep that too)
Thou shalt not bear false witness, (Fine. But its getting a little harder)
Honor thy father and thy mother (100% all of time time? Pretty difficult when we consider teen hormones and rebellion) and then the topper
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (almost impossible to keep without fail – and that was the point here – to keep the commandments to justify eternal life by works-righteousness had to be without fail).

So on being asked which commandments, Yeshua astutely listed five of the ten that were, in descending order, harder and harder to prove ones obedience. What is fantastic about this presentation to this man is his response to it as he says in verse

The Story of the Rich Young Ruler

21

“All these have I kept from my youth up.”

What a bold claim! But this man was young, successful, and appears to have been devout in his intentions. Interestingly, Jesus appears to suggest that a person could receive eternal life if they merely obeyed the ten commandments. This is not the case as abundantly proven in other passages of scripture like

Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace..

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And 2nd Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

To me, Yeshua is meeting the man at his level, and was about to use his own ideas about “works/righteousness” against him as a means to bring him to the realization that he needed the grace of God in order to be saved, and ultimately that the grace of God comes only by faith on His Son.

Jewish Tradition and Commandments

See Jewish tradition lists 613 commandments in the Torah which began in the 3rd century AD when a Rabbi named Simlai cited the number in a sermon recorded in Talmud Makkot 23b. Though several hundred years passed this event with the rich young ruler the number is likely very close to the commandments in place at the time of this engagement with Lord Yeshua. So when he asked which, it was purposeful. And as stated, the rich young man replied in the face of Jesus list:

“All these have I kept from my youth up.”

Mark’s gospel says that upon hearing this response Yeshua “looked upon him and loved him.” Certainly, the young man could have kept many of those commandments “from his youth” (but remember, he was still young) but his naivety allowed him to say that he had brazenly kept them all – from his youth. The reaction from the Lord at this bold response was one of love as the earnestness within the man readily manifested itself.

22

Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet . . .

Isn’t that a perfectly timed yet . . . it's like you are trying to get permission or forgiveness from a mob boss, and things are going really well, and you're almost out of the woods and you turn around to head out the door and he says, “However . . .”

This is our master teacher at work. I just love it.

However . . . you lack one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

In Matthew’s account, it was the young man who asked Jesus what he lacked, meaning, “Did Yeshua have any other commandments what he would have added to what was already known.” And it is also in that version of the story where Jesus tells him, If you will be perfect (is how the King James translates it) which is a way to describe the Greek word teleios – meaning if you will be or reach teleios, which means “complete,” mature, full-up.”

Completeness and Righteousness

See, to enter into life eternal, which is life with God Himself, we must remember that this God has no shadow or darkness, and therefore any fleshly human being must be complete. Here, the young ruler was attempting to “be complete” in and through his own righteousness and Yeshua was leading him down a road where he would realize this was impossible. We know this was in the heart of the Jews of that day, and the Mormons in this, as Paul wrote of the Jews in Romans 10:1-3 saying:

1

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

2

For I bear them record that they have a zeal

The Encounter with the Rich Young Ruler

3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

This is the foundation of this whole tale we are reading here. A devout Jewish man came to Jesus asking what he must do to gain eternal life and Jesus in a perfectly orchestrated manner illustrates that there was NOTHING the rich young ruler could do (and he proved this about him in the challenge he just threw down at his feet) BUT would later explain (at least to his disciples) how salvation was possible.

The Challenge of True Love

22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Recall that the last commandment Jesus gave to the rich ruler was to love neighbor as self – which the young man claims “he had done since his youth.” Yeshua, knowing his heart, challenges his response by telling him to go and prove this love by selling all that he had and giving the proceeds to the poor and then following Him. In the end, this was what is required of all to obtain life eternal – enough love for Yeshua (YHWH) to follow Him and love for the neighbor as self to bestow all the goods he had for himself onto others. Our master teacher is ingenious.

Also note that Jesus does NOT just tell the rich man to sell everything and give it to the poor; that that would get him into the Kingdom of Heaven – because it wouldn’t – but he gently slips into the directive… “and follow me.”

The Heart's Resistance

And we all know the weight of those three words, don’t we? (verse 23)

23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

Now, I think it is really important to say at this point, even though what we are about to read, that to be a Christian does not mean all believers must go and sell all they have and give it to the poor. In fact, to do that would be contrary to what it means to be a Christian, which is to have faith – to follow that advice to be a Christian would be to think that a person could get to heaven through their own works/righteousness.

No. This was what Jesus said to this young man in this setting relative to his life – because this element in his life – his riches, kept him from doing what was necessary to enter into heaven by his own works. In other words, this is Jesus getting to what I call the tap-root problem in the man's life – and we all have them. What is a tap root? If you have ever tried to remove a plant or weed or tree from the earth you learn what a tap root is – it’s the root that goes deep and taps into the moisture and therefore it is the strongest of the roots and must be either pulled up or severed before you will get the plant out.

For the rich young ruler, riches were his tap root problem – and he was sorrowful at the revelation of Jesus about them because he could not, would not, give them up. Again, this is not about giving up wealth to be a good Christian – it’s about giving up whatever it is in the heart that keeps us from loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

I struggle with my demons, and they cling like a tap root to my soul. But I don’t want to keep them; I long for them to let me go – but so far, they have not yet done that. Jesus was able to take this young man and show him that what he needed to DO – himself – to gain eternal life was to give everything up that was meaningful to him, which he was not willing to do. So therefore, he could not do enough to gain eternal life. It was impossible.

24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

Of course, the scripture is full of insights on riches and the power of them and our natural love of.

Trust and Riches

Proverbs 11:28 says “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.”

Or Psalm 52:7-8 which says “Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. 8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

And Paul gives some sound advice to those with material means in this world, saying in 1st Timothy 6:17-19:

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

The Challenge of Wealth

This can be VERY difficult for people to do as riches have a tendency to puff us up, and teach us to rely on them instead of God to solve our problems, and protect us. Riches automatically take our focus off him and draw our eye and hearts to them. You almost can’t help it because they require attention through thought and action. In short order we spend more time focusing on them then on him.

And all of this plus more lead Jesus to add here

25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Now, many Christians the world over explain this teaching with the idea that there were holes in the walls around ancient cities and for a camel to enter into such a city it would have to kneel down on the ground, have all of the worldly goods on its back removed, and then the camel would have to squeeze itself in and through the small hole.

I’ve got news for you – this view is not historically supported. Instead, Yeshua used the word eye of an actual needle and either “a camel or a rope,” (as both words in the Greek are very similar) and the ultimate meaning of this saying being that it was an impossibility for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven – as impossible as it would be to thread either a camel or a rope through the eye of a needle.

The Possibility Through God

That is the meaning – it is NOT possible to thread such things through the eye of a needle therefore it is NOT possible for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.

That is what Jesus said.

And we have to take this into context. If a rich man was trying to get himself into the Kingdom of God by his own works righteousness, still clinging to his or her own wealth, it was NOT possible for him to enter into it.

Period. Over. No getting on knees, no removing the wealth. NOT POSSIBLE. And this helps us to understand the reaction that his apostles have in the next verse.

26 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

Their response clearly tells us that what Jesus said is what Jesus meant – it was not possible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. The disciples understood this and the clarity of the message and that is why they asked:

Who then can be saved? Now listen to how Jesus responds to this question. He says:

“The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

Ahhhhhh! Wowwwww! Now we get it. It is an impossibility for a rich man to get himself into the Kingdom of God, but to get a rich man into heaven is ENTIRELY possible with God.

And we immediately can remove the riches out of the equation and look to God as the source of salvation. In other words, no rich man by or through his riches will ever get into the Kingdom of God on his own or through his own attempts. But what is impossible with man is possible only with God. In other words God CAN do it. He can, does and will bring rich men and women into the Kingdom of God!

We remember Jeremiah 32:17 where Jeremiah says:

“Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the

Exploring Sacrifice and Reward

"Heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:"

Nothing is too hard when God is involved. Nothing. The worst of the worst, in and through Him, are qualified for the Kingdom of Heaven, the most wealthy, the most sinful, the most self-centered and absorbed. But they cannot do it themselves – ever – that is an impossibility. Only God can accomplish such a feat. And accomplish it he does.

Now, at this point, Peter – our friend impetuous Peter who is always looking inwardly at himself and trying to figure stuff out, God bless him, jumps into the fray (verse 28)

28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.

The apostles had apparently left all they had behind as a means to truly devote themselves to Jesus which was probably not much quantitatively (some boats, nets, gear, and perhaps even family – which is huge) but it was their all and, forsaking them, Peter wondered what the outcome would be for them in the end. In other words, his point seems to have been:

“If it is impossible for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, what will our reward be if we have willingly made ourselves the poorest of all for your sake?” (verse 29)

29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,

Yeshua’s response was obviously to the twelve alone, that after the wrapping up of all things relative to that former age, and instituting the age to come, the promise of verse 30 would be in place as he says:

30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

Comparison of Textual Variants

Now, in Matthew's account of this same event we read the following additional information that Jesus gives to Peter’s question:

28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Now, there is something important here to address relative to critical variants in the various texts used to create our new testaments. It may not seem like a big deal to you but it has always troubled me and now that we are here I am going to explain it to you.

In the King James version of this in Matthew, Jesus says:

29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

In the RSV and other translations Jesus says:

And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

Did you catch the difference between the two versions? One included a word in the list of things forfeited and gained and one omitted a word.

What is the word? Wife. And the inclusion or exclusion of this word speaks volumes folks. Volumes. Let me explain.

In the laundry list of items the apostles could potentially forsake for the Kingdom of God, wife is missing in the Majority Text and is only included in the Received or Authorized Text versions. The inclusion of this word creates a serious problem in interpretation as it supports polygyny and/or communal habitation.

Interpretative Challenges

The promise by Jesus to these disciples is that if they or anyone was to forsake houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, they would receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Receiving a “hundred-fold” of “houses, brethren, sisters, fathers, mothers, children, or lands is explainable, as the Revised Version puts it, both IN THIS LIFE and IN THE NEXT as when a person enters the Kingdom of Heaven they join a family of such and all become one. But to add “a hundred-fold wives” to someone who forsook one wife as a means to follow…

Plural Marriage in Scripture

Jesus is an straight up endorsement of plural marriage or communal sharing of wives here and in the Kingdom to come. And from this we know that the RSV version is trustworthy OR, if we embrace the KING JAMES as correct, that afterlife, and perhaps even present life plural wives, is scripturally endorsed.

Trustworthiness of Scriptural Versions

You choose which way you want to see it.

Conclusion

And on that note let’s end with a word of prayer.