So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house
or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time,
and in the age to come eternal life.” Luke 18:29-30
This
week we will be looking at an encounter that breaks my heart every time I see
it happen in life. As I said last week, when we read in the gospels the
accounts of these people we need to understand that these were real people, who
lived and breathed in the first century. Just like us, they were dealing with
real life situations. Such was the case with the anonymous and infamous Rich,
Young Ruler of whom we now get the adage “the camel passing through the eye of
the needle”. I have been told there was
a gate called the eye of the needle that actually existed, but that’s neither
here nor there because I do believe Christ was referring to the actual eye of a
needle. You can argue that if you want, but we weren’t there so let’s save the
argument for heaven where we’ll both be so humbled and overjoyed we won’t want
to argue anyway. The point is this young man couldn’t give on the worldly
trappings of his life. When it came to
trading up he didn’t do it. So let’s take a look at this quick encounter and
see what happened so we can learn from it and sew it into our own lives.
Now a certain
ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life?” Luke 18:18
There are three accounts of
this event, Luke, Matthew, and Mark. What’s interesting is that in the gospel
of Mark it says that the young man knelt before Jesus. He was drawing attention
to himself, or was really serious about the matter.
The verse draws our attention
to two parts: his address of Jesus as Good teacher, and his question. Both get
a response from Jesus, which shows us that Jesus really listens when we speak.
We really should watch what we say because the Lord is very mindful of what
comes out of our mouths. A good man
out of the good treasure of
his heart brings forth
good; and an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 Jesus will answer the
question, and start with the address, but the question is what gets my attention,
because I know the end of the encounter. It seems to me this guy is a “What can
I get from you?” kind of person. It is about relationship for him, but his end
of the relationship. He’s a taker, not a giver. I would say he’s a millennial,
but I can’t on two points. First, I’m not a millennial, and I grew up with
people like this and have been like this myself, so that doesn’t fit. Secondly,
he lived in the first century when they didn’t label the generations, and if
they did he’d be generation A, or Quadruple A, and how would they have known
that back then? Maybe they would have labeled themselves the original label
makers. Who knows? They would have used initials RYRs. The point is everyone is
like this guy. All of us are in it for ourselves and that’s why we have to bear
our cross every day.
So Jesus said to
him, “Why do you call
Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. Luke 18:19 Jesus asks him a rhetorical
question pointing out to this young educated man that he is speaking to the
One. Just like last week, Jesus is identifying Himself as having those
attributes only God can have. He is Good. He is Holy. He is without fault or
sin or marred in anyway. Jesus is showing RYR that there is something still
greater than all those shiny things around him. There is something so perfect
right in front of him that rightly deserves to be knelt before and given
homage, but only if it’s truly honored. Jesus is calling him out.
You know the
commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do
not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
Luke 18:20 Jesus starts with the last five commandments, the “Do unto
others” commandments. He is basically saying to this young man, how have you
been treating others? Have you been in this life for others? Are you concerned
about those around you or are you lusting, hating, envying, jealously coveting,
lying, even when it comes to your own family? Jesus knows this young man’s
heart. He knows all our hearts.
This young man
had the chance to come clean and speak the truth. And he said, “All these things
I have kept from my youth.” Luke 18:21 Can’t you just see Jesus roll
his eyes at this kid. I’m shocked that someone around him didn’t speak up and
say, “You liar! What about that time….” I mean, didn’t this guy have a little
brother? Even if he was an only child there had to be someone he wronged. He
was claiming to be perfect! Who was this guy? A Disney prince? The Rich Young
Ruler had sin in his life, the same sin as Satan. He was prideful. In his life
he had all that Jesus had been tempted with in the desert before his ministry
began. He had riches, he had earthly kingdoms, and he had the admiration of
men. By his own esteem, he had it all. Yet what he didn’t have was that it would
last. It was fleeting…and he knew it.
So when Jesus
heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Luke
18:22 Jesus gets down to the need. He probably said these words in the
most compassionate voice he could have to penetrate the young man’s heart. He
tells him to get rid of all of it, and be real with God. He’s calling him, just
like God called Adam in the garden, so that Adam would come out, unashamed, and
stand before Him. “Adam, where are you?” It was a call out of love, by the One
who knew his nakedness, who knew his form, and his innermost thoughts. Jesus
knew this young man’s heart. When he looked into his eyes and told him to go sell all he had, Jesus was telling him to get
rid of the things that weighed him down, not the things that he delighted in.
He was telling him, “I see what a burden this is to you. I see all the pressure
you’re under. Put it aside. I’m here. I’ll carry it for you. That’s why I’m
here.” He extended the ultimate invitation to him, “Follow me.”
When Satan
tempted Jesus in the wilderness he said, ”Fall down and worship me,” but Jesus
says to follow him. Jesus wants us to walk uprightly, yet Satan wants us on our
bellies. This poor young man was too enslaved to see that. But when he heard this, he
became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. Luke 18:23
I’m sure
Jesus was very sorrowful too. We know that He had a discourse on this young man
with the disciples. There is something we all can take away from this in our
day too. Church, we have a whole lot of people wanting us all to be okay with RYRs
filling up the pews on Sunday mornings and the blogosphere as well. Somewhere
along the way they don’t want to give up their “relevant to the times” gospel
in order to follow Jesus because it makes them sad. They don’t want to give up
their sin, they just want it to be acceptable for them to carry their agendas
in, even if it contradicts what Jesus says. They believe the church has to be
“seeker friendly” and spend thousands on the seats and the lighting, while the
homeless in the community get fed on Christmas. They’ll man the soup kitchen as
long as a camera crew is following them. They will church plant in vacation
communities, or tourist centers, but not in the inner cities or towns that are
impoverished because the factories are closing. RYRs have the greatest tools
ever at their disposal, but they use them on themselves. Jesus didn’t charge
for the gospel. He wasn’t in it for ticket sells. He was in it for RYRs at heart like me, and you. For
such as these He died.
The Rich Young Ruler is never
mentioned again in scripture so we can assume he was never heard from again. He
rejected His one and only chance to actually make a name for himself, because
we don’t even know his name. We don’t know him, but we remember him. He falls
in the category of the misfortunate masses that missed their chance. Many
people we meet will miss their chance because they will choose their sin over
Jesus, they’ll be caught up in their trappings. It will make us very sad. What
we also can see here is that Jesus didn’t chase after him, nor did He send out
His disciples to chase after him for a ministry gift. Jesus let him go. He let
him go because He wants our hearts without all the trappings that would hinder
us. “‘These people draw near to Me with
their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain
they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the
commandments of men” Matt.15:8-9 & Is.29:13
That doesn’t absolve us from going out being seed planters. We are still
called to spread the Gospel of Christ. Serve Christ by living out the Gospel
and love others. There’s no charge for loving others. Use your gifts to serve
God. If He has blessed you financially then bless others, practice hospitality,
just see if you can out give God. And if you have been blessed with little then
bless others, practice hospitality, and just see if you can out give God.
Whatever it is God has called you to…do that. Don’t go away sad.
I must end this with a little
confession. I am a writer and I love writing. I wrote a novel, and I pray every
day that it sells. Maybe that’s a little RYR of me. This blog is my labor of
love. It’s my freewill offering for God. Sometimes I don’t know how it’s doing,
but I know Jesus does, and that’s what it’s all about. Sisters, if it’s blessed you then share it.
There is no charge for that. I pray for you all every day. -Juana
No comments:
Post a Comment