Mark 10:17-31--The Rich Young Man

Mark 10:17-31
English Standard Version

The Rich Young Man
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.”

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We usually know this story as the story of the "Rich, Young Ruler."  We get that name by putting portions of several accounts specifically Matthew 19:16-29, Luke 18:18-30, and this passage in Mark 10:17-31.

All of the accounts begin the same way--the rich, young ruler walks up to Jesus and asks Him a question, "Good teacher, what [good deed] must I do to inherit eternal life?"  There is then a conversation between Jesus and the man about "goodness" being something that belongs only to God.  Whether the man was applying that label to Jesus or his own actions or both, Jesus wanted to make sure the man thought about what he was saying, because the standard of goodness is God's holiness and perfection--an impossible standard for any sinful man.

Jesus then starts to answer the man's question by saying, "You know the commandments," and He starts to list off commandments 6-9, but He does not list the tenth commandment (nor does he list off commandments 1-4).  Commandments 1-4 and 10 happen inside the heart, so Jesus first tells the man to examine himself by his works and test to see if they really match up with God's standard of goodness.  The man says that he has kept all of these commandments [perfectly] since his youth (probably since his Bar Mitzvah when he was declared an adult and had legal culpability for his obedience or disobedience).  In giving such an answer, he admits that he didn't keep the Law perfectly as a child.

Notice that Jesus doesn't argue with the man's answer, even though we assume the man is a poor judge of his own actions and character, but Jesus looks into the man's heart and sees that he loves, worships and covets money (for he is a rich man that wants little more than to become richer).  So, Jesus tells Him that he wants eternal life, he must sell all that he has, give the money to the poor, and come and follow Jesus.  Then, and only then would the man have real treasure in heaven.

The man went away sad because he was very wealthy and had many possessions.  This became a "teachable moment" for Jesus' disciples as Jesus took the chance to tell them how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.  This was shocking to the disciples because they always associated material possessions and wealth with God's blessing and favor, so they assumed rich people were in God's favor and would go to heaven and poor people were cursed by God and would go to hell.  Now Jesus was telling them that way of thinking was wrong, and it was hard for a materialistic, rich man to come to God because such a man must give up his material possessions that have hold over him.  There is nothing wrong with money or stuff itself, but the love of money and the love of stuff is the root of all kinds of evil as the Bible says.

Jesus even repeated Himself, saying, "Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God!"  He didn't qualify it with being rich this time--just that it is impossible for any man to be good enough to make it into the kingdom of God by his own works.  The disciples then ask the right question, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus replies, "With man it is impossible, but not with God.  For all things are possible with God."  Jesus is saying it was only possible for Him, God in the Flesh, to perfectly keep the Law, and that He would do it on their behalf.  There is no way they understood any of this at this point.  They simply walked away with many questions about what they were doing with their life if there seemed to be no hope of earning eternal life, but Jesus would make it clear to them that eternal life is something that He could give and was not something that they would earn.

Peter being who he is tries to speak to make himself and the other apostles look good by saying that they had left everything they had (their business, their friends, their families, and even their homes) to follow after Jesus.  They had given nearly three years of their lives to Him at this point.  Peter's implied question is that he wants to know what kind of treasure in heaven is waiting for them because they did what this rich, young ruler would not do.

Jesus answered Peter that anyone who left anything behind to follow Jesus will be generously rewarded both in this life and in the life to come.  In this life, God will bless us with the Church that will be a new family to us, and they will share their possessions with us, and many will open their homes to us.  In the next life, we will have eternal life which we cannot put a price on.  So, Jesus would teach His disciples once more that the last will be first, and the first will be last.