The Rich Young Man 17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' "
20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22 At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
This young man referred to Jesus as teacher indicating that he considered Him a recognized authority in the interpretation of Scripture. Like many of us, we may go to whom we consider to be an authority of God’s Word and ask a similar question. It is almost as if we are looking for a formula to fill or a task to be done or a command to be followed and then we are in! No more worries! We have sealed the deal, so to speak. We can mark that one off our list and proceed on with living our lives however we please. When I was growing up we used to call this “Fire Insurance”. Yet “Fire Insurance” is really no insurance at all – in reality it is “False Assurance”. Wanting to justify himself by his works in his own heart the rich young man asks Jesus what must he do to inherit eternal life. Jesus in all His Omniscience sees through this. He listed first the commands He knew the young man was already following. The man responds that he had kept all of these since he was a boy. Jesus, looking at him with much love, and responds with words we certainly would rather hear on this side of heaven – “One thing you lack”. It reminds me of the verse in Daniel 5:27 Tekel : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Dan 5:27 (NIV) The Bible tells us that all our righteous acts are as filthy rags:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; Isaiah 64:6 (NIV) And lastly in Romans Paul states:10 As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one; Romans 3:10 (NIV) I believe Jesus wanted him to grasp that faith is a heart issue and not a works issue. Our works just evidence our faith. Christ is desirous of our relationship with Him – NOT what we do for Him. He tells us that apart from Him we can do nothing – meaning NOTHING eternal is accomplished apart from Christ. It is simply futile works. Jesus wants us to follow Him wholeheartedly – unreservedly – with a willing mind. We are not to hold back - choosing to live life with open hands. He wants to be Lord over our lives. The issue is not the thing, the issue is the will – in fact the word “rich” in verse 23 means to hold on or keep something useful. The funny part about it is that you simply cannot out give God. Whatever measly sacrifice we may make, He so abundantly blesses (particularly of giving us more of Himself) that we are left wondering why on earth we waited so long. The prophet Malachi tells us:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Mal 3:10 (NIV)