Matthew 19:16-22 Mark 10:17-22

Matthew 19:16-22 16 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; 19 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF” ” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

Mark 10:17-22 17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall 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, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

The heart of man is difficult to discern but it is vitally important to do so because it has eternal consequences.  Jesus has the ability to see exactly what is in the heart of every person all the time.  This is both comforting and sobering.  It is comforting because there are times when our motives are pure, and our intentions are good; but the results we hoped for are not what we expected.  However, there are other times when our efforts look successful to everyone around, but God can see that our hearts are full of pride and self-sufficiency.  God looks into our hearts and knows exactly what is needed to bring us to Himself.  This text is a prime example of someone most of us would identify as a prime candidate for church membership.  He is morally upright, has a good reputation, wealth and is seeking God.  Most evangelists would have never let him “get away.”  There is much to be learned from this interaction.

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION: The most important question anyone can ever ask is: how can I obtain eternal life?  The problem with the question this young man asked is that he wanted to know what good thing he could do in order to earn eternal life.  Eternal life is the most important thing in the world, but it cannot be earned.  Men constantly compare themselves to one another and according to their standard of judgment, consider themselves to be better than a certain number of people.  As long as they can find enough people they judge to be worse then they are; they feel good about their chances to earn eternal life.  They are mistaken.  God gives eternal life as a gift to those who recognize their sinfulness, repent of their sin and trust exclusively on the death and resurrection of Christ to provide forgiveness of their sin.  When we believe that Jesus is our only hope; our sin is forever paid for by His death and His righteousness is credited to us.  As long as we try to stand before God in our own righteousness; we will be condemned.  When we stand before God in Christ’s righteousness; we will be given eternal life.

AN INCOMPLETE ANSWER: Since Jesus can see the heart of this young man, He follows his line of questioning about being good by quoting a portion of the Ten Commandments.  The ten commandments can be summarized in two basic categories: our relationship with God and our relationship with others.  Jesus gives this man an incomplete answer in that he quotes only the commandments that have to do with our relationship with other men.  The fact that he did not lie, cheat, steal or murder and honored his parents, made this man feel he had an impressive resumé that would earn him eternal life.  Keeping all the commandments perfectly would be the only way to earn eternal life, but nobody apart from Jesus has ever done this.  Jesus quotes a portion of the commandments to this man as a means of proving to him that he had not kept the commands.  Before anyone can trust Christ, they must stop trusting in themselves.  Jesus is working to show this man his need of salvation and the corruption of his own heart.

AN INSIGHTFUL REQUIREMENT: After the young man affirms that he has kept all the commandments Jesus listed, Mark makes the statement that Jesus felt love for him.  That is important to remember in light of what Jesus tells him next.  Jesus tells him to go sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor and come follow him in order to have treasure in heaven.  At this requirement, the young man walked away sad.  It is vital to understand that selling everything and giving those funds to the poor will never earn eternal life.  Jesus was simply revealing to the man where his heart was.  He thought he had been so obedient and impressive all his live.  When Jesus tells him this, he suddenly becomes aware that he has greed and a lack of live in his heart and that he does not love the Lord with all his heart.  Jesus invites this man to come and be one of His disciples but the man refused because of his wealth.  It is and act of kindness in disguise for Jesus to give this young man and every one who struggles with greed an insight into their hearts.

APPLICATION: Place great value on eternal life.  Understand that it is the most important gift that man can receive from God.  Know that there is no way we can earn eternal life.  Faith in the Lord Jesus and His work on the cross that paid our sin and makes His righteousness available to us is the only way we can ever have eternal life.  Love God and love others out of gratitude for His forgiveness and for the privilege of following Jesus, but not in order to think we can earn salvation.