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Mark 10:17-31 · The Rich Young Man
The Rich Young Ruler
Mark 10:17-31
Sermon
by Brett Blair
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The rich young ruler falls into that unique category of Bible characters that have been maligned by generations of commentators. We might compare him to the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son. It seems like both of these young men have always gotten bad press and therefore a bad reputation. We have been impressed with the f ct that the rich young ruler was seemingly so near to the Kingdom, but alas his love of money kept him out. We see him as a moral coward, a man who lacked commitment. And the implication is that had we been in his shoes that day, certainly this story would have had a much different ending.

But the fact is that there are a lot of good things that can be said of him. I'm impressed with the fact, for example, that having talked with him only a few minutes, Mark tells us that Jesus looked upon him and loved him. That doesn't sound like a scathing criticism to me. And, I think that we also need to remember that to this young boy Jesus was not the Son of God. He was simply a new prophet, with an exciting message, a magnetic personality, and eyes that gripped you when you spoke to him. He was certainly not the Christ of the Apostles’ Creed. At this point in his ministry, not even the disciples looked upon Jesus in that regard. The stone of Easter had not yet been rolled away. Under similar circumstances are we quite certain that our reaction would have been much different? For a few moments this morning I would like to champion the cause of this underdog and reassess his character. I’d like to tell you some good things about him.

I

First, I would like to point out that here was a man who was courageous. Luke describes him as a ruler. That is, he belonged to the ruling class to which Jesus and all his works were anathema. Any member of that class seen consorting with the despised Nazarene might well be blacklisted and ostracized. That may have been why Nicodemus, who belonged to the same stratum of society, went to see Jesus by night, discreetly waiting for darkness to cover his tracks. Not so the rich young ruler. He was different. He did not come skulking in the night. He came to Christ in broad noonday. If they chose to record in the minutes of their executive committees an official censure of his deed, let them go ahead and do it. He was not going to be dictated to.

Let us admit that even today it takes some fortitude to defy the conventions of a social set. There are too many who turn their backs on Christ for fear of ridicule or of being thought pious or odd. Let us admit that there is far too much timid conformity among Christians today. There is too little heroic holiness. The crying need today is for men and women who are unashamedly Christian. But that was not this young man's problem. Let us mark it down to his credit--he was courageous.

II

I would also like to point to the fact that he was impetuous "He came running," says the evangelist. That, of course, must have looked remarkably undignified. I'm sure onlookers watched in astonishment wandering what must have gotten into him. But he knew that this was possibly the only chance that he would ever have of talking with Jesus. He was not about to pass up this fleeting opportunity. Let others stand on formality if they chose. He came running.

Let us admit that there is far too much fear of unconventionality in the Christian ranks today. There are far too many Christians who show no enthusiasm, no motivation for their task. The philosopher Nietzsche, the author of the God is dead philosophy over 100 years ago, once said that the greatest compliant that he had about the Christian faith was that among its participants there seemed to be no joy about being redeemed. But that was not this young man's problem. There was no lack of enthusiasm here. He came running. Let us mark it down to his credit--he was impetuous.

III

There was something else about this young man. He was Humble. "He knelt before Jesus," writes Luke. Thank God his status in the establishment had not made him arrogant and consequential. He fell down on his knees in the middle of the road. I'm quite sure that he knew the consequences of his action. He might become the target of every lewd joke in every wayside tavern along the road the next day. He didn't care. Nor did it concern him that the sinister eyes of Ciaphas' secret police might be watching. No trace of pride or pomposity here.

Let us be candid and admit that pride far too often keeps us from falling on our knees before the Master. We don't like to admit that we need the help of others. It may be that if the church is to be the church we may have to come down and do some things, which in the eyes of the world and in our own eyes seem very ordinary and commonplace. But that was not the problem of this young man, Let us mark it down to his credit--he was humble.

IV

Well, I'm also impressed with the fact that he was sincere He was not coming to Jesus with verbal puzzles, mental gymnastics, and pious theological jargon. That was what the Pharisees did. They would come before him and say: Jesus, what do you think about paying taxes to Caesar? Jesus what do you think about divorce? Jesus what do you think about an afterlife? The fact is that they could care less what he thought about any of those issues. The Pharisees thought that they had nothing at all to learn from Jesus. They were asking him these questions simply to trip him up and make him commit that one fatal verbal error that might hang him. How refreshing it was to see someone who came in genuine sincerity. "Good Master," he asked, "what must I do inherit eternal life?" He was asking the right question; He had gotten down to the fundamentals. He was in effect saying: Jesus, you clearly have the secret to authentic living. Tell me the secret so that I too may be fulfilled.

Let us admit that far too often in the church we spend time on issues that don't amount to a hill of beans while avoiding the eternal questions of life. Far too often our motivation is not sincerity but recognition. But that was not this young man's problem. "Good Master, what must I do for life?" Let it be marked down to his credit--he was sincere.

V

Well, he was religious too. In response to the boy's question Jesus said: "You know the commandments" and one, two, three… He started tabulating them. Whereupon the young boy looked Jesus squarely in the face and said Master, all of these have I kept from my youth up." He was not trying to be pious or holier than thou. He had made an earnest attempt to serve God, as he understood the Torah. If that young man had made that statement to us we might have quickly retorted: Oh, your just so good aren't you? You'd better be careful, your hallo is stating to show. But Jesus didn’t criticize him. Luke says: “Jesus, looking upon him, and loved him.”

But you know something, for all of his religion the law was not enough for him. There was a sense of emptiness and incompleteness about his life. Deep down inside he had the feeling that there was one more law that he ought to be keeping. One more ritual he should perform. It was that lack of significance and purpose that brought him to Jesus in the first place. Obviously, something was missing.

You see; that's the problem with the law. It's a bottomless pit. There is always that nagging feeling that there is one more thing you must do before God loves you. It's like the teenage boy trying to win the love of a certain girl. He tries to do this by working his way into her heart. Instead of simply being himself and letting her accept him for who he is he gets all caught up in doing things. He takes her to the movies. He buys her jewelry. He jumps at her every beckon. There is nothing that he won't do for her. But deep down inside he's never quite sure of her love. He always harbors the feeling that if he quits doing she will quite loving. You see the problem is that he is following the law and that is the shortest road to misery and despair that I know.

Notice that the rich young ruler's question was, “What must I DO to receive life?” You see he was caught up in this game of doing things. But it had not brought him fulfillment. He still had a nagging sense that there was something that he had left undone. One base that he had not covered. The commandments--yes Lord I have done all that. Tell me what else I must do? You see the essence of the Gospel is not doing but being.

But there are a lot of good things that can be said about him. He was courageous. He was eager and humble. He was sincere. But the fact of the matter is that we are all aware that this young man’s our story does not have a happy ending. After all of his courageousness, and religious earnestness, and humility--after all of that he said no to Christ. And the question is: What Happened? Certainly most people don't even measure up to the profile of qualifications that this young man had.

Yet, with all of his qualities there was something blocking his commitment. Jesus, with his penetrating insight, looked at the boy and said: There is one thing that you lack. Go and seal all you have and give it to the poor. Wow, that's pretty heavy! That's what one theologian calls the "radicalness of the divine command." Do you really think that Jesus wanted this man's money? He didn't care about that. What he wanted was the boy's heart. The problem was that his money was standing in the way. It was a question of priorities.

Now this was a particular prescription for a particular person. Jesus was the good physician and he didn't prescribe the same thing for everyone. He told the Samaritan woman that if she wanted the Kingdom she was going to have to quite prostituting herself. He told Nicodemus that he must be born again. He told the crippled man at the Bethesda pool that if he wanted to be healed he would have to quite using his sickness as excuse to cop out on life--Different prescriptions for different people.

What is that thing in our lives that blocks us from commitment to God's Kingdom? What is it that holds us back and saps our energy for accomplishing his will? It may be that Christ will look us in the face and say Surrender your radical self reliance and then come follow me. It may be that we pride ourselves in our self-reliance and being able to handle every situation that comes up in life. We may boast that we don't need the help of other people and unwittingly we may also be subsequently saying, “And God, I really don't need your help either.” We may have to get rid of that self reliance.

Or it may be that Christ will look us in the face and say that we need to get rid of our unforgiving nature and then come follow him. How many times have we said: Oh, I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget. Our forgiveness is half-hearted. Do you realize that every time you pray the Lord’s Prayer you ask God to forgive you in proportion to how you forgive others? Did you realize that? The prayer reads: Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us.

He may say to us that we need to get rid of a totally consumming social life. Does that mean that we can't have fun? Obviously not, but when the highest aspiration of a person's life is to obtain happiness it can be a symptom of a much more serious malaise. It may be an indication that thiss person is unwilling to cope with responsibility, commitment, and the realities of life.

What ever it is that blocks out total commitment to Christ--personal ambition, a hobby, rigid traditionalism, unfaithfulness, money--whatever it is, that is the area of life, the one dark corner, that Christ centers in on, and then waits to see what our response will be.

This treatment proved too radical for the rich young ruler, He is taken back by the command, for we are told that he had much wealth. The light has gone from his eyes. He cannot look Jesus in the face any longer. He speaks no further word. For a moment he lingers there, the picture of dejection, then turns and walks sorrowfully away. And he left behind him an even more sorrowful Christ.

He was not the first to turn his back upon the demands of the Gospel and he won't be the last. The response of King Agrippa to Paul's challenge to become a Christian was: "Almost Thou persuadest me to be a Christian." This led John Wesley to write perhaps his most famous sermon: The Almost Christian and the Altogether Christian.

Suppose the rich young ruler had done what Jesus said. What if he had sold his possessions, and joined the disciples. We might have seen Simon Peter and Andrew and John come forward and extend to him the right hand of Christian fellowship. But he didn't. And as a consequence his name will forever be lost to the pages of history. He is known by his description not his name. He is “The Rich Young Ruler.” That is all we can call him. In the end, this is a story about the world’s perception of winners and losers and how God has a way of turning our concepts upside down. You see, we see this young man as a winner--he is young, wealthy, he has it all and we wish we were like him. He does not repulse us; we are envious of him. Finishing first, winning, conquering and succeeding are all popular goals, whether in sports, politics, academics, or business.

This is a story about ranking and how we get our ranking--by being aggressive, achieving, by being superior. Yet, this story raises the issue of how God sees true success. Spencer Haywood, a former pro basketball player, once said: They call me a superstar. I’ll tell you who the superstar is. The guy who is raising 4 kids on $150 a week."

I don’t want to put words in the mouth of Jesus but if he were to define winning I think he would define it as a despised Samaritan who stops and helps a beaten victim on the Jericho Road, a widow who drops her small coin in a collection box, a despised tax collector' who cries out: God, be merciful to me a sinner. In short, a winner in God's eyes is one who feeds the hungry, tends the sick, and visits the imprisoned.

And who are the losers? A religious leader who cries out: I thank you Lord that I am not like other men. There was Dives, a rich man, who paid no attention to that loser Lazarus on his doorstep. There are the prominent people who seek chief seats. And yes, there is our rich young ruler. He too is a loser in the eyes of God, because he loved his possessions more than he loved the poor people and following Christ. In the economy of the Kingdom of God, they are the losers.

Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal Life? Jesus, looking upon him loved him. “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

ChristianGlobe Network, The Rich Young Ruler, by Brett Blair