Introduction
Matthew 19:16–30 ESV
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not 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 I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, 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.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
There has always been and will always be an underlying emphasis in my ministry of preaching the word. And every now and then, the Lord will lead me to a passage where I press in on that emphasis for the glory of the Lord and for the sake of his people.
It is the emphasis that questions your salvation. Some of you, or a lot of you might consider it the overstep of a preacher, or any man for that matter, to question your salvation. But, I assure you that it is no overstep. It is grace and love.
For that question does two things for God’s elect, those whom he has predestined for salvation.
• It strengthens their confidence in God’s salvation that has already been wrought in their lives.
• It brings to repentance those who have survived on a false assurance of their salvation.
But for those who continue to reject God and his authority in their lives,
• It is a rock of offence. For when you stand before this holy God on that day of judgment, this sermon will be a reason for your condemnation, that even though you heard the truth, you did not receive it, nor where you transformed by it.
When I was young, I was sure of my love and devotion for Jesus. On that front, I do not know of a day or time when I was actually saved. But it was not much later, during my college years, that I was rescued out of a dark and confused Christian life to the the very real and tangible Christian life by a preacher who was courageous enough to preach the most shocking youth sermon this generation has ever heard.
What Paul Washer did in that sermon shook me to repentance and the most dangerous crack in my broken theology was mended. God used this man to question the integrity of my faith, and that shock healed the corruption in my assurance.
How can I know that all the professing Christians in this room are actually saved? I can only rely on my discernment, but my discernment is neither infallible nor decisive. Therefore, wisdom would suggest that I not default to assume that we will all be in paradise even though that is what my heart yearns for.
But to even think that there may be one of you in this room who will perish for an eternity in hell? How are we to deal with that question?
By first holding fast to the incredible promise and reality of this story of the rich young ruler.
Context
There is a certain context that we find in this passage, as it relates to the verses that precede it and follow it.
• In the preceding passage and this one, Jesus is addressing the Pharisees or rulers of that time, and in both cases, the disciples end up with a pessimistic outlook on reality. And in both cases, Jesus teaches them how to be optimistic in their outlook on reality.
• In this passage and the one that follows it, Jesus summarises the discourse with the phrase that,
Matthew 19:30 ESV
30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Matthew 20:16 ESV
16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
So, the least we can say is that Matthew has certain threads running throughout these different accounts.
• This story is accounted in all the synoptic gospels, and the different readings amongst them gives a fully orbed picture of what actually transpired.
• Against Pessimism – In both the events, the disciples’ tendency to become pessimistic is dealt by Jesus by shifting their focus off of themselves and onto the invincible power of God with whom nothing is impossible.
• Against Pride – In this event and the parable of the labourers in the vineyard in the following passage, we see the blindness of the proud, who cannot see past their own fleshly desires. And Jesus reminds them that this is not about you.
Exegesis
Matthew 19:16 ESV
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
• A man
• This man that came up to Jesus is called a ‘young man’ a few verses later in v20. He is called a ‘ruler’ in Luke 18:18. This was no random man. He was that famous rich young ruler.
He was probably well known for his riches, and also because his authority as a ruler. Such a ruler tended to be one among the Pharisees. It is likely that he was a member of the Sanhedrin.
The fact that he was young was an incredible combination. Here is someone who has made it in life so young. You know what we do with people like that? We interview them and have them take Ted Talks.
• The Rich Young Ruler in that sense, one way or another, depicts the kind of person that most of us aspire to be in our education, employment, or even our entrepreneurship goals. We all strive to be smart, young and successful.
• This young ruler in many ways represents you and me. We can see in him the embodiment of our ambitions and striving in life. In those three words – rich, young & ruler – are contained the aspiration of so much of humanity.
• Of all the Pharisees that wanted to trap Jesus and put him to the death, here is one then that seems to have a genuine desire to want to receive from Jesus.
• The man’s posture and remark ‘teacher’ –
Mark tells us in Mark 10:17 that this young ruler ran up and knelt before Jesus. This then, beloved, is the appropriate approach.
This was a young man who had a reverence for his elders, his teachers. He was willing to kneel before Christ. The fact that he was young or that he was a ruler with authority did not prevent him from kneeling freely. His fame and power has not gone to his head. He is willing to yield them.
Didaskale – ‘teacher’ – one who was competent in theology. By using this word, the young ruler saw himself as the willing student.
• What good deed? – In Mark and Luke, it is phrased as ‘what must I do’? The word for good here is not merely referring to actions that have a good outcome. It is talking about inherent goodness. What act of inherent goodness must he do to have eternal life?
• inherit – Now, I this man is not talking about a typical works-based salvation, because he is not asking for that good deed that would merit him heaven, but rather that which would inherit him eternal life.
He sees rightly in part that eternal life is a gift inherited by the saints, not a reward earned by them.
What he is asking here is how he can position himself to avail that inheritance of eternal life reserved for the saints. What is that good and glorious activity that would please the Lord to reward him with eternal life?
However, it is works-based in that he is looking to his own actions as the object of this reward of eternal life.
Paraphrasing what he is saying, “Teacher, I will do anything you ask of me that would inherit me eternal life”
Matthew 19:17 ESV
17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
• Both Mark and Luke render Jesus responsive question as ‘Why do you call me good?’ rather than, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good?’. In those readings, Jesus is called the ‘Good Teacher’ by the young man.
So, it would seem that in the fuller conversation both were being emphasised. The young man assumed that the Good teacher can instruct him on the Good deed that leads to salvation.
And Jesus in response to that, questions the man’s understanding of the word ‘good’ as it is used in both cases.
• Only One who is good – The issue here was that the foundational assumption of what good means was misplaced in the ruler’s mind. In Matthew’s rendering ‘what is good’ is answered with ‘who is good’. It moves from good things to the Good Being, who is God.
Mark and Luke read, “No one is good except God alone”. Inherent goodness is not found in the activity of man because there is no inherent goodness in the heart of man. But that goodness which the ruler is sought maybe found only when he stops looking at himself and turns his attention to the one who is truly good. For all the activities of God are inherently good because inherent goodness is only found in the heart of God.
So, the first thing that Jesus’ immediate response does is that it dismantles the ruler’s presumption that there is any good in himself by which he might attain eternal life.
• But then, Jesus immediately follows that up with this incredible statement, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
When has entering eternal life been dependent upon the keeping of the commandments? Did not Paul teach us in Romans 8:3-4, that
Romans 8:3–4 ESV
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Why does Jesus respond to the ruler’s question of good deeds by instructing him on good deeds? Shouldn’t Jesus say, “Nothing. No deed can save you. Only trust in me and you shall be saved.”?
Well, we have two clues in the way Jesus addresses him.
• One, what we just saw, that there is no good apart from God. So, no human action can save because no human action is good. It is a true statement that the one who perfectly keeps the commandments of God will enter life. There’s just one problem, there is no such person.
Romans 3:23 ESV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
• Two, as we will see in the following verses, the young ruler is confident of his law keeping. He is oblivious to the magnitude of his lack. So by addressing the keeping of the commandment was Jesus presupposing the young ruler’s broken worldview so that he can show it as untenable.
You want good action? Go keep the commandments perfectly.
Matthew 19:18–19 ESV
18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not 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.”
• Which ones? – This is the cocky nature of the young Pharisee. The Pharisees as we saw in Matthew 5 had a way of conforming to the outer requirement of the law while compromising the inner requirement of the law.
The young ruler receives Jesus challenge with confidence in his ability for law keeping. This is not the conversation with the tax collector who stood at the outer court beating his chest, but that self-righteous pharisee in the inner parts of the temple boasting over his good deeds.
Self-righteousness is a delusion:
Proverbs 3:7 ESV
7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
Romans 12:3 ESV
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
This rich young ruler’s delusion in this regard was so great that he simply could not see just how short of righteousness he actually was.
• There are many who are passionate and thirsty for God, who would come before him and kneel, and call him teacher and Master and Lord, but are so puffed up with self-righteousness who do not see their utter unworthiness.
• Jesus lists out the second half of the decalogue, probably because the Pharisees loved to boast about their keeping of those. These commandments were more easily twisted by them to an outer conformity rather than an internal change of heart.
You shall not murder – but Jesus taught in Matthew 5 that those who hate their brother have already committed murder in their hearts.
You shall not commit adultery – but even looking at a woman with lustful intent is the committing of adultery in the heart. And so on.
Matthew 19:20 ESV
20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”
• All these I have kept – No he hasn’t. He has broken every one of them. His illness in sin was far more terminal than he thought. His condition is far worse than how he was picturing it.
• What do I still lack ? – A couple of things can be noted here.
• Even though the man wrongly discerned his condition in thinking that he has always kept the law, there still arose the question of what was lacking.
This is the reality of those who have a work-based understanding of salvation, it leaves them empty, always feeling like something is missing.
So many professing Christians live in this horrible position of external conformity and feeling like there’s something missing always.
Matthew 19:21 ESV
21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
• Perfect – Here, Matthew uses the word perfect, whereas Mark and Luke quotes Jesus as saying that the young ruler has ‘one thing’ that he still lacks.
So, continuing in the presupposition of the young man’s worldview, Jesus gives him one more command. A two-step command.
Here he is one command away from perfection, from eternal life.
• Sell what you possess and give to the poor – If external conformity was the standard, Jesus gives him a clear act of external conformity. Sell all that you possess.
Jesus knew the thing that had the greatest hold on this young man’s heart. The thing that his heart kept hidden by all this outer piety.
His wealth.
• Give to the poor – Not to sell some but all his possessions. This is not a question of abandoning all of one’s possession as the biblical norm but rather about abandoning the idol in our hearts entirely for the sake of the greater treasure.
• Treasure in heaven – Abandon earthly treasure for the true heavenly treasure.
• Come, follow me – It was not enough that he abandons his riches but that he follows Jesus.
In other words, this is the King of Heaven responding to the young man’s desire to enter his kingdom by saying, “Come, follow me and I will take you there myself”.
This invitation in this context is such a glorious one.
Matthew 19:22–24 ESV
22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, 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.”
• Went away sorrowful – great possessions – He came with enthusiasm and left sorrowful. According to the young man’s worldview, holiness was in the outer conformity to the law. So Jesus, gives him an outer conformity he cannot keep because of his love for his riches.
No good works can inherit you eternal life, not even the selling of all your possessions. Taking such radical steps will not save you. Yet, Jesus asks him to do this in order to show him that the underlying issue was not a matter of desiring God but of desiring God poorly.
Whatever said and done, his true god was his money. The thing that occupied the centre of his heart, his great and glorious delight, was his wealth.
• Difficulty & Impossibility – Then Jesus explains to his disciples the great danger of riches.
The youth and the authority of the rich young ruler did not prevent him from inheriting eternal life. It was the riches that prevented him because that is what he idolised. There are others in this world that idolise youth instead of riches or authority, and others who idolise power and authority instead of riches and youth.
This is a passage about breaking idolatry. What is the thing that has grip over you heart that keeps you from seeking and savouring Jesus Christ.
Idols such as money are so difficult that it is as impossible as it is for a came to go through the eye of a needle.
Matthew 19:25–26 ESV
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
• Astonished – greatly Astonished – In Mark 10:23, Jesus says
Mark 10:23 ESV
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!”
Then we read,
Mark 10:24–25 ESV
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.”
And the reaction is
Mark 10:26 ESV
26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”
Jesus took them from being amazed or astonished to being exceedingly astonished. He left no room for doubt in this scandalous reality that Jesus revealed.
The Jews always saw riches as the reward of the pious, but Jesus just called it the stumbling block of the Jews.
• The wrong question – who can be saved? – This is an interesting question. They do not ask who among the rich can be saved but who in general can be saved.
The disciples rightly understood that riches can be an idol for those who have a lot of it and for those who have a little of it.
The pessimism of the disciples in the previous passage and in this one is the reaction of those whose worldviews are being drastically shifted.
This is the poverty of riches.
• The foundations of optimism – It is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God but God is a worker of the impossible.
From the one who had little to much, it is God who saves us. He is able to save a rich man by breaking his idolatry. In such a rich man is the willingness to depart from his wealth for the surpassing value of knowing Christ.
Matthew 19:27–29 ESV
27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
Conclusion
Matthew 19:30 ESV
30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
• God alone is good. He alone can do good things.
• What good deed must we do to inherit eternal life? Only that which proceeds from the true and mighty good work of salvation that God first works inside of our hearts.
All our good works are good not because they have a good outcome but because they are wrought in God’s glorious work of salvation inside us.
Philippians 2:12–13 ESV
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
