Sunday Sermon I--What Can We Learn From the Rich Young Ruler?

What Can We Learn From The Rich Young Ruler?
Mat 19:16-22
Mk 10:16-22
Luke 18:18-23

The incident with the rich young ruler is often preached on, seldom interpreted correctly, and often interpreted very wrongly.

To see this in our minds as we need to see it, we must place this man in the present day, and later in the lesson we will do that.

1. First, what can we learn about him?

a. His identification
(1) “one”
(2) Rich and young—Matthew
(3) Ruler—Lk 18—MacLaren says that the young man was a synagogue official, very unusual for one who can still be called “young.”
(4) He had GREAT possessions—but note, they were of no comfort to him!

b. His religion—good points

(1) He was serious, sincere, humble (this took place in public) and concerned about eternal things—he wanted to be right.
(2) He understood the central issue in his mind—eternity
(3) He ran to Jesus and fell at His feet, so he felt the urgency of need—Mark 10:17
(4) In spite of his religion, as with his wealth, he had no peace—deep down inside, he knew that he was at war with a Holy God, and that he must eventually be converted or die.

c. His religion, negative points

(1) He had only a surface understanding of the Law, or he would never have claimed to have kept it.
(2) He was self righteous—he thought he had kept the Law
(3) He did not know who Jesus was
(4) He was, in short, a heretic—his understanding of eternal life was that he would work his way to heaven
d. His reason for coming—he was not satisfied yet—works will never satisfy.

(1) Perhaps here we have a a type of conviction, but not the Holy Spirit kind
(2) He would avoid Hell
(3) He would get Heaven
(4) But there was no dread, no repentance
(5) There was no confession

e. A.T. Robertson’s comments are helpful here.

“…What lack I yet? (ti eti husteroôö) Here is a psychological paradox. He claims to have kept all these commandments and yet he was not satisfied. He had an uneasy conscience and Jesus called him to something that he did not have. He thought of goodness as quantitative (a series of acts) and not qualitative (of the nature of God). Did his question reveal proud complacency or pathetic despair? A bit of both most likely…”

f. Bottom line—

(1) He thought that he could buy eternal life with one great deed.
(2) This was one of the theological ideas floating at the time—that a man could do one great deed, or be very holy in one area, and so merit heaven. This is the reason for the question which was asked by more than one of the Jewish leaders in forms slightly different, but yet the same question—Mt 22:36, Mark 12:28—Which is the most important commandment in the Law?
(3) Jesus’ answer was uniform—He summed up the whole law!
(4) This young man’s religion was little different from the Pharisee ideal—“I thank thee Lord that I am soooo good.”

2. What can we learn from Jesus’ reaction?

a. First, Jesus “flunked evangelism 101…” (John MacArthur)

(1) This man was READY—or was he?
(2) He has come looking for eternal life, he has come to Jesus—or has he?
(3) Why did Jesus react this way? Is it just because, as the God-man, that He knows man (John 2)? NO!
(4) Jesus saw what any Christian worker or preacher should look for—He saw a man who had no repentance, and who was looking to an improvement to his own self-made religion.
(5) At this point, this man could have been led in “the sinner’s prayer,” and he would have dutifully said all the right words and signed the card
(a) He would have been baptized, perhaps that night in most Baptist churches, to make sure he did not get away
(b) He’d have been taught about tithing right away!
(c) In months, he would have been teaching a class
(d) In a couple of years, he would have been made a deacon
(e) One big problem—he was not for real!

b. The questions and statements Jesus made to and about this man

(1) "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”
(a) In other words, “do you know who I am?”
(b) Have you had this revealed to you, as it was to Peter? (Mat 16:16-18)
(c) Of course, the young man did not have this knowledge, but being self-righteous, he assumed that some men were good.

(2) The true or false question—“But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

(a) Jesus is not teaching false doctrine here—if any COULD obey, they could enter into life
(b) The problem is that we are born sinners, we have a congenital disease called “sin,” inherited from our first father, Adam, and manifested and practiced in our own lives.

(3) Mat 19:18-19

(a) First, Jesus picks the “easiest” commands, the ones concerning interpersonal relationships between human beings. He skips the hardest questions, having to do with out worship of God and our devotion to Him. However, even this abbreviated test is beyond the ability of the young man, as it is for us.

(b) The lists of commands are somewhat different in the three gospel accounts—and they include two things that are not directly part of the 10, “Love your neighbor, and do not defraud.”

(c) These last two were a setup for the hammering conviction of covetousness, which not only involves the worship of possessions, but it also involves envy of others, and a desire to have their stuff.

(d) It is also a true heart sin, a thing of the soul, something where superficial faith cannot even pretend to be real.

(e) The unbridled desire for “stuff,” when it interferes with God, family, church, is a symptom of this sin of Coveting.

(f) Coveting is not about wanting stuff, it is beyond that—it is wanting your neighbor’s stuff. It is not keeping up with the Jones’, it is looting them in your heart—Exo 20:16-17

c. The Rich Young Ruler’s Response is even more shocking—19:20: The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?"

(1) Here again is his shallow understanding of the Law, and here again is his cluelessness with regard to his own sin.
(2) Yet, still, there is this doubt in his mind.

3. Jesus Gives a Test, and the Ruler Fails it—19:21-22

a. Did Jesus hereby command us, or, for that matter, anyone else, to live by this? Absolutely not. He dealt with many wealthy and influential people in his ministry, and He never said any such thing to any other.

b. This was a test, given to this man who was a slave to his possessions and his position—John 12:46—and the man failed the test, proving that he would have faired no better with the first half of the Pentateuch.

4. Jesus’ often forgotten words—19:23-26

a. Few passages in the Gospels have been so abused as this one. A.T. Robertson’s comments are helpful: “It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye … Jesus, of course, means by this comparison … to express the impossible. The efforts to explain it away…[such as] narrow gorge or gate of entrance for camels which required stooping, etc. All these are hopeless, for Jesus pointedly calls the thing “impossible” (verse 26). “
b. His real conclusion is this—only God Saves Sinners.




Brother Charley Buntin
Trace Creek Baptist Church
Sunday School Teacher
Mayfield, KY
270- 727-0707
mainto4@ethixs.com