Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S35 || How to Live Forever (100% Guarantee) || Mark 10:17-22 || Session 35 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
The story of the rich young ruler confronts us with one of life's most penetrating questions: what stands between you and complete surrender to Christ? When a wealthy man approaches Jesus asking about eternal life, what begins as an eager spiritual inquiry ends in sorrow when Jesus puts His finger on the one thing blocking this man's path to discipleship.
As we examine this encounter from Mark 10:17-22, we discover that Jesus doesn't condemn wealth itself—He confronts the misplaced devotion it reveals. The young man had convinced himself he was righteous, having kept the commandments from childhood. Yet when Jesus challenges him to sell his possessions and follow Him, we see his true spiritual condition exposed.
The rich young ruler isn't just a historical figure; he represents anyone who approaches Jesus seeking eternal life while unwilling to surrender what they truly worship. What would Jesus identify as your obstacle to complete devotion? Would you walk away sad like this man, or would you surrender it to gain treasure in heaven?
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Hello and welcome to today's session of Reasoning Through the Bible. If you have your copy of the Word of God, open it to Mark, chapter 10. There today we're going to meet a man who has a question for Jesus, so let's go ahead and dive into the text. Steve, if you could read Mark 10, 17 through 22.
Speaker 2: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? And Jesus said to him why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 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 your mother. And he said to him teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up. 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 it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Come, follow me. But at these words he was saddened and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
Speaker 1:This story is in Matthew, mark and Luke. Here in Mark it just calls him a man, but it says in verse 22 that he had much property. Matthew 19.20 calls him young and Luke 18.18 calls him a ruler. Hence over the centuries we've always referred to him as the rich, young ruler In verse 17,. What does this?
Speaker 2:man do. He comes running up to him and he kneels before Jesus and asks him a question and addresses him though as good teacher.
Speaker 1:This man runs up to Jesus, runs and then knelt down before him, which is typically not done by someone who is a young ruler. Typically, they don't kneel down in front of somebody that's from a social class, is of lesser class than them, but this man is genuinely humbling himself before Jesus. Wealthy rulers tend to not do that, but he is in a hurry to get to Jesus. He's running to him and he kneels down. Then what name does he call?
Speaker 2:Jesus. He says good teacher. That's the way that he addresses him.
Speaker 1:So here's a question Steve Is Jesus a good teacher?
Speaker 2:He's absolutely a good teacher and he has been addressing everybody and everybody has been amazed with how he teaches with authority. So he's absolutely a good teacher. He's a good teacher, but is that all he is? No, he's not. He's been blessing the people and healing the people. He's been going along the way, giving them instructions and feeding them, being a good shepherd to them. He's been doing all of these things throughout his ministry.
Speaker 1:Yes, he is a good teacher, but that's not all he is. We've seen as we've gone through the Gospel of Mark. Every chapter shows that Jesus is the Lord, god Almighty, the deity of Jesus Christ, the creator of the universe. He's also the Messiah, the anointed one. So, yes, jesus is a good teacher, but so far we're not sure whether this man sees Jesus as just a good teacher or if he realizes who he is. There's no indication here that he realizes who he's really talking to. He realizes Jesus is a good teacher, but he doesn't fully realize who Jesus is, and that happens today too many times. People view Jesus as a teacher, a sage, a prophet, but they don't really understand who he is. All the time they don't realize that he is God Almighty, the creator of the universe. This man's actions and his statements tell us some things about his opinion and what he thinks of Jesus and where he puts him. What can we tell about this man when he rose up and asked this question?
Speaker 2:Well, first off, you mentioned it before he runs to him. Second is he kneels down. Third is, though he asks him the question of what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He is acknowledging that Jesus has an answer for him that will impart to him how he can achieve eternal life. I think we get that out of all that first verse there with him. So he's seeing Jesus of having authority and being able to at least give him the answer of how to obtain eternal life.
Speaker 1:He thinks enough of Jesus to run up to him, kneel down, recognize him as a good teacher and ask his need to him. This man has a need, and he's doing all those things. It would seem just from appearances. This man is spiritual. He wants to get to Christ. He's come to Jesus asking spiritual questions. We're going to see, though, before we're done, that he's not quite all there. He's still holding on to some things. Are there people like that today, steve, that view Jesus as a good teacher but they're not fully committed to Christ?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that there are people that are in that particular situation and it's a shame to hear it.
Speaker 2:I think that people miss out on learning God's word more fully.
Speaker 2:I also think, glenn, that some of those people that think of Jesus as being a good teacher, they also take the people that are teaching them in that type of light as well. That's where they look to get their spiritualization from. What I'm trying to say is they don't go further into the Word themselves, they just go far enough as somebody teaching them about Jesus. They get this idea that Jesus was a great teacher and he had some good things to impart and that the person that's teaching me this this is where I'm getting this knowledge from. But if they would actually go in and learn how to and study the Word themselves, even just simply starting beginning to read the Word of God themselves, there's so so much more about God and Jesus and who he is that you could get from the text and learning how to read it and study it than you can just by having teachers like you and I. Simply telling you what it is Going into the word yourself is so so much better for you as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:This man thought enough of Jesus to go to him and think of him as a good teacher. There's people today that are that way and think of him as a good teacher. There's people today that are that way. They think of Jesus as a good teacher and they know about Jesus, but they don't know Jesus. They don't know him. That was this man's problem. He didn't really know Jesus. He didn't trust Jesus. He knew about Jesus, he knew that Jesus was a good teacher, but that's all he knew. He didn't really know Christ. At the end of verse 17, this man comes up with a question. What was his question?
Speaker 2:What shall I do to inherit eternal life? So in that question he is giving this indication that he says I've got to do something. Will you tell me what it is I have to do to gain eternal life? What?
Speaker 1:must I do to obtain eternal life? His focus is on doing enough to earn salvation. This man thinks like many religions today, thinking he can do something to earn eternal life. Can we, Steve? Can we do enough to earn?
Speaker 2:eternal life. No, we can't, because there's nothing that we can do in order to gain a righteousness before God. We have to depend on what Jesus has done on the cross in paying our sin debt. He is the one who has done everything. We have to trust in him and believe in him that what he has done, he being Jesus, is sufficient enough in order for us to become righteous before God, for God to declare it as being righteous, just like he did with Abraham, through our faith In our situation, it's faith in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Jesus in a verse or two here, is going to quote many of the Ten Commandments to him, and the man's response was oh, I've done that since I was a little kid. If we keep the Ten Commandments all our life, can then we get in? Can we earn our salvation by keeping the Ten Commandments?
Speaker 2:No, we can't. And Jesus will go into it a little bit, rather, if he says I've done these things, but jesus then tells him a little bit more and the result of what jesus tells him, he walks away sad.
Speaker 1:He doesn't want to do that, so in verse 17, the the man says good teacher, what must I do to earn eternal life? In the next verse, in 18, jesus says why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. In that phrase, logically, it means that either Jesus is God or he's not good. Again, jesus says no one is good except God alone. If only God is good according to Jesus, then either Jesus is either good and God or he's not God and not good.
Speaker 1:I remember I was speaking to a man once that denied the deity of Jesus Christ and he ultimately took me to this verse. The rich young ruler said good, teacher, and Jesus says why do you call me good? This man I was speaking to, that denied the deity of Christ, was saying well, jesus is saying he wasn't good. Well, my friend, if Jesus is not good, then he couldn't save himself, let alone us. If he's not perfectly good, uniquely good, then his death on the cross wouldn't have paid for his own sins, let alone mine.
Speaker 1:Logically, jesus is exactly right. If he's good, then he's God. If he's not God, then he's not good. There's no in-between, there's no halfway good or kind of sort of good. You're either good or you're not. Now I can sit here and rightfully say I'm not good. Steve, I've known you a little while and I don't think you're good, and I've met a whole lot of people in this world that none of them are good either. What do the scriptures say about who is good and who's not good? I mean, there are people that think we've got a spark of goodness in us, that there's some, you know, all people have some good in us. Is that true? Or what does the scriptures teach about?
Speaker 2:who is good. Part of this goes back to creation. At the end of it, God said it was good. This is some of why the people it wasn't just Jesus saying only God is good. The people would say that that God is good. So, by implication, Jesus is not denying his deity here. He's acknowledging to the man that the man coming up to him, by calling him good teacher, he's actually saying why do you call me good? Because only God is good. He's acknowledging to the man that I am God. Therefore this title of being good does apply to me, and he's actually bringing it out of the man. As to the implication that the man is saying that he is God by calling him a good teacher, but no, there's nothing that we can do. There's nothing, no goodness in us from the standpoint of once again being able to get into a righteous relationship with God.
Speaker 1:Jesus is indeed good, but he's good because he's God. It's not the case that Jesus earned his goodness somehow. No, he's God. Therefore he's good. In this verse, jesus is not saying he's not good. Nowhere in there does he say I'm not good. What he's doing is forcing the rich young ruler to come to terms with the logic If he's good, then he's God. That's what he's saying. He's telling this man you're calling me good. You realize what that means. You're referring to me as good. If I'm good, then I'm God. It's yet another claim to deity. Either logically, according to Jesus Christ in this verse, either Jesus is good, in which case he is God Almighty, or he is not good, in which case he's a sinner or even a demon from the pit of hell. There's no in-between.
Speaker 1:Next, jesus quotes the commandments to answer the man's question, verse 19,. He says you know the commandments, and then he lists several of the Ten Commandments. Now, what's interesting about this list? Well, there's six commandments here and of course, there's ten of the top ten commandments. Which commandments does he leave out is part of the question. So he's left out. There's no other gods before me. He left out. Don't take God's name in vain. He left out. Think of it. The ones he left out were gods before me. Don't take God's name in vain, don't covet and don't bear false witness. Steve, what does that tell us about what Jesus is communicating to this man? The ones Jesus listed don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal. The man says, oh yeah, I did all that since I was a little kid. The ones he left out can this man legitimately say he kept those since he was a young child?
Speaker 2:As you've been pointing out, glenn, all of these that Jesus say at first here is how he relates to his fellow man. It's not the ones that are how he relates to God. When the man responds and says I've done all these things, he's essentially saying oh, I've done all these things as far as my relationship to man. What else is there Then? Jesus then gives him what the relationship is to God. When we see that his answer and again after Jesus confronts him about it, he walks away. Sad no to your answer is he cannot say that he has kept those laws in relation to God, because we'll see here in just a second he walks away from him.
Speaker 1:If we ask the question, why would Jesus leave out the commands that deal with putting God first, not having idols and not coveting? Well, those were this man's weakness. Jesus intentionally mentions the ones that the rich young ruler had convinced himself he was doing. Jesus intentionally doesn't put the ones that were the man's weaknesses, at least in the first part of the question. This man had a problem with covening. He had a problem with putting something else in front of God. That was the man's weakness. So when Jesus mentions, oh yeah, don't murder, don't commit adultery. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I've done all that kind of stuff, what does he actually tell him to do? What does he put his finger on?
Speaker 2:He puts his finger on his wealth. One thing here, glenn in verse 21,. Jesus felt a love for him, he says. Looking at him, the man responds to him and says I've done all those things. Now, again, bring to mind what Jesus taught on the Sermon of the Mount If you have lusted after someone else, then you have committed adultery. If you have harbored hate for someone else, then you have committed murder. While he might be saying, oh, I've done all those things, it might be in relation to how Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount. You have heard don't commit murder. But here's what it really means Really. You have heard don't commit murder, but here's what it really means Really. You have the indication from us, the reader, being human beings, that he really wasn't keeping these things. Jesus would know that. We have other scripture that says Jesus knew the minds of the people and what they were thinking, without them even uttering it to him. But look at what Jesus' response is. He says he felt a love for him.
Speaker 1:Then he gives him this one thing that he lacks Jesus at the first intentionally does not mention the ones that were this man's weakness. Then he brings up this idea oh go, sell all that you have and give to the poor. Well, what was this man's weakness? Was money he was holding onto his money. He put a higher value on his money than following Jesus. In verse 21, jesus picks the main thing. That was this man's weaknesses. But even before we get to that, this man had convinced himself that he had kept at least these six commandments that Jesus mentioned. We would hold that he didn't, especially if he'd have Jesus' interpretation of them in the Sermon on the Mount. He hadn't even kept those. But I submit that there's an element of truth here. Steve, all we have to do to inherit eternal life is keep the Ten Commandments. That's all we have to do, right? If we keep all of those all of our life, we're in like Flynn, right, isn't that true?
Speaker 2:Glenn, we don't even know this man. It was thousands of years ago. Yet you and I can emphatically sit here and say he did not keep all these commandments. And we can say that because he is a human being and we are human beings. We know that he did not keep all of those commandments throughout his life, that there was a stumble in there of somewhere with them. That's the point of the commandments is when Paul later says that the law was a tutor to teach us that we can't keep all the commandments and we can't keep them to a point that we have a good standing with God. That's why we can sit here and say he didn't keep them. And of course, obviously Jesus knew that. No, there's nobody that has been able to keep all of the commandments, even just the basic ten.
Speaker 1:And that's the flaw is I've broken them. Everyone I've ever met has broken them. Every human has broken God's commandments and all you have to do is break one of them. And if we take Jesus' interpretation of it, then we've broken all of them and we have no hope. That's the point that Jesus made in the Sermon on the Mount. He's reiterating that here, here.
Speaker 1:Anyone who thinks that they've kept the Ten Commandments would end up just like this rich young ruler. If you're having a conversation with Jesus, he would put his finger on whatever that you're coveting. He would put his finger on whatever it is that you're trying to hold back and you're putting in front of God. That's what he does here. Jesus says go and give your money to the poor and follow me, because this man's weakness was his money. Now, it could be that's not my weakness or it might not be yours, but all of us have a weakness, and any of it. If we were to have a conversation with Jesus, that's what he would put his finger on, as you pointed out, steve.
Speaker 1:I find it interesting here that Jesus knows this man's hypocrisy. Yet in verse 21, you rightfully pointed out, looking at him, he felt a love for him, even though this man's a sinner, even though this man has lied to himself and is not admitting the truth to Jesus. He's a sinner, yet Jesus still feels a love for him. I find this to be quite profound. There are people that think that every sinner God has wrath for, and that part's true, but they deny that God can have love for those that he has wrath for, and I submit to you Mark 10, with the rich young ruler. He felt love for a man that was sinning right there while he was talking to him. This man was lying to Jesus as he was having the conversation, saying I've kept all these since I was a young child and was about to walk away because he coveted his money more than he did following Christ.
Speaker 1:Nevertheless, jesus felt a love for him. He feels a love for sinners and I think that is quite profound and we need to accept that, simply because all of us are sinners. Yet Christ still loves us. Now he will judge us. If we walk away and hold on to our sin instead of following him, then we will end up in the same fate as the rich young ruler walking away sad, instead of following Christ. We need to fall at Christ's feet and admit our sin, and then he will clean us up and put a new spirit within us. That's the lesson here in the rich young ruler. Then verse 22,. He held on to his wealth more than following Jesus. The man went away sad because he was attached to his wealth. When people are truly changed by Jesus, they lose the desire for the old life. Isn't that true, steve? It is true.
Speaker 2:The one thing that he lacked. That Jesus says in verse 21, is to go and sell all you possess and give it to the poor. You'll have treasure in heaven. And come follow me. The greatest commandment in other places that Jesus answered and was acknowledged was love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus has brought that down to this one sentence Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor. That was loving your neighbor. And come follow me. That was following God with all your heart, mind, heart and soul.
Speaker 2:The response in verse 22 is he went away sad because he had a lot of property. Just a little while ago you noted, glenn, that there was something between him and God and it was his wealth. Security. I have in wealth, treasure. I have in wealth. I have the ability to have things that other people don't in my wealth. Here Jesus is saying sell it and you'll have treasure in heaven. Yet he couldn't think that far ahead. And you'll have treasure in heaven. Yet he couldn't think that far ahead. I think that that is a issue for people that have a lot of wealth. They think back of how I gained it. I worked hard for that and I earned that and I'm not just going to give it away. So it's not just the money itself, but it's the idea that comes between them and God. It's a barrier that they have to overcome.
Speaker 1:In this conversation with this man, jesus asked him sell all you have. That's a lot. All give it to the poor and follow me. Does this apply to all of us? In other words, is Jesus saying that all Christians should take a vow of poverty and not have any possessions, or even slightly lighter than that, but still is Jesus saying that there's some sort of righteousness in poverty and some sort of inherent sinfulness in wealth, and that we all should not be wealthy? Is that what he's saying here, or is there something else?
Speaker 2:No, he's not saying that. He's saying this is what you lack. He's saying that you have placed all your trust in wealth. So it doesn't have anything to do with piety or living a life of poorness and denying yourself different things. It's because this man had put his trust and faith in his wealth and we know that because he went away sad because he had a lot of property. But get this, glenn. He's not saying just give up your wealth. He says give up your wealth, give it to the poor.
Speaker 2:Those two things happen here on earth. But what does he gain in that? He gains treasure in heaven and then come follow me. He gains eternal life. The two things here on earth that he does. But what does he gain? He gains an eternal treasure and eternal life. That is something that people can't see. They want to come to the point you're trying to make oh, if I just live poorly here on earth, then I'll be righteous with God. No, that's not what Jesus is saying. People that believe that and teach that. They're missing the whole point of what Jesus is saying here.
Speaker 1:In this passage. Nowhere here does Jesus say that poverty equals righteousness, nor does he say that riches equal sin. That's not the point. What he's saying is to this particular man. He was holding on to his wealth as an idol and putting that before following God. He was holding on to his wealth as an idol and putting that before following God. He was covening the money and putting it first. That's what he was pointing out here. That's what Jesus was pointing out was that this man had that problem. He's not saying that to everybody. Jesus didn't say that to other people.
Speaker 1:Matthew the tax collector walked away from a very wealthy job, but Jesus never told him give away your money. He just said follow me. Zacchaeus, over in Luke 19, it says, was the chief tax collector, who must have been quite wealthy. And Zacchaeus said oh, if I've wronged anybody, I'm going to go make it right. Well, jesus never told him to give his money away. He left him wealthy. The point there is to follow him. The point is not to necessarily everybody always take a vow of poverty.
Speaker 1:There are some theologians that get it all backwards. They think that richness equals sin and poverty equals righteousness. There's nothing righteous about poverty and there's nothing sinful about riches. It becomes sinful, as you well said, steve, when wealthy people tend to focus on their wealth all the time and focus on how to keep it and how to protect it and how to make sure it doesn't get lost. Now I'm turning that into something I'm spending all my time on, instead of following the Lord. That's what we have here.
Speaker 1:Other people gladly walked away. The Apostle Paul was in a position of great power and influence. He was on a track to be one of the leaders of the country, a great, powerful position, and he walked away from it to follow Christ. So that's what Jesus is interested in is what are you putting before me? You will have no gods before me was one of the Ten Commandments. So these people gladly walked away from it. Each of us should ask ourselves if Jesus were standing here in front of me, what would he ask me to give up? What would he put his finger on? We would be able to all of us sit here and say, oh, I keep that rule and I don't do that, and I keep all these commandments, and Jesus would say well, what about? And then he would put his finger on something that was my weakness or your weakness, and he would ask us are you willing to give that up to follow?
Speaker 2:me. That's the lesson of the rich young ruler. And then, at those words, the man left saddened. He was gloomy and he went away grieving. He was very sorrowful because he had much wealth.
Speaker 2:Think of how the story started. It started out with the man happy. He was excited. He was running to Jesus, kneel down to him. He said good teacher, how can I have eternal life? And at the end of the story he's exact opposite. He's walking away, not running. He's gloomy and moping. He's not excited anymore because the one thing that you were just pointing out, the one thing that was standing between him and righteousness, standing with God, was his wealth. Jesus loved him and told him this is what you lack. It's the same thing that you and I should do when we're telling other people the gospel. We show love for them by telling them this is what you lack. We show love for them by telling them this is what you lack. You need to become a believer in Jesus Christ so that you can have treasure in heaven and also so that you can have eternal life. So it's not true that letting people go on their own without knowing the gospel is loving them. What's really loving them is to tell them the gospel.
Speaker 1:I would agree with that 100%. We'll pull it to the curb here for today because of time, but there's still more that we'll deal with next time, when it gets to wealth and riches, because Jesus has even more to say. So we trust that you'll be back with us then. Thank you so much for watching and listening.
Speaker 2:May God bless you.
