In our Bible study tonight, we looked at the words of Jesus to a rich young ruler (a story told in Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-30.) In many ways, this conversation could be deemed a failure in that the man does not appear to have heeded the radical invitation to follow Jesus, valuing his own wealth and possessions more than obedience to God. But it is also a reminder that Jesus’s words to individuals were always personal and that He never resorted to manipulation or coercion in His interaction with people.
The man approaches Jesus, calling Him a ‘good teacher’, and wanting to know what he must do to enter eternal life. It is so easy to focus on doing, but Jesus, despite talking about the Law and the Commandments, reminds us that all these can do is to point us to our inability to enter eternal life on our own merits. He highlights the man’s focus on wealth, offering him the opportunity to let go of this in order to follow Him (something He does not do with other people, clearly showing a divine recognition of the real stumbling-blocks in the man’s way.) The man cannot deal with such a radical call to discipleship and leaves the conversation, sad.
Jesus points out the barriers that self-sufficiency (which wealth can so easily create) put up, using the humorous analogy of a camel trying to get through the eye of a needle. He uses the moment to teach the disciples important truths: what is impossible with man is possible with God. Salvation is humanly impossible, but possible through the actions of God in Christ. God is able to do what we cannot.
Through this conversation, Jesus shows us
- the need for God to be number #1 in our lives
- the need for repentance and radical discipleship
- the need to understand God’s priorities above worldly ideas
- the fact that salvation and eternal life are gifts from God – it’s impossible to have these on our terms alone, but with God, nothing is impossible and everything is, therefore, possible
- the fact that God is no man’s debtor and rewards those who follow Him (but those rewards may well not be seen in material or earthly terms)
The question remains for us: will we follow Jesus or draw back from His demands on our lives?
