Understanding the Rich Young Ruler - Mark 10:17-22

This is one of my all time favorite Bible stories. It is also one of the all time misunderstood passages in the New Testament. Let's take a close look at it.

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 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 your possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. Mark 10:17-22

Now some people say that the reason Mark included this incident from the life of our Lord is to show that rich people can't be saved, only poor people. They see this as Jesus saying the poor are good and the rich are bad. But this is not exactly true. Jesus said, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God" (v 24). Humanly-speaking, entering the kingdom of God is difficult for everyone, including the poor. In fact, Christ indicates it is "impossible" for anyone to be "saved" apart from the work of God in their life (see verses 26-27). Having said that, it is particularly difficult for rich people to be saved because they are so proud and self-sufficient. In order to enter the kingdom of God we have to come to God humbly like a child (Mark 10:15). This is a major hurdle for the rich, and this is why Mark included this story in his gospel. He wants to demonstrate that no one is good enough on their own to get into God's kingdom.

When the young man runs up to Christ and asks how he can inherit eternal life, he was confident that he already qualified. Christ questions why he calls Him "Good Teacher". His purpose was to help the young man realize that only God is "good", and that He, that is Christ, is in fact God. But Jesus moves quickly to the most pressing issue. This rich young ruler thought he was good enough for God's kingdom. So Christ asks him about God commandments. The young man confidently answers that he has kept all of God's commandments. Jesus looks at him, not with anger or contempt, but "love", and tells him that he lacks but one thing, and instructs him to sell everything he has and give it to the poor. With this, the man goes away sad because he is completely unwilling to part with his riches.

Now some, even those who should know better, say that the point is that for anyone to be saved we have to deal with all the sin in our lives, in this case, greed. This is just wrong in so many ways, but at the very least, this cannot be true because then we would be saved by works, not just faith. Salvation is a free gift. We don't do anything to earn it or to deserve it. We simply receive it by faith like a child (See Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9 and Mark 10:15).

Still others say that the point is that we have to help the poor or be willing to give away all our money in order to be saved. This is wrong for the same reasons listed above.

What Jesus is doing here is demonstrating to this rich young ruler that he hasn't even kept the first commandment, i.e., "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). Money was his god. He wasn't even close to being good enough to enter God's kingdom. If he had realized this and recognized who he was speaking to, he could have asked Jesus for help, but he simply went away very sad.

The bottom line is that this story is in God's Word to remind us that no one is good enough to be acceptable to God. Not even one (see Romans 3:12). All we can do is like a child come to Jesus and put our trust in Him. He is good enough to be acceptable to the Father, and in Him, so are we.