The story of “the rich, young ruler” is one of the most familiar in the Bible. It seems not to be a parable, but a real story with a real character who comes to Jesus with a most important question: “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
The question sounds good on its face. Not so much when we really think about it. We inherit from our parents. What shall I do to inherit? Well, being born into the family is not so much your doing as theirs (though they surely didn’t know what they were going to get when they got you). And, the actual act of inheritance, as opposed to the right of inheritance, depends on the death of your parents. And so what do you do? Well, you can wait it out - the usual, moral approach. Or, you can do the immoral if you really want to speed things up.
It’s really not a question of “doing” at all, which Jesus exposes by his reference to the commandments. He then to mentions several of the 10 commandments explicitly, #’s 6, 7, 8, 9; then the command “do not defraud,” which is not formally part of the 10 commandments; and then Jesus jumps back to #5. The young man says, “all these I have kept from my youth up.”
Really? In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he addresses the more far-reaching implications of several of these commandments. Have you ever hated someone, and been hateful toward them? Then you are guilty of murder. Have you ever looked at another person with lust, so that you desired to use them for your own purposes? You are guilty of adultery. Have you ever stolen, whether something material, or immaterial - as in stealing credit that belongs to someone else, or stealing glory that belongs to God? Then you are guilty. (This last case, concerning stealing, is not part of the Sermon. But I think my interpretation of the far-reaching implications accords with what Jesus did with “murder” and “adultery”.)
The young man says, “All these things I have kept,” meaning he has carefully guarded each of these things. But has he? Has anyone really kept all these things. Psalm 143:2 admits “for no one living is righteous before you.” It seems that in this instance, the young man has broken the 9th command concerning bearing false witness, with reference to himself!
So then Jesus challenges him to divest himself of his possessions and follow Him. This invitation calls into question the young man’s commitment to obey the 10th command, which so far has not been mentioned: “Thou shall not covet.” And the young man leaves, saddened, disheartened, disappointed, “for he was one who owned much property.”
My question for application is this: With whom was he most disappointed? I am quite sure he should have been most disappointed in himself. I suspect he was rather more disappointed in Jesus. He confuses two very important thing. We often question whether or not God meets our expectations. Instead, we should ask if we meet His. And if not, and we certainly do not, then, then we ask, “How shall I inherit eternal life?” And the answer is not, “what shall I do?”, but rather, recognize what God has done in Christ to make this possible, and then, humbly ask how it is that you might begin to follow Him. (Hint: the apostles made it quite clear: repentance and faith.)
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