On the Road with Jesus: The Rich Young Ruler
Luke 18:18-27
March 24, 2019
As we get closer to Easter, Jesus begins to get a little closer to Jerusalem. Because it wasn’t yet his time, Jesus had stayed away from Jerusalem. The more Jesus taught and healed the more attention he garnered. Many were coming to believe that he was the promised Messiah.
The closer Jesus would come to Jerusalem the more perilous his journey would become. We have seen though as in the case of Lazarus that Jesus was willing to take the risk as he knows his Father’s timetable and that time is drawing nearer.
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus has physically healed people like the 10 lepers and spiritually healed the 1 who came back to say thank you. He has blessed children and he has continued to teach about the kingdom yet to come and how to live and what is required to follow him.
Jesus taught with such authority, not like the others. This would often lead to friction between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day. It was because of this authority and command of so many things that we hear from a rich young ruler today. This rich young ruler comes seeking an answer from Jesus.
Once again some creative liberties have been taken to help this man tell his story. The full story is found in all three of the gospels. It is found in Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-27 and you are encouraged to go back and read this account in its entirety. We’ll let the rich young ruler tell you about his encounter with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem.
All I wanted was some confirmation or some direction from Jesus. I had been watching him for some time now. His fame had grown over time. I didn’t think much about him the first time someone had told me they had listened to a new teacher.
They told me how impressed they were with him. There were lots of traveling rabbis in my time. There were more synagogues than there were rabbis to teach in them. It was often a treat to get a really good teacher to stop and spend some time in your synagogue as they traveled around.
Word of this Jesus fellow grew rather quickly. People began to tell me how they had never witnessed anyone with such command of the scriptures. He taught with such authority. There were times when his teachings were so different from what I had been taught. Often times though they made such sense and other times I wasn’t always sure what he was talking about.
From the first time I had heard Jesus however I was drawn into his teaching. He was so passionate about what he was saying. He was so compassionate to those who came to be healed. It didn’t seem to matter who they were.
This was one of the things that amazed me about this man. He seemed to be enamored with the poor and the destitute. I wasn’t sure why he wasted his time with these people. Did he not understand that if they were sick it was because of their sins?
I was blessed. You could say that I had it all. I was young. I was rich. I was smart. I had power. Because in the gospel of Luke it calls me a ruler, some think that I was most likely a ruler of a synagogue. A guy like me had quite the social status.
I had grown up in wealth. My family had been wealthy and so I was allotted certain priviledges in life. I was taught by some of the best in the synagogue. I loved learning. I really loved studying the scriptures. I learned all about the history of my people.
I learned how they God had led them out of Eygpt. It amazed me the things that God did through Moses and yet how the people still had so much trouble believing and following. The history of my people, the Jews is a complicated one.
We are called a chosen people. God led my ancestors to this land but unfortunately as history says they didn’t always do a good job of following after God. To me it seemed to clear. God had given the people a way. God had handed down the laws to Moses.
How could the people not follow these laws? God administered justice to those who didn’t follow the laws and he blessed those who kept the laws. The scriptures showed this to be true. When the people worshipped God, Yahweh and him alone things were good. When people started worshipping foreign gods, well that is when we struggled.
My nation had been conquered by foreign nations many times because of their inability to faithfully serve the one true God. My people had kings, prophets and priest that had led us throughout our history. None of them seem to quite get the job done.
The prophets however had eluded to one that would come and would finally be able to lead us as a nation. One that would come from the line of King David. One that would establish the kingdom. Many were talking about this Jesus as the possible Messiah. The one talked about by the prophets.
I didn’t know and quite honestly I don’t know that I was that concerned about it. Yeah, I didn’t care for Rome so much but I enjoyed a pretty good quality of life and so I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to upset that much.
The problem was that as successful as I had become there was still something missing. Yes, like I said I had done quite well for myself. I had inherited much family wealth and had become quite a successful ruler in the synagogue. People took notice when I came around.
I lived my life right. I followed the laws as best as I could. I didn’t stray from them. It was apparent that I was living right because of all of the wealth and power I had. One doesn’t get all of these blessings without following God’s laws.
That is what we believed at least. It was all about doing the right thing and following God’s laws. When people looked at me that is what they saw and that was why I was successful. I was earning God’s favor.
The problem was that there was still a hole inside. It was just something that I couldn’t shake. It seemed like I was still missing something. I couldn’t put my finger on it but as much as I had I still felt empty. I knew all there was to know about God and yet why was I still not satisfied?
The one thing that I just couldn’t seem to come to grips with was how to inherit eternal life. I didn’t want to live forever, that’s not what I mean. Know I wanted the life of God. I knew all about God but I wanted the peace of God. I wanted joy and peace. I wanted contentment.
Why was I not getting these things? As much as I searched the scriptures I couldn’t find this eternal life. The harder I worked and the more wealth and power I attained it also didn’t fill that void. I was taught that my salvation came through my works but I just wasn’t getting it. So when I heard that Jesus was on the road to Jerusalem, I knew that if there was anybody who could give me this answer and fill this void in my life, well it seemed like it would be Jesus.
In fact I ran to Jesus. I know that it’s not real dignified but I just knew that Jesus was the one who could answer my question. Jesus was the only one that I could find eternal life through. I was all in at this point. Jesus had to have the answer for me, I trusted him fully. I believed in him!
I had my ear to the ground. I knew what was going on. I knew the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. If something was going to happen it was going to happen in Jerusalem. If he truly was the Messiah then not only could he give me the answer I’m looking for but it would also be good for him to know me. I could really help Jesus achieve his goals.
When I spotted him he was just walking away from a group of children and I ran up to him and dropped to my knees in front of him and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” I was really putting it all out there, I mean people were watching and here I was….me….on my knees with this man.
He looked at me and asked why I called him “good”. He said that no one is good except God alone. It was almost like if he was asking me if I believed he was God or something.
Then he told me, “Don’t commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.”
Yes I had done all of these things. I was a little surprised to hear that honoring your parents was put on the same level as not murdering but I guess as far as Jesus was concerned that it was very important. But, “YES” I had done all of these, maybe not perfect but I kept the laws, after all look at me. That is one of the reasons why I’m so rich.
I was so sure of myself, there wasn’t anything that Jesus could ask of me that I couldn’t’ do.
Jesus looked at me with a tender expression and I could tell he cared about me, like he loved me.
He paused for a bit and then said, “You still lack one thing.” I was thinking, “yes, anything. I’ll do anything.”
”Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
I stepped back from him and looked around. Everyone was watching, everyone was listening. Did he know what he was asking from me! Did he know who he was talking to! Give up all me wealth? It was like he wanted me to give up my identity. I just stood there with a look of disbelief on my face. I couldn’t even think of anything to say back.
I had done all the hard work. I had risked everything to come to Jesus. I thought following whatever he had to say would be easy.
Jesus just looked at me with a sad face and I began to turn away when he said to me, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
His followers then asked what I was thinking, “Then who can be saved?”
Jesus simply said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
You see Jesus spoke to me on terms that I could understand. I thought that I needed to do something to earn my salvation and so Jesus told me what to do.
To be a follower of Jesus demands obedience. I just wanted to say a prayer or something like that. Jesus was asking me to give up what was important to me. I thought it would be easy to get this eternal life. Maybe I didn’t really want it???
You see I wanted to be able to control my salvation but according to Jesus I can’t and neither can you. I was a good guy. I did all the right things, I lived a good life. I wasn’t like all these sinners that Jesus was often with.
I wasn’t willing to do what Jesus asked. I wasn’t willing to hand over my wealth and it kept me from following Jesus. It kept me from receiving the gift of eternal life.
That’s right. Eternal life is a gift. It isn’t earned. Jesus would give it freely to a criminal who hung next to him as he died on a cross. I’ll never figure that one out. I deserved it, not that thief. You would have thought that I should have received it over him, after all I did all the right things, I deserved it way more than him.
What have you given up? Jesus’ followers gave up everything to follow him and he promised them they would receive much in this age and in the eternal life to come.
I guess you first have to surrender yourself and all that you are to Jesus. You can’t follow him fully if you’re chasing other things like money. He didn’t tell me I wouldn’t have wealth, he just knew that I loved it the most. He knew I was about earning favor.
I mean could you give it all up if Jesus asked you? Jesus wanted me to love him most. If I love him most then I will be obedient and follow his commands. I guess I loved me more. I was secure with my life.
What brings your security? Money….success….what people say about you on social media? My security was me. Hand that all over and follow Jesus? What kind of eternity is that?
Amen.
What I didn’t understand was that my eternity would have been even more secure with Jesus.
There is no copyright for this so use all/part of it. I put on a suit coat to get into character.
