Through the Eye of the Needle
Tom Shrader walks through the encounter between Jesus and the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-27, unpacking the young man's sincere question about eternal life and Jesus' response that exposes the idol of wealth standing between him and God. Shrader emphasizes that the law was never given to save us, and that no amount of moral effort or material generosity can earn entrance into the kingdom of God. The teaching closes with a call to surrender anything that competes with Christ's lordship, and an encouragement to be ready to share the gospel with those around us who are asking the same urgent question.
“If you really love them, you're going to tell them the truth. You're going to talk about sin and separation from God.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: A Study Of The Life Of Jesus Christ (2005)
Recorded: 2005 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 47 min
Themes: wealth, eternal life, surrender, idolatry, evangelism, salvation, following jesus, materialism, wealthy professional, struggling with greed, seeking purpose, young adult, new believer, spiritually curious, attached to possessions, questioning salvation
Scripture: Mark 10:17-27, Mark 10:22, Mark 12:41-44, Mark 14:50, Matthew 19:16, Matthew 19:20, Matthew 5, Luke 10:25, Luke 18:18, Luke 9:23-24, James 2:10, 1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 34:8, Nahum 1:7, 1 Timothy 6
Theological Themes: soteriology, salvation by grace, lordship of christ, law and gospel, idolatry, kingdom of god, repentance, works righteousness
Full Transcript
The Rich Young Ruler Comes to Jesus
Turn please to Mark chapter 10. We are going to look today at verses 17 through 27. There are two sister passages to this passage from Mark: Luke chapter 18, beginning in verse 18, and Matthew chapter 19, beginning in verse 16.
Whenever you listen to someone speak, there are three questions you need to ask. What do they say? Is it true? So what? When we come to a passage of Scripture, we can eliminate one of those questions, because we know it is true. So here is what we ask: What does it say? And so what? The "so what" is the application.
As we look at this story today, I want to challenge you to thrust yourself into the center of it. We are going to meet a man, Jesus, and the disciples, all coming at this account from many different perspectives. I want you to let the thoughts, the feelings, the emotions, and the setting of the man and of the disciples begin to drift into your mind. There are questions asked here, and questions always provide great teaching opportunities. Even from Jesus, you can learn today as He gives us some helpful tips on how we can approach evangelism.
Introducing the Man
This is a terrific story, recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We will look at Mark's account. Here is what he writes in verse 17 of chapter 10:
"As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to him and knelt down before him and asked him, 'Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'"
Mark is the gospel writer here, and all he tells us is that this is a man. Matthew tells us, in Matthew chapter 19 verse 20, that he is a young man. Luke tells us, in Luke chapter 18 verse 18, that he was a ruler — perhaps an aristocrat, maybe a civil magistrate. And all three of the gospel writers tell us that he was rich. Look at verse 22: "The man went away grieving because he was one who owned much property." Luke says that he was extremely rich. But there is no name given, no identification to this man.
Ray Stedman's Conjecture
Ray Stedman — and I love Ray Stedman. I had not been a Christian very long when my mentor said to me, "You need to read Ray Stedman." He described him this way: he said he is a locksmith. You read something and he just unlocks it, and it rabbit-trails you from there.
Ray Stedman has a really interesting conjecture — that the young man in Mark chapter 10 is Mark himself. He bases this on a couple of things. In verse 21, Mark speaks of Jesus looking at him, and he is the only gospel writer who records that detail. He also records the love that Jesus expressed toward the man. Keep your finger there and turn to Mark chapter 14, verse 50, because there is another occasion when this young man is mentioned, again not by name.
The context is that Jesus has been arrested. Mark writes: "And they all left him and fled. And a young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him. But he pulled free from the linen sheet and escaped naked." This detail is again unique to Mark's gospel, and it causes Stedman to suggest that this was indeed Mark — the young man on both occasions.
Can we say that with certainty? No. But it is interesting to speculate. If it is Mark, what is really significant is that this young man who turns and runs away — and we are going to see that in the story — later has a radical transformation in his life. We call it conversion. That adds a great deal of interest to the story.
An Urgent and Genuine Question
Look at verse 17. Here is an amazing picture. This rich young ruler, a man of power, wealth, and prestige in the community, does not walk up to Jesus. He does not pull Him aside to talk quietly. He runs up to Him. He cannot wait. He runs up to Him and literally throws himself at His feet, kneeling before Him. He captures Jesus' attention, and then he asks the most important question that any person, at any time, in any place, could ever ask: What do I need to do to go to heaven? What do I need to do to inherit eternal life?
In Luke chapter 10, verse 25, there was a lawyer who asked Jesus this same question, but Luke says this: "Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put him to the test." He asked the question to test Jesus. That is not at all what is going on here. There is every indication that this is a genuine response. This young man seems totally oblivious to the fact that others are around him.
As noted, he is a man with some sense of significance and position in the community. He comes racing up to Jesus — and that is not how young politicians act. You do not typically see wealthy, powerful young rulers running up and throwing themselves at someone's feet, saying by their actions that they do not care what anyone thinks. That is a group of people almost obsessed with what other people think. Nor does he skirt the issue in any way. There is a directness to his approach, no hedging, no circling around the subject.
It seems like a genuine question. There is urgency to it. There is a sense of need on his part. He senses that something is missing. What does he think is missing? Eternal life. He obviously does not believe he has it — he would not ask the question if he did. He is saying that something is missing in his life.
The Weight of the Question
There is a sense of urgency here. It is about eternal life. How do I get it? Before he asks the question, look at how he addresses Jesus: "Good teacher." Jesus responds, before He answers the question, to that salutation. He said, "Why do you call me good?" Verse 18: "No one is good except God alone."
1 Chronicles 16:34: "Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good." Psalm 34, verse 8: "Oh taste and see the Lord, He is good." Nahum 1:7: "The Lord is good." Jesus pulls the man up short right there. He said, wait a minute — you said to me, "Good teacher." You understand this: only God is good. If you really understand what you are saying, if you are not responding in some frivolous, flippant way, then what you are understanding is that I am God.
There is a sense in which He is saying, listen up here. If I am good, and only God is good, then I am God. And therefore, if I am God, you had better listen. You had better listen to what I have to say and fully comprehend it, and then whatever it is, you had better run out and do it. If I stay away from something, you had better run away from it. If I say cling to it or pursue it, you had better go for it. We want to make sure you understand that. This is really significant.
The Right Question to the Right Person
When we talk about Jesus, we are talking about somebody who died and rose again. In my own life, I can relate to this. There was a kind of spiritual nagging for thirty years. I was raised in a mainline denomination and went through all of that, but it was not working for me very well, and yet I could see that something was wrong, something was missing. What do I need to do to go to heaven? That was a pressing question for me.
What I was eventually challenged with was not the answer to the question, but the source of the answer. What makes this rich young ruler so interesting to me is not only that he asked the right question, but that he asked the right person. It is one thing to go running out and ask someone you meet at Starbucks, "Hey, what do you think I need to do to go to heaven?" Who cares what you think? That is how we tend to do it. This man, however, brought the right question to the right person.
That is what happened to me. Someone said to me, "Do you know anything about the Bible?" I said it was a bunch of make-believe stories, filled with errors. The person said, "Really? Why don't you find some and we'll talk about it?" I had to admit I had never read it and did not own a Bible. I sensed immediately I was arguing from a position of weakness. That person said, "Why don't you get a Bible?" and challenged me to look at it — not to study it deeply, but to examine it and ask: is this a trustworthy book? Is it a trustworthy source?
I do not need another opinion. I do not need another view from somebody who does not know what they are talking about. If your car breaks down, the last person you should call to fix it is me. I know nothing about it. I will give you a ride, I will take you somewhere, I will connect you with someone — but what you want is the manufacturer, the person who built it, the person who knows the engine and understands the problem. You want to get to the manufacturer.
Here is the point: the manufacturer — the One who created us — spoke, and He gave us the source where we can find the answer. So maybe you are here today and you have been like this rich young ruler, searching and wondering, sensing that something is missing, feeling a mild sense of urgency. Maybe you walked in thinking this building would fall down, but it did not. Maybe you are saying, just like him, "I want answers." You came to the right place — not because we are so smart, but because we know where to go and look for the answers. You do not need to pool the ignorance of a group of very bright people about what it means to go to heaven. God spoke to it.
What Is Eternal Life?
"What should I do to inherit eternal life?" About fifty times in Scripture we find that phrase — eternal life — and it always refers, first and foremost, primarily to the quality of life rather than the quantity of life. William Hendrickson writes: "Life means active response to one's environment." The writer continues: "Then eternal life must mean active response to that which is eternal, namely God's heavenly realm. Just as physical life is the ability to live and move and respond to the physical world, eternal life is the ability to live and move and respond to the heavenly world."
Jesus said He came that we can be alive with Him, that we can respond to Him, that we can live and move in the spiritual world and truly seek first His kingdom. Eternal life, then, is the opportunity — not just of quantity, but of quality — to have a vibrant relationship with Him.
John MacArthur writes: "A young ruler could not have understood the full meaning of what he asked for, but he realized there was an important dimension to his present life, religious and prestigious as it was, that was missing. Despite his high standing in men's eyes, he knew he did not have the God-given peace, rest, hope, assurance, and joy of which the psalmist and the prophet spoke. He may have sensed that he needed a closer relationship to God than he had. Simply by asking the question of Jesus, he showed himself" — and we will continue from there.
Recognizing a Deep Spiritual Need
He recognized a deep spiritual need, for all his religious efforts were unfulfilled. He knew he did not possess the life of God that satisfies here and now and gives hope for the life to come. The fact that he came to Jesus publicly and asked such a personal and revealing question shows the man's integrity. He wasn't presumptuous or haughty, but was humble, determined to find satisfaction for the overwhelming need he felt in his life. He was oblivious to what people around him might have thought.
Is that you? Recognizing a deep spiritual need, and yet with all that you've done, you're not there. Something's missing.
An Open Season for Spiritual Conversation
Let me offer a side note, because we're in the season. I was going through stations on my radio this week, and the Christmas station is already playing Christmas music around the clock. It is a little early, but it is a great time. You take this moment plus the release of the Narnia movie, and you're going to have people all around you who are open and ready to talk. You need to be ready for this.
Have you started praying? We challenged you with that a couple of weeks ago. Maybe there are no names yet — just, "God, open my eyes to the people around me. Bring people into my life who will ask me what they need to do to be saved." Maybe there are names, and you've already started praying for them. We're serious about this.
I was leading a Bible study a few years ago, and one Wednesday morning I told the men they needed to pray and ask God to bring somebody into their lives — someone they could share the truth with. The next week, I arrived at the study to find one of the men already there waiting for me. He said, "I've got to tell you this story." He had been in his car praying, "God, just bring somebody. I don't know who it would be. I don't seem to have unbelievers around me. Just give me a chance." That same night, a couple came over for dinner. Afterward, the wives went to one room and the men went to another. This was a man he barely knew — their wives knew each other. And the man simply looked over at him and said, "Tell me about Jesus."
There are people all around you who are asking this question: what do I need to do to inherit eternal life? They may not say it in those words. They may say, "How come your life is working? How come the people around you seem to have a sense of harmony? You and your spouse aren't arguing. Your kids seem to have it figured out. How come when you lose a deal, you just press on, while I'm discouraged for weeks? How come I have more than you and I seem far less happy than you?" Here is what they are saying to you: what do I need to do to be saved?
Evangelism Isn't Always a Hard Sell
You not only need to perceive that need — you need to respond to it. Sometimes when we think of evangelism, we think it's going to be hard work, that we have to convince people. Jesus didn't have to convince this man at all. He simply came up to Him — open, honest, sincere, with a genuine question. He sensed his need, asked the right question, and came to the right Person.
The Commandments and the Condition of the Heart
So Jesus answered him. In verse 19 He said, "You know the commandments." The Jews would know the law inside and out. Jesus said, "Don't murder. Don't steal. Don't commit adultery. Don't bear false witness. Don't defraud. Honor your father and mother." And as soon as Jesus stopped speaking, the man replied in verse 20, "Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth." From the time he was bar mitzvahed, he had kept all of them.
There is a sense here not of pride but of sincerity. He was simply saying, "I've done all of that. I never killed anyone. I never committed adultery. I didn't steal anything. I didn't bear false witness. I honored my father and mother." That is what Jesus was addressing.
Remember in Matthew chapter 5, when we looked at the Sermon on the Mount? After the Beatitudes, Jesus said, "You're the salt of the earth. You're the light of the world." Then He began to teach, saying, "You need to rethink some things." He contrasted what the ancients had told them with what He was now revealing. Take adultery in particular: "You have heard that it was said you should not commit adultery. But I say to you, if anyone has looked upon a woman with lust..." What Jesus was doing was making clear that it is not just the letter of the law — and no one had kept even that perfectly.
Isn't that what James says? James chapter 2, verse 10: "For whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles at one point is guilty of all." If you break the law, you break the law. Notice that Jesus cites the second half of the Ten Commandments when He speaks to this young man. He skips the first five — those that deal most directly with our relationship with God, the more demanding ones. Yet even with the commandments Jesus does cite, the man said, "I have kept all of them. I have followed them all. God, tell me what to do — I want to do it."
But the law was never given to save us, because we cannot keep the law. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Loving Someone Means Telling Them the Truth
He missed the point. Jesus has taken them to a whole new dimension beyond the law. He is not saying it is just a matter of the letter of the law. Have you ever looked at someone with lust? Have you ever lied once? Have you ever said, "Tell them I'm not home"? Has there ever been any time you thought, "I don't steal" — but then, where did you get that pen? Well, it's from the office. You're a thief. You're just a thief with no imagination or creativity. You steal pens and paper clips and rubber bands, but you're a thief. Jesus said, get your arms around that.
So Jesus said, "Here you go — keep these." The man said, "I've kept them." And Jesus loved him. He felt love, genuine, real emotion for the man. So He said to him, "One thing you lack, go and sell all you possess, give it to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. And come and follow Me."
Before we break that apart — does that sound like a big request to you? That sounds like a big request to me. That sounds like a pretty demanding statement. Why would Jesus level such a demanding statement on this man, such a command? The answer is in verse 21: because He loved him.
He loves him, so He wants to get him to the truth. As you are sharing your faith, as you are living this life, and people start coming up to you and say, "What do I need to do to be saved?" — do not skirt the issue. Do not avoid the topic of sin and separation and repentance and response. You do not need to soften it to try to make the gospel more digestible, like putting a pill in peanut butter to get it down your throat.
One author writes that Jesus was drawn to this man. The Savior's words were spoken in the tenderest tone, and yet Jesus meant every syllable of what He said. If you love somebody, at that moment you are going to tell them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. You are going to talk about sin and separation from God. And when those questions come, in all tenderness and love, you are going to give them the honest, genuine answers.
The Cost of Protecting a Relationship
You are not going to say, "I love him so much that I don't want to offend him." Maybe you have even said that. "I have such a great relationship with this person — it might be a family member, it might be a friend — and I don't want to risk that relationship by injecting something as divisive as the gospel." Let me tell you what I just heard you say. You love this person so much that you would rather have a few good years with them here on earth and then let them go to hell while you go to heaven. That does not make sense. If you really love them, you are going to tell them the truth.
Jesus Is Not Teaching Salvation by Philanthropy
Now, Jesus is not teaching salvation by philanthropy here. He is not saying that possessions are things that condemn you — that you are saved simply by getting rid of everything. When I was a kid, we had a little game called the time bomb. You would crank the thing up and keep passing it around, and whoever had it when it went off was out. Are possessions like that? Like a time bomb you keep passing around until someone is caught holding it and goes to hell? Is that what Jesus is saying? Jesus is not saying that.
Jesus is dealing with this specific man, and He is saying: here is the problem — you do not yet see your sin. He tried to get him to see that when He said to keep the law, and the man said, "I already did." So Jesus beautifully exposes this man's heart.
Look at verse 22. This man is grieving and he is sad. Why is he sad? Why is he grieving? Because he is rich. That does not compute for us, does it? We do not think that way. But what is happening is that Jesus has exposed him. Those commandments about serving the Lord and loving God and not having any false gods — here is what has happened: this stuff has become his false god. This stuff has gotten in the way.
The Danger of Wealth and the Illusion of Self-Sufficiency
We love at this moment to say, "Well, I'm not rich." George MacDonald writes: "It is not the rich man only who is under the dominion of things. They too are slaves who have no money and are unhappy because of the lack of it." And then he adds this phrase: wealth is a handicap; affluence is dangerous.
In 1 Timothy chapter 6, Paul addresses exactly that. "Those who want to get rich fall into a trap, and the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil." He warns people who are rich, and it is worth understanding what that word means. It refers to people who have discretionary income — people who are able to buy food and shelter and still have money left over. Those are rich people. He says to instruct those who are rich not to be conceited, not to fix their hopes on the uncertainty of riches.
That is what stuff has a tendency to do. It gives us at least the illusion of self-sufficiency. We become conceited, puffed up. We begin to have lofty thoughts of ourselves. We begin to trust in the uncertainty of riches. And that uncertainty cuts two ways — riches are here today and gone tomorrow. I got a statement the other day from an account I have, and I do not hardly ever read them. For whatever reason I read it, and I was trying to follow the figures: what did I start with, and what do I have now? Those are the key questions. I started with this, and now I have this. I sensed that was not good.
The Uncertainty of Riches
The uncertainty of riches means we have a tendency to think, if I have stuff, I have security, invincibility. I am fireproof. Nothing is going to get me. I have all of this. Jesus has parable after parable about that. "I'll build bigger barns." "You fool, tonight your life is demanded of you." So that is what He says to you and to me: watch out, be ready.
Now, what does He say? Instruct those who are rich to do good works. It is the only time we see that phrase in the New Testament — to do what is intrinsically, inherently, qualitatively good. Be liberal. Be ready to share. The word used there for share is one of the derivatives from which we get the word fellowship. It is not just that I throw money out. There is a relational aspect to this.
He says, store up for yourselves treasures with a good foundation for the future. Jesus said it this way when He roamed the earth: "Don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth where the moth and the rust will destroy them and the thieves will break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be."
That is exactly what happened with the rich young ruler. He walks away sad. Why? Because his treasure is in his treasure.
Two Masters
I remember Susan and I were dating. She was dating me and dating another guy, and I came to her and said, I cannot take this anymore. You have to choose. You have got me with a lot of potential, and you have got this loser. Which one are you going to follow? It was dumb to say, by the way. If you are in a dating situation, it is a foolish thing to say. But the point is: you cannot love two guys. Jesus is saying you cannot serve two masters.
This man says, in effect, I will do anything. That is what is implied in his question: "What do I need to do to inherit eternal life?" Show me what to do and I will do it. Implied in it is that he has the ability to do it. And Jesus said, I will show you, but there is nothing you can do about it. There is a sense here where this man is pushed to utter helplessness and hopelessness. The right guy asking the right question to the right source gets the right answer, and he still walks away.
It May Not Be Stuff
You may be sitting here today saying, I do not know why you are all concerned about this because my problem is not stuff. Well, it is something else. It is life.
Something happened this week I have never done before. I was driving along, listening to some Christmas music — a Nat King Cole and Dean Martin CD Sarah had given me — and when I turned it off, the radio was set to 1360 and my own radio show was on. I never listen to it. But all of a sudden I was listening, and I said, this is really good. I had to get a pen to write something down. It was old material from six or seven years ago that I had forgotten. Paul Molitor, one of the all-time great hitters, was on the verge of getting his 3,000th hit, and they were asking him to reflect on it. He said, "Baseball is a day-to-day game, and you really never get the sense of the grand scheme." That is what affluence does.
Let me read you this paragraph, because it is terrific. "Affluence creates a concern for secondary values. Rich people are not worried about where their next meal will come from — they are worried about what it will taste like. What will the setting be? Rich people are not concerned about whether they will have a roof over their head and clothing to wear — they are taken up with fashion and style and decor. They are not concerned about whether they worship God rightly or wrongly, but whether they are in a beautiful building which pleases them aesthetically. Rich people transfer their concern from the elementary, the necessary things, to the secondary things, and this destroys the simplicity of life" — not just physical life, but spiritual life as well.
It may not be stuff, but something can be in the way. And Jesus is the only way to get it out of there. There is no other way.
The Answer Is Jesus
You may be coming here asking that very same question: what do I need to do to be saved? The answer is Jesus. And you may be saying, for me it is not riches — it is drugs, it is sex, it is something else.
On the second Sunday evening of every month, except December, we have baptisms here. I know it is unrealistic for those of you at the 10:30 service to come back at 7:45, but those baptism services are some of the richest times we have on this campus. They are magnificent. So I asked the team to put together something to give you a flavor of last Sunday's baptism service.
"I would like to give you an example through my life of how amazing God is. When I was six years old, my father was killed in an airplane accident. That summer at Vacation Bible School, I asked Jesus into my heart and was baptized. Two years later, my mom married my stepfather, who for some reason did not like me and treated me as such. By high school I was doing drugs, and in search of love I became very promiscuous. I became pregnant my senior year, and after graduation I had my first son, Dustin. My stepfather kicked me out, and I ended up in a home for single mothers in downtown Denver."
A Testimony of Transformation
I filled it with drugs, I filled it with alcohol, I filled it with sex, bad and poor relationships, but none of these things were enough for me. There was always something that I needed, something that I was looking for. After about 30 or 40 years of hangovers, financial disasters, broken and shattered relationships, and just pretty much an overall worldly excess of life, I thought: this is it. I'm done. Not only is this lifestyle going to kill me, but I'm going to go to hell to boot.
But God had a different plan. He took me out to the woodshed and handed me a shovel, and that's when my revival began. Since then, I've dug up sin that I didn't know existed in my life, but the freedom from those sins that I've confessed has been so sweet.
A few weeks ago, one of our instructors, Jamie Siegel, stood before our class and gave her testimony of being baptized again, although she had done it as a child. At that moment, I felt conviction, and that's why I'm here today — to proclaim to my amazing husband and my precious boys and my wonderful small group and my extended family and friends and to all of East Valley Bible Church, my family in Christ, that I love the Lord with all my heart and soul and strength, and I will walk with Him and through Him all the days of my life.
Luke 9:23–24 reads, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." I'm here to say tonight that I'm willing to deny myself, I'm willing to take up my cross daily and follow Jesus Christ. That's why I'm here to be baptized.
The Rich Young Man and the Disciples' Amazement
That testimony either was you or is you. Either you have seen that change at some point in time and experienced the love of it, or that is still who you are and something is still separating you from God. Look at how this passage ends.
In verse 22, when the man heard these words, he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus looked around and said to the disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God." And the disciples were amazed at His words. Why were they amazed? Because they had been taught almost a prosperity theology. They had been taught that wealth was evidence of God's blessing — that rich people had the best worship, the largest sacrifices, the choicest sacrifices.
The Widow's Offering
Keep your finger there and turn back to Mark chapter 12, verse 41. Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury, and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are a cent. And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all the contributors to the treasury, for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on."
In the disciples' minds, they were looking at the large gifts and thinking that's significant — that's real religion, real devotion. She only had a couple of copper coins. In their economy, in their training, the equation was simple: wealth equals salvation. The best gifts, the most religious, the highest giving.
What God Is Really Measuring
Jesus is not concerned about how much money you give. He is concerned about how much of His money you keep. He's not blown away when you write a large check — we are. I'll look at the bulletin sometimes and see that somebody gave a huge check to the building fund and think, wow, that's incredible, that's really significant. But He says: maybe. Maybe the person who gave a thousand gave far more than the person who gave five hundred thousand.
These disciples thought the rich had it wired. Now, we may not say "rich," but we might say, "Well, he's a really good guy, a good dad. She's a good mom. They're good citizens. If they can't get in, how are we ever going to get in?" Jesus is focused on wealth, though. "It will be hard for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God."
The Eye of the Needle
The disciples were amazed, and Jesus said to them, "Children, how hard is it to enter the kingdom of God? 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." I have read what seems like endless interpretations trying to get God off the hook on this — that there was really a gate called the Eye of the Needle, and so forth. But here is what He is saying: here is a needle, here is its eye, and here is a camel. It is not going to fit. That's what He is saying. The camel is not going through there. It cannot happen.
It is impossible for a rich man, a poor man, or any kind of man to enter the kingdom of God on their own, apart from Christ. That was the young man's question — what should I do? And the answer is: there is nothing you can do. That is the whole point.
With God, All Things Are Possible
Look at verse 26. Notice the progression: the disciples were amazed in verse 24, and now they are even more astonished. If the rich man can't get in, if the good man can't get in, if the religious man can't get in — then who is going to be saved? And Jesus said, "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God."
You may be here today saying there is no way. If the criteria is perfection, if what Jesus is saying is follow —
You Cannot Do It On Your Own
For those who are like this rich young ruler and asking, "What do I need to do to be saved?" Jesus is saying to you: trust Me, follow Me, obey Me. Come to an understanding of who you are and who God is, and repent. That was John the Baptizer's message when he came: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." Turn from your ways. Give up. Surrender. Because you cannot do it on your own.
A Warning to Those Who Call Themselves Christians
To those of us who would say we are Christians, Jesus has given us a great warning that fits with the rest of Scripture. It might be money, or it might be something else entirely. Anything that comes between you and God and the vibrancy of that relationship is detrimental, and it needs to be submitted to your worship of Him and Him alone. He is supreme.
You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and your job, God and your spouse, or God and your kids. Those may all be good things, but you cannot have two gods, two masters. You can only serve one. If you call Him Lord, if you call Him Savior, if you call Him Master, then He ought to reign supreme, and you ought to pursue the things He asks you to pursue. It is a great check on our hearts.
The Test of Prosperity
We do not naturally think this way. We do not see affluence, riches, success, and a good job as spiritual dangers. If someone told you God was going to present a huge test to you this week, your mind would go to catastrophic events — a child getting sick, someone dying, losing a job, losing a deal. But Jesus says, "No, I am going to give you a real test. I am going to give you the test of prosperity."
He is not putting us in the midst of persecution and suffering. He has put us in a good old U.S. of A., made us comfortable, and set us right there in Gilbert — in a big house, with all the things that go with it, without any worries or cares to speak of, where the biggest problem is that it is a little cold at 8:30 on a Sunday morning. We laugh at that because we recognize ourselves in it. Not just a little bit of that — a whole lot of that is in all of us.
Closing Prayer
Father, help us see this truth. Use this incredible encounter between Jesus and this man — and I smile at the hope that it is Mark recording it, because that is such a great picture of Your love and kindness, and the fact that when You pursue someone, they never get away. For those who are running from You today, I pray that they would give up, and that today might be a day of surrender to You.
Thank You for the great provision You have given us. We have been blessed with so many material things. God, do not let those things own us. Let us follow the instruction from the pen of the Apostle Paul — let us be liberal and generous, sharing the blessing You have given us. We have been blessed with friends, with family, and with a great church family, and we thank You for all of those.
I pray especially for those who would say, "That is not me — I do not have that, I do not have family, I am all alone." God, let them sense Your love and care for them, and let someone here become Your hands and Your feet in relationship with them, exhibiting to them the love we find in Your Son, Jesus Christ. It is in His name that we pray. Amen.