A Certain Ruler

In Lk 18:18-30, Jesus had a conversation with a certain ruler about eternal life.  The ruler asked Jesus, “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life”?

Jesus answered him with a question.  “Why callest thou me good?  None is good, save one, that is God”.

If the ruler had pondered this answer, he would have concluded that he was not good.  In Matt 19:16 ha asked “what good thing shall I do?  He judged himself as capable of doing some good thing sufficient to give him eternal life.

Jesus wasn’t denying his deity.  He was stating that if the ruler knew that Jesus was God, he could call him good.  But Jesus was not good if he was only the Master.  The ruler should have concluded that he was talking to God here.  And, therefore, he should have obeyed everything Jesus told him.

In Matt 19:17 Jesus said, “if thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments”.  And in Matt 19:18, the ruler asked “which”?  This question is very telling.  He was supposed to keep them all, Gal 3:10 and Jas 2:10. The Old Testament was still in effect before the crucifixion of Jesus.  Rom 10:5 says, “The man which doeth those things shall live by them”.

In Lk 18:20 Jesus said, “Thou knowest the commandments”.  And then Jesus listed SOME of them.  Don’t commit adultery, murder, steal, or bear false witness, and honour your father and mother.  In Matt 19:19, he added, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”.

In Lk 18:21 the ruler replied, “All these have I kept from my youth up”.  Yet, in Matt 19:20, he added, “What lack I yet”?  Interesting that he, apparently, didn’t consider that Jesus had left out the first and tenth commandments.  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  Thou shalt not covet.  This ruler’s money was his god.  And he was covetous; his life consisted in the things which he possessed.

The Pharisees knew the first and great commandment, Matt 22:34-40, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind”.  This ruler didn’t realize that God was standing right there in front of him.  But he should have known; he called Jesus good.

In Lk 18:22 Jesus said, “Yet lackest thou one thing”.  Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor.  In these two actions he would have fulfilled the two main commands.  He would have loved God with all his heart, since he would no longer love his money.  And he would love his neighbor as himself because he would have given it all to the poor.  He missed out on the happiness of Prov 14:21, and was sorrowful, instead.

And thou shalt have treasure in heaven.  In Prov 19:17 when a man pities the poor he lends unto Lord… and the Lord will pay him again.  See Matt 6:19-21.  Imagine the eternal wealth this man would have had versus the temporal wealth he would one day lose.  We must lose it here to keep it in eternity.  If you keep it here, you lose it in eternity. Can’t take it with you.

And come, follow me.  Jesus is eternal life Jn 17:3, 1 Jn 5:20.

In Lk 18:23 this certain ruler was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.  1 Tim 6:10 says that people who love money are pierced through with many sorrows.  Ecc 5:13-16 says, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.  Naked shall he return to go as he came.  Prov 10:22 the blessing Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.  This man surely missed the Lord’s blessing.

In Lk 18:24 Jesus said, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God”.  In Mk 10:24 he clarified that it is them that trust in riches.  They “rarely” give up their trust in riches to start trusting God.  God has to take ‘em down to get their attention.

Then in Lk 18:25 Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.  Zacchaeus, Lk 19:8-10, and in Matt 27:57, Joseph of Arimathaea were both rich.

In Lk 18:26 the disciples asked, “Who then can be saved”?  The reason is that Old Testament saints were often blessed with wealth.  That’s why disciples couldn’t understand.  Look what the Lord did for Abraham in Gen 13:2 and Isaac in Gen 26:12-14.

In Lk 18:27 Jesus said, “The things which are impossible with men, are possible with God”.  Jesus, who passed through walls could certainly get camel through the eye of a needle. The point is that it is impossible for us to save ourselves.  We are saved by the grace of God, not by our own works.

In Lk 18:28 this prompted Peter to say, “Lo, we have left all and followed thee”.  This is what Jesus was telling the rich ruler to do.

And the Lord replied in Lk 18:29-30, that those who leave house, parents, brethren, wife, or children for the kingdom of God’s sake receive manifold more in this present time (Mk 10:30 with persecution), and in the world to come life everlasting.  We saw this among Christians on our recent trip to Thailand.  They have many more brothers and sisters in Christ than in their natural family after they come to Christ.  Yet, they are persecuted.  They had to leave family to get more family and eternal life.

What Jesus taught his disciples here, they carried out among the new believers in Acts 2:44-45 and Acts 4:34-35.

To study the previous lesson, click on A Judge, A Pharisee and Publican, and Little Children. To study the next lesson, click on To Jerusalem Through Jericho.