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In our study of the life of Christ we are at a point in His ministry where He has left Galilee and headed toward Jerusalem by going down the bank of the Jordan River. Many questions have been put to Him. One of those questions is the subject of this lesson. "What good deed must I do to have eternal life?" This question, according to Luke, was asked by a rich young ruler, one who had risen to high estate in life at an early age and appeared to have great respect for Jesus.
Note how he addresses Jesus. He calls Him "Good Master", or "Teacher". This was an honorable title, denoting a mastery of teaching. It also speaks of the young man's willingness to be taught and his respect for the Teacher. This question was of great importance to the young man and, for once, someone was sincere and was not attempting to entrap Jesus.
Note the question. "What good deed must I do that I might have eternal life?" This question tells a great deal about this young man. He was intelligent, he believed there was life after death and that there was a place for the righteous and one for the wicked. He believed that obtaining a place in Heaven for eternity was accomplished by doing good works. Few Jews, in that day, had any understanding of life after death. The Sadducees did not even believe in life after death. The Pharisees believed it was obtained by observing the feasts and the sacrifices and by putting on a great display of religion. This young man believed that it depended upon him and what he did and he wanted to know what he must do.
Well, how would we have answered that question? We believe that the "deed" is accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and that this can only be accomplished by the calling or enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, but we also believe that obedience to Christ is the appointed way. We see here a sincere intelligent young man, seeking answers and nothing pleases Jesus more.
Notice Jesus' answer. He answers first with a question. "Why do you call me good?" Jesus was not being sarcastic, he wanted to know what "good" meant to this man. If "good" meant perfect, then this young man needed to know that there is only one that is perfect and that is God. If by "good" he meant "qualified", signifying that Jesus was a "qualified Teacher", then He could accept that.
Then Jesus re-stated the young man's question to clear up a point about "life". "If you would have life, keep the commandments." Why did Jesus change the "eternal life", to simply "life"? Life is eternal. When we are born, we are born with an eternal soul that will live forever. The young man already had "eternal life". But Jesus knew that what he wanted to know was what he must do to achieve eternity in the "bosom of Abraham" or Heaven as we now call it. The place for the righteous.
Now lets look at Jesus' answer, He said simply, "Keep the commandments." We must hasten to add, keep the commandments as they are revealed and made known to us. Of whom much is given, much is expected. The commandment is given that unless we repent and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we shall no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Notice the young man had not as yet heard of that commandment, but he had heard the others. Which of the commandments should he keep? Jesus mentions a few concerning murder, adultery, stealing, false witness and the need to honor your father and mother. These are known as "the second table commandments". These commandments were not stressed by the Scribes and Pharisees. The other commandments dealing with ritual and doctrine were preached constantly, but those dealing with morals were overlooked, though, as we shall see, simply being moral is not enough.
Well Jesus' answer should have pleased the young man, for he had keep all of them from his youth up, or at least he though he had, so why did he still have a question in his mind about his salvation? The truth is that self-righteous people are the hardest to witness to. How can we instill in a person the desire to seek forgiveness if they do not think that they have done anything that needs forgiveness? However, there is hope, he still feels that he lacks something. Jesus, who knows the heart of every man, knew that this man loved his possessions.
"If you would be perfect, go sell what you have and give it to the poor." If we who have any of this world's goods are to sleep tonight, we must understand what Jesus meant when He said this to the young man. Jesus was saying that when we embrace Jesus, we must let go of the world. We cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. We must prefer the heavenly treasurers to the wealth and riches of this world. Now these two facts are not debatable. The question is, how do we show the world and God that we believe this? Consider these suggestions:
Jesus saw in this young man a covetousness for money and is took all of his time and energies. He, as the result, failed to realize that it did not belong to him. Money, is like talents, they are on loan from the Lord. God gives them to us for the work of the Kingdom. I do not believe that Jesus required that this young man give ALL that he had to the poor, he only wanted the man to have the willingness to do so, like Abraham with Esau. What was condemned here is the love of possessions. When we love these more than Christ, we become as this young man, a sincere, legalistic, law-abiding lover of possessions.
He not only could not give up what he had but he also could not leave all that he had and follow Jesus. So he went away sorrowing. What did this young man lack? He lacked love and dedication to the Lord. "If I sell all of my goods and give to the poor, and have not love, it profits me nothing." So there was, at the end, no pretence of piety, as there was at the beginning, and having his question answered, brought no happiness only the realization that he was a sinner, which in of itself, is not bad because it can lead to repentance.
In verses 23 to 30, Jesus continues, after the young man left, to talk about the difficulty of a rich man to enter Heaven. Notice He said this to His Disciples who had given up everything, home, family, jobs and earthly security, to follow Jesus.
Notice what Jesus said. "It is easier for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." There are two interpretations of the item called "the eye of the needle". Some believe that Jesus was actually talking about a needle used for sewing, others, and this seems more reasonable to me, believe that He was talking about a small crevice that was in the wall around Jerusalem, used by those who wished to enter the city after the gates were closed. This crevice was just large enough for a man to squeeze through and a camel could, with great difficulty, by getting down on his knees, squeeze through also. This interpretation leaves room for hope. There is hope in the Grace of God.
Notice the statement left the Disciples with perhaps the same question that you had in your mind. "Who then can be saved?" Aren't we all rich, to one degree or another? It was a good question and Jesus looking them square in the eye, said, "With men, it is impossible, with God, nothing is impossible." This was good news for it meant that there was hope for the young man that had just gone away sorrowing.
Those whose riches become a temptation and consume their time and energies, can still find hope in this last statement. It is not impossible for God to recover them. Then Peter asked what was probably on the other disciples mind also, "What about us?" "We have left everything to follow you, what shall we have?" The Disciples may have thought about this before but it is the first time they actually asked the question. They had always trusted Jesus and He had always taken care of their needs. Up till now, it is not likely that they had given much thought to this "Kingdom" that He talked about.
Notice how Jesus answered them. He promised them that in the "new world", when the "Son of Man" would set on His throne, they would set on 12 thrones and judge the 12 Tribes of Israel. What is the "new world"? All who partake of salvation in this world shall partake of glory in the "new world". It is called many names, Heaven, the New Jerusalem, Zion, the New Earth, it is the place where the Saints shall spend eternity with Jesus. These 12 Disciples shall be recompensed for the trials and tribulation that they will be called upon to suffer by a place of honor in the "new world".
Then Jesus talks of other things that separate us from complete discipleship. He has been talking about riches now he talks about something even closer to our hearts, our love ones. Everyone who has forsaken all to follow Christ shall receive in return a hundred fold.
Then in closing, Jesus says something about priorities. "Many that are first, shall be last and the last shall be first." Heavenly inheritances are not given like earthly inheritances. Age, relationship, priority of birth, none of these count in Heaven. All is done according to God's pleasure. According to the Apostle Paul, we are saved by faith which is a gift of God, bestowed upon whom He will. None of the earthly priorities count.
Surly these last two lessons will teach us where we should place our priorities where we should place the source of our salvation. Both of these should be in the hands of God.
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