Introduction: The Rich Young Ruler and the Children
There has come before us in our study of Luke's gospel an episode which is repeated in all three of the synoptic gospels, and in all three cases follows immediately after the Lord Jesus' blessing of those children that were brought to him. This is no coincidence, for there is a contrast to be drawn. The Lord Jesus had described how the kingdom of heaven was to be received in the manner of a little child receiving a gift of great worth and value. But the account of this rich young ruler shows exactly the opposite behaviour.
We read that this man did not have to be brought to Jesus as did those children. He ran to catch him up, for he felt he had the strength and the means to do so. He knelt before him in a great show of obeisance, addressed him with the striking expression Good Master, and then asked what he must do. The receiving of a gift does not require the doing of anything in the first instance — but this fellow is concerned entirely with what he must do. And then he speaks of wishing to inherit eternal life, which betrays a complete misunderstanding of the nature of inheritance. Inheritance is not something that can be earned or achieved. It is the benefactor who makes the bequest, according to his own will, very often by virtue of family relationship. To become an heir of one with a different father requires a transfer into that family — and there is only one means by which that is possible: ye must be born again (John 3:7).
I. Thou Knowest the Commandments
Having looked at the rich young ruler's words and the fundamental mistakes he was making, let us consider the response the Lord Jesus gives. This young man has asked about eternal life, and the Lord Jesus begins by talking about the commandments. To those familiar with Galatians 3, this might seem puzzling — for we know that the mere observance of the law is never sufficient to attain immortality. The loss of immortality came about through sin (Romans 5:12), and the opposite would therefore theoretically apply — if it were possible to perfectly obey every commandment of God. But this prospect is already a lost cause because of original sin and inherited guilt. As Paul says in Romans 8:3, the law could not give life — not because of any flaw in the law itself, but because it was weak through the flesh. As Galatians 3:22 declares, the scripture hath concluded all under sin. We do not begin at a neutral baseline. We begin infinitely in the red.
And yet here in verse 20, the Lord Jesus indulges this rich young ruler's misconceptions for a moment and speaks in such terms as no doubt he was hoping to be addressed: Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Now there are several notable features here. First, the Lord Jesus has not quoted ten commandments — he has given only five. He has given the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and fifth, in that order. And all these commandments belong to what was known as the second table of the law — those commandments from five to ten which concern our dealings with other people, as opposed to the first table which addresses our dealings with God. The Lord Jesus has intentionally spoken only of the second table, and he has begun with the four prohibitory commandments — the negative commands declaring what a person must not do. These were commandments against which it was easy to demonstrate compliance: not committing adultery, not killing, not stealing, not bearing false witness. And finally the one prescriptive commandment: Honour thy father and thy mother. In each case this man felt he was on safe ground. And notably, the Lord Jesus has omitted two commandments of the greatest significance: the tenth commandment, Thou shalt not covet, and the very first, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. These are held back for a reason.
II. All These Have I Kept From My Youth Up
In this reduced number of commandments — those which the Lord had intentionally cited — this man was at liberty to say in good conscience, All these have I kept from my youth up. It is quite a statement. He speaks of keeping these commandments from childhood, from his earliest years. Yet one might ask: what about before the time you can remember? Before the time when you began to make this effort — did you never as a toddler in times of tantrums fail to honour your father and your mother? The human mind is mercifully limited in what it can recall, and that seems to have helped this man considerably.
But more fundamentally, this statement highlights another problem with this man's plan to inherit eternal life. If eternal life depends on the keeping of commandments, it is never sufficient to have obeyed until now — there is the requirement to keep obeying indefinitely. Consider our first parents. Adam and Eve kept all the commandments of God right up until the moment that they did not — and all that former period of compliance stood for nothing. All was lost in an instant when the commandment was broken once. This young man says all these have I kept until this present time. But he is still young, with perhaps the majority of his life yet ahead of him, and far more opportunities for sin in the future than there have yet been in the past.
III. Yet Lackest Thou One Thing
The Lord Jesus now says to him: Yet lackest thou one thing. Some have interpreted this as confirmation that this young man was very nearly on his way to heaven by his own merits, needing only one last thing to complete his righteousness. That is not at all what the Lord is saying. It is almost as though, having heard this bold protestation, the Lord is saying: just one point more for you to consider. He is not saying there is a single additional commandment that must be kept to complete the list. He is highlighting a particular commandment of singular relevance to this specific individual.
We are all very good at remembering the sins we have not committed, very quick to identify the transgressions and iniquities that are not a feature of our lives. But we are very poor at identifying our own greatest sins, our greatest weaknesses. The Lord Jesus, who sees all things, knew precisely where this man's transgressions lay. And thus he says: Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
For the commandment the Lord Jesus had intentionally omitted was the tenth: Thou shalt not covet. I do not believe a rich man ever became rich without coveting — the two always go together. And if this young man had an entirely unsentimental relationship with his wealth, why would the thought of parting with it pose such a problem? His response tells us everything we need to know about his relationship to the tenth commandment. But still more profoundly, the Lord Jesus had never yet mentioned the first commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. No doubt if those words had been quoted directly, this man would have protested that he was no idolater, no worshipper of Baal or of the gods of the Greeks or Romans. But Exodus 20:22–23 adds this: Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. At the simplest level, the rich young ruler of Luke 18 had made a god of gold. His wealth had such a hold upon him, were of such preeminent importance, that at this vital crossroads — where the Lord Jesus' path lay in one direction and the route back to his treasure houses lay in the other — he voted with his feet and went away.
IV. He Was Very Sorrowful
We are told he was very sorrowful. Matthew tells us he went away — having run to catch the Lord, he now goes away again. At least he was sorrowful, we might say. But what was he sorrowful about? The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 7:9–10 describes two very different kinds of sorrow: for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
How different the outcome might have been if this young man's sorrow had been a godly sorrow — a sorrow of conscience, arising from the sudden realisation that all this time he had thought himself so compliant with the commandments of God, he had been dreadfully covetous, and had placed another god before the Lord. But it was not that kind of sorrow. It was the sorrow of the world — a sorrow that he could not have both the walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and the things of this world at one and the same time. He disliked being placed in that position. But soon he was on his way home, and soon he would get over that sorrow, and it had not worked any repentance at all.
This reflects the case of so many others the Lord encountered. In Luke 9, three individuals wished to follow him as he set out for Jerusalem, yet each had competing loyalties they were unwilling to forsake. Like this rich young ruler, they were prepared to follow the Lord up to a point — but when a choice had to be made, it was not the Lord they chose. They could not have both.
V. Follow Me — The Way to Heaven
Is the Lord Jesus then saying that if only this young man had given away his goods, if only he had been sufficiently charitable, he would have done enough good and earned his way to heaven? That is not what he is saying. There have been plenty of philanthropists throughout history who have given large portions of their wealth to good causes. Has this brought them to heaven? No. Because the most vital part of the Lord Jesus' instruction — that part which was truly the way to heaven — were the last two words: Follow me.
It was not that by giving away his goods that young man would earn his way to heaven. It was that giving away his goods and parting with his worldly joys would be the first step on the road to following the Lord Jesus Christ — and that is the route to heaven. He does not say the way to glory is through charity. He does not say the way to heaven is by doing sufficient good. He says: I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). And this young man missed that way — all for the sake of his earthly riches, because it was these that turned him from following the Lord and pursuing the only way to heaven, which is ever and always through Christ alone.
The Lord Jesus' commandment re-echoes to the present day: Follow me. And if following him must come at the cost of our sins, our earthly joys, our worldly ties — then those things must be forsaken. For this way, though hard and costly, will be infinitely rewarded and eternally blessed.