So, as we began to look at the story of the Rich Young Ruler last week, we noted that, at first glance, he appears to be asking Jesus how to go to heaven when he dies. And it appears that Jesus tells him that there are certain things he must do, as if going to heaven is dependent on our works.
But we also recognized that we need to place this episode in the context of The Story to understand it. So, we went back to the beginning of The Story. There we found two realms of existence. God placed man and woman in the Garden, where there was Life. Yet, Death loomed as an imminent possibility.
They faced a choice. They could trust God for Life, or take matters into their own hands, decide for themselves what was good, and pursue Life independently of God.
Of course, they chose control and independence over trust, but instead of finding Life, they entered the realm of Death.
Every character in The Story since, has faced the prospects of Life and Death, and has had to choose the path they hope will bring them Life.
Will they opt for control and independence, or will they choose to trust in God?
Each decision is influenced by the assumptions they hold — by their the worldview.
Which brings us to the story of The Rich Young Ruler. We call it that because Matthew identifies him as a young man, and Luke identifies him as a ruler. However, we will be focusing on Mark’s account of the encounter. Mark identifies him simply as a man.
So, which worldview does this man bring to his encounter with Jesus?
Let’s look at the clues Mark gives us (Mark 10:17-22).
First, we note that he greets Jesus as “Good Teacher.”
Now, while this may seem complimentary to us, when placed in the context Mark’s narrative, the greeting comes up short.
Over and over, Mark has told us how Jesus’ words and deeds astonished and amazed people (1:22, 27; 2:12; 5:20, 42; 6:2, 51; 7:37; 9:15). They were so well known that He drew a crowd everywhere He went (1:28; 33, 45; 2:2, 4, 13; 3:7, 9, 20, 32; 4:1; 5:21, 24; 6:33, 54-56; 7:14, 33; 8:1, 24; 9:14, 25; 10:1). They mark Him as something much more than merely a Good Teacher. In fact, they identify Him as the Christ (Matthew 11:2-5; Luke 7:18-23).
Yet, in spite of all of this, the man addresses Him as “Good Teacher.”
Now, here’s the problem. If the man sees Jesus as simply a teacher, he views Him as a mere mortal. Yet, he calls this Person he views as a mere mortal, “good”. Thus, in his worldview, men can be good.
Jesus rebukes this notion (Mark 10:18). Only God can be good.
As Jesus begins to address his question, He takes him back to the Commandments. What do they require?
Here, we see the young ruler’s belief in the potential goodness of man applied to himself. He claims that his performance has fulfilled the requirements of the Law.
Of course, from the rest of The Story, we know that no man can be justified by the Law (Romans 3:30; Galatians 2:16). It always brings condemnation. The only route to justification is through faith (Galatians 2:16; 3:11).
But he does not understand this. He believes that men can be good. And he believes that he can perform well enough to meet the requirements of the Law. This is the worldview that he brings to his encounter with Jesus.
Now, Mark tells us that Jesus felt love for him, so, I assume that Jesus was not hostile toward him, as if he was antagonistic. The man seems sincere and earnest – both good necessary traits.
But he lacks one thing. Jesus tells him he must sell everything, give it to the poor, and follow Him.
Curiously, we tend to focus on the “sell everything, give it to the poor” part of these instructions, as if that were Jesus’ focus. It is not. That is simply the preliminary step that this man must take in order to do what anyone who seeks Life must do – follow Jesus.
Jesus previously told the crowds the same thing in Mark 8:34. The words were a little different, but the essence is the same – deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. Consider the components of this invitation:
- Deny yourself – Viewed in the context of The Story, we see that the point is not denial for the sake of denial. As we saw last week in the Garden, we chose the path of being like God, of determining right and wrong for ourselves, of taking control of our own destiny, and living according to our agenda, thinking that this path would bring us Life. Instead, it brought Death. In order to find Life, we must begin by renouncing that decision, by suppressing our instinct for control – we must deny ourself.
- Take up your cross – At this point, Christ has not been crucified, so these words are not a reference to His death. They picture the act of carrying the instrument by which you would die to the place of your execution. It was similar to our concept of digging your own grave. It denotes absolute submission, regardless of the cost. Having denied ourselves, we must remain submissive to Christ, regardless of the circumstances that might compel us to re-take control.
- Follow Me – It is critical to note that this call to follow Him is linked with His identity as the Christ. Life can only be found in following Jesus as the Christ (Mark 8:27-38). We cannot follow Him like this if we don’t first renounce our agenda (deny ourselves) and submit to His leadership unconditionally (take up our cross).
In both cases (the crowd of Mark 8, and the young ruler of Mark 10) the ultimate goal is the same – to follow Him. And in both cases, there are preliminary steps they must take to be able to do that. The broadly applicable commands given to the crowd (deny yourself, take up your cross) are stated more specifically and personally in Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler.
Remember, this rich young ruler comes to Jesus, confident that men can be good. And he believes that he can perform well enough to meet the requirements of the Law. If he is going to find Life, he is going to have to renounce such confidence.
So, when Jesus speaks to his specific situation, He goes straight to the heart of his confidence – his possessions. They were a problem because they supported the notion of his own self-sufficiency. They gave him the illusion of control. On top of this, he probably also saw them as a sign of God’s blessing, evidence of God’s approval for all that he had achieved through his self-effort.
For him, denying himself meant, literally, letting go of everything which allowed him to live life on his own terms, by his own effort. And he would have to do this knowing that it would cost him all of his earthly possessions. In doing this, he would manifest the kind of submission required to follow as a disciple of Jesus. Such trust is the path to life.
So, we see that Jesus is not giving him a list of things to do in order to obtain eternal Life. In fact, Jesus does just the opposite. He tells him that if he wants to find life, he must let go of his self-effort, and trust Christ, following Him as His disciple.
Unfortunately, he is unwilling to do this and goes away, sad. He has accumulated too much to walk away from. Rather than choosing the path of trust, leading to life, he chose to cling to control. In The Story, this always leads to death.
But there is more to this story. And we still haven’t answered the question of how this relates to going to heaven when we die. So, we’ll have to pick up the discussion here next week.
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