Knowing The Word in Luke 18:18-30

The Rich Ruler

18:18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28 And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Comments

In the account of Jesus’ encounter with this man, Luke calls him a ruler, denoting a Roman or Jewish official among the ruling class, while Matthew calls him young. He has come to be known as the rich, young ruler. He addressed Jesus as “good teacher.” The term “good teacher” is not found anywhere in the Talmud for addressing a rabbi, which is purposeful because “good” is an attribute of God and not man. His flattery, therefore, is thoughtless, so Jesus asked him why he called him good. What he said had implications for who Jesus was, but the ruler was unaware of his divinity.

Jesus then invited him to self-reflect on his own words. At a deeper level, Jesus also invited him to consider his quest of eternal life in the presence of a perfect, moral God, when the ruler was immoral. If he saw himself for who he was, he would cry out for mercy, not wait for a divine reward of eternal life.

In recounting the second half of the Ten Commandments, Jesus left one out: the tenth commandment, not to covet. Jesus wanted to know if this man really loved God—the first four commandments—more than he loves and covets his own wealth. When asked to sell all he had and follow Jesus, the ruler become very sad. Luke does not say refused, but it is implied. He loved his money more than God. Jesus used a humorous illustration with serious implications about a camel going through the eye of a needle as compared to a rich person entering the kingdom of God.

Then Jesus got to the point he wanted to make. Salvation unto eternal life is always a gift from God and not earned by any person. Eternal life comes through mercy and grace, which is the heart of the gospel.

Application

Those who were most receptive to the gospel message in Jesus’ day were the poor and oppressed and not the rich, although both rich and poor accepted and rejected Jesus. The same still exists today. Why is it so hard for rich people to rely on God and follow Jesus?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, through your Spirit, help me trust God, loving him with all my strength, heart, soul, and mind.