18:18-30
This story continues Jesus’ teaching of how one enters the kingdom of God. The ruler who approached Jesus asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. (18) The rest of the story is an answer to the question.
The ruler believed he could earn his way into eternal life. That is why he asked what he must do to inherit eternal life.
The “ruler” who asked the question must have been a religious leader. The Jews did not rule themselves other than in religious matters. He may have been a ruler of a synagogue, the one who led the services. Or he may have been a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews, who ruled much of the daily life of the Jews. Either way, he was an important person.
The ruler addressed Jesus as “Good Teacher”. He recognized him as one who went around teaching about God. He may have been flattering Jesus in hopes of getting a favorable answer to his question. He did not address him as Master or Lord, indicating he did not believe Jesus was the Son of God.
Jesus challenged him on that point, focusing on the word “good”. He asked the man why he called him good, since only God is good. Jesus is God, of course. And he was leading the man to see that receiving Jesus as savior and lord was the path to salvation rather than works.
Jesus carried on his point by saying essentially “you know what to do, obey the commandments”. He listed some of them. (20) Truly, if one could obey all the commandments, never sinning, he could earn his way into the kingdom. As Paul wrote, Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due”. (Romans 4:4) But no one can. (Romans 3:10)
The ruler had a sense of self-righteousness like the Pharisee in the temple. He said “All these I have kept from my youth”. (21) In other words, he said he never sinned.
Jesus responded that he lacked one thing to have eternal life. (22) What he was actually doing was confronting the ruler on the first commandment. It was a subtle way of saying “you say you keep all the commandments, how about the very first one?”
Jesus told him to sell all that he had and give the money to the poor, then to come and follow Jesus. Jesus said, if the ruler gave up his treasure on earth, he would have treasure in heaven. By that he meant eternal life.
What Jesus demanded was total commitment. He demanded that the ruler put Jesus, the Son of God, above all else. And the ruler could not give it. He was sad about this, but unwilling to give up his riches. (23) Jesus showed that the man had not kept the very first commandment: “you shall have no other gods before me”. (Exodus 20:3) Money was this man’s god, his idol, and he rejected the Son of God for it.
To drive his point home, Jesus said it was difficult for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. He said it was more difficult than getting a camel through the eye of a needle. (25) He picked the largest animal around and the smallest hole to show how difficult it is.
Why is that? People with lots of money and things tend to be self reliant. If everything goes well every day, it is difficult to think you need anyone but yourself.
The disciples were shocked. They were so shocked the said “then who can be saved?” That is because most people of that time thought that riches were a sign that God recognized a person’s righteousness. The idea still exists today.
Jesus answered the question by saying what is impossible with men is possible with God. (27) Salvation comes from God as a matter of his grace upon those who believe and repent. God can draw a rich person, or a poor person, to himself and save them. But it will never be because of their righteous deeds or wealth. It will be because of his grace.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing: it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Luke often wrote using contrasts. One example is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. There is a contrast here also.
The preceding story involved Jesus and children. Jesus received the children. He said you cannot enter the kingdom of God unless you receive it like a child. (17)
It is easy for a child to depend on Jesus. They know they are not self sufficient. They depend on others for everything. In contrast, this ruler depended on himself and on his wealth. He did not want to relinquish his self-reliance to rely on Jesus. He did not want to give up his pleasures nd comforts to follow Jesus. The ruler wanted Jesus only if he could have him on his own terms.
Peter took this opportunity to compare himself and the other disciples to the ruler. He said the the disciples had left their homes to follow him. In other words, they had chosen Jesus over money, property and comfort. It was true. Luke 5:11 says they left everything and followed him.
That meant that they would have eternal life, as Jesus told the rich man. Maybe Peter was seeking reassurance from Jesus that it would be worth it. Maybe he wanted to ingratiate himself to Jesus. Maybe he just wanted to know if it was worth it.
Jesus responded that everyone who left home and family for the sake of the kingdom would be repaid many times over in this life. They would receive a new family, the family of God. They would be welcome in the homes of other believers. (Psalm 68:6)
And, best of all, they will also receive eternal life. (30) It was a promise of both present and future blessing to those who follow Jesus.
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