The First Will Be Last
Study Scripture: Matthew 19: 16 – 30
Background Scripture: Matthew 19: 16 – 30
Devotional Reading: 1 Samuel 2: 1 – 10
Lesson 12 February 15, 2025
Key Verse
And again I say to you, 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. Matthew 19:24
INTRODUCTION
A persistent feeling of unease even when things are as good as they could be often prompt individuals into some soul-searching and introspection. This was the case it seems with an individual who has come to be known to Bible readers as the ‘rich young ruler’. The moniker comes from combining descriptions in the three accounts of the synoptic Gospels: the man was rich (Matthew 19:22;
Mark 10:22; Luke 18:23), he was young (Matthew 19:22), and he was a ruler (Luke 18:18).
We are therefore now looking at the surprising and apparently terrifying standard but simple and easily avoided standard that Jesus has set. The question is posed to every human being, namely,
What is the one thing you won’t give up for God?
This standard set by Jesus that God the Father requires does not have to make you afraid or terrified that you are losing something of value. You know that there is nothing you are called on to give up that you will not be more that adequately compensated for. God will restore more than you can ever imagine for He will give you eternal life.
You will get not only what you earned and what you deserved but you will receive what your Creator has chosen to give you. This will be a most fabulous eternal life with Him.
We tend to focus on the mentality of this enormously (Luke calls this very great) rich, high status and powerful (he was a ruler), young man, but it will do us good to remember the other case of the old rich highly respected ruler named Nicodemus who had a serious misunderstanding of that kind of relationship God wanted with those who claimed to know Him.
The parallels in these cases cannot really be ignored for Jesus teaches the same lessons to the young and to the old, to those at the top and those at the bottom, to the rich and to the poor, to Jews and to Gentiles.
The lesson taught by Jesus leaps out of the pages of Scripture. Salvation is the gracious work of God.
What is your checklist for your relationship with God?
Do you want something big and grand so you can prove to God how devoted you are to Him?
Do you want to feel confident that you have selected doing all the little or large things you have done in your life, keeping all the rules and commandments you can think of, believing and holding firm to the idea that you therefore have a true relationship with God?
Let us recall that there are three ways to live your life.
You can believe that you have no religion. There is no God and you do not need to do what is needed to be in the right relationship with this God. And hence you can live without religion or faith in Him.
Then, next you can believe there is a God and you might not be quite meeting His standards for living. So you try to do what you think God wants all by yourself, creating the rules and the path to arrive at what God wants. We call this self-righteousness.
Or third, you can as one writer notes, seek:
“the way of grace where you are justified, you are declared righteous, you are declared right with God not because of what you have done or what you will ever do, but because of His grace. It’s free, His free favour on you as a gift.
How can He just declare you righteous? Oh, because of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-34). Because Jesus, God’s Son, came into this world, lived a perfect life. He fulfilled every jot and tittle, every letter and every jot of the law of God. He did it! He’s the only One who did it”.
And then He went to the cross and He gave His life to be your substitute. He took your sins and He took your sins and He’s willing to give His righteousness to those whi believe in Him”.
Note therefore the importance of the question,
“Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Let us first note the importance of the Context which introduces us to the troubling question.
Jesus of Nazareth had been born the Christ, the lone promised Messiah, the Anointed One.
He had declared the Gospel of the Kingdom and He had ministered in Galilee as prophesied, the land of darkness in which there had been little light. The prophet Isaiah in Chapter 9 of his book had prophesied:
“Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined”.
In fulfillment Jesus had called His disciples mainly from Galilee. Only one was from Judah and that was Judas Iscariot.
The teachings of Jesus had a great effect and the Kingdom had grown with His miracles and greater signs showing His authority and divine power. The Sermon on the Mount showed His teachings in clear fashion. Parables of the Kingdom grew in number as in Matthew 13.
Opposition had grown and the polarization increased.
Now in chapter 19 Jesus stressed the character of grace and its triumph among the people called by God This involved correcting the people’s understanding of kingdom living.
As the Chapter begins we see Jesus showing the Pharisees what God intended by His instructions about the sanctity of marriage and how the hardness of their hearts had led men away from what God wanted.
This led to Jesus to pointing the stunned disciples to His hard analysis and comment “He who is able to accept it, let him accept it” when He pointed to the sacrifices to be made for entry to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus observed the fact that there were demands made of men that one might consider unpleasant. He said on this hard fact:
‘there are some eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake”.
To help the disciples and the people wrap their heads about the differences between earthly perspectives and heavenly perspectives Jesus rejected the disciples’ attitudes of closing off access to Jesus when people brought their children to Jesus for Him to bless them. In an ominous turn Jesus said:
“Let the little children come to Men and do not forbid them for of such is the kingdom of heaven”.
Note therefore our Study Lesson is dealing with the Kingdom of heaven and eternal life. Jesus points out unmistakably to what Kingdom living involves and its basic positioning.
There can never be a self-made man or woman.
If one wants to receive eternal life and its rewards you must know you are to be like a little child, have earned nothing, and must throw yourself like a child on the mercy of the Father.
Our Study Text records an encounter Jesus had with this young man who from all appearances was the picture of success in his day. As noted, he was a ‘ruler’, maybe a civil magistrate; he was rich and he was young. Few scale those heights at a young age, particularly in that day. This man was educated, wealthy and moral; a rare combination for his time.
He had a most important question for our Lord ‘… what good thing shall I do so that I may obtain eternal life?”. Interestingly, Jesus answered that question moments before as He correctedhis disciples’ over-zealous attempts to ‘shield’ Him from some mothers seeking to have Him bless their infants. Jesus ‘suggested’ those who enter ‘the Kingdom’ are ‘child-like’. Thus eternal life was a matter of receiving rather than doing! Matthew it seems expects his readers to see a connection between the two incidents.
At the time of the Study Text Jesus public ministry was fast drawing to a close but there were still many needed lessons to be taught to His disciples. The disciples were not too long before enlightened on God’s prescription for marriage and soon after followed a teaching on the place of ‘children’ in the Kingdom with many more lessons to follow.
Obviously these pointed lessons were not only for disciples then but also for disciples now!
Jesus in His priestly prayer in John 17 prayed …“I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word,;…”
The Study Text features a lesson on riches and entering the kingdom of God. Jesus’ teachings on these subjects were radical and astounding to those who heard Him that day, being counter-intuitive to then
popular belief that the rich already had a foot in the door. On the contrary, Jesus taught that riches were a hindrance to the kingdom and as it did then, His teaching flies in the face of the very popular ‘health and wealth’ doctrine espoused by many of today’s churches. One scholar aims at this matter squarely:
as he examines the position of wealth in ancient Judaism:
“Like people today who hold to the “prosperity gospel”, Jews in Jesus’ day unilaterally considered wealth a sign of God’s blessing. Wealthy people were favoured by God, and poor people had done something wrong. Consequently, when Jesus appeared on the scene with His grand talk of a “great reverse” (the first and the last will be switched), that confused a lot of people, not the least of which were the wealthy.
Try to be sympathetic though—if you have been taught that your wealth was proof of God’s blessing, why would you want to give it away?
You see, Jesus had to change them from the inside out. Their entire manner of understanding God had to be torn down before salvation would make any sense”.
Before we modern Christians begin to feel we do not have a problem such as what the ancient Jews had with respect to wealth, God and religion, let us think again. Consider that we like to think making your own way in the world is the key to a good life. It is a virtue. Our culture puts the self-made man and woman on a pinnacle and we praise the rich and famous and wealthy. We want the private aircraft, the expensive luxury cars and the priced out of reach for many sports cars. Let us not even mention the luxurious house on the beach or on the mountain tops, and the desire for the latest model robots. One writer laments:
“Unfortunately, that trickles into our religion. Religion is something we do.
Christianity is what God has done for us (that we can’t do for ourselves)”.
Jesus had just finished describing citizens of the Kingdom as ‘child-like’, dependent, when along came a seemingly ‘successful and blessed’ individual asking the crucial question “what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
Another important question emerged from the ensuing dialogue,
Who then can be saved?
Given that these questions were directed to the person most qualified to answer, diligent attention must be given to Jesus’ response which revolved around this fundamental fact “…with God all things are possible”.
The futility of law-keeping to attain salvation will be pointedly exposed in our Text as will the idea that any individual by his own ‘good’ works can gain entry into the Kingdom. Jesus pointed the one who appeared to be a diligent seeker to the law as the standard one must meet to enter the Kingdom. This will turn out to a tall if not impossible order.
In our Lesson a young man failed the greatest test of his life. He was offered a choice between himself and God, between fulfillment here and now and fulfillment in the life to come.
The question was…”what was more valuable to him? God and the life to come? Or his own will and the present life?
He wanted eternal life but not enough to give up his pride and his possessions.
Whatever Jesus was offering was going to cost him his pride and it was going to cost him his possessions and the price was too high, even for eternal life.
Earlier Jesus asked the still pertinent question, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
(Mark 8:36).
Jesus’ own disciples took issue with the fact that one they considered eminently qualified could not enter the Kingdom. The Lord made it clear that rewards both eternal and temporal await all those who forsake all to follow Him.
Today’s Scripture Text has parallels in Mark 10:17–31 and Luke 18:18–30. The first part of the Lesson (vs.16-23) records the exchange the young man had with Jesus and the second part is the ensuing discussion Jesus had with His disciples who seemed perturbed and puzzled at the outcome of the stranger’s query.
Jesus used the encounter to provide a very useful lesson on worldly possession and the kingdom. Wealth then was regarded as a sure sign of blessing from God and not surprisingly. The Patriarchs were rich and historically, the faithful to this point appear to have been well-off.
This passage has been misunderstood by all kinds of groups with their own agendas
Legalists proclaim that Jesus’ conversation with this young troubled man intends to teach us that to inherit eternal life we can depend for salvation on keeping the commandments whether in Scripture or self-created, and the Cross of Jesus Christ is not sufficient for salvation.
Some in the Communist ideology think that Jesus’ instruction in verse 21 means to be perfect all one has to do is to give all one has to the poor, and so dividing the wealth supports their ideology.
Some other like the Unitarians will say that Jesus’ comment to the young ruler means that Jesus was confessing that He was not God for only God is good.
Some Christians have difficulty believing that there could be a man who Jesus said lacked only one thing, without understanding that Jesus’ comment though difficult to understand does not suggest this man had everything. The discussion revolved only on the 2nd Table of the Law.
This however makes this an interesting passage that has to be carefully examined.
THE TEXT
Verse 16. … someone came to Him … Jesus’ most recent message on the character of those in the kingdom was about to be demonstrated in very dramatic fashion and by contrast.
Matthew would have his readers see the young man as expressing the exact opposite of what Jesus had just taught His disciples.
He was young (Matt. 19:20), wealthy (vs.22) and a ruler (Luke 18:18); he had achieved spiritual respect and status, possibly by being a civil magistrate or less likely he was the chief of a synagogue. This meant the people had great respect for him. This man clearly had a lot going for him! And yet there was in his heart a deep fear that he did not possess what he needed most and that was salvation, eternal life, the hope of heaven.
… there one and said … he approached Jesus in an unusually earnest, humble and respectful manner (Mark 10:17), Matthew writes And, behold… it was unusual for a ruler to run and kneel at Jesus’ feet. From all appearances he looked like the ideal evangelistic target except that he viewed eternal life as something one must earn.
… inherit … suggests the young man was talking about getting something that he as a Jew thought that he had a right to obtain because of his ethnic relationship to Abraham. Noteworthy, despite his diligent law-keeping he did not believe he had eternal life.
… eternal life… life in the messianic kingdom, full restoration and blessing for the nation with Abraham and the patriarchs. This Jewish man had the common conception of salvation held by many Jews of his day, which was a works righteousness based on one’s conformity to the Mosaic Law and Oral Tradition (Luke 10:25; Rom. 9:30-33). He saw eternal life as the result of his religious performance. It was an Old Testament concept of the life (zoē) of the age to come (Dan. 12:2). The term addressed both the quality of the new life and its duration.
We should note in our Text that to inherit eternal life, (vs.17), to enter into the kingdom of God (vs.23) and to be saved (vs. 26) express the same meaning.
It was a good question and the answer is still vital today. The man appears to have been familiar with Jesus’ teaching regarding eternal life (John 3:14–16; 5:24; 6:40; etc.). Certainly, he is to be commended for approaching Jesus as he did, possibly risking the criticism of the religious hierarchy.
Verse 17. “Why are you asking Me about what is good?
Rather than answer the man’s question, Jesus first challenged him with a question. He wanted the man to consider whether he knew what he was asking. The man had used the word good twice in his question to Jesus, but did he grasp its significance? What did he mean by calling Jesus good? No one is truly good except God, Jesus told the man. Was he aware of the deity of the one he spoke to? Using “religious language” without depth of understanding can be very easy.
Jesus’ statement does seem to suggest Jesus is confessing sin stating that by attaching the word “good” to Master or Teacher this young man should remember that only God is good.
The term “Good” implies deity and so Jesus gave him a clue as to who He was and how he should be thinking in any discussion about eternal life.
But this young man had an incomplete knowledge of God.
Not waiting for a reply, Jesus addressed the man’s question about eternal life: he needed to keep the commandments. Jesus’ response was similar to what He told “a certain lawyer” who had inquired about eternal life (Luke 10:25–28).
Jesus’ response to the rich young ruler mirrored a typical reply from a first-century Jewish rabbi. Jesus intended to provoke self-reflection within the young man. It raises the question of why merely following the commandments was not fulfilling enough. If the young man was obeying these laws, why did that not quench his thirst for eternal life?
… good … (Gr=agathos) means good internally, virtuous, good to the core, beneficent. Jesus’ response draws attention to the implications of the man’s words. As a thoughtful, observant Jew (vs.20), he understood that being truly good is a characteristic only of God.
Further, asking Jesus how to obtain eternal life was a question that only God Himself can truly answer. Was he ready to confess plainly what he implied about Jesus’ divine nature?
Only Matthew records this response by the man. It seems to indicate his understanding that the various individual statutes within the Law of Moses can be rank-ordered from “necessary for salvation” downward. If this is the man’s viewpoint, he is not alone (Matthew 22:35–36; Mark 12:28). This is understandable given that the Law of Moses consists of over 600 statutes!
Verses 18–19. And Jesus said, … in response, Jesus quoted portions of the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20:2–17 (Deuteronomy 5:7–21). He also quoted Leviticus 19:18, (Matthew 22:39).
And Jesus said, “You shall not … God’s instructions to Israel was clearly spelled out in the Law of Moses and the prophets. The particular commandments He quoted were from the second tablet of the Law dealing with horizontal relationships but were representative of all.
The commands Jesus mentioned were easily verifiable in conduct. The man knew the commandments; he also knew the history of his people’s failure to keep them. Consequently, he should also know of his own failure in that regard.
Verse 20. All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?”
Rather than acknowledging God’s unique goodness and his own sinfulness, the man asserted that he had kept the law faithfully since he was young. What he was claiming was not necessarily absolute moral perfection but sincere, consistent observance.
One writer comment: “The man’s superficial understanding of God’s standards became apparent in his claim that he had kept all those commandments from his youth up. He regarded obedience simply as external conformity without internal purity (Phil. 3:6). This was the natural implication and consequence of the Pharisees’ teaching.
At age 12, a Jewish boy became a “son of the covenant” (Heb. bar Mizpah, from which comes Bar Mitzvah). The Jews regarded themselves as responsible for their obedience to the Law from that age on. It is probably from this time that the man meant he had observed the law.”
Note that Jesus’ comment on keeping the Commandments only mentioned 6, 7,8,9, and 5 and then added “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”.
Jesus was addressing a man steeped in all the Laws but note Jesus missed out the entire first Table of the Law, for this man was assuming he had gotten it right with all the Law. He was sure he had kept all the Law and had missed none when he said “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack”.
This upright young man had missed how Jesus had connected him with the word “good” when he had called Jesus “Good Master”. Whether he had so intendedit or not he had stumbled part way on the truth for he had called Jesus “Divine Teacher or Divine Master”.
Jesus as the wise evangelist and teacher thus responded to this young man not with anger but with compassion for this young man was sincere, but misguided.
So are many today and Jesus treats them with mercy and compassion.
The claim to have kept these commandments from his youth sounds somewhat arrogant, though Jesus offered no reaction to the claim. He does appear to have lived a morally upright life, perhaps similar to how Paul described himself as being “blameless” regarding a legalistic form of righteousness in his pre-Christian life (Philippians 3:6). The young man knew something was missing. It was likely with great anticipation that he asked, “What lack I yet?”
Verse 21. … If you want to be [k]complete … Mark informs us that love was the basis of Jesus’ rejoinder as some might view His next statement as harsh. Evidently the man had sincerely tried to earn eternal life by obeying the law. His superficial understanding of what God required was the teaching of his day.
… give to the poor… For any person, rich or otherwise, this action would be extraordinary,
(Mark 10:28; 12:44). Indeed, the Gospels do not record Jesus’ telling any other person to do something like this so specifically!
Jesus brought the conversation to the real issue and expressed it in the terms the man had been using, namely, doing something. He needed to abandon the idea that law-keeping would get him in the kingdom. The Law was more than external ritualism, he needed to trust in and follow Jesus. His wealth had become an idol and was his trust. Wealth was his god rather than God Almighty, the true God of the Covenant.
His reluctance to part with his wealth, mammon, revealed his idolatry.
Divesting himself of possessions and following Jesus would affirm his trust in Jesus and abandonment of confidence in self.
One writer notes: “Today many people consider themselves good because they have lived a moral life and have not committed gross sins. Some believe that all they need to do is a little more good and God will accept them. They fail to see that they are totally bankrupt spiritually and that even their good deeds are as filthy rags in God’s sight.
They need to cast themselves on God’s mercy, trust in what He has done for them in Christ rather than in their own goodness and begin following the One who loved them and gave Himself for them. Such was the case with the rich young ruler.”
… follow me… there was more; How does one obtain eternal life? Only through Jesus. He is the one who can rightly accept the title Good Master and can therefore require that those who seek eternal life must follow Him to receive it.
Verse 22. … he went away grieving;… the young man’s reaction to Jesus’ challenge reveals that he had broken the First Commandment, the First Table of the Law.
That’s the one that says to have no other gods before the one true God.
Think about it! By disobeying Jesus, was the man not honoring his great possessions above God? Luke’s account includes this stark contrast: “And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich” (Luke 18:23).
Whatever response he might have expected from Jesus, what he heard was not it! He preferred the ‘security’ of his great possessions. He wanted eternal life only as an add-on to what he already possessed.
We note that the man’s rejection of Jesus was not that of disdainful dismissal (Luke 16:14; Acts 17:32; 2 Peter 3:3). Rather, he left with the sadness of a person who had sought something he knew to be of great value, eternal life, but has failed to attain it. He counted the cost and concluded that that cost was too high (Luke 14:25-33). Such is “the deceitfulness of riches” (Mark 4:19).
Those who would enter the kingdom must give undivided loyalty to God
We have no further information in Scripture about the rich young ruler. We do not know whether he ever changed his outlook and decided that he would do what Jesus commanded. Note that Jesus did not pursue the man or offer to negotiate with him.
Jesus never changed and never will change the conditions to be His follower. However, this fact does not mean He is not saddened by any decision to reject those terms. This young man went away sorrowful, but we can be sure there was a greater sorrow in the heart of Jesus.
Verse 23. , “Truly I say to you, … sometimes Jesus’ public teaching or encounter with an individual was followed by instructions directed toward His disciples (Matthew 13:10, 36; 19:10–12). Here Jesus provided further teaching concerning the threat that riches can pose to one’s progress toward the kingdom of heaven. The incident provided a teachable moment for our Lord.
… enter into the kingdom of God … is to receive the blessings of God’s promised rule that Jesus is bringing. Many in His day believed that wealth was a sign of God’s favor (Job 1:10; 42:10; Isaiah 3:10; Psalm 128:1-2). Wealth also allowed one the advantage of being able to spend more time and money in careful observance of the law. Jesus overturned this line of thinking, (Matt. 5-7).
The disciples observed with great interest Jesus’ exchange with the rich, young ruler but His next words were outright startling! Rather than being a preview of divine, eternal blessing, wealth could be a barrier to those very blessings. While wealth does not exclude a person from the kingdom, it was a decided handicap.
Verse 24., It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, …to illustrate His point, Jesus used hyperbole—a statement exaggerated for effect.
Just so His disciples did not miss His point, Jesus gave them a somewhat humorous picture of impossibility, a camel the largest animal in Palestine going through the eye of a needle.
Some uneasy with Jesus’ stance on riches and entry into the kingdom suppose He referred to a gate into Jerusalem known as the ‘needle gate’ through which a camel could just barely pass. Neither history or archeology give evidence of such a gate.
Jesus was talking about something impossible for a human being. He emphasized that impossibility with the mental picture of a large camel trying to pass through the eye of a needle.
Verse 25. Who then can be saved? … the shocked response of the disciples shows that the hyperbole Jesus used did, in fact, grab their attention.
In the first century, many believed wealth was a sign of God’s favor. So, if the wealthy could not be saved, nobody could. Jesus was teaching the disciples that only God can grant salvation, not a person’s actions or status.
Not long before the rich young ruler approached Jesus, the disciples tried to shoo away children whom they considered a nuisance to Jesus, only to learn that “of such is the kingdom of heaven”
(Matthew 19:14). And now, a man whom the disciples considered a “shoo-in” for the kingdom was being declared unworthy to enter it.
The disciples’ bewilderment only increased with this statement. According to the conventional wisdom the rich, young ruler was an ideal candidate for the kingdom and if he could not get in Who then can be saved? Jesus’ words were as startling to the disciples as His instructions were saddening to the rich man a minute earlier. If it is impossible for the rich to enter God’s kingdom, what hope is there for anyone?
Verse 26. but with God all things are possible.” Here is the climax to lesson to the disciples and to all others. This is a foundational message to all of Scripture.
A commentator writes: “Now the point becomes clearer. The problem is not simply wealth. Wealth promotes the problem, but it is not the problem itself. God’s blessing comes to those who recognize their own inadequacy and therefore reach out in their deep need to receive His unmerited gift. A person who relies on self can never enter God’s kingdom. But by God’s grace and mercy, anyone can receive the gift that He freely gives. Those who rely on themselves, like the rich man, miss out on God’s blessing. Those who approach God as children, relying utterly on Him as heavenly Father, receive the fullness of His blessing.”
Whenever people create their own categories of who is worthy or unworthy to be saved, the result can be blindness to the truth that it is impossible for humans to purchase their salvation (Acts 8:18–20). Only God can address this dilemma, which is why Jesus came to our fallen, broken world (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus’ statement does not imply that rich people cannot be saved or enter into a right relationship with God. Both Abraham and Job were wealthy men. Joseph of Arimathaea, who provided a tomb for Jesus’ burial, is described as both a rich man and a disciple of Jesus (Matthew 27:57).
The issue comes down to what controls a person’s life: wealth or God. Poverty is not a key to Heaven, nor are riches an automatic pathway to Hell.
One may have great wealth and love God supremely, or one may have very little and love it more than God. It is the condition of the heart that makes the difference. Jesus concluded His parable of the rich fool with a warning to the person “that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).
… what then will there be for us?”iIf any of Jesus’ disciples had a comment or question in response to something Jesus said or did, it was usually Peter (Matthew 15:15; 16:22; 26:35; Mark 9:5; John 13:8, etc.). Jesus had just challenged a rich man to relinquish control of his possessions for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. As Peter pointed out, the disciples had forsaken all to follow Jesus, giving up their livelihoods (Luke 5:11, 28). What rewards awaited them for their choice to leave all to follow Jesus?
Verse 28. … that you who have followed Me, in the [l]regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on [m]His glorious throne, … Jesus did not respond in terms of an earthly reward. Instead, He spoke of what will happen in the regeneration (Luke 22:28–30). At a time when Jesus will reign in glory, these twelve disciples will occupy twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Perhaps at this point, the disciples were still thinking in terms of an earthly kingdom and an earthly throne that Jesus would establish in Jerusalem.
Most likely, this regeneration refers to the establishment of the New Heavens and New Earth that will characterize Jesus’ return (2 Peter 3:10–13). The word translated as “regeneration” is quite rare in the New Testament. It occurs only twice: here and in Titus 3:5: “he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
Christians anticipate the regeneration to come because of their current status of having been renewed.
Verse 29. …will receive [o]many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. Jesus did not rebuke the disciples mercenary attitude but began to lists some of the many things that the Twelve and others have left and will leave behind as they follow Him. These things include home and relationships; things that give a sense of security and belonging. If God is indeed fulfilling His promises, then nothing should be too great to give up in order to receive the promised blessings.
The fact is a magnificent reward awaits not only those disciples standing before Jesus as He spoke but also anyone who gives up earthly possessions and relationships for His name’s sake. The return on investment (so to speak) will be eternal. It will be a wealth that differs from anything the world can offer (Matthew 6:33).
The blessing of everlasting life is what the rich young ruler had inquired about. That life begins with the personal knowledge of Jesus as Lord (John 17:3); that life is brought to fullness by eternity with Him in Heaven. That is the life that awaited the rich young ruler had he been willing to follow Jesus on His terms.
Ultimately, there is no loss in sacrifice for the person who relies on God in following Jesus.
God amply meets all real needs, and He does so in far greater measure than what one gives up.
What God supplies, both in the present and in the eternal future, is far greater than what anyone leaves behind.
Notable in Jesus’ promise is the fact that true disciples will be persecuted. As well those who come to follow Jesus will begin to see themselves as aliens passing through this world.
Verse 30. But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.
In God’s Kingdom human status and power count for nothing, but need counts for everything. Those who see themselves as self-sufficient will be brought low, as God shows them the reality of their situation. Those who recognize their deep need for what only God can give will be exalted by His unmerited blessing.
God’s Kingdom is populated not with the self-sufficient but with children.
CONCLUSION
The main lesson in our Text concerns eternal life, how to obtain it. It is helpful to note first that it is not attained by good works done without surrendering the will to the Lord.
Note that these are hard lessons for sinful men. Jesus has a way of hitting us where it hurts.
We tend to look at life through earthly human eye. We have to be corrected.
There is a place for good works of course; they will be the evidence of a living faith in the Lord. But salvation is by the grace of God; and without faith it is impossible to please God.
Jesus was not simply testing the rich, young ruler to see if he was perfect; He was calling the man to follow Him with undivided loyalty, and to do that he would have to jettison those things that prevented him from following Christ.
The only way to find eternal life is to follow Christ, that is believe in Him and live according to His teachings.
Jesus gave up all the riches of glory to meet the needs of poor sinners.
True disciples need to be humble and not self-righteous. They need to show undivided loyalty, serving Christ alone and not Christ and mammon).
For those who do surrender their lives to God and come to faith in Christ and follow Him, God will give them eternal life, and God will also abundantly bless them, certainly in the Kingdom and in the present.
The episode of the rich young ruler sounds a warning to those who want a Christian faith that will not require a change of lifestyle or a reordering of priorities. Jesus did not and does not command every seeking sinner to sell everything and give the money away. Jesus did so to the rich young ruler because Jesus knew what the man valued. This was a ‘one-of’ to address a particular situation.
Anything we put before God in our hearts is an idol and must be dealt with in the same decisive manner. The young man wanted to ensure he had “checked all the boxes” to obtain eternal life. He sincerely believed he was on the cusp of meeting the requirements. If there was even one thing left undone, one box remaining unchecked, then surely Jesus would tell him what that was. And Jesus did! Ultimately, the man’s problem was that something other than God was on the throne of his heart
(2 Timothy 4:10).
Are you sure you will do anything for Christ? Anything?
Are you totally devoted to God as you think?
Are you willing to lay everything aside and follow Jesus?
So one writer asks you to consider this:
“If your house was on fire, what would you save? And what kind of risk would you take to save it.
We can learn a lot about ourselves with these answers. I would do everything I could to save our living things (the people and the pets). I would be very sad about pictures, heirlooms, and valuable items, but I like to think I could just let that go.
Would you be crushed, devastated by what you lost?
Why? That might be a red flag that you’re a little too attached”.
This Study Lesson is about holding nothing back from God.
One writer asks you to come up with a list of increasingly difficult things a person can do for God, things God might ask you to do. He lists:
- Tell your neighbor about Jesus
- Leave a job where you are asked to do immoral things
- Break up a friendship where God was not honored
- Leave your home to be a missionary
- Sell everything and serve the poor in your downtown.
Tough list…
But make sure you explain the real point! God may never ask you to…..sell everything, leave the country, whatever, but the real question is would you be willing?
If there is something you wouldn’t be willing to do, that’s where God will come calling”.