“The Rich, Ruined Ruler”
Rev. Dr. Earl B. Mason, Sr., Senior Pastor

Key Verse: Mark 10:17-30. Parallel Passages: Matt. 19:16-22; Luke 18:18-23 

1. Why Should a Rich Moral Young Man Be Attracted to Jesus?

   1. Luke 18:18 calls him “a ruler,” which means that he was over thirty years of age. Jesus was probably just about the same age.

   2. He is called “the young man,” (Matt. 19:20), a term used of young men in the prime of manhood up to the age of forty or more.

   3. He was rich, “for he had great possessions” (Mark 10:22). Why should a ruler full of health and riches be attracted to Jesus? Usually such people are self-satisfied, they feel they are on top of the world and need no one else.

   4. He may have realized that there was something he didn’t possess. Why not add it if he could—without losing what he already had? He didn’t realize that what Christ was offering was not another drop in his already full cup. To receive Christ a person must first empty himself, to be “born again” in Jesus’ words (John 3:3).

2. The Young Man Was Pious but Not Saved

   1. He came eagerly to Jesus, “came running” (Mark 10:17).

   2. In addition, he showed humility when he knelt down before Jesus (Mark 10:17).

   3. It also took courage for the young man to show such reverence to Jesus who was already beginning to be hated by the Jewish leaders.

   4. In spite of his piety, however, he did not acknowledge Jesus to be the Christ. He made the same mistake Nicodemus had made (John 3:2) by considering Him only to be a teacher (Matt. 19:16; Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18). The young man did not lack education but spiritual life, which can be given only by God Himself.

   5. He attributed benevolence to Jesus by calling Him a “good” teacher. But even a good teacher cannot save sinners. Only God can, which is the meaning behind Jesus’ rebuke, “there is none good but one, that is God” (Mark 10:18). Many today appreciate the teaching of Christianity, but not their need of God to save them.

   6. Having achieved success, the rich man thought that eternal life was just one more thing to acquire. “What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). He did not realize that man can do nothing to obtain eternal life, it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8, 9). Works are the result of salvation and not the means of receiving it (Eph. 2:10).

   7. This is the first time in Matthew and Mark that the term “eternal life” is used, and in Luke it is used only once prior to this occasion, by the lawyer who came to Jesus to ask Him how he could inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25). By his question, it is evident that the young man did not have an adequate understanding of the term. When Jesus spoke of life eternal, He meant the life of God given as a result of believing in Him (John 3:15, 16, 36; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 17:3).

3. Jesus Must Be Lord as Well as Savior

   1. What Jesus asked this rich young ruler to do was a test of faith. “Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 10:21).

   2. By selling his possessions and giving the revenue to the poor, he would not be earning eternal life for himself. What he would be doing was showing Jesus that he valued Him more than his possessions. We, too, must put Christ first in order to be saved (Matt. 10:37; Luke 14:26, 27, 33): “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Are we willing to thus obey Jesus, or are we like the young ruler who “went away grieved” (Mark 10:22)?

This man was rich (Luke 18:23), young (Matt. 19:20, 22), and a ruler (Luke 18:18), and had everything but salvation.

Nobody is saved by keeping the Law (Gal. 3:21). Jesus held before the young man the mirror of the Law so he could see how sinful he was (James 1:22-25; Rom. 3:20). The young man had paid attention to the Law since his youth, and the Law had brought him to Christ (Gal. 3:24); but he had not yet humbled himself as a lost sinner. He wanted to have the best of both worlds!

Nobody is saved by selling everything and giving the money to the poor. We are saved by trusting the Son of God who gave everything to make us rich (2 Cor. 8:9). Jesus touched this “sore spot” in the young man’s life because love of money was the great sin that was keeping him out of the kingdom (vv. 23-27). There is a principle here that must be remembered as we seek to lead lost people to Jesus: sinners cannot hang on to their sins and at the same time reach out to Jesus. There must be sincere repentance before sinners can turn to God and be saved by His grace.

Like many Jews, the disciples thought that wealth was proof of God’s blessing, but Jesus corrected their wrong idea. Peter was sure that he and his friends would receive a special reward for doing what the rich young ruler did not do. God does reward faithfulness, but our motive should be love for Christ and not desire for gain. As industrialist R.G. LeTourneau used to say, “If you give because it pays, it won’t pay!” (See Matt. 20:1-16 for Christ’s parable of warning about bad attitudes in Christian service.) Many who are first in their own eyes will be last in God’s eyes.