Sermon Tone Analysis

Verses

Overview

The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God ().

In , David confesses his evil nature was present even at the moment of his birth

The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God ().

In , David confesses his evil nature was present even at the moment of his birth

Paul tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God ().

In , David confesses his evil nature was present even at the moment of his conception.

Here we learn from the life of our Lord the reality of how to deal with a selfish, shallow seeker who in this case is extremely religious.

And the central point of this encounter is that proud, selfish people - no matter how much they may say they want eternal life - are not prepared to receive it.

This 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?

Wondering how he could inherit eternal life, this rich young man came to Jesus wondering what he had to “do”.

The use of “do” indicates that he thought he could enter God’s kingdom by doing good.

The Messiah responds by asking the man why he was calling Jesus “good,” for no one is good but God alone (v.

18).

Jesus is not denying His own goodness; In effect Jesus is saying “no one is good but God, and therefore you cannot rely on your moral behavior to inherit the life of the age to come.

Like anyone else, you must follow me.”

Christ then gives him a list of ethical commandments and tells him that if he does all these, he will enter the kingdom of God (v.

19).

The man is happy, and he says he’s done all of these (v.

20).

Indeed, even if he did obey those commands, he was still missing something — Jesus catches him on the first commandment.

Seeing that he worships the idols of wealth and social status, Jesus tells him to sell his goods and follow Him.

But the man is not satisfied, and he refuses to let go of his riches ().

Having seen the true nature of his prideful confidence, this man is bluntly denied the possibility of entering the kingdom on his own.

He preferred to worship his money instead of God.

This 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?

This 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?

The bottom line is he wanted eternal life but not enough to give up his pride and his possessions.

That’s the bottom line.

He never questioned what Jesus said.

He never questioned the truthfulness of what Jesus said.

He didn’t equivocate, he didn’t argue, he just walked away.

But there are very evident things here that become crystal clear to us.

The bottom line is he wanted eternal life but not enough to give up his pride and his possessions.

That’s the bottom line.

He never questioned what Jesus said.

He never questioned the truthfulness of what Jesus said.

He didn’t argue, he just walked away.

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.

He wanted eternal life only as an add-on to what he already possessed.

He loved himself, not God.

He loved earth, not heaven.

He loved the material, not the spiritual.

The issue here is really salvation.

It’s about salvation.

Eternal life equals salvation.

He asks the question (“What do I do to take possession of salvation?”)

and Jesus stopped him dead in his tracks.

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.

He wanted eternal life only as an add-on to what he already possessed.

He loved himself, not God.

He loved earth, not heaven.

He loved the material, not the spiritual.

The issue here is really salvation.

It’s about salvation.

Eternal life equals salvation.

He asks the question (“What do I do to take possession of salvation?”)

and Jesus stopped him dead in his tracks.

Detailed Look

So what happened?

The man ran up to Jesus and knelt before Him.

Now this is very unusual, that’s why Matthew in his account of this says, “Behold,” like “Wow,” you don’t expect this.

We also know from Matthew and Luke’s account that he was a young man and that he was a ruler, probably the ruler of a synagogue.

He was a very wealthy, very young, who had ascended to be a leader in a synagogue, which was usually reserved for an older man, somebody wiser, somebody who had lived longer, typically would be called an elder because in reality he was older.

This man has achieved a lot.

Verse 32 of this chapter says they were on the road going to Jerusalem.

They first arrive in Jericho and then up the hill to Jerusalem.

So it’s at the end of His ministry, the end of this brief ministry in the region called Peraea.

We don’t know any more detail than that about the location.

So what happened?

A man ran up to Him and knelt before Him.

Now this is very unusual, that’s why Matthew in his account of this says, “Behold,” like “Wow,” you don’t expect this.

We also know from Matthew and Luke’s account that he was a young man and that he was a ruler, probably the ruler of a synagogue.

That would be the only ruler essentially in the social/religious life of Israel.

He wouldn’t be a scribe or a Pharisee, necessarily, but a very wealthy layman, very young, who had ascended to be the leading layperson in a synagogue, which was usually reserved for an older man, somebody wiser, somebody who had lived longer, typically would be called an elder because in reality he was older.

This man has achieved much religiously.

We know he’s rich because the other gospels tell us.

He is, therefore, called the “rich young ruler.”

His life is exactly where he wanted it to be at this time.

He’s young and he’s wealthy, and he owns a lot of property, and he has achieved spiritual respect and spiritual status by being made the chief of a synagogue.

It means the people have great respect for him.

He’s a moral man, he hadn’t gained his wealth immorally, and he’s respectable.

And yet there is in his heart a deep fear that he does not possess what he needs most and that is salvation, eternal life, the hope of heaven.

He’s a moral man, he hadn’t gained his wealth by doing wrong, and he’s respectable.

And yet there is in his heart a deep fear that he does not possess what he needs most and that is salvation, eternal life, the hope of heaven.

Well, let’s look at him and see what is commendable about him.

First of all, he came running.

That’s pretty remarkable, actually, Middle Eastern people of status don’t run.

That would be crude.

And then to run to Jesus?

This rejected Galilean teacher whom the religious establishment had rejected and sought to kill?

And He’s in public view, running to Jesus.

And then it says he not only ran up to Him, but he knelt before Him.