So Close, But So Far

Luke 18:18-30

The Rich Ruler
18A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

19"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 20You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'[a]"

21"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.

22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

23When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

26Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"

27Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."

28Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"

29"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."

This passage of scripture is an interesting one because it gives us a clip of Jesus' working on a person's heart in real time. In this scene, a man, a very wealthy and important man, comes to Jesus and begins to encourage Him. He calls Jesus good teacher, which was surely a way to flatter Him because the Jews had a saying something like this:"no one is good except the law." Which is why Jesus responds the way that he did. Jesus responded by saying "no one is good except God alone." In this small response there is much to note about the Character and temperament of Jesus; first he responds humbly, denying that He is the source of the "good," and secondly, He directs the ruler back to God by expressing that God is the source of Good - which is where the law comes from.

Here is a great model for us and for how to deal with others. We need to be humble, especially when people are flattering us. It may feel good, and the things they say may even be true. But flattery can be a tool of satan to pull you away from God. When you start to believe your own hype, when you stop being in awe of God's amazing powers, which enables you to do all that you do. This misplaced credit is also known as pride, which the Bible says on many occasions is the downfall of man.

In regards to others, there are many times when our consciences know that there is something off about our friends/brothers or sister's in Christ. We all can relate to feeling that there is something wrong spiritually with someone we are close to. What are we to do in that situation? With the rich ruler, Jesus was quick to redirect his focus back to God. "No one is good—except God alone (v19)." We should follow suit, and always be active in driving our friends and family towards God, for it is he who knows how to change and fix the human heart. Our people may lose their focus a little. We should point them to God if we truly wish to help them.

And later on in this passage, we see that Jesus had a bulls-eye accuracy about the spiritual state of this ruler. The man came to Jesus because though he had everything, even a spiritual background, he still felt empty. The truth of the matter was he was rich, yet he gave nothing away. This is evident by his response. The thought of him giving away his possessions crippled him. His real God was his comfort and what he really worshiped were his possessions and his wealth. If a person's god is that to which he gives all his time, thought, energy, and devotion, then wealth was this man's god. If he were to ever find happiness he would have to radically change his life as he knew it. He wasn't willing to go. He wasn't willing to be directed back to God - the one who provides true happiness.

Why did Jesus say that it was so hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God? The whole tendency of possessions is to glue our thoughts to the world. We begin to have so much invested in the world that we never want to leave it. It is not a sin to be rich, but it is a grave danger to the soul and a great responsibility.

Peter and the disciples, on the other hand, were trying their best to follow Jesus, and they reminded Him of the fact that they left everything to follow Him. And Jesus reminded them that no one who gives us anything for the kingdom would not be repaid many times over.

Do you believe that? Do you live a life of sacrifice, or are you storing up things here that make it hard for you to look up - to look at God? Will it be hard for you to leave and go to heaven? Really think about it.

How good are you at making sure you are humbly in tune with God? And not just emotionally humble, but humble in the ways that you obey his commands? Like the heart of a child, we need to trust and obey our heavenly parent - God.

And how good are you at leading others toward God? When it is obvious that your friend needs some spiritual help, do you have the courage to speak up? Even when they are flattering you, do you have the humility to give the credit to God? This is the example that Jesus gave us to follow of how to keep ourselves from being trapped by pride, and how to truly love our friends - by taking them to the One who can really help them.

There is so much to learn about life through the example of Jesus. And there is so much to gain from the life of surrender. Do not be lacking in knowledge and courage. Fight for them. It's worth it.