Walking With Christ

Context and details matter when discussing things in the bible. It’s often a case where it takes more than one reading and contextual clues from more than one book of the bible to actually understand what is being said. Each writer in the bible has a slightly skewed perspective that is partly based on who the writer was. The details that each writer chooses to focus on tell just as much about the writer as it does about the story that they are trying to tell. Let’s look at the story of the young, rich, ruler who asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life.

This story is found in Matthew (19:16-22), Mark (10:17-22), and Luke (18:18-23). Each one gives slightly different details about the events. Mark only focuses on the fact that he is wealthy. Matthew mentions that he is young. Luke mentions that he is a ruler which means he is a man of power and influence. Between the three stories we see that this man is a wealthy, young, ruler.

The first thing to note about this story is that this young man is not specifically mentioned again in the bible. We don’t know what happened to him after this. It’s entirely speculation. I’ll come back to that.

The conversation is really short. Not “Lazarus! Come out!” short but still, pretty short. The man asks Jesus what deeds he needs to perform to inherit eternal life. Jesus says to keep the commandments. The guy says that’s done. What else?

This is when Jesus threw him a curve. Jesus told him to sell everything that he owned and give it to the poor then come back to follow Him. The guy gets sad and walks away. This is where the story ends and most people simply assume that it’s the end of the story.

First, let’s unpack a couple of things hidden in the story that I think most people miss. The age of this person and the fact that he was asking Jesus about inheriting eternal life means, to me, that he most likely inherited his money and position. He didn’t earn them. Still, these things are a part of his identity. He was given a position of power and uses his wealth to maintain that position. This is supposition since the bible doesn’t specifically say how he got his wealth or position.

Bare with me here. Mark gives us a tiny bit of detail about the story. He says in verse 21 that Jesus “looking at him, loved him, and said”. The first thing Jesus did was to truly look at this guy. It wasn’t just “yes, I see you physically standing there”. No, this was Jesus looking through the guy. Jesus saw the entire life that this guy lived and knew absolutely everything about him. Then He loved him before He spoke. Jesus loved the guy then spoke. Say it again, Jesus spoke in love.

When Jesus asked this young guy to sell everything he owned and give it to the poor, Jesus was asking the guy to give up his identity. The guy was wealthy and that wealth is most likely what secured his powerful position. Without the wealth, it’s possible that his position was not secured.

Carry this thought just a bit farther. Jesus wanted to give the guy a worthy calling. The guy was saddened by having to give up part of his own identity to follow Jesus. Jesus was moved with compassion because He knew what He was asking the guy to do and how hard that would be.

Did you catch that? I said that Jesus asked him to give up PART of his identity. Part, not all. Jesus asked the guy to give up his wealth but not the position of power. The guy could still rule exactly as he had before. He would just be doing it from a servants position. He would earn the position of ruler through this sacrifice. It’s that mentality of sacrifice that is so important to the ministry of the kingdom of God. The rulers who only seek to advance or promote themselves have no place in the kingdom of heaven. Those who seek the best for all who follow them rule from a servant position. This idea is reinforced by Jesus washing the feet of the disciples at the last supper. The servant’s heart theme is repeated several more times throughout the bible.

Circling back to the beginning of this message to close. We don’t know what happened to this guy. It’s entirely possible that he did do exactly what Jesus asked and gave up his wealth. Just because he was sad to do it doesn’t mean that he didn’t. Any one of us who was asked to give up a part of our identity would also be saddened. We would have to go through the mourning process for that part of our lives.

I would encourage you to look up the testimony of Alice Cooper (the lead singer of Alice in Chains), the heavy metal rocker who became a Christian. He gave everything up to God and thought that would be the end of his rock and roll career. He said that he was sad to see that part of his life and identity be washed away. He gave it all to God. The funny thing is that God left him exactly where he was as the lead singer of one of the biggest rock bands of all time. He had to change how he did some things, but it’s obvious that God saw use of him remaining where he was.

Father,
Thank You for the plans that You have for us. Work in us that through us to reveal our hidden strongholds of self-desire. Show us those parts of our identity that we have no yet turned over to You. Show us grace, Lord, because You know that this will be difficult for some of us (me, especially). Let us grow closer to You so that we find ourselves more in tune with Your will. Thank You, Father, for the continued lessons that bring us together to study Your word and Your will.

In Jesus name we pray, amen!