A Tale of Two Men-Part 1

“And, behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”  Matthew 19:16

When it comes to spiritual matters, there are two kinds of people in the world–those who receive Christ as Lord and Savior and those who reject Him.  God, the Father, gives us no other options.  In the passage in scripture from which the above verse was taken, Jesus was traveling in Judea, attracting much attention from the ordinary folks and also from the ruling religious leaders.  There was one particular rich young man who came to Jesus to enquire as to what good thing he could do to earn eternal life.

The young man , who happened to be one of the religious rulers, had grown up being taught that doing good works could put him in good standing with God.  For some reason, though, he didn’t feel that he had done everything that was required under the law to earn him eternal life.  The religious leaders had added so many onerous and stringent rules and regulations to the law, that, for one who believed he must follow them all, it’s no wonder he was unsure of his status before God.  He thought there must be something that he had omitted since he was questioning Jesus, whom he believed was a teacher sent from God.  Apparently the young ruler did not feel at peace within his heart.  I doubt that he considered himself a sinner because the religious rulers considered themselves the righteous of the right, the epitome of godliness, and the cream of the crop among God’s chosen nation.  However, within his heart he was carrying around a burden of sin and guilt, but did not recognize it as such.  Something was definitely missing from his life.

Jesus, knowing that this young ruler did not acknowledge Him to be the Son of God, took him back to the law concerning his quest for eternal life.  Jesus told him to keep the commandments.  This perhaps could sound puzzling to us because, as believers, we know that keeping the law cannot provide eternal life because no one other than Christ can keep the law perfectly.  Later Jesus will clarify the true and only way to receive eternal life to the young ruler.

When Jesus brought up obedience to the commandments, the young man wanted to know which ones, almost as if he could pick and choose.  Jesus listed the ones that concern man’s relationship with his fellow man, that is, prohibitions against murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and the requirements for honoring parents and loving all people as he loved himself.  The young man had no problem stating that he had kept all of these commandments since he was a little boy.  In his mind, he likely thought he was “better than average”.  However, if his life was compared with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), he would find his life, as we all would find our lives, sorely lacking.  As he was a young man, I find it hard to believe that he had never looked at a pretty young woman without a lustful thought or two.

The young man still clung to his notion that he was a “good guy” but still didn’t feel assured about his future.  Jesus then told him that if he wanted to “be perfect”, that is, right before God, he should sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow Him.  That was the key–following Christ, becoming a believer, repenting of his sin, and putting his past behind him.  But he wouldn’t accept that.  His wealth was more important to him than his eternity.  Jesus’ answer forced him to examine his own life and motives.  The light of God’s word is meant to penetrate one’s heart leading one to see himself or herself as God sees each person, a sinner, whom He loves, in need of a Savior.  The young man went away sorrowful.  He settled for fleeting worldly wealth, rather than the riches of a relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Tomorrow we will examine another man’s encounter with Jesus.