Chapter 18: Examining Jesus' Words to the Rich Man. Having begun the subject from this point, my prayer is that the Savior will allow me to share with these brothers what is true, what is suitable, and what leads to salvation. I first want to awaken in them the hope itself of eternal life. Then I want to show them the means to that hope. Jesus gives to those who beg for understanding, and He teaches those who ask. He makes ignorance vanish, and He dispels fear.
His own words about the rich become their own interpreters and infallible expounders. There is nothing like listening again to Jesus' own words, which until now distressed you when you heard them read from the Gospels. You who are wealthy were distressed because you heard them without examining them, and your immaturity led to an erroneous understanding of them.
It is written: As they walked along, a man approached and kneeled, saying, "Good Master, what good things shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Jesus said, "Why do you call me good? None is good except God. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, and honor your father and mother." He answered him and said, "I have observed all these things." Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said, "You still lack one thing.
If you want to be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me." The man was sad about what he heard. He went away aggrieved because he was rich and he had many possessions. Jesus looked around him and said to his disciples, "How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God.
It is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." They were astonished beyond measure and said, "Then who can be saved?" Looking at them, Jesus said, "What is impossible with men is possible with God, for with God all things are possible." Peter began to say to him, "See, we have left all and followed you." Jesus answered and said, "I tell you the truth.
Whoever leaves what is his own—parents, brothers, and possessions—for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will receive a hundred times as much now in this world of lands and possessions and houses and brothers with persecutions. And in the world to come he will receive life everlasting, but many who are first will be last, and the last will be first." Mark 10:17-31. These things are written in the Gospel according to Mark. They're also written in all the rest of the Gospels in a similar manner.
Although the expressions vary slightly in each book, they all agree identically in meaning. We know that the Savior teaches nothing in a merely human way. Instead, he teaches everything to his followers with divine and mystic wisdom. So we must not listen to his statements in a mundane, human sense. Instead, through appropriate investigation and intelligence, we must search out the real meaning hidden in his words.
The things that the Lord himself seems to have simplified for the sake of the disciples are found to require not less, but more attention than what is expressed through parables. That's because the seemingly simple statements are packed with such profound wisdom. Moreover, the things that we think Jesus explained to the insiders, those he called the children of the kingdom, require even more consideration than the things that seem to have been expressed simply.
The reason is that none of his listeners asked for a further explanation of such things. But since his words pertain to the entire design of salvation, we must contemplate these words with an admirable and heavenly depth of mind. We must not receive these statements superficially, with our ears only. Our minds must be attuned to the very spirit of the Savior and to the meaning he intended. The rich young man pleasantly posed an appropriate question to our Lord and Savior.
The question was appropriate because he asked life itself about life. He asked the Savior about salvation, the teacher about the primary teachings, and the truth about true immortality. He addressed the Word about the Word of the Father, the perfect one about the perfect rest, and the immortal one about true immortality. By asking about eternal life, the young man addressed the very reason Jesus came to earth. He asked about the things Jesus taught and about the things he instilled in the minds of his disciples.
In other words, he asked about the very essence of the Gospel. Being truly divine, Jesus foreknew both what he would be asked and how each person would answer him, for who would be more capable of doing so than the prophet of the prophets, the Lord of every prophetic spirit. Having been called good, he used this term as a starting point. In doing so, he turned his student to God, the Good, the first and only dispenser of eternal life.
The Son who received his eternal life from the Father gives it to us, knowing God intimately. The primary lesson for life must be implanted in the soul from the beginning. That lesson is to know the eternal God, the one who gives what is eternal. We can possess God through knowledge and understanding. He is the first and highest. He is one, and he is the ultimate good. This knowledge of God is the unchanging and immovable source and support of life.
He is the one who really is, and he gives the things that really are. That is, he gives the things that are eternal. The beginning of life and the continuance of life come from him. The power to continue to exist also comes from him. Ignorance of him is death. For the only true life is this: to know him and take him for your own, to love him and to become like him. Therefore, the man who wants to live the true life must first know the one that no one knows unless the Son reveals him. Matthew 11:27.
Next, after the Father, the seeker must learn about the greatness of the Savior and about the newness of grace. For according to the apostle, the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1:17. The gifts granted through a faithful servant, Moses, are not equal to those given by the true Son. If the law of Moses had been sufficient to give us eternal life, then there wouldn't have been any reason for the Savior to come and suffer for us.
There would have been no need for him to follow the path of human life from his birth to the cross. There also would have been no reason for the rich young man, the man who had followed all the commandments of the law from the time he was young, to fall on his knees and beg for immortality from another person. Notice that he had not only fulfilled the law, but had done so since he was a very young boy.
It doesn't surprise us if an old man is free of shortcomings, but when a carefree young man in the fire of his youth shows judgment beyond his years, this is a true champion. This is a man who is mature in mind, although young in body. Nevertheless, because this rich young man was so wise, he knew that he was entirely destitute of real life, even though he lacked nothing in regard of righteousness. So he asked for life from the only one who was able to give it. He was confident of his standing under the law.
But he approached the Son of God with a humble petition. So he was transferred from faith to faith. Romans 1:17. It was as though he was on a storm-tossed sea, anchored only to the law. So he headed for the Savior to find a safe haven. In response, Jesus did not tell him that he had failed to fulfill all of the requirements of the law. Instead, Jesus loved him and fondly welcomed his obedience as to the things he had learned.
Then Jesus told the young man that he was not perfect with respect to eternal life, for he had not fulfilled what is perfect. He was indeed a doer of the law, but he was idle at the true life. To be sure, the law is good. Who denies that? For the commandment is holy. Romans 7:12. It offers a sort of training with fear and preparatory discipline. In this way, it leads us to grace and to the fulfillment of the law. Galatians 3:24. But Christ is the fulfillment of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Christ is not a slave who is merely producing more slaves. Instead, he's producing sons, brothers, and fellow heirs, all of whom perform the Father's will.