THIS account of the rich young man who came to Jesus is recorded also in Mark and Luke, and so again we can see by this how important the revelation is which is found in this incident. What is it that is revealed here? When we read the story it seems that Jesus is teaching that eternal life is obtained by our own works and efforts. However the reverse is the case, which we learn as we study the conversation between Jesus and his disciples which follows.

The fact is that it is a very hard lesson to learn that we are totally unable to win eternal life by our own works and efforts. It is so difficult to renounce our pride and confess ourselves lost and sinners in the sight of God, totally unable to achieve the righteousness that is the perfection of holiness God requires from all of us. Our deepest need is to experience a real and deep conviction of our sin and sinfulness, and to see ourselves through the eyes of God. What Jesus was doing here is seeking to lead this young man to this conviction.

Jesus could have said in answer to the young man's question “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life” that he must trust in Him. But this would have been no earthly good to the young man. He would not know what trust in Jesus meant. He could have said he trusted, but because he still saw eternal life as a reward for his good works, faith would be turned into another work he performed, and would thereby be useless. What Jesus did was to lead him to face the fact that he could do nothing himself to obtain eternal life. Let us look how Jesus did this.

The first thing we need to notice is how upright and good this young man was. Plainly he was a person of standing in his community, well to do, and looked up to. He could say he kept the commandments as they were interpreted by the Jewish teachers. Good church people like this find it really hard to realize that they are still sinners before God and under condemnation before God.

Then we must notice how wrong the young man's question was. To desire to obtain eternal life is admirable. The young man plainly felt, even with all his goodness, he had not obtained eternal life. But he still thought in terms of earning eternal life, and so he asks what he must do. He still felt that he could earn eternal life by his own power and action.

Jesus seeks to reform his thinking and understanding. In the first place Jesus challenges the man to see that no human being is good, and that only God is good. Jesus is pointing the man to see that no human being, however good in earthly terms, can be called good in relation to God.

Then, Jesus challenges his assumption of being able to earn eternal life. Jesus says keep the commandments. By this Jesus was seeking to get the young man to really face the claims of the commandments of God. However the young man was so sure that he was keeping God's commandments perfectly that he was blind to how much he fell short of their holy requirements. In this spirit the young man asks which commandment. Jesus pitches his reply at the point which was most likely to bring conviction to this young man. Jesus speaks of the second table of the law, which is concerned with our duty to our neighbour, and ends with a summary of the second table.

The young man is invincibly armoured against all Jesus is trying to get him to understand and face. He believes he has loved his neighbour, and done no harm to his neighbour, so plaintively he replies that he has kept all the commandments all his life, so what more does he have to do.

Jesus then touches the heart of this young man's blindness and complacency. Jesus tells him to give all his wealth to the poor, and come and follow him.

How hard hitting Jesus is, but with such compassion. In Mark's version of the story we are told that Jesus loved this young man, and this hard hitting love was behind what he was doing. The young man felt he had loved his neighbour perfectly. Jesus challenges him at this very point. Jesus is virtually saying to the young man the following -

You have the poor all around you. They are your neighbours. Are you loving them as you love yourself? You have all the wealth in the world. You could do so much for the poor neighbours, but you are not doing it. You are keeping all your wealth to yourself.

We are not told what happened to this young man after this episode in his life, but we see him going away from Jesus having to face that all his vaunted keeping of the commandments was empty, and that he had not begun to keep them. This was a beginning. But so powerful is our own comfort that it holds us back from achieving the greater need for the health of our eternal soul.