8 

The Tragedy of a Selfish Seeker
(Mark 10:17–31) 

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.” They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” (10:17–31)

The Bible teaches that sinners do not seek God on their own (Ps. 14:2–3). The Lord Jesus Christ affirmed that reality when He declared, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him … For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father” (John 6:44, 65). The apostle Paul, reflecting Old Testament Scripture, wrote, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Rom. 3:10–12). Clever marketing techniques and strategies will not enable superficial, self-centered sinners—who are “dead in [their] trespasses and sins,” walking “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience,” living lives controlled by “the lusts of [the] flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and [who are] by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:1–3)—to desire salvation by hearing the gospel. That is the work of God. Only God, by the miracle of regeneration, empowers the sinner to seek Him by repentance and faith in the gospel (cf. John 3:1–8).

Still, the Bible commands sinners to seek God, not pursue the fulfillment of their own selfish desires. Isaiah declared, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near” (Isa. 55:6), and God said to wayward Israel, “Thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, ‘Seek Me that you may live’” (Amos 5:4, 6). Those who truly seek God must do so on His terms, not theirs. That involves seeking Him with all one’s heart and soul. “You will seek the Lord your God,” Moses told the children of Israel, “and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul” (Deut. 4:29). In Jeremiah 29:13 God Himself declared, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (cf. 1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 119:2, 10).

On the other hand, those who pursue their own self-centered agenda instead of seeking God are like King Rehoboam of Judah, who “did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord” (2 Chron. 12:14; cf. Ps. 10:4).

This passage introduces one such selfish seeker. The incident it describes was an actual encounter between a wealthy, influential young man and Jesus; it is not a parable or story. Christ’s response to him demonstrates that superficial interest in eternal life must be confronted, not accommodated. The man was confronted with the choice between himself and God; between fulfillment in this life and fulfillment in the life to come. He never questioned the truthfulness of what Jesus said. He did not equivocate or argue; he just walked away. When it became clear that what Jesus was offering was going to cost him his pride and his possessions, he decided that the price was too high, even for eternal life.

This young man seemed at first to be the ideal seeker. Some people have to be persuaded of the basic truths of Scripture’s teaching concerning God, heaven, hell, and eternal life. Apparently, no such pre-evangelism was necessary in his case; in fact, the first thing he did when he came to Jesus was ask Him how to obtain eternal life. He seemed to be ready; according to contemporary evangelistic methodology, Jesus should have used appropriate language and offered acceptable terms to lead this hot prospect to a salvation prayer. But Jesus never called for a prayer or the popular “decision.” Instead, He put a massive stumbling block in his way, forcing him to decide what was more valuable to him: God and the life to come, or his own will and the riches of this present life. Sadly, he chose to follow his own will and not God’s. He wanted eternal life, but not enough to forsake his pride and possessions. Instead, he wanted to add eternal life to what he already possessed on his own terms.

This tragic story of an outwardly devout man who failed the most important test of his life unfolds in two parts: the story of his encounter with Jesus, and the education the Lord gave His disciples from that encounter.

THE ENCOUNTER

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. (10:17–22)

The encounter plays out in the dialogue between Jesus and this young man.

THE SEEKER’S QUESTION

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (10:17)

This incident took place in the southern part of the region known as Perea, located east of the Jordan River. Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem (Mark 10:32) for the final time, where He would die and rise again. One day, as He was setting out on a journey in that region, something unexpected happened (Matt. 19:16 introduces this account with the Greek phrase kai idou [“and behold”])—a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him. What made that surprising, even shocking, is the identity of the man. Matthew notes that he was young (Matt. 19:16), Luke that he was a ruler (probably of a synagogue [Luke 18:18]), and all three report that he was extremely wealthy (Matt. 19:22; Mark 10:22; Luke 18:23).

Several things about this rich, influential man who had achieved much according to the religious system of his day would have shocked the bystanders. First, he ran up to Jesus. Middle Eastern men of status did not run. Running necessitated gathering up the long robes worn by both men and women, thus exposing the legs, and was considered undignified and even shameful. He also knelt before Christ, assuming a humble, worshipful posture in the presence of the one whom the religious establishment hated as a false prophet and sought to kill. Further, he addressed Jesus respectfully as Good Teacher.

As noted earlier in this chapter, this rich, young ruler seemed to be a sure-fire prospect. He recognized his need, in contrast to the Pharisee depicted in Luke 18:9–14. Despite all of his religious achievements, he knew that he did not have eternal life and, therefore, lacked a confident hope of heaven.

Further, he urgently sought the eternal life that he knew he did not possess. Disregarding his reputation and his dignity, he humbly came to Jesus publicly, unlike Nicodemus (John 3:2).

He also came to the right person. Unlike many who futilely pursue spiritual truth from the wrong teacher, the wrong church, or the wrong religion, he came to the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is the “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6; cf. 1 John 5:20).

Finally, he asked the right question: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Consistent with the legalistic system of self-righteousness that he was part of, he was looking for knowledge of the ultimate good work that would finally permit him to obtain eternal life. Despite all of his religious achievements, there was a nagging fear in his mind that salvation was still missing. There was an unsatisfied guilt; an unfulfilled longing; a painful doubt about his relationship to God. Eternal life refers to a quality of life, not a quantity; not merely to living forever but rather to possessing the very life of God, which He graciously grants to believers.

This man’s fundamental problem lay in his misunderstanding and misuse of the word good, which he used loosely in relation to Christ. He meant no more by it than to commend Him as a good teacher, in other words, one sent from God (cf. John 3:2). By the same token, he considered himself and his fellow religionists equally good. In light of that, the purpose of Jesus’ counterquestion becomes clear. He did not reply as He did to the similar question, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28) by saying, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (v. 29; cf. Acts 16:31). The omniscient Lord, who knew what was in the hearts of men (John 2:25), did not challenge this man to believe, because He knew that he first needed to come to grips with the looming judgment of sin over his head, and the need for repentance and forgiveness by divine mercy—to escape eternal wrath.

THE SAVIOR’S CHALLENGE

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” (10:18–19)

The Lord’s reply, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone,” was not, of course, a disavowal of His deity. That would have contradicted His explicit claims elsewhere (e.g., John 5:17–18; 8:24, 58; 10:30–33). Its purpose was to rebuke this man’s inadequate understanding of the word good and redefine it in relation to God. Good, unlike “bad,” is absolute, not relative. People may be more or less good or bad, but only God is absolutely, perfectly, eternally good. Before the gospel can be presented to them, people must understand that they are not good in God’s sight, and that no amount of human effort or religious observance can make them so (Rom. 3:20, 28; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8–9; Phil. 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5).

The law is “holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12). Divine revelation in the law demonstrates and defines God’s perfect righteousness, holiness, and absolute goodness, and is the standard to which all who would achieve salvation by their own righteousness cannot attain (Matt. 5:48; cf. Lev. 11:45; 19:2; 1 Peter 1:16). The law shows sinners how perfectly good God is and how utterly evil they are, producing guilt, fear, dread, remorse, and the inevitable reality of divine judgment. It is “our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). But like the Jewish people of Jesus’ day, this man had twisted the law into a means of establishing his own goodness and righteousness (Rom. 9:30–32).

Before his conversion, the apostle Paul had been much like this religious sinner. He was “circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless” (Phil. 3:5–6). As he wrote in Galatians 1:13–14, he was a rising star in first-century Judaism: “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.” But as he was enabled by the Spirit of God to truly understand the law, he saw himself for what he was:

The goodness of God’s nature is revealed in the law, and when Paul measured himself against the law, he realized that he was not at all righteous, but a wretched sinner. He likened his best morality and religiosity to “dung” (Phil. 3:4–8 KJV).

The Lord then challenged this man to, like Paul would later do, judge himself by the law and realize that he was not good. Jesus reminded him that he knew the commandments and was responsible to keep them (Matt. 19:17). He then gave him a sample list: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.” All but one of those examples were taken from the second half of the Ten Commandments, which deals with human relationships, as opposed to the first five commandments, which deal with a person’s relationship to God.

THE SEEKER’S DELUSION

And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” (10:20)

Far from being convicted by his inability to attain to the perfection of the law, this young ruler, like his fellow religionists, was convinced that his law-keeping vindicated his righteousness. His claim to have kept all these things from his youth up to that moment revealed his utter failure to truly understand his sinfulness. His self-righteousness had blinded him to the law’s revelation of his sin (cf. Jer. 17:9). To him, as to the Pharisees and rabbis, the law was concerned merely with external behavior. It was that mistaken notion that Jesus corrected in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:20–48). If he had truly understood the law, he would have realized, as Paul came to understand, that it condemned the hatred, lustful thoughts, covetousness, lies, and dishonoring of his parents that were part of the fabric of his wretched heart. Instead of keeping the law as he imagined, he violated it daily in his mind, which is as wicked as lawless behavior.

THE SAVIOR’S COMMAND

Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. (10:21–22)

Motivated by a love for him, Jesus said, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” The Lord’s command and the man’s response, but at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property, further exposed his failure to keep the law. Not only was he a violator of the second five of the Ten Commandments but also a criminal transgressor of the first five. He was guilty of blaspheming God, by worshiping another god—his wealth and possessions—and God tolerates no rivals. “No one can serve two masters;” Jesus said, “for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matt. 6:24). Earthly wealth and temporal satisfaction was this man’s god.

Jesus preached the law to him, but not the gospel. Sinners are not ready for the good news of the gospel until they accept the bad news that the law condemns them as guilty sinners. As a highly respected, revered, and honored religious leader, he viewed his prosperity and his exalted position in the synagogue as evidence that he was good and God was pleased with him. He was unwilling to acknowledge that he was a sinner, affirm that his good works could not save him, and cast himself on God’s grace and mercy, and submit to Christ’s lordship. Tragically, at the crossroads of his eternal destiny, face-to-face with the Savior, he took the broad way that leads to destruction and rejected the narrow way that alone leads to eternal life.

THE EDUCATION

And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.” They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” (10:23–31)

The lesson Jesus drew from the tragic story of the rich young ruler elaborates on His statement in Mark 8:35, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” That man, who had seemed to be sincerely seeking eternal life, ended up forfeiting his eternal soul forever for love of self and earthly riches. The Lord’s instruction unfolds in two parts: the poverty of riches, and the riches of poverty.

THE POVERTY OF RICHES

And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.” They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (10:23–27)

After watching sadly as the rich young ruler walked away Jesus, looking around, said to His astonished disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” They had been surprised when the seemingly hopeful prospect rejected Jesus’ terms and abruptly turned and left. The disciples were even more amazed at His words concerning the difficulty the rich find in entering the kingdom. In their culture, as previously noted, it was assumed that wealth and power were signs of God’s blessing.

On the contrary, entering the kingdom is difficult for the rich for at least three reasons. First, their wealth gives them a false sense of security. Paul commanded Timothy, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17).

Second, they are also consumed with the things of the world, and where their treasure is, their hearts will be also (Matt. 6:21). In 1 Timothy 6:10 Paul warned, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” The apostle John issued a similar warning:

Those who grasp wealth are like the rich fool in the Lord’s parable:

Finally, the rich tend to be selfish, pursuing self-fulfillment and self-gratification, like the wealthy man in the Lord’s story, who ignored the needy beggar at his gate (Luke 16:19–31).

Those psychological reasons, however, are not the Lord’s point here, since the rich man of whom He spoke was an outwardly religious person. According to the simplistic (and wrong) theology of first-century Judaism, wealth was a sign of God’s blessing. Conversely, they saw the poor as cursed by God. Further, those who were wealthy had the means to pay for more sacrifices than did the poor. They also could afford to give more alms and buy more offerings than other people, and the Jews believed that almsgiving was key to entering the kingdom. The apocryphal book of Tobit said, “It is better to give alms than to lay up gold: for alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life” (Tobit 12:8–9; cf. Sirach 3:30). Thus, in the Jewish religious system, it should be easy for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, not impossible.

Not surprisingly, the disciples were shocked and amazed at Jesus’ words, which seemed counterintuitive to them. Their reaction indicates that they had not yet completely broken free from the legalistic system in which they had been raised. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” Far from toning down His statement, the Lord repeated it and broadened it to include everyone, not just the rich. He then gave an illustration of how difficult it is to enter God’s kingdom:

Even more astonished, the disciples said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus told them plainly, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God” (cf. the similar phrase used in Luke 1:37 to refer to the virgin birth). Sinners, by their own power, will, and efforts, cannot save themselves (Jer. 13:23); only a sovereign act of God can change the heart (John 1:11–13; 3:3–8; 6:44, 65).

When sinners, by the work of the Spirit, reach the point where they desire to repent and be saved, having acknowledged their guilt, they can only cry out to God and ask Him graciously to forgive their sins and save them from judgment through Jesus Christ. Their only plea, like the repentant tax collector, is “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” (Luke 18:13).

THE RICHES OF POVERTY

Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” (10:28–31)

As Peter pointed out, unlike the rich young ruler and many other would-be followers (cf. John 6:66; Luke 9:59–62), the disciples had left everything and followed Christ. Matthew records that Peter followed that statement with the question, “What then will there be for us?” (Matt. 19:27). In reply Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with the inevitable persecutions they will face (Acts 14:22). All believers become part of the church, the body of Christ. While many lose their earthly families when they become Christians, they find that they have gained the heavenly family and are given many fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers in Christ.

That mutual caring has marked the true church of Jesus Christ since its inception on the day of Pentecost. When the church was born, it consisted in part of pilgrims who had come from Jewish settlements outside of Israel. After their conversion, the new believers did not want to go home because there were no churches except for the one in Jerusalem. They stayed, some of them permanently, in the homes of the believers who were already there. Those believers fed them, housed them, and loved and cared for them. Years later, the apostle Paul would travel all over the Mediterranean region, collecting an offering to take back to the Jerusalem church so it could continue to care for the needy believers there (2 Cor. 8–9).

But it is not only in this present life that those who have left everything behind to follow Christ will be rewarded; in the age to come, they will be blessed with eternal life in heaven. In response to Peter’s question regarding him and his fellow apostles, Jesus replied, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration [the millennial kingdom] when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28).

The Lord’s concluding statement, “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first,” means simply that all will wind up equal possessors of heaven’s treasures (cf. Matt. 19:30–20:16).

The rich who reject Christ will be spiritually poor forever. On the other hand, those who forsake all to follow Him will receive eternal riches. Those who store up their treasure in heaven understand the truth expressed by the missionary and martyr Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” (Elisabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty [New York: Harper & Row, 1979], 247).