Spiritual Gifts part 214: I am the Rich Young Man.

Spiritual Gifts Part 214: I am the Rich Young Man.

And Luke tells us that he was a “ruler”, so he was some kind of Jewish official, probably a member of the Sanhedrin.

Luke also tells us that this ruler was extremely rich.

Matthew tells us that he was a “young man”. neaniskos =
signified that he had reached the age of puberty but was not yet married.

MAT 19:16
And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?"

JOH 15:5
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

“Follow Me”. That is discipleship.

“Believe in Me” - that’s salvation.

MAT 19:17
“if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

MAT 19:20-21
20 The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?"

MAT 19:21
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

Jesus spoke to jar him from his misplaced confidence in himself.

Instead He gave the young man an impossible assignment that would make the point far more powerfully.

Our Lord purposely set out the challenge to reveal the deceitfulness and self-centered nature of the human heart.

Stop here and this encounter with the Rich Young Man looks an awful lot like the basis for a moral injunction.

At that moment, in my inner chaos, I recognize that I am the rich young man.

But rather than stay in that fit of moral crisis, this story invites us to go somewhere else.

This story invites us to go into the death of the cross.

And as they walk, Jesus begins to tell them about His death and His rising again.

I am the rich young man.
And the only way out is the crucified and risen Christ - who lives in me, and I in Him.