(Unfortunately, there was a recording error for this Mark 10 sermon about the Rich Man. A brief soundbyte from the sermon is included for your convenience. We apologize for any issue that causes!)

Introduction

Good morning, everyone. [If you’re a new or returning visitor, my name is Devon Rossman. I’m the senior pastor here at Fellowship Reformed Church in Mt Pleasant, MI. And I’d like to extend you a warm welcome. I’m glad you’re here worshiping with us.]

This morning we’ll be returning to a sermon series that I started last Fall. We took a short break over the summer. But today we’ll continue working through a part of the Bible called Mark. You may remember, the book of Mark is focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ. And from Mark Chapter 1, verse 1, onward, Mark’s been making the case that Jesus’s arrival is the ultimate good news of history. Because Jesus is the kingly Son of God – the one who will rescue and restore God’s people. And Mark defends his point by telling us what Jesus said and did.

And these things have been extraordinary. Jesus’s public ministry was heralded in advance by a prophet named John. Jesus was declared to be God’s beloved Son by an audible voice from heaven. As we went around teaching, Jesus cured people of skin diseases and paralysis. He overpowered evil spirits. He calmed storms. He raised dead people to life. He challenged the Jewish teachers of his day, and he spoke with confidence and authority about the true interpretation of God’s law. Jesus forgave people of their sins. He multiplied bread and fish, to feed crowds of thousands of people. And on a high mountain, he even revealed his divine glory visibly, to certify his identity. Jesus Christ is the true Son of God – the greatest figure to ever walk the face of the earth.

And yet as Jesus teaches his disciples about the kingdom of God, he speaks in parables. And he says confusing things that his disciples weren’t expecting. He says that he, God’s chosen King will be rejected and killed by men. He says that to be truly great, you need to humble yourself and be the servant of all. He indicates that the kingdom of heaven can’t be earned – it can only be received.

And this is where we pick up in our text. Jesus is continuing to explain how the kingdom of God operates. And so if you have a Bible nearby and you haven’t already – please turn with me to Mark, Chapter 10. I’ll be reading from Mark Chapter 10, starting at verse 17. But before I read our text, let’s ask for God to press His Word home to us this morning. Let’s pray:

[Pray and Read Text]

Back when I was a college student, one of the things that I enjoyed – I would do this for exercise – is I would play Ultimate Frisbee. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s kind of like American football. But, of course, you use a frisbee – not a ball – and you don’t wear pads. There’s no tackling. Actually, it’s quite different. Anyway, I often played pick-up games of Ultimate Frisbee a couple times a week. And rather often, new people would drop in to play who I didn’t know. Most of the time, the newcomers were all about the same skill level – pretty average. But every so often, a guy would show up – and right away it’d be obvious that he’s at a level above everybody else. Right – you can probably imagine what this ideal athlete was like. Usually he was about 6’4″, or even taller – usually kind of lean, but muscular. And as you watched him warm up, it’d be obvious that he’s agile, he’s fast, and he can control the disc. And so whenever I would see guys like this, I knew – this guy has Ultimate Frisbee mastered. Because he has everything going for him. He checks all the boxes. You can just see it.

Now I say this, because in our text – there’s a man who runs up to Jesus, here. And this man – he’s not necessarily the ideal frisbee player – but from all appearances, he’s the sort of guy who would have looked like the ideal disciple for Jesus. As the disciples watched, this is the sort of guy they would have said has mastered the good life. This man has checked all the boxes. Surely he’s well on his way to getting into the kingdom of heaven! But Jesus has an important lesson for his disciples here. This rich man isn’t actually as rich and well-off as he appears to be. In fact, this man is far from the kingdom, because he hasn’t seen his poverty and his need for God.

And as we consider Jesus’s teaching in the text, here, I want to break down these verses under five headings. If you’re taking notes, these five points will give some structure to my sermon. First, we’ll see the rich man’s desire to inherit the kingdom. (The desire to inherit the kingdom). Second, we’ll see Jesus’s directions to acquire the kingdom. Third, we’ll see the man’s decision to abandon the kingdom. Fourth, we’ll consider the great difficulty of entering the kingdom. And then fifth and finally, we’ll give attention to the deity who opens the kingdom. That’s where we’re going.

The Desire to Inherit the Kingdom

So let’s start by looking at the rich man’s desire to inherit the kingdom. As our text opens in verse 17, you’ll notice that there’s a brief comment. We’re told that Jesus is about to leave on a journey. It’s such a brief statement – I think most of us skip right over it. But this is actually a significant turning point in the book of Mark. Because up until this point, just about all the events of Jesus’s life we’ve been reading about – they had taken place around the Sea of Galilee – in the Northern Israel regions. That’s been the primary location of his ministry. But now – a special announcement is slipped into the text – Jesus is going on a journey. And what we’ll see over the next several weeks, is that Jesus is going South. He’s going to Jerusalem. And ultimately he’s going to the cross. That all starts here.

And as Jesus is almost ready to start this journey, suddenly, a man comes up to him. And notice how Mark describes this man to us – because in many ways, this man seems like he would be the ideal candidate to be a Christian.

The first thing Mark tells us in verse 17 is that this man ran up to Jesus. He ran. This is a significant comment. Because grown men in Jewish culture almost never ran. It was usually considered to be undignified. You only ran if there was something urgent – if you considered something to be very important. So we see how eager this man is for Jesus, because he runs to him.

It’s worth asking, is this your attitude, as you come to Christ? Is prayer time a highlight of your day – something that you run to. Are you eager for Jesus? Eager for gathered worship on Sunday, and for fellowship with his people? Eager to read and reflect on the Word of Christ?

But in addition to this eagerness, we also see that this man had good etiquette. Because the next thing we see in verse 17, is that he knelt before Jesus. He recognized that Jesus is a figure of authority. He recognized that Jesus was worthy of honor. And so this man wasn’t overly casual. And he wasn’t awkwardly stiff and unsure of himself, like a middle school boy learning how to ice skate. But as he came to Jesus, he had exactly the right impulse. And he lowered himself out of respect for Jesus’s presence. He had the right etiquette.

And as we go through the account, we see that this man has the right ethics. He states that he’s been observing the ten commandments ever since he was young. This man has affluence. Apparently he’s been smart, hard-working, and good at making money. So now, in terms of his social standing – he’s very well off. And of course, at the end of verse 17, this man asks a rather good question – the right type of question. He asks Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

And so from what he asks, we can see – this man has a desire to inherit the kingdom of God. He’s interested in spiritual things. He has enthusiasm about Jesus. From the appearance of everything, this looks like the ideal follower of Jesus.

And maybe you can even resonate a bit with this man. You’re excited about Jesus. You’re well-mannered. You align pretty well with the moral standards of the Bible. Your life is filled with God’s blessings. And you’re interested to ask questions and learn more. You and I might be tempted to think – well, I check all the boxes. I must really be something. Surely I’m the sort of person who should have a spot on Jesus’s team, and a place in the kingdom of heaven.

The Directions to Acquire the Kingdom

And yet as this man asks about what he needs to do to inherit eternal life, Jesus answers him in a rather unusual way. And this brings us to the directions that Jesus gives for acquiring the kingdom. This is my second point – the directions to acquire the kingdom.

The first unusual thing Jesus does comes right after the man’s question. Because after the rich man asks, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus actually responds with a question of his own. In verse 21, he says, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Now why does Jesus respond this way? Well, he’s actually doing two things at once. For one thing, here in the Bible, Jesus insists that human beings are not naturally good. Knowing God isn’t just a way for good people to become an even better version of themselves. But Jesus clearly teaches that the human heart is evil. It’s been poisoned by sin, ever since the beginning, when the first man and woman rebelled against God. Jesus is simply echoing other parts of the Bible, where this same point is affirmed: “None is righteous; No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one.” And so that’s the first thing Jesus does here. He clarifies the real, natural condition of the human heart.

But when Jesus asks, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” Jesus is also putting this man on the spot, and asking him – who do you think I am? Because if Jesus is just an ordinary man, then he’s not good. He’s corrupted under sin like everybody else. The only way that Jesus can be truly good – is if he’s not an ordinary man. The only way he can be good, is if he’s actually the good God of heaven, come down in human flesh – which is who he is! And so Jesus questions this man – “Why do you call me good? If you’re going to call me good, you need to be prepared to call me your God. And if you’re going to call me your God, then I must be your top priority. I must have the first-place position in your heart.”

Jesus is trying to get through to this man. Because the rich man, who perhaps thinks he knows Jesus, actually doesn’t. And this man, who probably thinks that he’s good – he needs to see that he isn’t. In fact, he needs to see that the question he asked Jesus is actually the wrong question. Because this man has inquired, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This man is assuming that he can do what it takes. He just needs to know what God’s asking for – and then no problem, he’s got it.

But really, he can’t do it. Jesus reminds him what he would actually have to do be deserving of eternal life. He would have to be perfect. He would have to totally meet God’s moral standard. And in verse 19, Jesus reminds him what that standard involves. He says, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, Honor your father and mother’.” By reflecting on God’s commands, the rich man should be able to see that he comes up short. He should be able to see that his best attempts at doing are never going to get him eternal life. He should be able to see that no one is good but God alone.

But the rich man totally misses the point. He can’t see his corruption and his spiritual poverty. And so in verse 21, this rich man responds to Jesus and says, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” He’s probably just thinking of his outward actions, here. From his perspective, he’s been outwardly well-behaved. He’s been living a very religious life. And so he assumes that he’s done enough to enter the kingdom of heaven.

But this rich man is unwilling and unable to see that underneath all his money, underneath his success, underneath his self-reliance and his religious activities – he’s actually a sick and sinful man, in desperate need of God’s mercy. He seems to be unaware of all the sins he’s committed against God inwardly – in his boastful thoughts, his selfish motives, his greedy desires, and in his idolatrous priorities. He doesn’t see that he’s guilty.

And surely, this is because he has the idea that guilty people – well, those are the gang members or terrorists. Guilty people are the people with drug issues. People are guilty if they’re womanizers, or cowards, or lazy pigs. But that’s not him. No – he’s a good person. That’s what he thinks. Maybe this is how you think about yourself. So he tells Jesus, “I’ve done all these things since childhood.” And how do you think he’s expecting Jesus to respond?

He’s probably thinking Jesus will say, “Wow. You’ve done so much! You’re the perfect example of what a good person should be.” It’s possible that’s even why this rich man came to Jesus in the first place. Maybe he wanted that affirmation or assurance – so he could feel better about himself and his spirituality. That wouldn’t be a strange thing. Even today, that’s why some people go to church. Sometimes that’s why they read the Bible or pray – they do it because they want people around them to say, “Good job, you’re such a good person.” They’re looking for that type of affirmation and assurance.

And yet when the rich man comes around, that’s not the feedback Jesus gives him. Because even though this man is swimming in earthly blessings, even though he’s moral, even though his life feels clean and happy on the outside – this man is still dead in his sins, and on the road to Hell! He’s far away from eternal life, and the tragic thing is that he’s oblivious! He can’t see it.

But Jesus can. So out of love – compassion – Jesus sets out to expose this man’s sinfulness. He puts his finger right on the rich man’s biggest sin issue, which is the rich man’s love of money. And he identifies the rich man’s greatest need, which is Jesus himself. We see this in verse 21: “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’”

Jesus essentially tells the rich man – there’s one thing you still need if you’re going to enter the kingdom. You don’t need your money. In fact, you’ve been loving and trusting in your money instead of God, and because of it, you’re guilty of sin. It’s become a false god for you that you need to send away. You don’t need your money. But – Jesus says – the one thing you need in order to enter the kingdom of heaven is me. You need to trust me.

Jesus lays it out really simply for him – if you’re really serious about eternal life, you need to give up the delusion that you’re rich, & moral, & good – you need to face the reality of your poverty. And you need to come to me. Come follow me, Jesus says. Come, trust in me. That’s what Jesus puts before the rich man, here.

The Decision to Abandon the Kingdom

But the rich man says no. He makes the decision to abandon the kingdom. And this brings us to my third point from the text. [The decision to abandon the kingdom.] We see how the rich man responds to Jesus in verse 22. “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” The rich man doesn’t come. He goes away. He ultimately turns Jesus down.

Now don’t forget, here – this man – he seemed like an ideal disciple, right? He came to listen to Jesus on his own initiative. He was excited! He was motivated to live a good, moral life. He was well-off – a good businessman who had his act together. Honestly, if a guy like this showed up at church one Sunday, you’d probably think – this man is definitely on his way into the kingdom.

But over time, the real condition of this man’s heart became clear. A day came that this man had to decide – is his Lord and Savior going to be his money, or is it going to be Jesus? And what we see is that this man wouldn’t stop worshipping money. There was just one sin that this man couldn’t let go of. And yet that one sin is all it took to cost him eternal life. Because that one sin kept him from turning in faith to Jesus.

There’s an important concept we see here. Very important. There are people in the Church today who think that you can have saving faith, without turning from sin. But that’s bogus. Faith and repentance are linked, and can’t be separated. They’re two sides of the same coin. Turning toward Jesus in faith necessarily means that you’ll be turning away from your sin – all your sin, whenever you do it, whenever you see it. Because trusting the promises of sin and trusting the promises of Jesus are two different roads that go in two different directions. You can’t travel both roads at the same time! But setting out on one road necessarily means that you’ll have to turn your back on another.

I want to be clear with this. I’m not saying we’ll suddenly become immune from sinning. Believers should understand, they’ll still have a lifelong struggle against temptation and sin. And yet for the Christian, our faith in Jesus will always mean that we’re confessing our sin, we’re turning from it, and we’re entrusting ourselves to Jesus to make us clean. This is the road of believing and relying on Jesus – the road that leads to eternal life.

But grievously this isn’t the road that the rich man takes. And it’s interesting – you can tell that the rich man is miserable about it. The text says he was sorrowful about it. He seems to be aware that he’s making the wrong choice. But at the end of the day, his sorrow and regret don’t help him. Because the reality is that he still chose the wrong road. He has to face the consequences. And for each of us – especially those who are starting a new school year, you need to consider, what will your priorities be this year. Which road is your life going to take?

The Difficulty of Entering the Kingdom

You’ll see, though, when the rich man turns away, it creates a teachable moment. And Jesus takes the opportunity to explain to his disciples how difficult it is for rich people to enter the kingdom. This is my fourth point: the difficulty of entering the kingdom.

In verse 23, after the rich man leaves, we’re told that “Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’” And after Jesus sees how surprised his disciples are by the comment, in verse 24, Jesus doubles down on it. “Children, how difficult 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Now, the reason why the disciples are surprised by this – the reason why they ask Jesus, “Who then can be saved?” is because among the Jews at that time, if you were rich, everyone assumed that God was blessing you! God must be pleased with you! So if you were rich, it implied that you had the best shot out of anybody to get special favor from God in the future.

But Jesus denies all this. Rich people aren’t any better off! In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for rich people to earn a ticket into eternal life.

As a side note, in some corners of the internet, there’s a story that the “eye of a needle” was the name of a small gate in Jerusalem. And it’s claimed that Jesus was just talking about the difficulty of a camel crawling through that gate in a humble position, on its knees. But even though that imagery is quite interesting, there’s no historical basis for that story. And Jesus’s point isn’t just that it’s really hard for rich people to bow themselves down to get into the kingdom of God. But in verse 27, Jesus clearly says that it’s impossible. “With man it is impossible.” If it depended on a rich person’s goodness, or a rich person’s decision-making, or a rich man’s sense of need for God – he would never make it into the kingdom. Humanity is polluted with sin. And because our sensibilities are so warped and corrupted – no human being, rich or poor, strong or weak, educated or ignorant – no human being can get ourselves in. “With man it is impossible.”

Since we live in Michigan – we don’t see camels very often. So I want to make sure you realize, an average camel is six or seven feet tall at the shoulder. They’re easily ten feet long, and they often weigh over 1,000 pounds. It’s the biggest wild animal that lived in that region. But Jesus says that it’s easier to fit that camel through the eye of a sewing needle – through that tiny little hole – than it is for a rich man to enter heaven. You might as well ask me to squeeze a semi-truck into a thimble. It’s hopeless! Jesus’s whole point is that it can’t be done.

In order to do what it takes to get eternal life, you have to be absolutely perfect, to be just as noble and flawless and good as God is. But Jesus tells us what we should already know is true – with sinful mankind, that achievement is impossible. No one is good but God alone! Jesus is trying to help us see how bankrupt we are. On its own, the human soul is destitute, poverty-stricken, powerless.

The Deity Who Opens the Kingdom

And yet that’s not where Jesus leaves us. Because even though it’s impossible for man to enter the kingdom on his own – God can do what man can’t. And this brings us to my fifth and final point, about the deity who opens the kingdom. Because Jesus finishes his comment in verse 27 – and he says, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

And by making this comment, Jesus urges his disciples to trust in God. And he urges us, too, to trust that God can do what we’re incapable of. God can wash away the filth of our sin. God can clothe us with perfect rightness, as though we’ve kept his law completely. God can make us new, by His Holy Spirit, and give us the gifts of repentance and saving faith, to unite us to Christ. And through all this, God can open wide the door of eternal life, even for sinners like us!

In fact, here in our text, the Son of God was in the very process of making it happen. Jesus was perfectly obeying God’s law, for the sake of his people. He was on his way to the cross for us, to pay the full debt for our crimes against God. As our Lord, and our God, Jesus was making the impossible possible.

And because of his work, the person who has Jesus has eternal life. In fact, there’s an added fulness of life that we even begin to experience now. Because when Peter declares that he and other disciples have left everything behind in order to have Christ – notice what Jesus says in verse 29. He says, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life.”

See, there’s a promise Jesus makes, here, about this life, that whatever family or possessions we have to leave behind to follow Jesus – we’ll gain a hundredfold, along with persecutions. It might seem like a strange promise, at first. But the promise Jesus gives – the great treasure that Christians are granted in this life – is actually the promise of the Church. Because when we’re joined to Christ, Christians are really and truly joined to one another. It’s not just that we’re like family – but Christians in the Church are family. And we’re given to each other for self-sacrificial love, for accountability, for companionship, for support in times of need. Christ has designed local churches to be a treasure and encouragement in this life. And it’s also intended to be a confirming sign that the other part of the promise – eternal life – is just as real, just as certain.

Eternal life can be hard to be confident of sometimes. After all, I can’t raise dead people. I can’t undo the effects of sin. I can’t guarantee anything good about the future. It’s impossible for me – impossible for us. But God, in his love and kindness, has done the impossible. He’s given us a Savior to be our sacrifice, to bring us saving faith, and to break open the door to eternal life. And this Jesus urges you – turn from your idols, abandon your false hopes and your sins. And in faith, come follow me. Let’s be people who do that today. Let’s pray: