Focus 40: Week 6

March 25, 2012

Luke 18:18-30

¹⁸ A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’^[a]” ²¹ “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. ²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” ²³ When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. ²⁴ Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.²⁶ Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁷ Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” ²⁸ Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” ²⁹ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God ³⁰ will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

The ruler in this passage recognized that Jesus knew the way to attain eternal life.  He was also confident that he had been a good person. Yet when Christ tells him that this is not enough to earn eternal life, he is saddened.  Christ asked him to forsake all that mattered to him and join him in His ministry.  Christ did not ask the ruler if he was willing to leave everything, he required it. 

                

How could Christ require that someone put everything second to Christ?  Christ said that this was necessary to attain eternal life.  Christ assured Peter that since he left everything, his business, home, and family, to be with Him, he would blessed over and over again in this world, and have eternal life.

               

It’s easier to profess that Christ is the way to eternal life.  It’s easier to rest on the good things we’ve done.  Christ though requires all of us.  Christ must be first – ahead of our home, our job, our family, our wealth.  Following Christ has a high price, but the reward is eternal.