Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 18:18 - 18:23

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 18:18 - 18:23


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

Denying All for Christ's Sake.

The rich young ruler:

v. 18. And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

v. 19. And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? None is good save one, that is, God.

v. 20. Thou knowest the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother.

v. 21. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

v. 22. Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.

v. 23. An/d when he heard this, he was very sorrowful; for he was very rich.

See Mat_19:16-22; Mar_10:17-22. Jesus was still on the eastern side of the Jordan when the incident occurred which is here narrated. A young rich ruler of a local synagogue came to him and asked him, with all marks of respect and esteem: Good Master, by the doing of what. will I inherit eternal life? The question gave Jesus one of the best opportunities of confessing Himself to be coequal with God the Father. For He did not decline the honor which lay in the word "good. " But He called the attention of the ruler to the word he had used. Jesus was not only good in the sense commonly associated with the word, that of a virtuous man and wise teacher. He is the Good in the absolute sense. So much for the form in which the young man had addressed Him. As for his question, he had mentioned works, he had expressed his belief that the inheriting of eternal life depended upon something that he could do. Jesus takes him up at this point. He reminds him of the commandments which, as ruler of the synagogue, he certainly must be familiar with. Note: Jesus does not quote the commandments in the order which is generally followed, thus showing that not the order of the precepts of God, but the keeping of their contents, is the important matter. But when Jesus had named five of the commandments, all of them from the second table of the Law, the ruler made the astounding statements: These all have I kept from my youth, thereby proving that he had no true idea of the spiritual understanding of the Law of God. His conception of his duty according to the commandments was that universally held among the Jews, namely, that a mere outward observance of the letter of the Law was equal to its fulfillment; Only transgressions in deeds and, under certain circumstances, in words were accounted sin; transgressions in desires and thoughts were not taken into consideration. The ruler had evidently made his declaration in good faith, and Jesus loved him for it, Mar_10:21. Nevertheless, it was necessary for the great Physician to cut deeply in this case, in order to lay bare the tumor of false sanctity. So Jesus told him that he still lacked one thing in order to be perfect and thus to lay claim to the inheritance of heaven. Everything that he had he should distribute to the poor; then he would have a treasure safely laid away in heaven, then, also, he could be the Lord's disciple in truth. The Lord's object was to show the man how far he still was from keeping the commandments as he should, how far from perfect his love toward God and his neighbor was, how completely his heart was still bound up in the things of this world. The advice of Jesus strikes the heart of the matter, and finds its application in the case of every person. We should love God above all things, and if He demands it, if the welfare of the kingdom of God makes it necessary, we should be ready to sacrifice all earthly goods and life itself; and we should at all times serve our neighbor with our money. The test was too much for the young man. He was deeply grieved, he became very sorrowful on account of the words of Jesus. He had been touched in his weakest spot; he was very rich. In giving up his riches he would be denying himself that which his heart placed even above the love and service of Jesus. Thus many people that once heard the Word of God and were attracted by some phase of church work, have turned their backs upon the Church, and everything it stands for and offers, because their Pharisaic hearts were struck by some sermon concerning their special sinful hobby. It is necessary at all times that the Word of God, the Law, tear the mask of self-righteousness from the face of the sinner before he can become a disciple of Jesus in deed and in truth.