Mark 10:17, commentary and pictures

As He was going forth into the way, a young ruler of great possessions and responsibility came running and kneeled before Him with reverent salute, asking what good thing he should do to inherit eternal life.
He was moved by Jesus' tender welcome of the children, which stirred love for Him and longing to be His disciple and to have his soul-want satisfied as the children were blessed.
He came sincerely and earnestly, yet with a high estimate of his own righteousness as one defective in nothing while still feeling the want of something he did not possess.
Calling Him Good Master as merely an honored rabbi, he was met with the truth that none is good but God to test whether he discerned the Son of God, and was told that entering life is by keeping from the heart the commandments that express God's character and duty to fellow men.
Jesus looked on him with love and exposed his plague-spot of covetousness and selfish love of riches, calling him to imitate Christ's self-denying life by selling all, giving to the poor, and following Him to treasure in heaven, but he went away very sorrowful and chose earthly treasure above the immortal inheritance, showing that gaining eternal life requires complete surrender of all that competes with Christ.

The Coming Ruler

The one who came was a young ruler with great possessions and a position of responsibility. He is also set forth as a deceived young lawyer in whom there still lingered a desire for the heavenly inheritance. As Jesus was going forth into the way, the man came running to Him and kneeled before Him with reverent salute.

He had been moved by Jesus' tender welcome of the children, which stirred love for Jesus in him and a desire to become His disciple. He wanted Jesus to bless him as He had blessed the little children and to satisfy his soul-want. He came sincerely and earnestly, yet with a high estimate of his own righteousness, thinking himself defective in nothing while still feeling the want of something he did not possess. He was sincere in saying he had kept the commandments from his youth, yet he lacked discernment of his need for wholehearted devotion to God and Christian goodness, needing to become humble and contrite and to rely on Christ's perfection rather than his own goodness.

He came in a spirit of self-righteousness like that in which Judas came, to all appearances righteous but unresponsive to divine enlightenment. He represents some whom the Lord is calling to engage in His service, talented persons who could become preachers of righteousness and successful workers for Christ if fully surrendered, giving themselves unreservedly to God and accepting self-sacrifice. His coming pictures those who come with longing for true knowledge when the decided message is proclaimed with a certain sound, distinct from those who come only from curiosity to hear a strange message. It also pictures a soul convicted of danger asking how to receive eternal life, while Satan was present to stir priests and rulers against Christ and hinder His saving work.

The Earnest Question

The inquiry is what good deed must be performed in order to obtain eternal life. It is a life-and-death matter that each person must settle for eternity. It should be kept constantly before each person. It turns attention to the great truths of salvation rather than to minor or distracting subjects.

It is the question with which every reasoning person should begin. It is the question that matters to every person. It expresses the need to gain knowledge of the future life. To ask it is to decide at once, without a moment's delay, to leave the black banner of rebellion. That rebellion is under Satan, who rebelled in heaven and caused Christ to be crucified. The decision is to take a position on the side of Christ, Prince Emmanuel, the side of Omnipotence, acknowledging Him as Saviour and Leader and following His example of self-denial.

The question is especially urgent for those whose riches hinder the building of character. Such riches keep them from seeing that without Christ they need everything. Learning how to answer the question requires progressing step by step in the simplicity of true godliness. Teachers must begin at the first, lowest step and guide students upward, since advanced instruction has little value before they are ready.

Goodness and Commandments

The address “Good Master” treated Him merely as an honored rabbi, without discerning in Him the Son of God. Jesus met that title with the truth that none is good but God, testing whether the man understood who He was and truly regarded Him as good. To call Him good on that ground means receiving Him as God’s Son and representative.

He answered that entering life is by keeping the commandments, quoting those commandments that define duty to fellow men. God’s character is expressed in His law, and being in harmony with God requires the principles of His law to be the spring of every action. Obedience from the heart is necessary for salvation and brings life, for outward keeping is not enough while the heart remains close and covetous.

The encounter opens the way to correct the idea that God’s favor and the reward of the righteous can be earned by works, and to teach the right principles of God’s free grace. The plain word of God answers the question of what must be done to inherit eternal life: the gospel dispels difficulties and enlarges understanding, and its answer is bound up with the Holy Spirit’s work of grace and with Jesus Christ, the Lord our righteousness. The direct positive question received a direct positive answer requiring giving all powers and all strength to God in His service. Giving all strength to God in this way does not unfit a person for life on earth but gives a right hold on heaven for representing the love of Christ to the perishing and being a blessing to others through intelligent knowledge of Jesus and His religion and prayer in faith to God.

Wealth Exposed and Refused

When asked what he still lacked, the ruler declared he had kept all the commandments from his youth, and he was sincere in saying so. His claim did not mean he possessed their inner principle, which is true love for God and for other people. He lacked discernment of his need for wholehearted devotion to God and Christian goodness, and he needed to become humble and contrite and to rely on Christ's perfection rather than his own goodness.

Jesus looked on him with pity and love and exposed his defect and true character and deficiency. That defect was selfishness and love of worldly gain, the plague-spot of covetousness. He had failed to keep the law from the heart, for he did not love his neighbor as himself. His selfish love of riches was a defect that would bar him from heaven if not removed, because while affections rest on worldly treasure they are withdrawn from God. His high position and possessions subtly harmed his character because, if cherished, they took God's place in his affections.

Christ set before him His own self-denying, cross-bearing life, having left everything for the salvation of men. He had left His riches and glory and became poor so that man through His poverty might be made rich, and He required nothing more than He Himself had experienced. He called the young man to imitate that example by selling all he had, giving to the poor, blessing the widow and fatherless, being rich in good works, transferring his treasure to heaven, taking up the cross and following Him, with assurance of treasure in heaven. Giving up wealth for the suffering poor was a sacrifice that brought treasure in heaven, and the bread of life is found in such sacrifice. Jesus thus offered him companionship and the privilege of following Him, demanding no greater sacrifice than Christ Himself had made.

He went away very sorrowful because he had great possessions. To him riches were honor and power, and disposing of so much seemed impossible. His love for riches proved stronger than his love for his fellow men and the immortal inheritance. His sorrowful turning from the cross showed his earthly treasures were his idol eclipsing the value of the eternal inheritance. He wanted both worlds, but after a struggle he deliberately chose to continue loving earthly treasures, rejecting Christ's inducement and conditions and offer of treasure in heaven because he would not comply with the conditions. The strength of his affection for earthly riches triumphed, so that heaven with all its attractive glory was sacrificed for the treasures of the world, and he renounced immortal life for the love of money and power in a miserable exchange.

Had he kept the commandments his possessions would not have been so great, for such selfish accumulation cannot exist with loving God with all heart and mind and strength and loving neighbor as self. Distributing to the poor would have made him happier and given him greater heavenly treasure with less earth to fix his affections on. Here is the danger of riches to the avaricious man, that the more he gains the harder generosity becomes, until diminishing wealth feels like parting with life, and he turns from the immortal reward to retain and increase earthly possessions by plotting and striving for self. Outward commandment-keeping is not enough while the heart is close and covetous. Stretching required economy into meanness, tithing mint and rue while neglecting weightier matters, and watching others and refusing to help unless they follow the same rigid course, shows the true spirit of sacrifice acceptable to God is lacking and the soul withers under that error.

Discipleship and Present Application

Merely wanting heaven does not save when Christ's conditions are refused, for obedience to God's law and to Christ's words must enter the life and shape the character, and that obedience is the only hope of salvation for forming a perfect Christian character. Those who belong to God's kingdom surrender themselves and all they have to Christ, using their entrusted means in His work, and accepting that service is part of the way He saves them. Following Christ requires complete obedience and self-surrender, giving up all that one has and is. That demand to cut away what stands in the way is not limited to people with high positions or great possessions but is the rule for all disciples, since anything held onto when it would corrupt the whole person must be cut away and nothing less than obedience can be accepted.

Gaining eternal life requires following Christ and surrendering whatever competes with Him, accepting Him as leader rather than turning away to choose the world. Holding back anything from God weakens moral strength and usefulness, for high position and possessions subtly harm character when cherished, taking God's place in the affections until cherished worldly things become all-absorbing. The command to sell, give to the poor, and follow presents the great test used at the final judgment, proving that the spirit of love and self-sacrifice is the touchstone of character that decides eternal life. The question pictures many who profess to follow Christ yet are unprepared for heaven, seeking the way to life but turning away when they learn it requires sacrifice.

Their works testify that they love riches more than neighbor and God, and when the way is pointed out and the cost estimated they decide heaven costs too much. The young man had great possessions with his heart set on them and could not consent to transfer his treasure to heaven by withdrawing his affections from riches and doing good with them in blessing the widow and fatherless, for his love for earthly treasure proved stronger than his love for fellow men and the immortal inheritance. He rejected Christ's offer because he would not comply with the conditions, wanting both worlds but sacrificing the heavenly for the earthly in sorrow. The same danger faces all who profess to keep all God's commandments while loving earthly treasure and loving money and power, for to cling to wealth is to return God's love poorly and to renounce immortal life in a miserable exchange of heaven for earth.

Earthly riches can make people value wealth above God, neighbors, and the heavenly inheritance, yet wealth is not one's own but lent to be used for God's glory in doing good to others. The greater the treasures laid up on earth, the more difficult it is to realize they are lent for that purpose. The question calls for earnest searching of the Bible and for doing everything in word and deed in the name of the Lord Jesus for God's glory with thanksgiving through Christ. The Bible is the book that teaches how eternal life is gained, and its history lessons should be kept before youth in schools so that those with no love for God and no interest in spiritual things may become interested and learn to love the word.

It is the urgent concern to which Christian workers are to devote their abilities, rather than spending time teaching about the new earth or pursuing foolish ideas born of curiosity. Each person should prayerfully ask the question in connection with care of the body, since choices about habits, appetite, and health belong to responsibility before God and bear on eternal life. Parents must apply the question to their responsibility to understand and show their children the way to eternal life, presenting God's plan of salvation rightly and leading their household to Him.