Luke 18:18-30
18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
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.
23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
26 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?
27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.
29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
The Grace New Testament Commentary - Luke 18:18-30
18:18 Luke's narrative brings to the fore someone on the opposite side of the social scale from children. The ruler's question reveals his perspective regarding Jesus and eternal life. He considers Jesus a "Good Teacher" and "eternal life" as a meritorious inheritance. His question does not distinguish between entrance into the kingdom and enrichment in it. He sees both facets as meritorious. However, Luke's narrative has already shown that merit does not play any role in entering (cf. v 17). This ruler needed to see Jesus as the Messiah (both God and Man) and comprehend the primary, essential, and gratuitous nature of eternal life as a gift.
18:19 Jesus first challenges the ruler's perception of Him and then deals with his understanding of eternal life. At first, it might seem that Jesus distances Himself from the designation "God." However, He clarifies the ruler's conception of what good means - only God "is good" and, He arouses curiosity in the ruler regarding His (Jesus') own identity. If only God qualifies as good, Jesus' question all but confirms His own identity as God. Jesus here not only uses the Law lawfully to lead people to Himself, but He also functions in much the same way as the Holy Spirit would (in His work of conviction of sinners, cf. John 16:8-11) once He, Himself, had returned to heaven. When Jesus promised that He would send another Helper, He affirms that He had - during His own earthly ministry - already carried out similar functions to the Holy Spirit's future work.
18:20 The next facet of Jesus' answer addresses the question posed by the ruler. Jesus pointed Him to the Mosaic Law under which both He and the ruler lived. "The commandments" of the Law prescribed God's specific standards for obedience. Consequently to merit eternal life - as a reward - would require doing these things (cf. Gal 3:10-12; James 2:10-11).
18:21 The ruler's answer simultaneously reveals his self-righteousness and sets him up for Jesus' startling assessment of his chances of inheriting eternal life. Also the very fact that he felt the need to ask the question in the first place may evidence a hint of insecurity in the rich ruler.
18:22 Jesus waits to hear the ruler's response before answering. Characteristic of that generation, the ruler lacked "one thing" - love for God and others (or faith, see comments on v 23). So Jesus challenged him with the two complementary commandments that reflected the two greatest ones - love for God and for others (cf. Mark 12:28-31).
18:23 The ruler's significant sorrow mirrored the great wealth he possessed. The ruler made no counter offers; he understood the Lord's response with clarity. Faith could conceivably constitute the one thing the ruler lacked. Nevertheless, love seems to fit more with the emphasis on the commandments (v 20) and the ruler's response - All these things I have kept from my youth (v 21). In either case the Lord Jesus skillfully provides him with the truth he needed at that moment - truth that could lead the ruler to belief in Him as Savior.
18:24 As before, Jesus speaks after noting the ruler's response. The ruler could have entered "the kingdom of God" by simple belief in Jesus. His great riches, however, posed an obstacle to belief because - at that point in his life - he trusted in them instead (cf. Mark 10:23-27).
18:25 To heighten the difficulty attending a rich person's entrance into the kingdom (by simple belief in the Lord Jesus Christ) Jesus offers an amazing analogy about "a camel" attempting to pass through "the eye of a needle." Trust in riches often competes against simple belief in Christ (cf. Mark 10:24).
18:26 Jesus' comparative illustration elicits shock from the disciples. Their question does not reflect self-doubt regarding their own salvation. It possibly relates to their own perception of who will most likely receive their message when they go out on their missions.
18:27 The Lord Jesus offers the solution to the characteristic difficulty in the salvation of a rich person. In fact, as Luke's narrative progresses, Zacchaeus, a rich man, receives salvation (cf. Luke 19:1-10). The disciples would experience evangelistic success with all kinds of people (including the rich) because of God's power in facilitating belief (cf. Matt 19:26 and Mark 10:27).
18:28 The narrative then transitions from the rich ruler's need to believe in Jesus to the recompense that faithful believers can expect. Peter's exclamation includes an implicit question. Jesus had promised the ruler treasure in heaven as a recompense for his potential obedience. Peter wants to know what his actual response of following Jesus would gain for him and his faithful colleagues.
18:29 With the guarantee - "Assuredly, I say to you" - Jesus promises rewards to everyone who has made personal sacrifices on the pathway of discipleship. These difficult choices all count as sacrifices "for the sake of the kingdom of God." This promise does not contradict Biblical commands to love and provide for one's family (cf. Eph 5:25-33: 1 Tim 5:8). Discipleship may demand temporary absences but not a forsaking of family.
18:30 Jesus says that anyone who has sacrificed the security of his home and close family ties will receive a rich recompense "in this present time, and in the age to come everlasting life." Everlasting life here cannot refer to the gift of eternal life conditioned on simple belief. The possession of eternal life comes solely as a free gift to all who believe Jesus' eternally binding promise - "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has eternal life" (John 6:47). God grants this gift in the present the very instant anyone believes in Jesus (see Luke 5:24-25). The promise here therefore refers to a future reward - enhanced enjoyment of eternal life in the coming kingdom - as well as "many times more" [than the sacrifice one has made] in this present time. Thus God will graciously and abundantly repay both in this life and the one to come.
Charles Bing - Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship - The Rich Young Ruler, Matthew 19:16-22 (cf. Mark 10:17-27, Luke 18:18-23)
(Salvation) Interpretation: If a person is unwilling to forsake everything and follow Jesus, he cannot be saved.
Second (Salvation) Interpretation: If a person is unwilling to forsake everything and follow Jesus, he should know that this disqualification for discipleship also proves he fails to meet the perfect righteousness needed for salvation, and therefore needs a Savior.
This story is frequently used to teach that salvation comes only to those who are willing to commit everything to God. At first glance, it may seem that way. However, if we accept that interpretation, some pertinent questions arise.
First and foremost, if Jesus is telling this rich man how to be saved, why is there no discussion of Jesus as the Messiah, His saving work, or believing in Him as Savior? Second, if Jesus is giving the man the way of salvation, then isn't He insisting that he not only keep the law perfectly, but fulfill all its implications, such as give all he owns to the poor? Third, in this interpretation, isn't Jesus' reference to eternal salvation as "treasure in heaven" unusual and even unique as a reference to salvation? Fourth, if Jesus is teaching that salvation is difficult, doesn't He immediately contradict Himself in the subsequent discussion with the disciples when He says salvation is "impossible" apart from God's intervention? Fifth, wouldn't this interpretation directly contradict the Bible's clear teaching that salvation is not by keeping the Law or by doing works (Rom. 3:20-4:5; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5)?
In no other personal encounter does Jesus tell anyone that he or she must sell everything and give all to the poor to be saved. He does mention that a disciple must be willing to forsake everything, even his own life (Luke 14:26, 33), but as we have already seen, this is a condition for discipleship, not salvation.
Context comes to the rescue. In all three synoptic accounts, this story is preceded by the story of the little children brought to Jesus, and His teaching that "of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14; cf. Matt. 18:1-5), or more helpfully in Mark and Luke's account, "whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it" (Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17). Jesus is teaching that one can only receive the kingdom of God (not earn it) like a child - through simple faith born of humility.
The rich ruler doesn't appear to be arrogant, but sincere - yet sincerely deceived. He naively thought he had kept all the Law. He had both a subtle pride and a false interpretation of the Law. Jesus' interpretation of the Law evaluated not only one's conduct, but also one's inner thoughts and motives (see Matt. 5:21-22; 27-28). Now He tests the ruler's motives by applying the command which is not mentioned, but probably behind so many of the other commands: "You shall not covet." Though the man thinks he has also kept this command, his refusal to sell all and give it to the poor shows that he still covets, "for he had great possessions." It is likely that this man had adopted the contemporary Jewish notion that the rich were especially favored or blessed by God.
His deception is three-fold: First, he is trusting in his self-righteousness ("All these things I have kept from my youth"); second, he is most likely trusting in his riches as proof of God's acceptance; and third, he has a highly deficient view of God's righteousness. When he addresses Jesus as "Good Teacher," Jesus responds with a question to expose the man's concept of God's goodness. By responding "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God," Jesus sets the divine standard of acceptance as perfect goodness. In this challenge, Jesus could also be saying, "If you call Me good, then are you calling Me God?" But He is also telling the ruler that he is not good. In any case, Jesus challenges the man with his Law-keeping performance, which He then shows him is less than perfect.
The way that Jesus finally gets the man to realize his deficiency is by challenging him with a condition of discipleship and the reward of treasure in heaven. Jesus does not argue that the man has not kept the law, but for the sake of His illustration, assumes it as if He was saying, "Okay, if you have kept the law perfectly, then become My disciple by giving everything you own to the poor" (Mark adds the explicit language of discipleship, "and come take up the cross, and follow Me," Mark 10:21; see also Luke 18:22). This the man would not do, showing he was less than perfect. If he could not keep all the implications of the Law that led to following Jesus as a disciple, then perhaps he was not good enough for heaven after all, much less its rewards (In Mark and Luke's account, the man asked about how to "inherit eternal life" showing that he had in mind not only entrance into heaven, but possession of its rewards; Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18). When the man finally realizes this, he goes away sad, not only because he had great possessions (that's nothing to be sad about!), but because his self-righteousness was exposed as insufficient for entrance into heaven.
Jesus had confronted all three of the man's self-deceptions, and all were found deficient.
We might say that Jesus' dialog with the rich man is pre-evangelistic. In other words, since the man thought he was good enough for heaven, he was closed to his need for righteousness outside of himself. He was not open to the gospel truth that the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone provides entrance into heaven, and that this could not be merited by one's conduct, but only accepted through faith. Jesus jumped to a discussion of discipleship (selling possessions and giving to the poor) that would make the man reconsider his self-righteousness. It worked. Jesus teaches (Salvation) by first appealing to (Discipleship), because the young ruler asked a (Discipleship) question.
The story, when properly understood, underscores the (Salvific truth) that there is nothing we can do to earn eternal life. It also shows us that our self-righteousness is deceptively inflated, especially when compared to God's perfect standard of righteousness. The Bible says, "There is none who is good, no not one" (Rom. 3:12). Jesus says, "No one is good but One, that is, God." To enter heaven, we have to be as good as God. Since we can never be as good as God, Jesus was good for us - He fulfilled God's righteous requirements. We can now enter heaven on His merits instead of ours, if we believe in Him as our Savior.
That is the answer to the disciples' question that follows the encounter with the ruler, "Who then can be saved?" It is simply this: no one can, apart from God's righteousness provided in Jesus Christ, or in Jesus' words, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27).
Peter's implied question that follows probes Jesus' challenge to forsake all and follow Him (Matt. 19:27; Mark 10:28; Luke 18:28). It is basically this: "If entering the kingdom is only possible through God's work (implying by God's grace) and not by our work of forsaking all to follow Jesus, then what is our 'treasure in heaven' which You indicated to the young ruler was the reward for following You as a disciple?" (Matt. 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22). Jesus answers Peter's (Discipleship) question with (Discipleship): Those who forsake this world to follow Him will enjoy God's eternal life now and in the future. They will have "eternal life" as an abundant life in the present and a future possession to enjoy (as in Mark 10:30 and Luke 18:30). Matthew's wording, "inherit eternal life," emphasizes the disciples' future rewards in the kingdom that include possession of eternal life and ruling with Jesus (Matt. 19:28-30).
The story of the rich young ruler shows us that we cannot be true disciples of Jesus Christ until we acknowledge we are sinners who fall far short of God's perfect goodness and come to Jesus for that righteousness. We must experience (Salvation) before we can experience (Discipleship). Then, and only then, can we make the sacrifices of a disciple that earn us rewards in this life and the next. It is a great encouragement to know that our sacrifices and the forsaking of our own desires will bring God's abundant rewards. As for Peter, so also for us - indeed, it will be worth it!