Watch
Listen
Click here to listen to the episode on our website
Read
Devastating Minute
The text we're looking at today is often misunderstood and many times taken out of context. This story in Mark 10:17-22 is also told in Matthew 19 and Luke 18, and it's a very important message.
As he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother." And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth." 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." Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.
— Mark 10:17-22
Most of the personal encounters people had with the Lord Jesus while he was here on earth ended gloriously. Most often the people who met Jesus were healed, saved, eternally changed. However, not every meeting ended so gloriously as we just read in our text today.
In our text, we're presented with a man who had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus that ended tragically, devastating really.
I fear there are many people attending churches who are in the same condition as this young guy. They want to be saved. They want to be redeemed. They may even feel that they are redeemed, but they have no idea or understanding of what genuine biblical salvation is all about.
See, the truth of what the scriptures actually say, what true saving faith actually is, can be difficult for us to swallow, especially those of us who've been swallowing counterfeits for many, many years.
In this passage, the Lord Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms just what it takes to be redeemed.
I don't know where you stand with the Lord today. But I do know that if you are not redeemed, you need to be. And you're going to hear how you can be. If for some reason you have been misled about your salvation, then you need to hear how you can come to Jesus. All I ask is that you will let the Lord speak to your heart. And if he calls you to come, then you need to act.
If you are redeemed, let this be a lesson. Let it be a blessing to help you as you live out your faith.
Part One: The Man and His Condition
Let's be straight up. In our society, this dude would be considered quite good. Great, even.
This particular encounter is mentioned in Matthew 19, Luke 18, and here in Mark 10. All three gospel writers add additional detail concerning this man who has become known as the rich young ruler. When you add all three together, that's what he's called in theological circles—the rich young ruler.
Let's take a couple minutes to get to know him a little bit better because I think you might be able to see something that might help yourself.
See, look at the person who showed up in front of Jesus:
- All three gospels tell us that he was a rich man
- Matthew tells us that he was young (Matthew 19:22)
- Luke tells us that he was a ruler (Luke 18:18)—this probably means he was a ruler in the synagogue
When all the facts concerning this man are considered, it becomes clear that this young guy had many things going for him in his life.
He Has Youth
Youth is a wonderful thing. There is no better time to give your life to the Lord than when you're young. Most scholars have come around with the idea that he must have been between 25 and 30 years old, which to many of us is young. If you're a ruler in the synagogue at 25, 26, 27 years old—that would be young.
If you are young and you are not redeemed, let me challenge you to come to Jesus today. Don't waste your life. I read an old school preacher say this, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks. He said:
"Don't burn the candle for the devil and then blow the smoke of a wasted life in the face of God someday."
Bada bing, bada boom, huh?
Come to Jesus now while he can use you for his glory and make something special out of your life.
He Has Wealth
This young man has plenty of worldly goods. Verse 22 lays it out. Now, there's nothing wrong with having money. Money itself isn't evil. Listen now. It's when money has you—that's when problems begin to creep in.
He Has Morality and Religion
This man's living a clean, moral life. Notice that Jesus does not rebuke him when he claimed that he had kept all the commandments. Every time I read this, the first thing I think in my mind is, "Yeah, right. You kept them all from just being a little boy, right?" But Jesus doesn't dime him out. He doesn't rebuke him outwardly. This man's life is pure and clean. And that's a wonderful thing. It ought to be true about every person.
He Has Position
Luke says that he is a ruler. As I mentioned a moment ago, this probably means he's a leader in the synagogue—a man of some influence in local religious circles. That too is a good thing. And because of his high position, I think that highlighted his youth, right?
So here we got this uber-talented rich kid and everyone respects and most are probably in a little awe of this dude. He has so much so soon in life.
From every outward appearance, this man is the ideal person. He has everything a mother might want her son to be. He's clean-cut. He's religious. He's industrious. He's morally clean. And he was the envy of everyone.
But He Carried a Problem
In spite of all he had going for him, this man had one mighty big skeleton in his closet. In spite of all that he had, he still had an itch he could not scratch.
He had found that his meteoric rise in authority at such a young age had left him unsatisfied. His money had left him feeling unfulfilled. His morality, his clean living, his religious activity had not been able to satisfy the deepest longing of his soul. His swift climb up the rungs of the social ladder had failed to give him what he really wanted most.
Do you know what that was?
Peace with God.
So he comes with haste to Jesus. He falls down before the Lord and he cries out to Christ.
Maybe there are people in the same shape as this young fella. From the outward appearance, you have it made. Life's been good to you. You have a little money. Maybe you've climbed the social ladder a little bit. Maybe your name is well known and you're well thought of in the community. Maybe you're a good person. Maybe you've lived a clean, moral life. Maybe you're a leader and everybody thinks your life is complete.
In spite of all you have, there is still something missing in your life. You know you have what it takes to live. But you also know that you are unprepared to die. You have everything you want and need materially, but you do not have spiritual peace with God.
Everything looks good on the outside, but the inside's all messed up.
If that describes you, keep listening because Jesus has the word of hope for you.
Part Two: The Man and His Deception
This young man comes to Jesus and he gets several things right.
He Comes to the Right Person
He had evidently heard of Jesus and knows that if anyone can help him, Jesus can.
He Comes the Right Way
He comes running because he knows the urgency of the situation. Nothing in life is as urgent as your redemption. Life could end at any moment. And you need to make sure that you have that miracle of being someone who's unredeemable but being touched by the Savior and now you're redeemed. And that's a miracle.
He also came kneeling. Why is that important? This shows that he recognized the fact that Jesus is worthy and he is not.
When you do come to him, you will come as a broken person. It ain't going to be fun and games. There will be an understanding that you are a sinner and he is holy. There will be a desire to become low before him as our king, as our master.
1 Peter 5:6-7 says this:
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you."
Is that verse about living out your days? Or is that verse about finding peace in God and being redeemed?
He Comes for the Right Purpose
The young man came to Jesus pondering the issues of eternity. He had the most important thing on his heart. Here's a man who has it all. HE'S GOT IT ALL. Yet, with all of his power, his possessions, and his privileges, he still does not know the answer to the greatest of all questions.
He knows a lot of things, but he is forced to admit that he does not know the way to heaven.
We live in the midst of one of the most sophisticated and intellectually advanced cultures the world has ever known. Yet, people do not know the answer to the most basic and most important question of all. People do not know how to be redeemed.
Humans can split atoms, put folks on the moon, harness the power of the sun, wind, and rain, but they do not know how to get into heaven.
And you know what? Some get so frustrated by this, they resort to denial. They reject what God has written on each of his creation. There is eternity written on the heart of every human being. And you are going to be spending it somewhere. You know it. It's written on your most intimate being. You know it.
Sure, you can go deep into doubt and denial that you end up with a seared conscience and unable to reconcile with the truth. We see it all the time. And the real hard cases are those whom God has given over to a debased, depraved mind. It's so tragic, but we see it all the time.
Thankfully, Jesus has the answer for this young man, and he still has the answer that you and anyone else may need today.
He Comes at the Right Time
Now this dude shows up at just the right time. What does that mean? Don't miss this now. What does that mean?
He came when Jesus was nearby.
See, that is a mistake many people make. Folks think they can come to Jesus anytime they want to. That is not true. They think they can just come whenever it fits into their schedule.
The truth of the matter is somewhat different. People do not get to come to the Lord whenever they want. They come to Jesus when Jesus is passing close to them. That's why the Bible says what it does in Isaiah 55 and John 6.
You never get to come to him when you want. You come when he is calling you. You come when he is passing by. It's a common mistake people make to their own peril.
Isaiah 55:6 says:
"Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near."
John 6:44 says:
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day."
You know that you can't decide to give your life to Christ. God has to first call you and draw you. That's what the scriptures say, and that's what we find played out over the generations. That's how it goes.
But He Gets the Main Thing Terribly Wrong
Now, while this young guy gets several things right, he gets the main thing terribly wrong.
Look at our first verse of our text, verse 17. Notice his question:
"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Matthew's account puts it this way:
"Good teacher, what good thing must I do that I may have eternal life?"
See, this guy knows he's got a lot of good things stacked up in his corner. He seems to think that if he can just add some other good thing, then he can have salvation as a reward.
Now there are two basic problems with this question.
Problem #1: He Thinks Salvation Can Be Earned
In other words, he is looking for a do-oriented salvation. He wants to have it in his hand. He wants to be able to do the work of his hands and get it. He wants to be involved. He wants to get salvation like he's gotten everything else in his life. He wants to earn it for himself.
And I believe this is a major problem for men particularly. We want to get it ourselves.
Many people still believe that salvation is based on do. They've got to do something to get it. Be it join a church, get baptized, teach Sunday school, preach, give, become a moral person, stop sinning—the list can go on and on and on.
The Bible tells us in no uncertain terms that salvation is never about do.
Titus 3:5 says:
"He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing and regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit."
You see that? Saved us. What? Not because of anything that we did as we are trying to be righteous, but according to him and his mercy. Every person who comes to Jesus and gets new life is filled with the Holy Spirit. Every one of them.
Salvation through Jesus Christ is always about—listen now—done.
When Jesus died on the cross, what did he say? He said, "It is finished." He did it all and there's nothing you and I can do to add to it or to get it on our own.
Salvation was achieved by Jesus when he died on the cross and rose again. It is received by us when we are surrendered to Jesus as Savior and turn away from the sins that broke us. And we do all of this by faith in what he has done.
Salvation has never been about what we can do. It has always been about what he did.
The Philippian jailer had the same question to Paul and Silas in Acts 16. He said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And Paul's answer to him in verse 31 is still true today.
Paul said that there's nothing more to do but believe.
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ."
— Acts 16:31
What's he talking about? He's talking about real, authentic, solid belief and trust in Jesus to heal us and cleanse us from our sins.
And nothing has changed. If you want to be saved, you must rest in done and forget about do.
Problem #2: He Thinks Salvation Is a Reward
This rich young successful dude thinks salvation is going to be some sort of reward. He seems to think that if he can just do enough good things, then God will give him eternal life as a reward.
There are rewards in heaven, but salvation isn't one of them.
Listen to me now. Salvation is not a reward for faithful service. It is the free gift of God's grace. You could never do enough to reach a place where God would reward you with salvation. Heaven does not have a loyalty plan. You can't earn points to get rewarded.
Salvation is not a reward for service, but it is the gift of God's mercy and grace on those of us who call upon him in a broken "I don't have anything else left to give. Lord, I need you. Save me."
John 10:28 tells us this:
"I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand."
What's the word there? Give. This is Jesus talking. "I give them eternal life."
The Confrontation
When Jesus hears what the man wants, pay attention to this. He responds in an unusual manner. He confronts the young guy in two specific areas:
- He confronts him regarding the person of the Savior
- He confronts him with the problem of sin
Confrontation #1: The Person of the Savior
This young man calls Jesus "good." Jesus reminded this young man that no one was good but God.
Did you catch that when you read it?
This was designed to make the young man consider how he viewed Jesus Christ. Was Jesus just an elevated teacher as the words "good teacher" imply? Or did this young man believe Jesus to be God in the flesh?
Obviously, this man only believed that Jesus was a good teacher. And that is one of many of the man's problems.
Before he or anyone for that matter can be saved, they must come to a place where they have a correct understanding of who Jesus Christ is.
He is not a good moral man. He's not a teacher to show us the way. No, he is far more than that.
He is God in the flesh.
- He's not a way-shower. He is the way.
- He's not a truth dispenser. He is the truth.
- He does not point out a path to life. He himself is the life.
(John 14:6)
Listen, do you know who Jesus is? He isn't another stop on the scenic road to heaven. He is the only hope of salvation.
If you're like me and you believe the Bible's true, then I want you to pay attention to the next scripture very carefully. It's 1 John 5:11-15. And we're talking about being unredeemable and Jesus touching us through his sacrifice in a "done" kind of way and giving us as a free gift that redemption, that miracle of redemption.
"And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know—you can know—you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have asked of him."
— 1 John 5:11-15
What does that actually mean? That last part—it means redemption. It doesn't mean pick a new car, buy a new house. It has nothing to do with our life in the flesh and our needs in the flesh and our desires in the flesh. The "anything" is actually related to the miracle of redemption and salvation. That's the request that's being made in this passage. Look at verses 11 and 12. It's obvious. That's what's being spoken of here.
How about some straight talk from Jesus himself?
John 8:24 says:
"I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins."
Anybody recognize the phrase "I am"?
Unless you understand that Jesus is God and you can turn to him for what he's already done for you, you're going to die in your sins.
Finding out who Jesus is is one of the primary elementary steps in coming to know him.
Confrontation #2: The Problem of Sin
When Jesus reminds this young ruler that only God is good, he is trying to get this moral young man to see that he is in fact a sinner. When Jesus rattles off the commandments, it isn't to imply that salvation comes by keeping them. Jesus is trying to get this man to see that he is in fact a sinner.
He wants to extract a response from this dude that shows he understands what salvation and redemption is all about. And apparently this young guy believed that salvation was just something else he could add to his resume.
Jesus wants him to see that he is a sinner. And as a sinner, he has no ground upon which to stand before the face of God. And this guy had no peace. That's why he came to Jesus in the first place.
Jesus wants him to see that regardless of what he may possess materially, he is morally and spiritually bankrupt.
When this man responds to Jesus that he has kept all the law and hasn't broken it, Jesus doesn't dime him out. Isn't that interesting? And this young man never fully understands. As far as he is concerned, he has arrived spiritually.
And isn't this where many people are at?
Many folks take an external superficial inventory of their lives and they think they're all right. Both men and women. Many times it goes down like this:
"Well, I haven't berated my spouse. I don't abuse my children. I don't run around. I don't have issues with substances. I provide for my family. I'm a pretty good person. And after all, compared to some people, why I'm almost a saint."
Do you know what's wrong with that?
The problem with people in their relationship with God is not what they are outwardly. It's what they are inwardly.
The heart of the problem is the problem with the heart.
All human beings are sinful. Aren't all people just generally good till they fail? No.
See, you can clean up the outside all you want to, but you're still a sinner. Same as I am.
You can wash a pig. You can put perfume on him, put a ribbon around his neck and he looks clean, but turn him loose and he'll head straight back for the muck. Why? Because he's a pig and that's what pigs do.
You can take a corpse, comb its hair, put makeup on it, put perfume on it—it looks pretty good, but it'll still rot and decay. Why? It's a dead corpse. And that's what dead corpses do.
That is what Jesus wanted this young man to know. That a sinner may turn over a new leaf and look good outwardly. He may be a moral, clean, hardworking person, but he's still a sinner at heart and in need of a Savior, in need of redemption.
That's what he wanted him to know in this passage, and that's what he wants you to know in this passage.
The Call
Notice in verse 21, the love and compassion in the heart of Jesus for this young guy. Jesus still loved this guy regardless of the sins, regardless of his improper understanding of the things of God.
And listen, no matter where you are today, he loves you too.
And as proof of his love, Jesus tells this young man how to be saved. It is this message that I want you to hear today.
Jesus tells him to do three things.
#1: Sell All Your Possessions and Give the Money to the Poor
Jesus is not—listen now—is not implying that salvation is earned by giving away our material possessions. He is merely placing his finger on the root of this man's problems.
He loved his money more than he wanted God in his life.
Do you see that?
Jesus is saying, "If you want me, you can place nothing else ahead of me."
By the way, that is still the message of the authentic gospel to this day. There's many folks out there teaching and preaching what I call easy believism and telling lost sinners, "You can come to Jesus and hang on to everything you love in the world, too."
Jesus says in multiple scriptures, he says, "If you aren't willing to turn your back on everything for me, then you can't come to me and be redeemed."
Oh, that sounds harsh, doesn't it?
Want to know something? It is. It is harsh. But it's still the message of the gospel and nothing else will save.
#2: Take Up the Cross
The cross was symbolic of death. To take up one's cross was to go to one's death.
Jesus is saying if you want me then you have to die to yourself.
What's that mean? In other words, your loves, your goals, your desires, your plans, everything you have must be given up if you want to come to Jesus.
Oh, he might add a bunch of that stuff on to you as you're walking out your sanctification with him, but after you've given it over to him, if it is real, he'll redeem it.
And that's a message that you don't want to hear much of today.
Preachers tell people to come to Jesus just as they are. Want to make everything sugarcoat, nice and nice and fluffy. Don't want to hear what I've been telling you today. They tell people, "Look, you don't have to change a thing. Roll like you want to, live like you want to, do whatever you want to. Just pray a little prayer and everything will be all right."
What an awful lie. That's a counterfeit from Satan.
And in light of the true scriptures, that's foolishness.
The modern church says, "Come to Jesus on your terms and live as you please."
Jesus says, "If you want to come to me, you have to die to yourself. And if you will do that, then I will live through you. Won't be easy, but it'll be glorious. And you get one thing that the world can't offer, and it's straight from God."
I always call it: it'll be well with you.
And my phrase for 2026 is: contentment with godliness is great gain.
So which describes the salvation you have today?
The phrase "come as you are" is absolutely no good without the "leave changed." The come as you are only works with the leave changed. Without it, you're just playing into a seeker false conversion narrative that simply isn't the gospel.
#3: Follow Me
And here's the crux of the matter.
This young man has been following power, prestige, position, and possessions. Jesus says, "You turn your back on all that and you follow me. That's how you get eternal life."
That is still the gospel. That is still the call of the gospel.
Man, this is not easy. It's not easy to say. God is consistent. He even laid it out in the ancient prophecies. And you will see that scripture interprets scripture once you have your eyes open and you see how plain this is.
Isaiah 45:22 says:
"Turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other."
We can make up stuff if we want to, but the demands of the gospel are pretty clear. You must forsake your sins through genuine repentance and embrace the Savior by faith.
This and this alone will save your soul.
But Isn't That Too Hard?
Now, I can hear it already. I've been around the world. This is not my first rodeo. I can hear it right now:
"But if we make it sound so hard, people won't come. We have to make it easy so that people will actually get saved."
Really?
If you know the Bible, you know we can't make it any easier than God has already made it.
Romans 10:13 says:
"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
That is in full repentance, not saying a little prayer.
John 6:37 says:
"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out."
Listen now. That is a free gift that in your heart will cost you everything.
Let me repeat that. Don't miss this.
This redemption salvation found in authentically repenting to Jesus is a free gift that once you receive it, you gladly in your heart understand that it costs you everything.
And so we must tell the truth about the matter. And if you think you have Jesus on one hand holding on to the world with the other, you're flat out wrong. If that's what you have, you don't have salvation. You have nothing more than religion or positive psycho-babble.
And it leads to eternal death.
Our duty to this generation is not to make the gospel easier to swallow, but it is being strong enough to tell the truth to the world. And I still believe God speaks to hearts and shows them their condition and draws them to himself. And they will come to him by faith.
Part Three: The Man and His Decision
Now, this is the shortest point. But here's the saddest part of this entire encounter.
This young man makes his decision, but it's a tragic decision. It's a devastating decision.
Notice what he did.
He chose his possessions over Jesus.
He loved his money more than he wanted mercy, forgiveness, and eternal peace with God.
You want to know something? Jesus will allow each and every one of us to make that same choice should we want to make it that way.
It may not be money. It may be pleasure, some sin, your family, your independence, on and on. It could be your significance.
But listen now, if you really, really want it, he's going to let you keep it.
But ask yourself this question: Is it really worth more than eternal peace with God, than redemption? Is it worth more than my soul?
Nothing's worth your soul.
The Tragic End
See, here's some truth as we bring it home.
One day, this man's youth faded and was gone. He retired from his prestigious position down at the old synagogue. Finally, age and disease overtook him. And even his vast wealth couldn't prolong the inevitable, and he died.
And when he did, he found out that his religion and his moral lifestyle were not enough.
When he died, he found himself separated from God in what the Bible calls hell, lost forever because he walked away from the only hope that he ever had, which was Jesus Christ.
What you do with Jesus in this life will determine what he will do with you in the afterlife.
If he's called you to follow him, what is your response? Do you forsake all and go after Jesus regardless of the cost? If he's calling you now, what are you going to say? Will you come to him and be redeemed? Or will you go away from him and continue to live without him and maybe one day die without him?
If it's decision time, what are you going to do?
You Lack One Thing
In verse 21, Jesus summed up this young man's dilemma with these words. You see it right there in your Bible:
"You lack one thing."
The man had everything but the most important thing. He had everything, but he lacked Jesus.
Does that describe you today?
Do you have position, money, beauty, health, education, or anything else you can name, but you still lack Jesus?
Listen, you don't have to go another minute without him. Today is a time of personal encounters. Jesus is speaking to hearts right now. Jesus is passing by right now. Don't miss out on a fresh encounter with Jesus today.
Meeting Jesus with a fresh encounter will change your eternal destiny.
You come truthfully, honestly, humbly, on your knees, turning fully from your sins, repenting, and Jesus will welcome you, and he will soundly save you.
Contentment with godliness is great gain. And the gift of salvation is the free gift you will gladly in your heart give up everything for.
One glimpse of heaven and it would make everything down here just pale in comparison. And when you get Jesus and you get that contentment, there is nothing else that can satisfy. All of the world becomes strangely dim and you see joy in your fellow brothers and sisters who love the Lord.