Have you ever thought that Jesus makes incredibly high demands of those who want to follow Him?
There’s an interesting story in Luke 18 where a very respectable and upright young man of some authority seeks Jesus’ advice. He is obviously educated as he knows the Jewish law, and as far as he is aware, he has sought to apply it to his life and be obedient to its demands. But he does not realize that the kingdom of God cannot be earned by human effort. It’s not about anything he could do for himself. Here’s what happens when he meets Jesus:
A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 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.’” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
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.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 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.
Luke 18:18-25 (NIV)
Loving God first
The rich young ruler in this story claimed that he had kept all the commandments. But his inability to follow Jesus because he was very wealthy proved he had actually contravened the 1st commandment. He did not love God with all his heart, soul and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). He certainly loved God enough to try and do what was right, but when Jesus touched on the one thing that stopped his 100% commitment to follow, he became profoundly grieved and afflicted.
The NIV says “he became very sad,” but the word used here is much more intense than “sadness.” What Jesus was asking caused intense sorrow and profound affliction. In fact, this is the same word Jesus used in Gethsemane before His crucifixion, when He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” This is how intensely the young ruler felt Jesus’ challenge to give up the thing he held most dear.
Application without commitment
It seems the young man had been endeavouring to just apply God’s Word to his life, yet without committing himself 100%. Rather like someone who decides to rub medicine on their skin rather than swallow it, the young man had been diligently “rubbing” God’s commands onto his life, thinking that was enough.
How many times have we done something similar to the rich young ruler? We have very good intentions and will make certain adjustments for God, but at the core we still want to hang onto some areas for ourselves. And these become stumbling blocks that stop us moving forward in our relationship with God.
A reorientation
So it seems that simply trying to apply God’s Word to our lives falls short of Jesus’ call to follow Him. Following Jesus means reorienting everything around Him. It’s about 100% commitment – and that’s radical! In fact, Jesus’ answer to the rich young ruler was so radical that “Those who heard this asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’” (Luke 18:26). Following Jesus seemed way too hard.
We don’t know the end of the rich young ruler’s story. Matthew and Mark’s versions of the story say that he went away very sad (actually in anguish), yet we don’t know if he finally followed through with what Jesus said or not. What we do know is that Jesus’ words cut very deeply and he now had a choice to make.
I just wonder if sometimes we gloss over this young man’s anguish. We don’t like the intrusiveness of the Jesus’ challenge and would far rather He didn’t delve too deeply. But discipleship has to be all-encompassing, or it’s not truly following Jesus.
All things are possible with God
Yet that’s not the end of the story. I love Jesus’ reply to those who were watching and thought that what Jesus was asking was just too difficult. “Jesus replied, ‘What is impossible with man is possible with God’” (Luke 18:27). Following Jesus is indeed possible because it is not accomplished through human effort – but the choice to follow is ours. We just have to be willing.
