Mark 10:17-31

17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’ ”20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” 26 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.27 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”28 Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. 31 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”

It’s here that we see something far more important than our position in society, because it’s here that secondly we see our:

1. Position before the Savior

He was Empty but Eager – Emptiness was the catalyst that caused this man to run to Christ. This rich young ruler came running to Jesus, which was significant because the rich don’t run, their servants do. You see because life revolves around them everyone else ends up doing the running. But it’s here that we discover several significant truths. First even the rich need to run to the Redeemer, no one can come to Christ for you. You can’t send someone to come to Christ on your behalf. The second truth is that he ran to Christ, many of us live life like the Lord is supposed to do all the running. We want God to revolve around us, but Christ isn’t going to fit your calendar. So stop trying to schedule the Savior and start learning to serve Him. It’s not about trying to fit God into a formula it’s about putting him first. But it’s not just about running to Christ it’s about running after Him. So let me ask you, what are you eagerly running after? Are you willing to trade running after riches for running after the Redeemer, or is your money your real master? Not only was he eager but:

He was Humble – He knelt before Jesus. He didn’t let his power and position, cause him to become prideful and prevent him from coming to Jesus.  Do you have a humble heart or is pride holding you back? Here we see a powerful picture, the ruler kneeling before the Rabbi. From a worldly perspective this sight would have seemed strange, the rich young ruler in his royal robes running to and falling on his kneeling before this seemingly regular teacher. But from the Words perspective it’s the only proper response. Running to Jesus and submitting to His supremacy will always seem strange, but when we get to the place where we care more about the Word then the world we won’t care what other people will think. Some of us still care more about what other people think than what God does. What about you are you going to run and kneel before the rightful ruler regardless of what the world thinks? Sometimes we forget who we are running to and so we forget to fall on our knees before Him. We are quick to run into His throne room when it come to our wants, but are we running to Him in worship? What about you do you have respect and reverence for the things of God? Who or what are you kneeling too? Why don’t we submit and fall on our knees before the Savior because for many we are still making it about self. Here was a ruler willing to fall at the feet of a carpenter’s son. Not only was he humble but:

He was Courageous  – Here was a man who ran when no one else ran. It is easy to run with the crowd, but it takes courage to leave the crowd and run to Christ. No one else in his social circle was a fellow disciple of Jesus, yet he wanted to join this group of poor fishermen. What about you do you have the courage to come to Christ despite what your peers may say? It’s time for us to care more about our position before the Savior than our position in society. What about you are you focused more on your social standing or your standing with Savior? Do you have the courage to chase after Christ?

Mark 10:17-31

17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’ ”20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” 26 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.27 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”28 Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. 31 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”

Last time we saw Jesus on His journey to the cross as He crossed paths with Bartimaus the blind beggar, who boldly believed and was blessed. Now as Jesus continues His journey to Jerusalem we will see him crossing paths with a man who wasn’t blind but was still bound up. It’s here in Mark 10:17-31 that we see:

1. The seeking Ruler – VS 17

“As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem” It’s here that we are reminded of the reason for Jesus journey, to give His life as a ransom for our rebellion. We need to be careful that we don’t miss the mission, it’s all about God’s mercy to man. Jesus came to save us from our sins but we have to respond to the gift of salvation. And it’s here in the midst of the mission that we see someone seeking God’s gift of salvation. One who courageously chose to come to Christ despite what the culture would say. Now I want you to notice several things about this man, first his:

1. Position in Society

He was Rich – Here was a man who had worldly wealth, according to society he had it made in the shade. He had what many of us want and wish for, and what the world is constantly telling us we need, wealth. But despite all his money, something was still missing. Like him, we can have plenty in the bank and be spiritually bankrupt. Here was a man who suffered from the poverty of plenty, a deadly disease that is destroying us today. Because we have bought into the world’s system that says, satisfaction and security are found in the stock market and money. But satisfaction and security are found in serving the Savior not selfishly accumulating wealth. Here was a man who had everything you could desire but was destitute. He had assets but not assurance. Not only was he rich but Luke 18:18 tells us he was also a:

Religious Ruler – He was a man of high social standing and someone that would have been seen as significant in his society. This would have given him both power and position something the world constantly pushes us to pursue. Yet his high social standing did not satisfy, something was still missing. How many of us are wasting our lives pursuing a position in the hopes that it will satisfy our lives? So we sacrifice our time and our talents on the altar of ego. Giving our lives to a job instead of Jesus, because it’s more socially acceptable to sell our souls to a system that will never satisfy than it is to be sold out to the Savior. Not only was he a rich religious ruler but Matthew 19:22 tells us that he was:

Youthful – We live in a world that worships youth. Preteens dress up to look more mature, while those who are older dress to look like adolescents. We value youth because of the potential and the possibilities, what we really treasuring is time. From a worldly perspective, this man had it all, power, position, prestige, popularity, potential, the possibilities were endless, yet something was still missing. He had social success but no satisfaction. He had religion but not a relationship. He had grown tired of a legalistic, performance-driven graceless religion. That’s where some of you are at today, you have money but you are miserable. You have status be not satisfaction. You have religion but you are still restless. So what did he do, he sought the Savior. He was a truth seeker, who understood that there was more to life than just the here and now. He knew that eternity needed to be prepared for so he came to the Author of life to find the answer to life. What about you do you have the courage to come to Christ, or do you care more about the crowd and what it thinks? If you are restless today then run to Christ, He is the only cure to what your soul is craving.