hope for the rich young ruler
The Rich Ruler: Luke 18:18-30
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: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do 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 a man of great wealth. 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 a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
I have recently been reading through the book of Luke, mostly in an attempt to get to know Jesus again. With all the things we can study and learn about, sometimes I find myself far removed from the person of Christ, the Lover and Savior of my soul. And so I go back to the gospels and I read them like a novel. I like the story of Jesus, from virgin birth to ministry to death and resurrection and the promise to be with us even as we wait for his return. Spending time with Jesus is good for my soul.
I know this story of the rich ruler, its a story we all know well. This time however, I was struck by two things in particular. First: the ruler's sadness. It shows the true state of his heart, which Jesus knew full well. I don't think he was quite prepared for what would be required of him. And so Jesus puts before him the most difficult dilemma this man could face. But second: I am struck by Jesus' response. Yes, he might as well pull a camel through a needle if he's going to try and follow God on his own. But Jesus ALSO says "what is impossible with men is possible with God."
Though the Bible tells us nothing more about the rich ruler and whether or not he chose to forsake his wealth and follow Jesus, the point is that he could, if he wanted to ... he just needed to trust that God could do amazing things for him and through him. On his own, he'd have so sew with camels. With God, those sewing needles would be 15 feet tall and the eye 10 feet wide for the camels to walk through five at a time.
Sometimes I wonder what I've written off as impossible, things God wanted to do for me or through me. What am I allowing to get the better of me? What continues to defeat me that God wants to help me conquer? Or what leaps of faith do I not take, simply because I forget that NOTHING is impossible with God?
