“The young man said to Him, ‘these things I have kept from my
youth. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be
perfect.’” Matthew 19:20-21
In the story of the rich young ruler we come face to face with the critical point between humility and pride, between joy and sadness and between following God or rejecting Him.
The young man Three of the Gospels tell this story. All three (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) tell us this man was rich. Matthew describes him as young and Luke states he was a ruler. This is an up and coming young professional who has great potential and yet has enough spiritual background to be concerned with His standing
before God. Thus he turns to Jesus to gain assurance.
Said to Him The rich young ruler wants to know what Jesus thinks about his life, he wants Jesus’ approval of how he has lived and his right to enter heaven.
All these things The rich young ruler has a superficial knowledge of God’s law. With a broad brush the young ruler sweeps all the law into one large general bucket.
I have kept from my youth. The ruler claims his life has been good and obedient to God. Surely God can find no fault with the way he has lived, can He?He is confident he will be praised when he meets God.
What do I still lack? We see his attitude – pride. If there is nothing missing I must be granted entrance into God’s presence based on my own goodness – right?
Jesus said to him The Lord responds. He does not humiliate the ruler by exposing all his sin. He does not browbeat him for his arrogance. He does not even tell him what the law really means. He makes one simple statement.
If Another If…then statement. The answer the rich young ruler seeks is contingent on an action – an action that has to do with what the Lord knows the ruler loves more than God. Is this man truly willing to give up everything for God – even what he loves most in this life? Is there anything more important to him than God?
You want to be perfect The Lord changes the ruler’s focus. It is not the rich young ruler’s perspective on what makes him presentable to be in God’s presence, it it is God’s standard to enter heaven and that standard is perfection.
What can we learn? We stop here in the story to consider a major point. It is the place where people either stoop in humility and enter the narrow way to follow Christ or they turn away, often with sadness, because they know they are not willing to give up what they love more than Christ. This is the point when humility strikes the heart of the individual, when they realize they have no merit in themselves to enter into God’s presence. King Nebuchadnezzar reached this point when God caused him to live like an animal for 7 years. It took 7 years
to accomplish this point but the king finally looked into the heavens and in his heart acknowledged that it was God, not him, who held ultimate authority. The rich young ruler will walk away from the Lord in sadness. He really wanted to find peace with God only if God would accept him on his own terms. Like Cain, he found God rejected his imperfect sacrifice but offered him salvation and forgiveness of sin. So the offer remains. Accept God’s offer in humility or reject it in pride and walk away. “If you wish” – what do we desire? God’s way or ours?