What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What do I know with Isaac Carroll
Matthew 19 the lesson on the rich young ruler.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Isaac Carroll, and this is what Do I Know? All right, in today's Bible study we are going to be back in chapter 19 of Matthew. We're going to pick up in verse 13, where we left off. Then some children were brought to him so that he could lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked him, but Jesus said Leave the children alone and do not forbid them to come to me, For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
Speaker 1:After laying his hands on them, he departed from there and someone came to him and said Teacher, what good thing shall I do to obtain eternal life? And he said to him why are you asking me what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want eternal life, keep the commandments. Then he said to him which ones? And Jesus said you shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him All these I have kept. What am I still lacking? Jesus said to him If you want to be complete, go and sell all your possessions and give it to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven. And then come and follow me.
Speaker 1:When the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving, for he was the one who owned much property. And Jesus said to his disciples Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said then, who can be saved? And looking at them, jesus said to them with people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Then Peter responded and said to him behold, we have left everything and followed you. What then will be there for us? And Jesus said to them truly, I say to you that you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the son of man will sit on his glorious and Jesus said to them, children are farmed On account of my name will receive many times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first. All right, we have come to the end of chapter 19.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about what we have just learned. All right, so we see that people try to bring little children to Jesus and the disciples try to stop them. Jesus rebukes them and says the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. And I believe this is key. And why Matthew? Why he goes straight into the lesson of what is called the rich young ruler, and we can learn a lot by this title. We learn that he's young, not so young that he can't own things or be in authority, but young enough that he hasn't been calloused by his mistakes. We also learn that he's very wealthy, that he has a lot of possessions, calls him rich. In the old Jewish culture, a person who has a lot of wealth and authority would be considered to be blessed by God, highly favored by God, that God saw them as someone deserving of the blessing that had been bestowed upon them. Well, no doubt this young man saw himself much the same way, and we know this by the statement he makes to Jesus.
Speaker 1:Let's break down what happens. First, he asked Jesus what good thing must he do? Jesus, forever being the teacher, goes straight into the lessons by saying why do you ask me what is good? Then he follows up with, there is only one who is good. If God is the only one who is good, why would we think that we could be good enough? Why do we believe that there's something we can do that's good enough? Now it seems this lesson was lost on the young man. Jesus points to the obvious things in the Bible the commandments of God. They are to be kept. The young man, still believing that he was a good person, said that he had kept all these, and then he wanted to know if there was anything he still lacked. Verse 21. Jesus told him If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give it to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven. Then come and follow me. Since, when the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow because he had great wealth Again, the young man thought his status of being good was based off the blessings of God.
Speaker 1:Jesus destroys this false notion by telling him that he needed to get rid of all his self-righteousness and the trappings of the world that made him believe that he was deserving of the title. The Bible is very clear. Romans 3, verse 10, says there is no one righteous. No, not even one, and Paul was actually quoting the Old Testament, psalms 14, that says there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God. All have turned away. They have altogether become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one. I guess the young man didn't remember this in his lessons that only God was good and that it is his mercy and his grace that we have hope and by it we are saved.
Speaker 1:Titus 3 says, verse 4, but in the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love of mankind appeared. He saved us not by the righteous deeds we have done, but according to his mercy. Paul himself says this in Ephesians. Ephesians 2, starting in verse 4, says but because of his great love for us, god, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved.
Speaker 1:This young man needed to sell everything he owned and make himself like a small child who had nothing and who was considered the lowest in the social order of the world. To truly understand the attitude, one needs to have all their hope put in Jesus, and this is why Jesus proclaims this next verse to his disciples. He says truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again he says 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. Now I've heard a lot of people try to explain what it means for the camel to pass through the eye of a needle. That it's not the same thing that we believe it means. Well, I find that a bit ridiculous, because Jesus says himself in verse 26,. Jesus said to them with people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. So if it's impossible, why try to explain it to mean something different? It's still impossible.
Speaker 1:God's word is very clear on this. With man, it is impossible to make it into the kingdom of heaven. There's nothing we can give, there's nothing we can do, there's nothing we can say. There's no sacrifice great enough, no life lived good enough to undo the sin problem we have. It is only by the grace and mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, that the way was made possible for us to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Speaker 1:Now there's only two reactions to this truth and for those who believe it. The first is what has Christ asked me to do in response to this? The other is there is nothing I need to do because of this, the two reactions that are most common when facing this truth. Again, it's what has Christ asked me to do in response and there's nothing I need to do in response. One sounds good but completely misses the mark. Because if there was nothing to respond to, because if there was nothing to respond to, then wouldn't all be saved. The Word tells us that Jesus died for all and paid the price for all sin. If Jesus paid the price for all sin, then wouldn't that make everyone saved? But that's why we study God's Word, so that we can come to the truth and respond correctly.
Speaker 1:Finally, we come to the reward for the disciples. Peter, responding to what Jesus said to the young man, asked this question we have left everything. What is our reward? Jesus says in the regeneration, when the Son't leave it. Just as his 12 disciples, he also includes everyone who has sacrificed for the sake of the gospel. But he says to them everyone who has left house brother, will receive many times as much and will inherit eternal life. The many who are first will be last and the last first. The regeneration is when God makes all things new and Jesus tells the disciples that they too will sit on thrones and they will be judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
Speaker 1:But Jesus, not wanting to leave anyone out, includes everyone who sacrifices for the kingdom, for everyone who sacrifices for the gospel. So they will inherit whatever they left. They would inherit many times as much in the kingdom to come and, the most important thing, that they would inherit eternal life. And isn't that the main goal? To inherit eternal life, to be able to bask in the glory of God, to be in his presence. I know it's mine, I hope it's yours. I'm going to end this one here. We'll start chapter 20 in our next Bible study. Until then, god's guidance and blessings to you. I love you guys. Goodbye.