First Baptist Church of Tampa Sermons

S1 E12: The Rich Young Ruler

• First Baptist Church of Tampa • Season 1 • Episode 12

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 38:43

Welcome !

New Sermon episodes drop every Monday Morning

Sermon Overview

Series: Following Jesus

Title: The Rich Young Ruler

Text: Mark 10:17-27

Date: April 26, 2026

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THRIVE?

We want to help every person make a genuine commitment to follow Jesus and then follow through with that commitment in Connecting People to a Thriving Life in Christ. These Thriving disciples should Dig In to the Bible, Grow Up in Christ, and Branch Outinto the community.

Our Mission: To Connect People to a Thriving Life in Christ. What is a thriving life in Christ? Scripture says that Jesus Christ came “that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Our mission in the city of Tampa is to make disciples who follow the pattern of the believer in Psalm 1 and desire God’s glory above all things.

NEXT STEPS

Are you looking to get connected or learn more about First Baptist Tampa? We would love to help you find your place in our community.

STAY CONNECTED

Wherever you are in life, you have a purpose. First Baptist Tampa wants to help you find your next step.

Our Student & Young Adult Ministries:

SPEAKER_00

If you would take out your copy of God's word, open it up, turn it on, however you brought it along with you this morning, and join me in Mark's Gospel. Mark chapter 10 this morning. We're gonna pick up in verse 17. If you don't have a Bible with you, there are some in the pew back in front of you. We're gonna be on page 907 in that pew Bible. Mark chapter 17. The song we just sang is a beautiful song. Love the song. It's an easy song to sing. It's a hard song to do. You're worthy of it all. All my life, all my love, all my strength, all my mind, all my possessions, all my family, all my pride, all my reputation. You're worthy of it all. It's an easy thing to say. It's a harder thing to do. Growing up, I did not have praise and worship, modern praise and worship songs in the church where I grew up. In fact, there weren't modern praise and worship songs when I was growing up in the 70s. When we did Sunday night service, we all would have occasionally we would have a request, hymn request night, and the only modern song we had was Pass It On that one of the teenagers would ask for. Some of y'all remember exactly what I'm talking about. It wasn't until much later that that modern praise worship came in. So I have hymns in my heart. I have hymns in my mind. I learned a lot of theology through hymns, and they've just been seared into my brain. Every now and then one of them will pop into my heart while I'm praying or while I'm thinking or while I'm just going about my day. And one song that particularly pops up for quite frequently is a song by a guy by the name of Daniel Brink Towner and another guy by the name of J. H. Salmon. They wrote a song after attending a D.L. Moody revival in which somebody stood up and said, You know, I'm not quite sure, but I'm going to trust and I'm going to obey. And they wrote this chorus: Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Just simply put your trust in him, obey what he calls you to do, and you will find the joy that you are so desperately searching for. As we come to Mark chapter 10, we're going to find a man who is desperately searching. He has many things in his life. He has many things going well in his life, but there is something missing. And when he comes to Jesus, he asks a question that millions upon millions of people have asked throughout the years, and that is this what must I do to inherit eternal life? How can I be saved? And Jesus gives him the answer to his question, and yet we are going to find that this man walks away sad. He walks away incomplete because he was unwilling to trust. He was unwilling to obey. He was unwilling to do what God called him to do. He was so close. And yet he was so very far away. It's not easy. It's not easy to surrender all. Just a couple weeks ago, we looked at a passage of scripture where Jesus took a small child and he placed him before his disciples because the disciples were telling the parents, go away, don't trouble Jesus with your little children. And Jesus said, No, no, no, let that child come here. Because unless you come to me like one of these children, you cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Unless you come to me like a child with nothing in your hands, with nothing that you think you bring to the table, and you just come to me in faith and trust, unless you come to me that way, you cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Immediately after that, we have the story that we're going to read this morning about a man who was not a child, who had much, and found it very difficult to do what Jesus was calling him to do. It's not easy when you have a lot to come to Jesus with nothing. Quite honestly, it's not easy to come to Jesus when you have nothing and still come to him with nothing. We think we have something that we could add to the equation. We think we have something that Jesus wants. We think we have something that we can do for Jesus. And Jesus just simply says, Come to me empty-handed. Trust and obey. When we get to chapter 11 of Mark's gospel, the pace is going to slow down rapidly. From chapter 11 to chapter 16 is the last week of Jesus' earthly life. It is his time in Jerusalem. It is his time when he is arrested and tried and crucified and resurrected. It slows down rapidly when we get to chapter 11. But here in chapter 10, as Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem, as he is taking his disciples and helping them to understand what is about to take place, there is lesson after lesson after lesson that they needed to learn and that we need to learn as well. And this morning, that lesson is difficult. If you're willing and able, would you stand with me as we read from God's Word? Mark chapter 10, beginning in verse 17. As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Jesus and knelt before him and asked him, Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. And he said to him, Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up. Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, One thing you lack. Go and sell all you possess and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. But at these words he went at at these words he was saddened and went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, said to his disciples, How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples were amazed at his words, but Jesus answered again and said to them, Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. 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. And they were even more astonished and said to him, Then who can be saved? Looking at them, Jesus said, With people it is impossible, but with God, but not with God, for all things are possible with God. Father, bless the reading of your word. Open our hearts and our minds to receive your truth. Change what needs to be changed in our lives, Father. Help us to see that it's not what we have that makes us right with you. It's not what we do that makes us right with you. It's not who we are that makes us right with you. It's who you are and what you have done through Jesus Christ. And salvation comes not by works, not by relationship, not by religion or ritual. It comes through faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Lord, let us come to you as children, empty-handed. Trusting and obeying, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you this morning. Jesus is setting out on his final journey to Jerusalem. He is making his way towards death. He's not avoiding it. He's heading straight into it. He knows what is coming. He's preparing his disciples for it, and he's heading on that last journey. And as he does, a man comes running up to him, not wanting to miss the opportunity while Jesus is in his region, while Jesus is in his town. There's been a burning question in his mind, there's been a burning question on his heart, and he thinks Jesus is the right one to answer the question. And so he runs up to Jesus to ask his question. Mark does not give us a lot of details on this gentleman, but the same account is recorded both in Matthew's gospel and in Luke's gospel, and they also give us information. Matthew tells us that this is a young man. Luke tells us that he is a rich or a ruling man. All three tell us that he is a wealthy man. Putting those three accounts together, we get the account of the rich young ruler, which many of us have heard in the past. This man that runs up to Jesus is a prominent man in his city. He's probably a synagogue leader. It means he's in charge of getting the synagogue worship together and making sure the speakers are there and the Torah is there and everything is prepared. He is a well-respected man in his community. He is a religious man in his community. He is a leader in his community. And he runs up to Jesus, he kneels before him, and he asks a question. This posture is very unusual for a man of his stature. Religious leaders didn't run up to rabbis and bow down. They didn't run up to anybody and do anything. And yet this man in a hurry runs to Jesus, not wanting to miss this opportunity. This is a man who is desperate, who is urgent about getting an answer to his question. He kneels before Jesus, not caring what anybody thinks about the posture that he's taking. He needs an answer to his question. And so he asks his question. This man is missing something in his life. He's a wealthy man. He has anything he could ask for. He's a religious man. He has prominence and position. But he recognizes there's something missing in my life. There's a hole in my life that is not being filled. There is an itch in my life that is not being scratched. There is a hunger in my life that is not being satisfied. I am doing everything I know to do. I'm doing it well. I'm excelling at it. I'm being as religious as I can. I'm being good as I can. I'm being as nice as I can. I'm being as successful as I can, and yet there is still something missing. How many of us have experienced the same thing? How many people do you know who are successful by worldly standards and yet are miserable? Have a longing in their hearts that they cannot satisfy. Have a hole in their lives that they try to fill with anything they possibly can, have a hunger that they try to satisfy with anything that they possibly can. Many of us have been there, and many of us know people who are still there today striving to find that which is missing in our lives. Even if we are successful by worldly standards, even if we are the most religious person around, there's still something missing, and this man is searching. And he's so desperate he doesn't care who knows. So he comes up to Jesus and he kneels before him and he asks him a question. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? This question is very revealing. It reveals that this man thinks he's got everything he needs for this life. He's got this life under control, but he's got questions about what happens when he dies. He's revealing the fact that he's uncertain about his eternal future. He's a synagogue leader. He's obeyed the law, he's done all the commandments, he's done all those things, and yet he recognizes intuitively. He recognizes instinctively. He recognizes because God has placed in his heart a longing for a relationship with him that is not being fulfilled. He says, there is something still missing. What is missing? But it also reveals this. He says, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? His assumption was that he could do something to earn it. He was missing out. I'm doing all of these things, but I must be not doing the one thing I'm supposed to be doing. What is it that I can do to gain God's favor? What is the one thing that I'm missing that that would make God happy with me? What is the one thing I need to do to be right with God and gain eternal life? And Jesus answers in a very interesting way, verse 18. He says, Hold on a minute. Why do you call me good? Let's stop for a minute. Before I talk to you about your question, let me ask you a question. You just referred to me as good teacher. Why is it that you would refer to me as good? Because we recognize that Jewish people don't refer to anybody but God as good. The word good here isn't just somebody who is doing good things. They're not just a nice person. The concept was that of perfection, that of holiness. And he says, you just used a word that only Jews would only use and apply it to God, and you just called me good teacher. Can I ask you why you would do that? Only God is good. Jesus is trying to get this man to dig a little bit deeper. Jesus is trying to understand who does this man understand me to be? Does he think I'm just some just regular religious teacher or some miracle worker? Does he understand me to be who I truly am? Because that's going to change the dynamic of this conversation. Why do you call me good? Only God is good. And then Jesus begins to help the man by trying to change his thinking about salvation, about eternal life. This man had this concept that if I do something, I will be right. If I do something, I can earn salvation. And Jesus says, Why do you call me good? Only God is good. And then he turns his attention to the commandments that God gave. As if Jesus was giving him a definition of goodness. You want to talk about good? Let's talk about good. And then in verse 19, he gives him commandments. Now, notice something. How many commandments does he give him? Go ahead and count them. How many commandments are there in verse 19? Six. Now, if you went to vacation Bible school growing up, if you went to Sunday school growing up, there weren't six commandments. How many are there? Ten. But Jesus only quotes six of them. Did he forget the first four? Did he have a bad day? Was it an oversight or a misstep? No, of course not. Jesus intentionally does not mention the first four commandments. He goes straight to the last six commandments. The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God. All of them deal with man's horizontal, excuse me, vertical relationship with God. The other six deal with our relationship with one another. The summation of the law: love God, love people. He skips the ones dealing with his relationship with God, and he goes directly to the ones dealing with his relationship with other people. He says, let's talk about goodness for a minute. You've called me good. No one but God is good. You know the commandments. Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and your mother. And the man gives a startling response in verse 2. What does he say? I have done all of those from my childhood. Jesus, I've kept the commandments. I have kept them. I have done them since I was a little child. Growing up, I have done all of those things. I've done them. Is he being arrogant? Is he being hyperbolic? I think the man's sincere. I think the man truly believes that he had been keeping those commandments. At least from a letter of the law sense, at least from an outward ceremonial sense. I think he would say, I've never killed anybody. I've never stolen anything. I've never tried to steal my neighbor's wife. I've never done any of those things. I'm good. I'm covered. So what must I do to inherit eternal life? An inheritance usually goes to somebody close to one who is leaving the inheritance. He says, look, I think I'm in the right, I think I'm in the right family. Being a synagogue leader, he was a Jewish man, and he was a Jewish man who could trace his lineage all the way back through the tribes, all the way back to the patriarchs. He knew what tribe he was from, he knew what family he was from. He says, you know what, I think I'm going to inherit this thing because I'm I'm a child of Abraham. But I know I'm better than the Gentiles because they don't do these laws and they're not one of them. They're not one of us. But there's still something nagging, Jesus. You know how many times I've asked people to share with me their faith story? Tell me your testimony. Tell me about your walk with God. Tell me about how you and here's what I get more often than I love than I want to get. I've always been a Christian. Or I've always gone to church. I was raised in the church. That was not my question. My question was tell me your faith story. When did you come to trust in Jesus Christ? Not when your parents did. Not when your grandparents did. Not about the times you attended church. I'm asking you, when did you come to a decision that you were a sinner in need of a Savior? When did you turn from your sin and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ? Tell me about that time. There are far too many people like this man who are this close, who are in religion, in church, in the synagogue, in with the right people, doing what they think are the right things, but they cannot get past their need to trust and obey God. They think they're close. They think they're going to inherit it somehow. And this man says, you know what? All the commandments I've been doing in my whole life. And I think Jesus wants him to dig just a little bit deeper. Verse 21 says, looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him. Can you imagine that look? What a word picture Mark paints for us in such a simple phrase. Jesus looked at him and had love for him. He had compassion for him. It was almost a sense of pity where he thought, man, you just don't get it, do you? You're close. But you're just not there. He looked at him and said, I cannot believe you've been raised in the church. I cannot believe you've been raised in the synagogue. I cannot believe you've been a part of this the whole time and you don't get it. Or you're refusing to get it. He looked at him and had compassion on him. Jesus wanted this man to look into these commandments and see, am I really doing these things? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus referred to the commandments, these same commandments. And you remember what he told his disciples? You've heard it said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, if you look at a woman with lust, you are guilty of adultery. You've heard it said, you shall not commit murder. But I tell you, if you hate your brother, you've broken that commandment. God wanted him, Jesus wanted him to understand that these laws are not these outward things that we observe. It is an inward transformation that we are looking for. That it's not an outward observance of a letter of the law, that is a change of the heart that we need. I can't condemn this man because in Philippians chapter 3, Paul the apostle wrote and he said, As to the righteousness of the law, I am faultless. And yet there is something missing in my life, and all of that is rubbish except for knowing Jesus Christ. Paul came to that conclusion, and Jesus was trying to draw this man to that conclusion. It's not what you do, it is what Christ has done for you. The law is not a ladder that we climb. We don't climb the rungs of the ladder. Okay, I keep commandment number one, I keep commandment number two, and I just get higher and higher and more righteous and more might more righteous. That's not how the law works. The law is a mirror in which we see the reflection of God's holiness. In the law, we see God's perfection. We see who God is, and then we see a reflection of ourselves in comparison to God's goodness and God's holiness. And the law is designed not to save us, the law is designed to point to us to God's holiness and our sinfulness. It is a mirror. And so when Jesus starts to quote these commandments to this man, he is not saying, if you observe these things, you'll be right. He is saying you need to look at your life and tell me again, are you really doing these things? The Bible teaches us that if we love God, then we will love one another. And it also teaches us this if we cannot love the one who we can see, we will never love the one we cannot see. And Jesus is wanting this man to understand, you are not loving your brothers the way you think you are. And in so doing, you are not loving God the way you need to be doing. You asked me a question: what must I do to inherit eternal life? You have to be good. And only God is good. You see, the standard is not human goodness, the standard is divine perfection. He was unwilling to change. Jesus tells him in verse 21, one thing you lack. One thing you lack, go and sell all your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven, and then come follow me. Here's the one thing you lack. Go sell everything. Give it to the poor, then come follow me. Now let me be clear. Jesus is not making charity the way to heaven. He's not telling this man that the way you get eternal life is by being poor and selling all your stuff and providing for other people. That's not what he's saying. You say, isn't that exactly what he said? No, it's not. He said, You say you're keeping the commandments to love your brothers? You say you're keeping these commandments? Let's find out. Do you truly love your brother more than yourself? Then go sell everything you've got and give it to somebody else. Then come follow me. Do you trust me? Or do you trust your wealth? Do you trust me or do you trust your position? Let's find out. In verse twenty two, at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving. For he's one who owed, owned much property. He went away saddened. He was this close. He knew he was desperate. He knew he was missing something. He went to the right place. He went to the right person. He asked the right question, but when he was given the right answer, he was not willing to abdu what God was calling him to do. Trust me. He was not willing to give up what he could not keep, to gain what he could never lose. He was not willing to give up what he had in order to gain what he was asking for. He walked away. And as he walks away, Jesus turns his attention to his disciples. And he sees a teachable moment. Verse 23 says he's looking around. He sees his disciples who are confused at best. They have dumbfounded looks on their face. I mean, this guy, if there was ever a perfect candidate for salvation, this was the guy. If you ever thought there was a perfect guy who's going to respond to the gospel, who's going to respond to Jesus, here's a guy who is raised in church. Here's a religious guy. Here's a good guy who's trying to observe the commandments. He doesn't have the baggage of Matthew the tax collector or Zacchaeus the tax collector. He doesn't have the baggage of the woman at the well who had five husbands and was living with a man who she wasn't married to. He doesn't have all that baggage. Here's a good guy who shows up to Jesus and says, What must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, You're not in the position you think you're in. Sell everything, come follow me. And he walks away saddened, and the disciples sat there going, What just happened? He was this close. You know what? Being this close can be the most dangerous place you could ever be. Because he thought he was good. And he wasn't willing to do the one thing that he needed to do. What was the one thing he needed to do? Salvation does not come by works. Salvation does not come by charity. Salvation comes by grace through faith. Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It's always been that way. Jesus is telling this man, put your faith in me, not in anything else. Put it in me. And he walks away, and the disciples are amazed. Here is a wealthy man. The concept of the day was this: that God blessed those who were righteous. God blessed those who were pious. The wealthy were wealthy because God loved them and blessed them because they loved him. That was the concept of the day. Sound familiar? It's still the same heresy of today. And they're amazed. And Jesus draws their attention. He says, verse 23, how hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples were amazed at his words. Why is it hard for somebody who's wealthy to inherit the kingdom of God? Why is it hard for somebody who has everything in this world that you could possibly need? Why is it so hard for them? Because it's hard for somebody who is wealthy to come to Jesus empty-handed. It's hard for us that are blessed and have provision and have things and have jobs and have careers and have families and cars and all of those things to look around and go, what do I need God for? Until you start to live that life and you begin to feel that hole, that emptiness that this man felt. And you recognize there is still something more. He says, How hard it is for wealthy people to come to the kingdom of God. And they were amazed. And Jesus said, Children, relax. How hard it is for anyone to inherit the kingdom of God. Verse 24. It would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for man to come to Christ. People have tried to explain this illustration away. There's like this illustration doesn't make any sense. They say that the word for camel and the word for rope in the original language, Greek, is one letter apart, and Jesus was saying rope, but the translators thought he was saying camel. Well, is it any easier to pull a rope through the eye of a needle than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle? Others say that there was a gate in the city of Jerusalem that was so small that the camels that were carrying the burdens would have to get down on their knees and crawl through it. It sounds like a great concept, except there's no historical record of any gate in such a fashion. Besides that, here's the point. What's the point? It's impossible. It is impossible. Can you get in your mind's eye a camel, one hump or two, going through the eye of a needle? No, because it is impossible. That's Jesus' point. How hard it is for anyone to come to eternal life on their own. There's two foundational truths that we need to understand. Jesus said, with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Because the disciples ask him, then who can be saved? Who can be saved? On your own, it is impossible. And with men it is impossible, and no one will be saved, but with God all things are possible and anyone can be saved. Do you hear me? That's his point. If men are trying to do it in their way, which is what this man was trying to do, I want eternal life, but I want to get it in my way, not in God's way. With men, it is impossible, and no one will be saved through the works of man. But with God, all things are possible, and anyone can be saved who will come to Jesus and say, Save me. Help me. I've got nothing. The currency of heaven is not our money. The currency of heaven is not your talent. The currency of heaven is not your intellect, your ability. The currency of heaven is faith. It's just simply trusting and obeying. And this man, as close as he was, asking the right question of the right person at the right time, in the right place, turned and went away sad because he trusted in himself and his things more than he trusted in Christ. One thing you lack. He stood face to face with Jesus and walked away sad. Some of you, if I were to ask you your faith story right now, your testimony right now, you may not have one. I don't know what that is. That's okay. Because let me start your faith story. Your faith story is this: God is pursuing you because God has created you and he loves you. He wants to spend eternity with you. But your sin is separating you from him. He must deal with your sin. And your sin is not dealt with by being religious. Your sin is not dealt with by observing a set of laws. Your sin is dealt with because Jesus Christ left heaven, came to earth, died on a cross, was punished in your place. God put the punishment that you deserved on his son so that he might make you righteous. He raised him from the dead so that you might have eternal life with him. And God is pursuing you. His Holy Spirit is drawing you. He wants you to know that he loves you and wants to spend eternity with you, and he wants you to have an abundant life here on earth right now. Some of you have been here the last three weeks. The last three weeks, we talked about a little boy coming to Jesus with nothing. Last week, Dr. Rummage talked to us about a woman who learned that she could have living water springing up inside of her. And today we're learning about a rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and says, What must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus tells him, You're lacking one thing. Put your faith in me. Trust me. Today might be the beginning of your faith story where you know God is pursuing you and you just simply trust and obey. For there's no other way but to be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey. Some of your faith stories might be, I grew up in church. I've been going to church my whole life. Okay. Here's my question. At what point in your life did you trust and obey? Not your parents, not your grandparents. At what point in your life did you say, God, I'm a sinner in need of a savior and I come with nothing? I just simply trust in Jesus' finished work for me. Maybe today is that day for you.