Luke 18:18–43 | The Rich Ruler, Blind Faith, and God's Grace

In this episode of Jim Cantelon Today Podcast, Jim Cantelon examines Luke 18:18–43, exploring Jesus' teaching on salvation, misplaced loyalties, and the humility that opens the door to God's grace.

Jim Cantelon Today Podcast brings trusted, verse-by-verse Bible teaching from Jim Cantelon. Each episode explores God's Word with practical insight, historical context, and a focus on applying biblical truth to everyday life.

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Stacey 0:00

You're listening to Jim Cantelon from Jim Cantelon Today. Today's message comes from Luke 18: 18- 43.

Jim Cantelon 0:11

Let's pick it up. Verse 18. A certain ruler, he's called a ruler here, asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What you call me good, Jesus answered. No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother. All these I've 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 very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard this asked, Well, who then can be saved of God? Jesus replied, What is impossible with man is possible with God. Peter said to him, We have left all we had to follow you. Truly I tell you, Jesus said to them, No one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters 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. So, Jesus has been doing a lot of talking over the last few chapters about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. Well, it's continuing here, and this time in the form of a sincere question from a wealthy young synagogue governor. Generally speaking, those who rise to govern things are very wealthy people. And I think it's human nature. We tend to appoint or vote for those who seem to have been very successful in life. And we usually see success as financial success. It was true then, it's true today. So, anyway, this guy gets off on the wrong foot by calling Jesus good. Jesus' response here is a subtle double entendre. Essentially he was saying, Don't flatter me. Only God is good. In other words, if you really knew who I am, you would prostrate yourselves before yourself before me. No one should have the temerity to flatter God. Jesus took this personally. You're flattering me. You have no idea what you're saying. And the irony is, of course, well, the fact of the matter is, you are talking to God here, but you have no idea. You just think I'm a prophet and you're trying to make me feel good about myself. Good, good master. Anyway, not a big point, but a point. The question here was: what must I do to inherit eternal life? He wanted to know the entry requirements for the kingdom of God. And undoubtedly he was thinking, what have I got to pay? He had been faithful in the core values of the moral law, the Ten Commandments. Jesus commends him for that, but he says, look, you're still lacking something. And the lack was the product of a misplaced loyalty. He loved his money. And as Jesus made clear, the love of God was to trump all other loves. Remember back a few weeks ago, we were looking at you cannot love God and money at the same time. So Jesus' challenge to the young man's true love saw him sadly slink away. And watching him leave, Jesus exclaimed, At the most almost insurmountable barrier that riches build between this world and the next. His listeners, like all human beings, like you and me, had a high regard for material security, and in a reflex of guilt, perhaps, they asked, Well, then who can be saved? Jesus answers, Well, God can make it happen. He doesn't say how, but God can make it happen. Now here's the thing. Was Jesus calling this successful young man to bankrupt himself? Not at all. This guy was obviously a very successful entrepreneur. Jesus knew very well that if he gave away everything he had within a month or two, he'd be well on his way back to material prosperity again. Just by his initiative, his vision, and his skill set. He would he wouldn't even miss it. But he was making the point if your core values rest with these material and financial components of your life, you're gonna miss out. And perhaps one of the reasons you're gonna miss out is because you have no sense of need. You're approaching eternal life here like it's some kind of a negotiation. You know, what so what do I got to do? How much money? What do you need from me? You know, you got a lot of expenses, let me cover your expenses, and then you give me eternal life. This was not a negotiation from Jesus' point of view. This had to do with something much, much, much, much, much more important, and that was the welfare of your soul. It's hard for us to make that leap from valuing possessions to valuing eternal life. The Lord doesn't want us walking around poor. He doesn't want to see his children bereft, he doesn't want to see his children begging bread. The Bible says that. The Bible also says that our God will supply all our needs according to his riches, not our, his riches in glory through Christ Jesus. He sees the birds of the air, he sees the lilies of the field. All of them have within them a self-sustainable reality that has been God given and God created, God made. We are his creatures too, and he will sustain us. Dressed in very high-end, high-cost clothing, and you say, What's my problem? Why am I not on their level? Well, you're not with them when they're privately themselves. You don't know what sorrows and pressures and tensions they live with. Has it not surprised you that story after story, it seems week after week, of high-profile, high-moneyed people committing suicide? Doesn't that tell you something? There is no ultimate fulfillment in this world's goods. You know, we we have this remarkable capacity as human beings to just accommodate. And, you know, once you've got the big house, well, you hardly notice it. You're in the big house. The only time it really is a notice factor is when some of your neighbors or some of your friends say, Oh, my, what a great house you have. You know, and they oh yeah, yeah. I'm set apart. I'm a little bit more elite than you. Big deal. How is it with you and God? That's really the big question. How is it with you and the Lord? Now, Peter jumps in to this conversation, perhaps rationalizing his own love of money by blurting that the twelve had bankrupted themselves to follow him. And Jesus kindly reminds him that he'd be more compensated in the world to come. In fact, more than compensated in the world to come. You know, God is in debt to nobody. But he is in debt to those who are kind to the poor. In Proverbs, Solomon writes, He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for what he has done. Whoa. Imagine God being in our debt. Why? Because we are kind to the poor. There's insight into true wealth. For those who are compassionate. The Lord not only pays them back, but he rewards them as well. These are kingdom values, friends. And as I say, the last few chapters in Luke are all about the kingdom. But we need to get it. We need to understand something. We've been bought with a price, the precious blood of Christ shed on Calvary's tree, for a reason. Because of our great value and because of what lies ahead, and because of God's love for the world. So why don't we just get with the program and get onside and pray that prayer, God be merciful to me, a sinner, and enter into the joy of our Lord. So after these um remarkable words from Jesus, yeah, profound, thoughtful words. And I, you know, you know, even though I've read them again and again and again, and I've been preaching and teaching these scriptures for 55 years, I'm still gripped by what it means to inherit eternal life. It's not bought, it's something gifted to us, and we respond by showing compassion and kindness to the needs of our world. Not profound, it's just profound. Okay. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, has been now for a few days, and along the way he's been teaching, and Luke has been chronicling some of his teachings as he and his disciples, and you can be sure a coterie of many hangers on, like a small village, walked their way from the Jordan Valley all the way up through the Judean Hills to Jerusalem. I know that territory so well. You know, I lived in Jerusalem for seven years, built, planted King of Kings Church, which is a wonderful story. I was able to pass it on to people far more capable than myself. But I was just sort of the grunt guy. I was a thin edge of the wedge, the pioneer, I guess. But living those seven years in Jerusalem with Kathy and our three little kids, I drove down and through and up Jordan Valley up to the Upper Galley every week to broadcast the gospel from a humble little radio station in a war zone in southern Lebanon. So I know how arduous that would have been walking. Let's read it. Verse 31 of chapter 18. Jesus took the twelve aside and told them, We're going up to Jerusalem, and everything that's written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They'll mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him, kill him. On the third day he will rise again. The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they didn't know what he was talking about. As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He called out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, What do you want me to do for you? Lord, I want to see, he replied. Jesus said to him, Receive your sight, your faith has healed you. Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. So on his way up to Jerusalem, I've just mentioned it was a very arduous climb. The Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea are about 1,400, 1,500 feet below sea level. It's the lowest spot on earth. The sun beating down is intense. What's interesting though, when you're in the Dead Sea area, which is just past Jericho, and Kathy and I are kids often used to go down there on Shabbat Saturdays for the kids to float in the Dead Sea, which, believe me, you want to know what you're doing there because it's so salty. If you go in face first, it takes you about five minutes to be able to open your eyes. They're burning with salt. But you can float half of your body above the surface of the water. And it has apparently a lot of healing qualities in terms of skin diseases. There's whole clinics down there. Anyway, it's very, very hot, it's very, very low. And then to go from there up to Jerusalem, it's a constant climb up through the Judean Hills. And I've seen some of the remnants of the paths that the pilgrims and just the everyday merchants used to use back in Jesus' time. There's just a few of them little left. There's kind of like cutouts on the sides of the hills, and there are goat paths, of course, as well. But it would be adversity to the max, climbing up there. Anyway, what Jesus and the disciples had done from Capernaum, they had probably followed the eastern shore of the Jordan River rather than the western shore. And it's fairly flat there. So they did this because, as I say, the road through Samaria from Capernaum was up through those hills. It circumvented those hills until they came to the point past Jericho where they had to start the climb. And somewhere near Jericho, Jesus and the twelve are talking, and for the third time, he gives them a heads up about what's going to happen to them in Jerusalem. But they still don't get it. They don't know what he's talking about. And as they come to the city of Jericho, a beautiful oasis Jericho is, there's a blind beggar. He's aware of the people streaming by, and he asks, What in the world's going on here? And he's told Jesus is passing by, and he shouts out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Now, son of David was a messianic term. It may have been lost on the crowd, but for some reason, this blind guy had a little bit of theological background and he understood who the Messiah was. He's a son of David. Well, Jesus responded to this blind man's request with, yeah, what do you want me to do for you? Well, of course, Jesus knew what he wanted him to do for him. But obviously the question was intended for the crowd, because they're all listening. So the blind beggar gives him the predictable answer, and Jesus heals him, just like that. Great rejoicing, praise to God on his behalf and on the behalf of everyone. I mean, can you believe it? We know this guy, we've known him for decades. He's been blind his whole life. Now, imagine his astonishment as he's seeing things for the first time. Luke doesn't say if this messianic title that the blind man used, son of David, was given any thought by the crowd. But for some who followed Jesus in the Twelve up to Jerusalem, it may have fueled more than a few Hosanna's a few days later, as he made what's called the triumphal entry, and all the fuss, rejoicing, pushing, shoving. Those in the crowd may not have noticed a short man up a tree. Perhaps one observant person saw him and shouted and pointed, Hey, look, look, there's Zacchaeus, the tax collector up there. Jesus looked up, called Zacchaeus down with a stunning announcement he wanted to stay that night at his at his house. The people were shocked. He's gone to be the guest of our maximum sinner citizen. Tax collectors worked for Rome, the occupying forces. They collected taxes. And what they insisted you give, you had to give, or he could throw you in jail. You knew full well that all the Romans wanted was six cents in the dollar, and this tax collector is acting for 40 cents in the dollar, and the surplus is going to go to him. That's how it happened. He had full authority to throw people in jail. And so these guys were rich on the backs of the poor. And so he was the lowest of the low, as far as the people were concerned. Persona non grata, scum of the earth. And so they're amazed and troubled that the son of David would associate with such a man. Zacchaeus with a preamble makes his own announcement. Look, Lord, here and now, I give half my possessions to the poor. If I've cheated anyone out of anything, I give back four times that amount. He was kind of a poster boy for repentance. Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached repentance as key to entry into the kingdom of heaven. In response to this tax collector's repentance, Jesus declares him saved. And he took the opportunity to remind those gathered at Zacchaeus' house that salvation of the lost was his first priority. His first priority. I mean, there's a lot of theology in the Bible, and he will get there. But ultimately, the prime motivator for preaching and teaching is that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The gospel of salvation. And if we do not confess our sins, if we do not repent of our sins, we're lost. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. How good is that? I say it's a pretty good deal.

Stacey 18:41

You've been listening to Jim Cantelon from Jim Cantelon Today. This episode first aired on June 28th, 2026 on Jim Cantelon Today.

Jim Cantelon 18:56

Hi, Jim Cantelon here from Jim Cantelon Today. I'm the founder of Working for Orphans and Widows, and I'm committed to being the hands and feet of Jesus to dying and at risk orphans and widows in Africa and India.

Stacey 19:13

To learn more about Jim Cantelon and WOW – Working for Orphans and Widows visit WowMission.com