WEBVTT 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:13.359 Matthew 19, verse 16, and forward is our passage for this morning. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:20.079 I want you to imagine your ideal evangelism encounter. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:22.640 What would that look like? 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:27.440 You know, we are active in evangelism, we want evangelistic conversations. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:33.039 Oftentimes the hardest part about an evangelistic conversation is starting it. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:37.119 We are very good in answering objections to Christianity. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:47.520 We're very good in responding to people who ask us questions about the Bible or ask us questions about the gospel, but it's much harder to initiate those conversations on our own. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:50.560 Perhaps you've had some awkward attempts at that. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:59.520 You know, you make your neighbors cookies and try to remember their name and give them the cookies and then just kind of hover there awkwardly. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:02.719 You notice I have a Jesus fish in my car. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.079 You want to hear about that? 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:09.439 I have faith the gnats are gonna do well this year. 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:11.920 You want to know what real faith is like, though? 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:18.959 There was an election last week, but let me tell you about the election that really matters. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:20.799 Are they getting cheesier? 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:21.840 Okay. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:32.400 So imagine your ideal evangelism encounter, skips all those, and gets right to the heart of the issue. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:41.439 Maybe the person comes up to your house and knocks on your door, and you open the door and they say, Hello, can you tell me what I must do to be saved? 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:45.040 That would be a pretty incredible evangelism encounter, wouldn't it? 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:46.719 That doesn't happen every day. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:51.439 But it did happen one time, and that's what's described in Matthew 19. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:53.519 That's a passage we're going to look at this morning. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.719 This is the ideal evangelism encounter. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:05.760 It is a person who runs up to Jesus and asks him, What must I do to be saved? 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:10.639 Now the background of this evangelistic conversation is important and it's interesting. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:22.000 This is the last week of Jesus' life and ministry, and he is preparing for his death, for the cross that's gonna come just around the corner. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:27.599 He's preparing to leave this world, and this is his last shot at instructing the Jews. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:33.360 The Jews are, especially his disciples, are very excited about what lies in the future. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:35.759 They're gonna enter Jerusalem in the next chapter. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:51.280 They're gonna walk into Jerusalem with the triumphal entry, and the disciples are optimistic that Jesus' presence in Jerusalem will usher in the messianic era, that Jesus will perhaps not even overthrow Rome, but will be recognized as the Messiah, as the rightful king of Israel. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:56.400 There's conflicting expectations among everybody, but they are stoked about what's gonna happen. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:00.479 And they want to see Jesus make his mark. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:02.479 He didn't do much ministry in Jerusalem. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:15.599 He spent most of his time in Galilee or in the surrounding nations, but here at the end of his life, he's walking into Jerusalem, and expectations are high, and the disciples are excited, and they do not want Jesus to mess this up. 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:28.319 And yet, here, in this conversation with what is known as the rich young ruler, it appears that Jesus does indeed mess this up. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:33.520 Think about what you would answer a question like that. 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:37.680 Your neighbor rings your doorbell and asks you, What must I do to be a Christian? 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:39.439 Think of how you would answer that question. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:41.199 Think of your evangelism training. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:52.639 Think of the four spiritual laws, or think of the, you know, the thing you diagram on a napkin with the, you know, the great golf fix and the cross separates the golf, or you know, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life kind of conversation. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:58.240 And you want to get to the gospel and the cross and the resurrection, and do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins? 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:05.360 Like you have this training and you have questions you want to ask, and you you want to get to the prayer at the end, and do you believe in Jesus and the Bible is true? 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:08.960 kind of questions, and Jesus doesn't do any of that. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.879 It's like he failed evangelism school. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:17.279 And of course, you know how the story ends. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:18.399 Most of you do, I'm sure. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:20.079 The man walks away. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:27.519 Not only walks away not believing in Jesus, but one could easily argue he walks away not having heard the gospel. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:34.399 The gospel, in fact, hangs like a cloud over this conversation, but it never rains. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:40.000 Jesus never gets to what we would often describe as the gospel. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:46.480 Now, before we get too far into this, I mentioned that he's uh known as the rich young ruler. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:49.920 Matthew calls him young, by the way, which he's a synagogue ruler. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:51.279 That's what Luke fills in. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:53.759 He's the man who leads a synagogue, Luke tells us. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:55.199 Matthew says he's young. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:58.639 Um and later on Jesus is going to call him rich. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:00.959 So that's where the rich young ruler gets gets from. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:01.920 Jesus calls him rich. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:04.399 You take the other accounts of him, he's the rich young ruler. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.199 This is everything that's important to people. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.480 And even make it more specific, important to Americans. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:13.120 Think of the things that our culture elevates. 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:22.720 Our culture elevates power, our culture elevates riches, and our culture elevates youth. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.120 Not actual youth, like not like little kids' youth. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:29.120 We don't esteem that, but we definitely esteem like the 40-year-old who dresses like the 20-year-old. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:30.480 Like that's cool. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:32.800 And that's what this guy has going on. 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:39.839 He is his youth, he's the target demographic, he's powerful, and he's rich. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.399 When I say powerful, he's a synagogue leader. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:47.040 This is the kind of person Jesus needs to have follow him. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:54.160 Sometimes we think, man, if only this or that politician would get saved, then this whole country would be different. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:55.600 You ever thought that? 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:58.639 You know that most people outside of the Washington, D.C. 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:00.399 area don't think like that. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:06.480 It's a humbling attitude when you recognize it. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:13.439 Most people in the rest of the country, well, in California, they would say, if this music, if this movie star gets saved, then there's hope for the gospel. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:14.480 Then everybody would believe. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.639 If that person got saved, everybody would believe. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.839 And in the kind of the rest of the country, it's it's athletes, is my impression. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:22.160 Like if that athlete got saved, then the whole world would get saved. 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:23.839 Then they would know the truth of the gospel. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.800 But here in the DC area, it's if that politician gets saved, how powerful could that conversion be? 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:37.920 The disciples have that attitude, specifically with a synagogue ruler, specifically with somebody who is rich and powerful. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:41.279 And so that's why this is the ideal evangelism encounter. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:45.839 Not only does this guy ask Jesus the question, what must I do to be saved, but he's the right guy. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.160 I mean, what a contrast with the paragraph before. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:51.120 The paragraph before, it's all the kids surrounding Jesus. 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:58.000 Jesus is getting ready to go into Jerusalem, and this is kind of his last shot at power and influence, and he's got kids around him. 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:00.399 Kids are not rich, have you noticed? 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:02.879 They're such beggars, those kids. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.680 They have no power, except maybe over their own parents. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:11.839 And Jesus is spending his time with them. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:13.839 The disciples are busy trying to get rid of the kids. 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:15.040 Get these kids out of here. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:17.040 What if somebody important were to come along? 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.040 And Jesus has the argument with the disciples earlier. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:20.399 That's the paragraph right before this. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:22.959 Jesus says, Stop keeping them away, let them come. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:24.079 He's laying his hands on them. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:35.199 It's in the middle of that context where the disciples are upset about all the kids that this guy, this rich young ruler, comes up to him, verse 16 says, and and Mark, I believe, adds, runs up to him. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.279 The guy is booking it in to see Jesus. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:44.079 He gets by the blockade of the disciples, and of course, once the disciples realize who this guy is, they would usher him right through. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.439 He doesn't need to wait in line like those smelly kids. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:48.800 This guy come right on in. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:49.920 This guy's important. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:56.879 And he comes up to Jesus, and you can almost picture the disciples like quietly praying that this goes well. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:02.639 Because, man, this would be so cool if this guy joins them. 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:11.439 A man comes up to Jesus and he says, Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:14.240 Man, what a question. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.480 This is the right question, isn't it? 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:18.160 This is a very good question. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:20.560 Man's greatest need is eternal life. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:28.560 With apologies to Maslow, you know, your greatest need is not lodging, your greatest need is not shelter or food or self-esteem or any of those kind of things. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:31.680 Friendships can, whatever the hierarchy of needs is, set that aside. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:35.200 Your greatest need is the knowledge of what's going to happen to you when you die. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:37.600 Your soul is eternal, your body is not. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:43.279 You will die, your body will go into the grounds and be eaten by worms, but your soul will go somewhere and where? 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:45.039 That's the big that's the question. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.600 That's the biggest question a person can have. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:49.679 What happens to you when you die? 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:51.919 God has set eternity in our hearts. 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:54.559 People are aware of the reality of the afterlife. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:01.039 They're aware that when they die, something's going to happen to them, either heaven or hell, and yet they don't know what. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:05.120 This is the greatest question a person can ask. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.559 What does it take to get to heaven? 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:09.840 I love this question. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:15.360 He's asking the right person, too. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:17.679 He's not asking the other synagogue leaders. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:18.879 He's probably tried them. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:20.799 He's not asking the Pharisees. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:22.799 He's not asking the Sadducees. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:24.879 He's not asking the Herodians. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:26.720 They would say yield to Rome. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.080 He's not asking those people. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:31.840 He's found the guy who would know the answer. 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.679 This is going to be humbling for a synagogue leader to ask that question in front of a crowd. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:40.320 I mean, right? 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:47.279 The synagogue leader is asking Jesus what it takes to have eternal life? 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:50.960 Imagine if you're part of a synagogue and you hear this question, it's like, yikes. 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:52.639 Yikes. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:56.159 But he's he's so urgent. 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:00.240 He has such a sense of urgency about him, he doesn't care what other people think. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:01.759 He he runs up. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:04.559 He's not even trying to do this slyly. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:06.159 Nicodemus at least came at night. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:12.559 No, this guy is busting out in the middle of daylight, running up to Jesus and asking him the question. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:14.159 I love it. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:16.399 People ask Jesus the strangest question. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.320 Some of them, some people waste questions on Jesus. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:23.279 Like in the next chapter, you're gonna get somebody who's you know asking the craziest question. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:28.799 You know, the random person has seven husbands and they all keep dying, and you know, who's she gonna be married to in the afterlife kind of question? 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:30.320 I mean, that's a ridiculous question. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:36.000 People burn through their questions, but not this guy. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:40.879 Right question, right person, right sense of urgency, and this is great. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:45.039 You're not gonna get more low-hanging evangelistic fruit than this. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:49.840 And of course, Jesus doesn't answer it the way we would answer it. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:51.279 Now, I say this facetiously. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:59.279 We know that Jesus doesn't mess up evangelism, and so I want to draw a couple lessons from this passage: evangelism according to Jesus. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:01.519 This is evangelism according to Jesus. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:07.440 I'm gonna draw four lessons on evangelism from how Jesus relates in this conversation. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:13.039 The first, good evangelism reveals God as holy. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:16.159 Good evangelism reveals God as holy. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:18.799 And that's where Jesus goes. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:23.759 Jesus focuses really not even on the question the man asked. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:25.519 Notice what Jesus focuses on. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:31.279 Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:33.200 As I said, that's a great question. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:37.919 But Jesus zooms in on one word the guy used. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:42.480 Why do you ask me about what is good? 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:51.200 Now, in the synoptics in Mark and Luke, the man calls Jesus good teacher, and Jesus says, Why do you call me good? 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:58.720 And if you've spent any time reading the synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they're called the Synoptics because they see the same thing differently, you know, different perspectives. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:03.759 This doesn't contradict, it's not that Matthew is wrong and Mark is right, or Mark is wrong and Matthew is right. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:14.159 Any conversation among people, things are repeated, things are said differently, you say things multiple times, and one person will remember one part of it differently than another person remembered it. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:16.720 Both people are remembering it truly, though. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:32.159 So the person did address Jesus as good teacher, and he did ask what good deed must he do to have eternal life, and Jesus does respond by focusing on the word good, which is a very strategic response by Jesus. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:35.679 He does not even get to the actual question yet. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:41.279 Before he gets to what you have to do to get eternal life, he just has hold that question, please. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.919 Is as if Jesus said, put that on pause. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:46.559 I want to ask you about something different. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:49.679 When you came up to me, you kept using the word good. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:53.519 Do you know what that word means? 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:56.399 Like, why are you calling me good? 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:59.919 Why are you asking what good deed you can do? 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:01.200 Big picture. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:02.960 Why do you think you can do a good deed? 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:04.399 That's what he's getting at. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:06.399 You think I'm a good person? 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:08.960 You think you can do a good thing? 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:10.080 Really? 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:11.519 Why can you do a good? 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:13.279 How do you even know what good is? 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:14.639 That's where Jesus is going. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:19.679 Now he's going there because he's trying to expose that God alone is holy. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:22.559 This is the basic starting point of evangelism. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:28.480 For evangelism to be effective, you have to communicate that the that God is holy. 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:29.600 God is transcendent. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:33.600 God is not like us, he is not part of our creation, he is the creator. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:40.320 God does not borrow life, he does not borrow goodness, he possesses life, and he is good. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:42.240 That's so different than us. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:44.480 We borrow our life, not God. 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:48.240 In the same way, we borrow goodness. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:51.039 We can't create goodness. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:52.879 God creates goodness. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:56.720 And God creates goodness by being good himself. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:58.480 God just is good. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:06.480 And so anything is good if it conforms to the character of God, and anything is sin if it is has a lack of conformity to God's character. 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:09.519 That is not how we as humans operate. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.720 We are not capable of good. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.399 Now, you'll quickly respond with, hold on a minute. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:33.200 The other week I saw an old lady pushing her shopping cart across Backlick, and there were cars turning right there, and it was very dangerous, and so I stopped and I got out and I helped this old woman cross the road with her groceries. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:34.480 Isn't that good? 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:44.720 Or the other week I saw some guy drop$20 in the grocery store, and I tried to give it back to him and I gave it to the manager and they looked at the camera and they found who it was and they gave him the 20 bucks back. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:51.039 And after that, my neighbor forgot to take her trash can out, and so I took her trash can out for her because I know she was busy and she forgot. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:53.360 So aren't those good things? 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:59.279 And yes, in a sense, those are good things, but but why are they good? 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.679 That's really the question Jesus is trying to get at here. 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:03.360 What makes those things good? 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:10.960 What makes them good is because they conform to the character of God, not because they conform to you and your standard of goodness. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:14.240 Your standard of goodness is borrowed from God. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:15.840 God alone is good. 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:18.320 Something is good if it corresponds to Him. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:22.879 You can do things that correspond to God, but not because you are good like God is good. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:30.559 Only because you figured out it's better to live in a world where people help each other than it is to live in a world where people steal. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:32.000 But that doesn't make you good. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:36.879 Here's a different analogy that is helpful for me to understand this. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:38.799 You see a river. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.799 You can jump in the river and you get wet. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:49.279 You could even say that you are wet now that you're in the river, but you don't create wetness. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:52.480 You you, by your own work, are not wet. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:55.679 You're not the author or the source of moisture. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:58.159 The river is what makes you wet. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:04.399 And more specifically, the river is wet because of its source, because of its fountain, where the water comes from. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:05.919 That's the source of goodness. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:07.600 The fountain is the source of goodness. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.200 You're just the swimmer. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:11.519 Goodness is the same way. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:17.919 You can do things that I guess are good, but not because you yourself are good, but because God alone is good. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:19.440 I mean, the Bible calls you to do good things. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:21.200 Ephesians 4, have good speech. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:24.399 1 Peter 3, lead a life filled with good days. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:30.320 Matthew chapter 12, the good person brings forth good things out of the good that is stored up in his heart. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:35.440 So you have the capacity to do good things, and Jesus knows that, and the synagogue leader knows that. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:41.360 But you are not good in and of yourself, because you are not a fountain of goodness, only God is. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.799 And so that's why Jesus wants to back up. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:46.960 The guy says, What good thing must I do? 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:48.159 And Jesus says, Pause. 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:50.000 Let me back up here. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.080 What does it mean to be good? 00:16:52.320 --> 00:17:01.919 James chapter 1 says that every good gift comes from God, from your heavenly Father, with whom there's no variation or shifting of shadow. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:03.279 That's where goodness comes from. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:04.480 Not from you. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:12.960 Why is Jesus making such a big deal about the salutation that was probably a normal, polite salutation? 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:17.119 He's making a big deal about it because do you understand what this exposes? 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:21.440 This guy thought he was capable of doing something good. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.119 That means they think he's good. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.359 You could give me a block of wood. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:33.119 And I could get the tools for wood whittling out. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:38.480 And I could ask you, what would you like me to carve for you? 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:43.200 And you could answer, really, whatever you want. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:44.720 It won't matter. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:46.960 I can't carve anything. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:50.240 You could say I'd like an angel, I'd like a dog, a gargoyle. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:53.200 If you said I would like a log, I can do that for you. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:54.880 It doesn't matter what you say. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:18:01.279 You know, if I'm grilling steak at my house, we have people over, I might ask, how do you like your steak? 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:03.519 I'll even pretend to write down your answers. 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:06.720 They're all coming off at the same time. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:07.359 You know that. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:10.799 Like they're all they're all going to be off the grill at the same time. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:15.200 And I hope everybody that I ask has a different answer because then maybe one of you will get what you wanted. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:24.480 The question, what good thing must I do, presupposes that you can do a good thing. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:26.480 And that's what Jesus is taking issue with. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:27.759 You cannot, my friend. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:31.359 You cannot do something by which you will get eternal life. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:36.880 So the foundation, it's the right question to the right person at the right time in the right way. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:39.119 It's on a wrong foundation. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:43.519 Conformity to God's laws is obedience. 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:46.640 Conformity to God's nature is goodness. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:54.240 You don't want to conflate the two of them because it will lead you to think that by being obedient you can be good. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:19:01.200 Evangelism begins by exposing that God alone is holy. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:03.119 And this is what Jesus tells the person. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:04.400 Why do you ask him about what is good? 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:06.319 There is only one who is good. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:08.960 Implication, God. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:12.000 Evangelism has to start there. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:20.079 It has to start with the fact that God is holy and we are not, which leads to the second step of evangelism according to Jesus. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:24.960 Good evangelism reveals God as holy, and secondly, reveals man as sinful. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:30.000 Jesus responds, he presses down here. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:33.920 He's stabbed the guy with the sword of the law, and he's going to keep pushing here. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:39.039 If you would enter eternal life, keep the commandments. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.039 Who knows what a Jew would have heard when Jesus says that? 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:44.880 The Jews love to debate about this. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:49.119 This is an ongoing theological debate inside of Judaism. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:54.079 American Christians will have an ongoing theological debate about free will or something. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:58.720 An ongoing theological debate inside of Judaism is what is meant by the commandments? 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.359 Is it the Ten Commandments? 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:03.039 Is that what Jesus would have meant? 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:07.920 Is it the 600 plus commands, imperatives, or prohibitions in the Torah? 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.279 Is that what he meant? 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:14.799 Is it from Leviticus, the love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, the greatest commandment? 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:15.759 Is that what it's about? 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:16.880 I mean, there was a debate. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.880 Are some of the commandments more important than others? 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:24.720 I mean, there's this a raging theological debate that Jesus appears to walk blindly into here. 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:26.960 He gives a pretty bland answer. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:28.240 Keep the commandments. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.359 You want to know what you have to do to inherit eternal life? 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:33.279 Do what God says. 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:34.640 Keep the commandments. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:47.920 And so, obviously, Jesus is not naive in how he answers it, but he gives that impression, which is why the rich young synagogue ruler, who would be very up to speed on this debate, asks him, which ones? 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.559 He thinks, aha! This is going to be a good conversation. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:54.400 What do you mean by you say commandments? 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:55.359 What do you mean, Jesus? 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:57.119 600 plus in the Torah? 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:58.640 The Ten Commandments? 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:00.720 What are you talking about? 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:05.359 And so Jesus comes in all over the place here. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.559 Jesus says, Well, how about this? 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:10.000 Don't murder. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:12.480 That's the sixth commandment. 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:14.799 Or this, don't commit adultery. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.559 That's the seventh commandment. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:17.839 Don't steal. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:19.759 That's the eighth commandment. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:21.599 Don't bear false witness. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:23.440 That's the ninth commandment. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:26.319 Honor your father and your mother as yourself. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.240 That's the fifth commandment. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:30.559 Why is he going out of order? 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:43.039 And if an Awana kid does that, if an Awana kid is rattling off the Ten Commandments and ends with the fifth commandment, maybe they're trying to avoid getting in trouble with their parents, or maybe they just forgot. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:48.240 Why is Jesus going six, seven, eight, nine, skipping ten, going back to five? 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.960 What happened to one through four, by the way? 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:57.359 Well, this is one of those passages you can just drown in studying and reading and taking in. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.440 Jesus is not arbitrarily choosing these. 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:02.240 There's an Order and rhyme and reason with all of this. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:04.240 He's not going to skip the Ten Commandments. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.440 You know, don't covet. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:07.440 He's going to circle back around to that one. 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:09.039 Don't you worry. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:12.319 One through four, we'll get to in a minute. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:13.839 He's going to cover those also. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:21.039 But for now, he's going in this order to highlight the fact that he is skipping the first table of the commandments. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:25.200 He's skipping one through four in his answer. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:29.200 If he would have just started with five and gone through ten, you'd think he's starting in the middle. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:36.319 But by intentionally starting with six, going to the end, circling back to five, he's underscoring one, two, three, four. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:40.640 Now, the first four commandments are not like the next six, and there's a big difference. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:45.839 The first four commandments are about your relationship to God, basically. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:47.279 Only have one God. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:48.640 Don't bow down to idols. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:50.240 Don't take the Lord's name in vain. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:51.599 Rest on the Sabbath. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:53.200 This is one through four. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:59.519 And rest in the Sabbath, by the way, so that you remember in six days, Yahweh created the heavens and the earth, not you. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.680 So the fourth commandment is all about you realizing you're not God. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:05.440 God is God, not you. 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:11.359 The third commandment, because of God's holiness, don't falsely say you're following him when you're not. 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:14.640 The second commandment, don't worship idols because of the first commandment. 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:18.000 Only God is real, only Yahweh is the true God. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:20.000 Have no other gods before him. 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:24.799 Jesus sets that aside for a second. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:29.759 He's going to focus on this man's relationship with other people. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:42.319 If you're to ask somebody what's going to happen to you when you die, most people would say, I'm going to heaven. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:43.279 Why? 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:46.720 Because I am a good person. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:49.759 What makes you a good person? 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:54.480 I always do what's right in my own eyes. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:58.079 And they won't say it exactly like that, but that's what the answer is getting to, right? 00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:59.599 I do what's right in my own eyes. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:01.200 I do what I think is best. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:02.960 I try to be kind to other people. 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:09.519 You know, the most rank atheist is going to grant that the second half of the Ten Commandments are a good moral guide. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:14.559 If somebody says, I don't believe in God, would still say, but you can't steal from me. 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:17.039 I don't believe that there's God. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:20.720 I don't believe in the Ten Commandments, but you can't commit adultery with my wife. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:25.599 And people get very specific about the Ten Commandments when it involves them. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:30.960 That's why they're so powerful at exposing how sinful people are. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:34.480 They're a good guide for moral living, sure. 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:36.400 But you don't live by them. 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:38.720 You think you're a good person? 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:40.400 That's great. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:41.759 Is lying wrong? 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:42.240 Yes. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:43.279 Do you lie? 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:44.000 Yes. 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:46.079 Okay. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:49.920 I thought you just said you were a good person. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.359 Is stealing wrong? 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:54.240 Yes. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:56.799 Have you stolen before? 00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:57.839 Yes. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:01.920 I thought I thought you were a good person. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:06.480 Jesus has already preached a Sermon on the Mount. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:10.240 If you look at a person with lust in your heart, you've committed adultery with them. 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:13.440 If you call your brother a fool, you're guilty of murder. 00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:14.480 He's already preached that. 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:18.400 He's already established that those things are a violation of the Torah. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:20.720 So throw that on the list. 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:25.839 Later on, we read this earlier in Matthew 20. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:30.319 Later on, Jesus is going to say, two greatest commands, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:34.240 That's the first half of the tablet, the first part of the Ten Commandments. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:36.960