The Rich Young RulerPastor C. W. PowellTrinity Covenant RCUSColorado Springs, ColoradoFrom an Email posted 4/10/2003Revised slightly 8/6/2004
Go to Basket of Figs Homepage
[Note: this
paper was posted on the RCUS Yahoo forum in response to the legalistic and
corrupt interpretation of this passage by the New Perspectives people and the
followers of Norman Shepherd.]
Here is a proud first century yuppie who knew how to
identify a problem, seek a solution, and implement the solution. He had heard good things of Christ. He knew how to solve earthly problems and
thought that he could handle spiritual ones.
Just show him the solution, and he would implement it. He was willing to sacrifice and tackle the
tough job. He fancied himself humble,
for he was willing to seek to someone who would know better than he did. He was clever enough to seek out all the
resources available to him. He was good
in public relations and knew how to ingratiate himself with public
figures. "Good master...,"
was the way he began.
In other words, this was a man who was not poor in
spirit, who had no sense of sin, and certainly would not consider himself
deserving of the wrath of God. More to
the point, he certainly did not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God, for
why did Christ rebuke him for calling him "good" when only God is
good? The truth is that Jesus would not
accept flattery. No mushing about the
goodness of Christ if He is thought to be an imposter and not God. An honest man does not flatter nor receive
flattery.
So the law must do its work. It must challenge the arrogance of the
natural man. Only the poor in spirit
inherit the kingdom of God, and this man wasn't that. He was a success, morally, socially, and financially. Show him the problem and he would solve
it. To his mind every problem has a solution
if we put together the proper moral, reasonable, and effective resources. He knew what success was, and it meant you
didn't leave any loose ends. Thus,
hearing about Christ, he came to Him.
Wow, did he get a surprise!
He was not like the godly people of the Gospels:
those commended for walking perfectly before the Lord, for they all embraced
Christ and loved Him. This rich man had
something screwy about his view of the law, for how could he have walked away
from Christ if he truly loved the law, whose end was Christ? Let this soak in: how can a good and
righteous man walk away from Jesus Christ?
When God asked Adam “Where Art Thou?” He was not
searching for information. He knew
exactly where Adam was. God never needs
information, for the word of God is quick and powerful and searches to the
inmost part of man. When God speaks it
is to give information, not to gain it.
When the word of God discerns the secret parts of the heart, it is not
for the purpose of conveying that information to God, any more than God needed
to send angels to discover what was going on in Sodom.
God speaks, and Jesus spoke, to give information;
and that information was often given in such a way that only those who had ears
to hear could hear. Sometimes the
information was given indirectly; sometimes like a hammer. Often God speaks for the purpose of bringing
light to our dark hearts concerning ourselves; sometimes for the purpose of
conveying truth about Himself.
To claim that Jesus would have been acting
dishonestly by telling the Rich Young Ruler to keep the commandments, when He
knew that the Rich Young Ruler could not keep the law, is childish and
dishonest. Jesus knows what is in the
heart of every man, and He knew the pride and self-satisfaction of this young
man. In the Garden of Eden God was not
pretending to seek for Adam, and Jesus was not pretending that the RYR could
gain life by keeping the commandments.
God knew where Adam was, and Jesus knew where the
Rich Young Ruler was. But neither of
them knew how lost they were, and that is the crux of the matter. Neither were in good shape, and neither
understood how desperate their condition was.
Adam certainly didn’t or he would not have resorted to fig leaves and
hiding in bushes. The rich man didn’t
or he would have thrown himself at the feet of Jesus. But then, that would have been unseemly for a man of his social
and economic position.
“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning;
and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: to understand a proverb, and the
interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings” is the way
Solomon put it.
So it was with Christ. Just as He was not disowning His Deity by asking the Rich Young
Ruler why he called Him “good, for only God is good,” so neither is He offering
to confirm the Rich Young Ruler in the righteousness of the law by telling him
to keep the commandments. A man who was
wrong about Jesus was not likely to be right about his obedience to the law. This man, as does every son of Adam, needed
far more than to be told to behave himself.
It is not hard to see where this clever and specious
interpretation of the story of the RYR comes from. How can any man who loves and knows Jesus Christ think the RYR
was a good man who kept the law, but was a little mixed up about what he owed
to Jesus Christ? Whatever its earthly
origin is, it has the smell of brimstone about it and does not come from
heaven, as if Christ could be separated from His law, and one could keep the
one and reject the other. “Stuff and
Nonsense” as my gramma used to say. I
suppose a man would have to read a great many books to believe that stuff.
As a matter of fact, the Rich Young Ruler didn’t
keep the law, even though he fancied that he did. Any man who would turn away from Christ and abandon the riches of
heaven for the silver and gold of this world didn’t understand either the law
or the Lord Jesus. The law is spiritual
and the carnal man will never understand it.
He hates it and only pretends to love it in order to bring people into
the bondage and misery that holds him.
If a man who pretends faith praises the law, his clever words are only
“springes to catch woodcocks with,” as Polonius put it.
The Tenth Commandment internalizes all the
others. Not only am I not to steal, but
I am not to put my affection on things on the earth; I am not to seek gain; I
am not to love money. Covetousness is
idolatry, so this young man was not one who feared the Lord, in spite of his
pretenses. His sin consumed him. Why else would he choose to abandon Jesus
and walk away? How awful was his sin!
Moses, who gave the law, knew better the meaning of
the law than the RYR. Moses “esteemed
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.” Abraham, the Father of the Faithful, looked
for a city which “hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” That’s why Abraham didn’t journey to
Sodom. He knew that Sodom wasn’t the
city he was looking for.
In fact, the Rich Young Ruler was a covetous,
selfish hypocrite, who boasted in his self-righteousness, and only thought that
he could cover all his bases by getting this famous religious leader to confirm
him in his self-righteousness. There
are a great many similar people, up-scale, yuppies and yippies, who flock to
modern religious conventions, prophetic conferences, retreats, meetings, bible
conferences, and so forth, to have their own self-righteousness affirmed and
confirmed. “Be true to yourself.” “Unleash your inner potential.” “Listen to the child within.” “Choose the better way.” “Make yourself the clay, so that God can be
the Potter.” “Hold on and let go, so
that the Spirit can move you to irrationality and self-gratification.” “The
Virgin will hear.” “Show your love to
each other.” "Buy this album and feel the power." "Sow the seed
of faith and enrich this ministry, and God will enrich you [see, it is good to
love money, dearly beloved]." So
it goes and everyone feels very religious and pious.
They drive their fancy cars, sit on padded pews,
relax in air-conditioned comfort with their cup of latte, and listen to false
prophets tell them how bad everything is getting, but for them not to worry,
for they are good people and God will not let them get too uncomfortable. God will even take them directly to Heaven
if it gets too nasty on the earth. They
do not bear the cross, for they shrink from unpleasantness and pain. They bask in their warm bath of tepid piety,
rising above doctrinal controversies, and feeling harmonic convergence with
other good people everywhere, resolving all contradictions in a Hegelian stew
of pious feelings.
They are like a man who dreams that he dines, but
awakens hungry. But he doesn't even
know he is hungry because he loathes the Gospel which would feed his hungry and
alienated soul. But he is very
self-satisfied and glories in his loving works. He beams on the world.
But don't talk to him about cutting off body parts.
Instead of dishonesty, Christ turned the light of
truth and honesty into the dark heart of this “fine young man,” whose only
fault was to love money and this world [!!!].
But there was no grace in the heart of the young man, and he went away
very sorrowful.
Too bad that Christ proved to be such a
disappointment. No doubt the Rich Young
Ruler is gnashing his teeth in hell today, still complaining about the
unfairness of it all. After all, he
would have done ANYTHING. "Why did
Jesus prove to be such a disappointment and ask me to do such a foolish
thing? Who had ever heard of such a
thing? I hear that even his own
disciples had trouble with the idea that it is hard for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of heaven. What WAS
Jesus thinking of. Maybe the Pharisees
are right. He must have a devil. The Pharisees are good men who love God and
seek to obey God. I am afraid Jesus
will give His disciples the wrong perspective on things. I hear that Jesus has sharply attacked these
good people and called them hypocrites and whited sepulchers. What a disappointment. Maybe someone will come along some day to
give a New Perspective on these things and save the world."
Many have come with the New Perspective, but they saved
no one and only populated hell.
The Rich Young Ruler was like Naaman the leper who
was highly offended at being told to go wash in the dirty old Jordan
River. He had much finer streams back
home. The difference is that Naaman
came to his senses; we have no information about the Rich Young Ruler. [BTW.
Why DID the prophet make Naaman do such a stupid thing? Is this one of those "dark
sayings" that Proverbs speaks about?
I suppose that those who journey to Israel still think of the Jordan as
a holy river. Some even think it is
"special" to be baptized there.
They still don't get it. But
that is such a hard questions, about Naaman dipping in the Jordan River, and we
want the simple gospel, one that little children can understand without growing
up. Didn’t Jesus say we must become
like little children. Link]
To all of God's people. Jesus Christ is a complete and perfect Savior. He kept the
covenant perfectly and redeems me from all my misery. His covenant-keeping atones for my covenant-breaking. I cannot and do not keep the law, to my
shame and regret. But my faithful
Savior's work is so great that "God, for the sake of Christ's
satisfaction, will no more remember my sins, nor the sinful nature with which I
have to struggle all my life long; but graciously imputes to me the
righteousness of Christ, that I may nevermore come into
condemnation." HC56.
Amen and Amen.
If that doesn't warm your heart, your heart is very hard indeed. I am not ashamed of the tears that come into
my eyes as I write this. May they never
be dried until my Savior wipes them away in glory.
Those who preach this gospel are my brothers, no
matter what their denomination; those who do not lie under the curse of God, no
matter what their denomination. We must
not sacrifice or diminish the grace of God or the Gospel of Christ, which is
the power of God unto salvation.
[You have permission to circulate this posting as
widely as possible. May the Gospel
always have free course among us.]