Jesus probes deeper into the heart of this man, just as Christ may be doing with you today. By the way, He does this because He loves you. I know that because this text will tell us that Jesus loved this man who eventually went away sad and would not accept Him. The Holy Spirit woos us, and though we may give up on God, my beloved, He will not give up on us.
It was here that Jesus told him, “You lack one thing.”
Be divested of self righteousness
Based on what he had done, this rich young ruler thought he had it all. Jesus challenged this man about the law. Jesus perceived that he was proud of his accomplishments, so the Lord said, “You know the law.” Jesus listed six laws dealing with the outward commandments associated with our fellow man. This man said, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”
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No doubt this young man was probably right. He had kept the law outwardly. He hadn’t murdered, committed adultery, stolen anything, lied, defrauded anyone. I have every confidence that he was the perfect, obedient child. What we are dealing with here, my friends, is a “goody, goody two shoes.” He prides himself on a careful attention to the outward things of life. This young man was relying on his own righteousness — What must I do to be saved. But what about the inner man?
In His sermon on the mount, Jesus showed that a man can keep the law outwardly and still be a sinner. Paul said that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus said that He had come to convict the world of sin and righteousness. What did he mean? He meant that, as in this account, Jesus shows us the folly of our supposed righteousness and our need of His righteousness. Either you can keep the law and earn God’s favor or else you are a sinner and need a Savior. Jesus came, in fact, because you and I are sinners.
Someone has said: “Religion has always been with us. Without it there would have been no reason for the coming of the Messiah to put a stop to it.”2
Whether it is “creed, cult, or conduct” (terms from Robert Capon 3), man is always seeking to promote himself before God. But Paul said that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And Jesus said that He had come to convict the world of sin and righteousness. What did he mean? He meant that, as in this account, Jesus shows us the folly of our supposed righteousness and our need of His righteousness. Either you can keep the law and earn God’s favor or else you are a sinner and need a Savior. Jesus came, in fact, because you and I are sinners.
I will never forget June Day. June Day was a girl in our class in Junior High School who was always called upon to stand at the board and take names in case any of us acted up while the teacher went out to that strange, mysterious place called the faculty lounge. Basically, she couldn’t take any more and needed a break. And June Day was called upon to police the room. I must admit that during those days I did not like June Day because June invariably wrote my name on the board. But one day when the teacher went out and June stood, with chalk in hand, eyes scanning the class for any signs of misbehavior, the class could take no more of June. The class erupted into a giant spitball arena. It was absolute anarchy. Suddenly, June got hit — right in the face. There was silence. We wondered what would happen.
