By
Izar Tirta
Reading
material:
Matthew 19:16-26
Mark 10:17-27
Luke 18:18-28
SECTION ONE:
Who is the rich
young leader in the story of the rich and the kingdom of God?
Introduction
"Blessing." A word so
beautiful. We really hope to get it and surely it is to be something we really want in our prayer
to God. "Blessing" seems to be a kind of measure to judge whether or
not God is pleased with a person. Our formula is simple, if a person has many
blessings; rich, intelligent, kind, gained recognition from many people and seem
to be active in spiritual activities, then surely that person is pleasing to
the heart of God and granted salvation. But is it true? Well, if it is not,
then what about those of us who probably do not feel like having that much
blessing? If such a person can not be saved, then who can be saved?
The story of Jesus' encounter
with a rich young man recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke)
teaches us that there are so many differences between our human point of view
with the vision of Jesus, the eternal God who became Man, regarding what true
blessing really is. In the following text, I try to encapsulate or dig deeper
into the record of the encounter and, hopefully, through the results of this
exposition, we can both learn something worthwhile
from the perspective of Jesus Christ on some of our important aspects in lives.
A YOUNG MAN WHO HAS SO MANY BLESSINGS
The figure of a man who came to Jesus was indeed the perfect picture of a blessed person. For more details about what blessings he has, I will try to explore what the Bible has to say about the characteristics of that man.
The first thing is reflected in what Matthew briefly says "There comes a man to Jesus." From this simple phrase we can see how this man is not just an ordinary man. While many other men may be more preoccupied with their affairs or more interested in coming to places that please them, this man chooses to come to Jesus. This was not Jesus who came to him, but he the one who came to Jesus. How many men today are interested in coming to Jesus? Taking care of a profitable business or enjoying a hobby, is probably much more interesting choices than coming to Jesus, at all costs, is not it? So I can say here that someone's interest in coming to Jesus alone is already a blessing for that person.
And even more than that, Mark
notes that this man not only came to Jesus in the usual way, but he came by
"running up to Jesus and fell on his knees before Him" (Mark 10:17).
The Greek word used for run up is προσδραμὼν (read: prosdramon)
which indicates an immediate or hurried. Apparently there is an expression of
enthusiasm in this man's arrival. Presumably Jesus' arrival had been so eagerly
awaited by him, that when Jesus finally appeared, he could not wait to meet
Him. This man's outburst was so unstoppable that he had to run to get Him.
Truly extraordinary. At least from this we can judge that this person has a
sense of special concern for spiritual things. Especially if we read Mark 10:20
which says that this man was also diligent in carrying out the Lord's command
since he was a teenager. A quality that is certainly not
owned by everyone of course.
The second thing is reflected in verse 22, the man is more specifically identified, he is
not just a man, but a young man. Why should the Bible say that he is still
young? What is the significance? It is possible that the Gospel writer wrote it
because first of all he was young indeed, but we know that the term
"young" gives a picture of pure power, hope, and idealism. This man
is no longer a teenager, for he says "these things have I obeyed from my
youth" (Mark 10:20), but he has not yet entered old age. This man's age
range can be between 22 and 40 years. And the Bible mentions this man's youth
factor to show that he is in the best age of his life (the prime time of his
life). With this young age, the man has every opportunity to learn something of
great worth from the most powerful Person on earth. With his young age, the
Bible wants to say what a great blessing he has so that he can meet Jesus at the most productive stage of life.
Third, the Book of Luke also
gives an additional information about the identity of this young man.
Apparently, in Luke’s point of view, this young man is also a leader (Luke
18:18). The Greek term used by Luke is ἄρχων (read: archon),
which can be translated as a leader such as prince, lord, government and even
judge. We are not told what kind of leader this young man is, but by using this
phrase only, we can see that this young man was a man of great importance in
the social order at that time. At least, we can imagine that he is a
trustworthy and dependable man, so he gets the trust of others as a leader. It
seems not too much if we assume that this young man is also a person who has
good behavior in the middle of society.
Fourth, this young man
who came to Jesus is described as a rich man. Matthew and Mark both say that
the young man has many treasures (verse 22), while Luke describes him as a very
rich man (verse 23). In Greek, the young man is described as having κτήματα πολλά (read: ktemata
polla) which means "great deal of property," or large amount of
treasure.
The Bible often uses a
description of one's wealth as a proof that the person is blessed by God. 1
Chronicles 29:12 for example says: "Wealth and honor come from you; you are
the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give
strength to all." In the Old Testament, people who are blessed by
God are portrayed by how much wealth they have. And I am sure that the Gospel
writers record the encounter between Jesus and this rich young leader in order
to show the reader at the time, as well as the present, of Jesus' attitude to
wealth. Is it merely a blessing? As understood by the people of that day? (and
also by people of today?) Or is it something to watch out for?
Fifth, this rich young
leader was able to ask such an important question to Jesus. He asks: "“Teacher, what
good thing must I do to get eternal life?” From this question, we can conclude this young man has a concern not only of life in the
present, but also in the future life. Many people today, care only about the
present life. They do not really care what will happen to their lives in the
future. Many people only have thoughts for the short term matters only. They do
not really think about what the consequences of their current lives are for
their future lives. While young people today think more about lovers or hobbies
or the best business opportunity, this rich young leader even asks Jesus about
something much more important. He asks questions about something of eternal
worth, that is how to be accepted in heaven.
Have you ever asked the same question to
the Lord in your prayers? Do you have the same attention with this rich young
man that in the future you will find yourself as someone who does not have
eternal life? Well, this young man has reminded us all that such a question is
an important question to think about.
So far, we've talked enough about the characteristics
of the rich young leader who came to Jesus. If I may summarize then he is:
- A man who cares about spiritual issues (a
religious person)
- Young (living in the prime time of his
life)
- Has a leadership position (can be
trusted, people can count on him in some ways)
- Rich, very rich even (has a lot of
possesion)
- Able to ask important questions to Jesus
(surpassing most people of his age)
However, in the next section, we will see
how Jesus criticized and rebuked this rich young leader.
We might want to ask: How could a man of such good qualities as this
rich young leader receive a criticism and rebuke? And if
this wonderful young man is still being rebuked by Jesus, then what about us
who are far from perfect? Would not Jesus have
rebuked us more forcefully? Many people might
think that this young man’s wealth is the only problem for him, but in the
following section I will let You see that his wealth is not the only thing that
Jesus criticized, there are more than that. And hopefully by studying this, we
may also inspect, because of all the criticism that Jesus told the young
leader, it could be also a criticism for us today.
