City Life Starter

Written by Megan Meier

The Word

“18 And a ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 19 And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’’ 21 And he said, ‘All these I have kept from my youth.’ 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, ‘How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’ 26 Those who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27 But he said, ‘What is impossible with man is possible with God.’”

-Luke 18:18-27 ESV

Reflection

A ruler, maybe of a synagogue, believes salvation must be earned, even that he can buy his way in. Jesus responds with being offended at being called “good.” Why would He be offended when He and God are One? Because Jesus knows the ruler doesn’t believe He is who He says He is, otherwise the ruler would have done what Jesus had told him (v. 22). Jesus refers to the Ten Commandments as a guideline:

Jesus only states five of the Ten Commandments, 5-9, He does not mention 1, 2, 3, 4, or 10, which were the rich ruler’s problems. Commandments 1-4 pertain to our relationship with God, #10 our relationship with the household and possessions, our own, and our neighbor’s. There is no way the ruler could have kept these commandments perfectly unless he’s spent his whole life until now in a coma. Jesus knew the ruler was trying to buy his salvation, and He gave the prescription: turn the vice into a virtue, lay down what is keeping you from God’s Kingdom. That was seen as a big problem as some Israelites, particularly the Pharisees, believed wealth was a sign of God’s favor, and Jesus busted that myth. The ruler did not respond, he just left.

Just to clarify, having wealth is not a sin, but loving wealth more than God is a sin (1 Timothy 6:10). The “eye of the needle” was slang for a small gate in the city walls of Jerusalem, camels had to be unloaded and crawl on their knees to get through. Here’s a picture of what it looked like:

We have to unload our burdens to get in, the rich ruler wasn’t willing to do that. The audience asked, “Then who can be saved?” They knew Jesus hasn’t entirely answered the ruler’s question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 18). Jesus responds that humanity isn’t able to save themselves, only God can, which He does (Mark 15:37-38).

Application

The rich ruler had his wealth on his back as a burden, he was not willing to put it down to go through the “eye of the needle.” The illustration below shows what Jesus meant, we have to allow Him to unload our burdens, especially if they are disguised as comforts and conveniences, to go through the eye of the needle.

Prayer

Dearest Jesus, help me to identify my burdens, whatever it is that is keeping me from having a great relationship with You, and to lay them down before You. In Your name I pray, amen.