In the Kingdom, Jesus Must Be First (Mark 10:17-22)

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

The Man

Our story begins with a man desperate for Jesus. The other gospels tell us he was a young local ruler (Matthew 19:20, Luke 18:18). But even though he had wealth and power, he felt something was missing. And he suspected Jesus had the answers. He was desperate for help, so he ran and knelt before the Lord (17). "Good teacher," he asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (17).

The Question

But we can't help noticing that something is off about the man's question. Modern believers know he asked amiss. What must I do to inherit eternal life?" To him, there was an action he could perform that would unlock eternal life, something he could do to earn salvation. Of course, we know salvation is a gift from God -- no one can boast (Romans 3:27). We must receive Christ's all-sufficient work by faith.

Jesus used children as an example, saying they receive everything. That is how you get the kingdom. It must be received.

This man did not get the memo about receiving the kingdom. He wants to achieve it. He wants to earn eternal life. But Jesus knew he could not enter the kingdom through merit.

So Jesus responded.

18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"

Jesus Plants a Seed

When the man asked his question about eternal life, he gave Jesus a title. He called him "Good teacher" (17).

Jesus latched onto the phrase before answering the man's question. "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone" (18). This was not Jesus' way of distancing himself from God. No, as we'll see in this passage, Jesus thought following him was equal to following God.

Instead, Jesus was planting a seed in the man's mind. He had thought too lowly about what it meant to be "good." So, when he saw Jesus, he thought of him as a good teacher. But the Bible says there is none good, not even one, but that all are lost and broken under sin (Romans 3:9-10).

The man needed to understand this for two reasons:

• First, he needed to think of himself as broken and under sin, rather than a good man who could inherit eternal life in his own strength.
• Second, he needed to think of Jesus as God the Son, the perfect man, and Holy God who deserved the man's allegiance. Only God is good. Jesus is good. So Jesus is God. As long as he had the wrong view of what it meant to be good, he would never learn those lessons.

The Second Tablet

But Jesus didn't stop there. He reminded the man of some of the commandments (19). Don't murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't defraud. Honor your parents.

These six rules came from the second tablet of the ten commandments, and that tablet had everything to do with mankind's relationship with others. In other words, the second tablet gave commands on how to treat other people.

How did the man respond to Jesus?

20 And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth." 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

The Claim

The man made a big claim. "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth" (20). As Christians, we doubt it. The reason we do is that we know of the inward nature of the law. It is Jesus who told us the law is not only external but internal (Matthew 5-6). So when the man says he's kept all these commandments from his youth, we suspect he is being hypocritical.

Jesus' Love

But Jesus didn't respond as he did to hypocrites. He hated hypocrisy and often rebuked it, but here Mark tells us Jesus looked at him and loved him (21). This was the look of compassion -- Jesus wanted to reach this man. It was a look of appreciation -- this man had earnestly sought to obey God.

Jesus' Diagnosis

From a posture of love, Jesus diagnosed the man. He has led the man perfectly to this point. The man knows he doesn't have life. But he sees himself as a keeper of the second tablet. He thought of himself as devoted to God.

So Jesus told the man to sell everything and give it to the poor before following him (21). Jesus isn't sharing a path of works-based righteousness. He isn't trying to tell the world that mankind is saved through generosity, benevolence, and sacrifice. Nor was Jesus sharing his economic policy in an attempt to say wealth is evil. He's not making that claim.

But this man had a problem. He thought of himself as a keeper of the second tablet, but he was breaking the first.

If the second tablet has to do with our relationship with others, the first tablet has to do with our relationship with God. The first commandment was "You shall have no other gods before me " (Exodus 20:3). The second commandment said you should not make or bow down to any lesser gods (Exodus 20:4). The third commandment said you must respect God's name (Exodus 20:7). And the fourth commandment said you must honor God's day (Exodus 20:8-11). Each commandment has to do with our relationship with God.

The Man's God

And though this man felt he'd been faithful in how he treated others, Jesus' demand on his life made it obvious he was out of step with God. Again, God said, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). When the man went away sorrowful, he demonstrated that his great possessions were new gods he had put before the true and living God (22). He left the scene disheartened, unable to reorient his life around Jesus.

Jesus' Command

And that is the amazing portion of Jesus' command. Here he is, talking about the second tablet, but clearly, the man had not gotten the first tablet right. He was not following the true God, but the money god.

To this, Jesus said, get rid of everything and follow me. He didn't tell the man to follow God. He told the man to follow him. To Jesus, getting the first tablet right meant following him. Jesus is God, the only one worth following. In the kingdom, to have life, God must be first. Jesus must be first.

The First Commandment

In the kingdom, God must be first, but the man didn't want Jesus to be first in his life. He couldn't handle the thought of replacing his wealth with Jesus. Again, this wasn't Jesus' prescription for the entire human race -- some believers are called to have wealth in this present age -- but it was the right prescription for this man. He had made his money into a god, and that god needed to be dethroned.

In wanting his possessions more than Christ, the man wanted too little. His problem wasn't wanting more, but settling for less. He should have wanted more. In his heart, he knew something was off, but he should have kept searching and longing until he figured out it was better to have nothing with Jesus than everything without Jesus. He wanted way too little. Jesus is the greatest possession anyone can have.

Our Lives

This man's story should remind us that following Jesus requires the radical reorientation of our priorities. We should make no other god before him. Only God, through and in Christ, can satisfy us. Nothing we place in front of him is better than him. No attitude that disrespects his name will satisfy us. And a life without worship and time for him is not a good life. We must give him first-tablet devotion.

So don't forget that life in the kingdom means God is first. Give him the first part of your day. Give him the first day of your week. Give him the first of your income. Set God above all things. This is the throne he deserves.