A SLAVE OF TWO MASTERS
Why was the rich young man so upset when Jesus answered his questions? Rajni Manoj explains.
Throughout the Bible there are stories about people who encountered Jesus and went away filled with joy and peace. But that was not always the case. There was one young man who went to Jesus and asked him what good thing he had to do to get eternal life. Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you want to enter life, then obey the commandments.” The man asked which ones and Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother and love your neighbour as yourself.” The young man said that he had kept all these commandments and asked if there was anything else that he needed to do. Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect then go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. (Matthew 19:16-22) This rich man was very unusual; he may be the only person who encountered Jesus but went away unhappy. Why was this?
IS WEALTH THE PROBLEM?
The rich young man went to Jesus to learn from Him. Maybe he wanted confirmation that he was doing the right thing by obeying the commandments. He wasn’t expecting Jesus to ask him to give up all that he possessed. There is nothing spiritually wrong with being wealthy because the Bible has many examples of godly men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job and David who were very blessed with possessions and wealth. So what did the young man treasure that had such a hold on him as to make him willingly walk away from eternal life? His problem seemed to be in his love of money and possessions and he was not willing to give them up for Jesus. He wanted to become more holy but as James 4:4 says, “Don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” We also can have a similar problem when we cling on to something that prevents us from becoming more holy. It’s worth thinking about what might be stopping us from moving on in our journey of faith. What is holding us back today? Luke 16:13 says, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other.”
WHAT IS STOPPING US?
Today the things holding us back from becoming holy may be different to those in the time of Jesus. The problem for us may be in our games consoles, the latest fashions, football teams, TVs, food, drink, the latest technology or even our own achievements or the wrong friends. When something has a stronger tug at our hearts than the love of Christ, we are tempted away from the path of righteousness. There are so many worldly things that can put great pressure on our spiritual lives. Christ reminds us in the story of the rich young man that no one can be saved by their dependence on possessions and things of this world but only by following Him. We do not know what decision the young man eventually made, but we do know that each of us individually has to make our own decisions.
