A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’’”
“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
Luke 18.18-23 NKJV
For a long time, I’ve thought the rich young ruler gets a bad rap. Almost every sermon I have heard on this passage reaches the conclusion that the rich young ruler wasn’t saved because he did not do what Jesus asked. But that conclusion reaches beyond what the text states. The only thing we are told is that the young man went away sad. We don’t know what he did. It is possible that he went away sad because he didn’t to do what Jesus asked. It is equally possible he went away sad and decided to do what Jesus asked.
I find the latter thought comforting. Jesus never promised that a life wholeheartedly committed to Him would be easy. He never suggested that following Him would mean we wouldn’t be asked to do hard things. He did say that anyone wanting to follow after Him had to deny himself, and daily take up the cross (Lk. 9.23). He also said that anyone unwilling to take up the cross was unworthy of Him (Mt. 10.38).
Taking Up The Cross
What does it mean to take up the cross? The cross was an instrument of torture used by the Romans. In Roman times, criminals sentenced to death very often had to carry their own cross to the site of their crucifixion. The cross was heavy, the journey was often undertaken after a severe beating, and many criminals died en route. There was nothing easy about taking up a cross.
If following Jesus is so hard, why would we want to do so? Because the reward for following Jesus is beyond anything we can imagine. We will experience a fullness in our lives that is impossible apart from Jesus.
Sadness Doesn’t Preclude Obedience
Someone else experienced great sadness at what he was being asked to do. In this case, we know he was sad and chose to do what was asked. The rich young ruler was asked to sell all he possessed and give to the poor. Jesus was asked to give up His life for the redemption of the lost. How do we know Jesus was sad? In the Garden, just before He was arrested, Jesus told the disciples, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” Though here the words “exceedingly sorrowful” are used, the same Greek word, perilupos, is used to describe how both Jesus and the rich young ruler felt about what they were being asked to do.*
In my walk with Jesus, I have been asked to do some hard things, including loving difficult people over the long term and giving away far more of my income than I often feel comfortable with. I have gone away sad as I contemplate what Jesus is asking of me. Yet more and more I choose to do as Jesus asks.
Just like the rich young ruler, we may not jump to do what Jesus asks. Just like the rich young ruler we may feel sad as we contemplate the difficulty of what Jesus asks. And just like Jesus we can chose to do the thing we find difficult even as we feel sad. Feeling sad is not a sin; it is a normal human reaction. God looks for our obedience in the midst of our sadness.
*Thanks to Doug Kempton for pointing this out in his sermon, Do You Trust Me, October 26, 2014