rich young ruler – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. (Revelation 2:4)

I’ve been thinking about those words the past few days. What is the characteristic of first love? I think the main characteristic is joy.

What sparks first love for God? His mercy and love towards us. (1 John 4:19)

It seems the rich ruler never had that kind of love. He had never experienced his need for mercy, thinking that he was a pretty good person already. (Mark 10:19-20)

And so when Jesus asked him to give up all he had and to follow him, there was no joy. Only gloominess and sorrow. (21-22)

The disciples, on the other hand, did love Jesus, but their motivations were still very mixed, constantly thinking about what was in it for them for following Jesus. (28, 35-37)

But when Bartimaeus followed Jesus, he did so filled with joy. (Luke 18:43)

Why? Because he had asked for mercy and received it.

That’s first love.

Jesus looks at me and loves me. He “mercied” me. (Mark 10:21, 47)

I pray I never forget that or take it for granted.

I pray the same for you.

Because you first loved me,
Jesus, you will always be
You will always be
My first love. — Bob Hartman.

Why Jesus came

As I was reading this passage today, I saw it in a slightly different way.

This man comes to Jesus and says, “What good must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good. There is only one who is good.”

What was Jesus’ point in saying that?

One point he was making is that only one person is truly qualified to be called “good,” and that’s God.

This makes your view of Jesus very important. If he is not truly God, you cannot say Jesus is truly good.

But more than that, perhaps what Jesus was saying was this: “You think it’s possible for you to become good? There is only One that can make the claim to be good. Do you really think you can become the second person who can make that claim?”

Jesus then challenges the man to keep the commandments if he thinks himself truly good. Amazingly, the man claims to have kept all of them. And yet, he still detects there is something lacking.

And so Jesus challenges him with the two most important commandments: to love his neighbor (sell all he has and give to the poor), and to love God (follow Jesus).

At this, the man walks away sadly because he was not willing to part with his riches.

Jesus’ words, like a double-edged sword pierced the man’s soul and showed him the truth that was there: that he was not as good as he had thought he was.

Why did Jesus come?

Unlike what the man may have thought, Jesus didn’t come simply to teach the commandments of God. If the commandments were all we needed to be saved, there would have been no need for the cross.

Rather Jesus came for one important reason: with man, woman, and child, salvation is impossible. We are all sinners. We all fall short of God’s goodness.

But with God, salvation is possible for us all, sinners though we are.

Jesus perfectly kept the law we were unable to keep. And then he paid the price for our sin on the cross.

Still, it seems Peter missed the point Jesus was making. Peter asked, “What about us? Look at what we have done for you.”

But if salvation were based on what we did for God, we’d all be doomed. Our salvation is based on what Jesus did. Peter would learn that later. (I Peter 1:1-5)

How about you? Do you think yourself good? Only one is good. And if you think you’re the second person who make that claim, you’re deceiving yourself. We all need a Savior. And that’s why Jesus came.