So Close, Yet So Far from Life | Mark 10:17–18


As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

Jesus is leaving from the house where He taught His disciples about marriage and blessed the children (vv. 10–16).  He’s heading toward Jerusalem (v. 32) when this man approaches.  Everything externally about this man’s demeanor is that of worship, and he comes with the paramount question: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 17).  Note that, regardless of how close he came to the answer, it wasn’t close enough.

This man’s mindset has brought him close to getting eternal life.    He’s a ruler, perhaps in a synagogue (Lk 18:18), and wealthy (v.22), which people perceived to be a sign of God’s blessing (cf. vv. 23–24).  He runs to Jesus, an undignified act for such men, and then falls on his knees before Christ.  He calls Jesus a “good teacher,” asking Jesus (Who the Pharisees despise) the question of eternal life.  He also believed himself to have kept the commandments (v. 20).  We would think this man was a true believer.

This man’s mindset keeps him from getting eternal life.  This man’s question—“what shall I do”—presumes that eternal life is earned.  If we were to accept his premise, then we’d have to reject what Jesus just taught (vv. 14–15).  Just as the children had nothing to bring to Christ except needs, this man has done and can do nothing to atone for his own sinfulness before a holy God.

No man in history has come closer to salvation on his own power than this man, but even he falls short of the glory of God (cf. Rm 3:23).  You can’t get to heaven based on what you do—“it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8–9).  The righteous credit this man sought comes “to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly” (Rm 4:5).  Therefore, you can’t obtain life by putting on a good show, which is good news those who recognize that they have no good performance to give.

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