Scriptural Interpretation: Luke 18:9-14
Scriptural Interpretation: Luke 18:9-14
Interpreting the meaning of scripures has always been something I’ve enjoyed doing. Even before becoming a Christian, but since becoming one I’ve had my eyes opened in all new ways by the Lord. One interesting thing about scriptures is that they can all have multiple meanings depending upon what God wishes to show the reader at that time. We’ll start in Luke 18:9-14.
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. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
This is sometimes called “The parable of the rich man”. First thing that we see is this ruler calling Jesus a “Good teacher” It’s important to keep in mind that this wasn’t jolly old England where someone might call you a good lad or something along those line. The phrase “good teacher” means something more than a skilled teacher as well.
In Romans 3:23 we learn that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If someone sins they can’t be good. By this rich ruler calling Jesus good he was acknowledging something. He further acknowledges that same thing when he asks “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
First he calls Jesus good, a title only God himself can rightfully bear. Next he asks how to inherit eternal life. Again an answer only God himself could possibly know. In one sentence we see this man seek the Lord’s council, and admit that Christ is God. Personally I don’t believe that this man knew at the time what he was admitting, I think the truth was “hidden in his heart”.
Even in Jesus’s response, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone it seems as if the Lord is testing him. Like saying “Oh, you think I’m good? Why do you think that? Do you believe I’m God?” The second part of Jesus’s response is the one that gave me pause for consideration.
You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother. At this point the man is being setup by Jesus. We see the setup completed in the mans response. All these I have kept since I was a boy.
Now notice how Jesus respondes to the man? He says You still lack one thing. One thing that the man lacked that would prevent him from entering the kingdom of God. Further Jesus instructed him by saying Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.
Let’s recap real quick what has happened. A rich young ruler is asking Jesus how to inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Christ reminds him of the commandments to which the man proudly declares he keeps them. Finally Jesus tells the man to sell all of his possessions, give to the poor and THEN follow him.
What is Jesus teaching us with this scripture?
