The Hope of the Rich Young Ruler

In Matthew 19 and Mark 10, Jesus meets a rich young man who wants to know what he needs to do to inherit eternal life.

Jesus reminds him of the commandments, and he says he has kept all these, but he still feels he lacks something.

Jesus tells him to sell everything he has to give to the poor, then come follow him. The young man goes away sad, because he is very rich.

This can make us sad too. We never hear of that man again, and it is easy to believe he did not choose to follow Jesus.

But in verse 21 of Mark 10, it says that Jesus loved the young man. Jesus didn’t stop loving him because he walked away that day.

Jesus told the disciples it’s hard for the rich to enter eternal life, and they wondered how anyone could be saved then. Jesus told them: “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27

The young man went away sad, because his riches were important to him. Often I am sad because something is too important to me, and it keeps me from finding the joy and love God wants to shower on me.

I choose to believe there was still hope for that rich young man, because although it was hard for him to give up his riches, it was possible with God. I choose to believe that his hope didn’t end then, that Jesus still sought him even after he left that day.

I believe that, and it reminds me that God can do all things with me, too. I have that same hope. Jesus loves me, as he loved that young man, and he will keep trying to direct me every day to accept that love and find my rest in it.