What does First B Jackson teach about rich young ruler?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on the rich young ruler keeps returning to a single question underneath the whole encounter: what is the thing a person trusts in more than Jesus? Both Pastor Blake and Pastor Gary have worked through this account across Mark, Matthew, and Luke, and both land in the same place. The man who comes to Jesus is not a hypocrite or a villain. Mark records that Jesus looked at him with love before saying the hard thing, and Pastor Blake called that his favorite detail in the whole passage. Jesus was not scolding anyone. He was seeing a person at a soul level and telling him the truth about what was in the way.
The call to sell everything was not a universal rule about wealth. It was a targeted word for this particular man, because his possessions were where his confidence actually lived. Pastor Blake put it plainly: Jesus was asking whether the man was willing to surrender the trust he had placed in his good record and his wealth, and put that trust in Jesus instead. The man walked away grieving, and that detail stayed with Pastor Gary too. The invitation was "come follow me," and the man turned and went the other direction. He knew what was being asked. He simply was not willing to pay it.
When the disciples asked who then could possibly be saved, Jesus said that what is impossible with people is possible with God. The point both pastors drew out is that no one can change their own heart enough to earn entrance into the kingdom. The law, as Pastor Blake noted from Romans, does not get anyone in. It shows how far short we fall. What makes a person right with God is not a good record or sufficient wealth. It is faith placed in Jesus, which is something God makes possible when we cannot.
Taught from Mark 10:17-31 · Matthew 19:16 · Mark · Matthew · Luke
The passage taught · 2 Corinthians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;
4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- September 24, 2023 What Am I Still Lacking Jesus meets a man who keeps all the rules but walks away sad. Pastor Mark explores what the rich young ruler reveals about what we truly trust.
- April 25, 2022 Where Your Treasure Is, There Is Your Heart Jesus meets a rich young man who has kept every commandment yet walks away sad. Pastor Mark explores what it really means to treasure God above everything we own.
Mentioned along the way
- October 9, 2024 Women's Bible Study - October 9th, 2024 - Declaring Our Faith: Who Do You Say I Am? Natalie teaches Matthew 16 and 19 at a women's Bible study, asking the question Jesus asked his disciples: who do you say He is, and what does your answer cost you?