Commentary - Mark 10:17-31

Bird's-eye view

This passage is a master class in confronting self-righteousness. A rich, earnest, and morally upright young man comes to Jesus with the wrong question, seeking to know what he can do to secure eternal life. He is a classic legalist, thinking of salvation as a transaction he can complete through his own efforts. Jesus, in His wisdom, doesn't immediately correct his theology but instead presses on the man's central idol, which is his wealth. The Lord's command to sell everything is not a new law for all Christians, but rather a surgical strike at the heart of this particular man's problem. His sorrowful departure reveals that his possessions possessed him. This encounter then serves as a launchpad for Jesus to teach His disciples about the profound danger of riches and the utter impossibility of salvation by human effort. The disciples are flabbergasted, because in their culture, wealth was seen as a sign of God's blessing. Jesus' radical statement about the camel and the needle's eye is meant to shock them into recognizing that salvation is entirely a work of God. Peter, ever the spokesman, points out the disciples' sacrifice, which prompts Jesus to promise that no one who gives up things for the gospel will ultimately lose out. On the contrary, they will receive a hundredfold return in this life, albeit with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. The passage concludes with a foundational principle of the kingdom: God's economy frequently inverts the world's values.

Outline

Commentary

Mark 10:17 And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

The scene is set with urgency. Jesus is on the move, and this man runs, he is not casual. He kneels, showing a measure of respect and reverence. He is earnest, zealous, and by all external measures, a model seeker. Some have speculated this might be John Mark himself, the author of this gospel, which would explain the intimate detail that Jesus "loved him." But whoever he is, his question reveals his foundational error. "What shall I do?" This is the question of every religion of man. It assumes that the path to God is paved with human achievement. He thinks of eternal life not as a gift to be received by faith, but as an inheritance to be earned by works. He is asking for a to-do list, a checklist he can complete to satisfy the requirements.

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

Jesus immediately pushes back, not on the title "Teacher," but on the adjective "Good." This is not false modesty. Jesus is forcing the man to reckon with the implications of his own words. If Jesus is truly good in the ultimate sense, then He must be God. And if He is God, then His words carry absolute authority. Jesus is challenging the man's casual use of a profound theological term. The ruler saw goodness as a human attribute that could be attained, and he likely saw Jesus as the supreme example of an attainable human goodness. Jesus corrects him: absolute goodness is an attribute of God alone. This sets the stage for the impossibility of the man's project. If only God is good, then how can a man do enough good to earn God's favor?

Mark 10:19-20 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’ ” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

Jesus, knowing the man's heart is set on "doing," points him to the standard of doing: the Law of God. He lists several commandments from the second table of the law, those dealing with horizontal relationships. The man's reply is astonishing in its self-confidence. "All these I have kept from my youth." He is not lying, in his own mind. He has a superficial, external understanding of the law. He hasn't literally murdered anyone, or committed adultery in the physical sense. He is a good, moral, upstanding citizen. But he is blind to the deeper demands of the law that Jesus expounded in the Sermon on the Mount, the law that governs the heart, condemning lust as adultery and anger as murder. His answer reveals the core of his problem: self-righteousness. He believes he has a righteousness of his own.

Mark 10:21 And looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Here is the heart of the passage. Mark's detail that Jesus "loved him" is crucial. This is not a cold, detached dismissal. Jesus' command comes from a place of genuine love and compassion for this man trapped in his own goodness. He sees the man's bondage and offers him the way out. The command to sell everything is not a universal requirement for salvation. It was a specific, diagnostic command for this specific man. Jesus is a divine physician, and He has just located the cancer. The man's wealth was his true god, the source of his security and identity. Covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5). Jesus is essentially telling him to obey the first commandment: "You shall have no other gods before me." The command exposes the man's claim to have kept the law as hollow. He had not kept the first and greatest commandment, nor the tenth about coveting. The call to "come, follow Me" is the gospel invitation, but it must be preceded by repentance, which for this man meant dethroning his idol.

Mark 10:22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

The diagnosis was correct, and the man felt the truth of it. He was "saddened," "grieving." The cost was too high. He wanted eternal life, but he wanted it on his own terms. He was willing to do many things, but he was not willing to be undone. He was not willing to give up the one thing he loved more than God. His great possessions were not just assets; they were his identity, his security, his lord. And so he walked away from the Lord of life because he was enslaved to the lord of his portfolio. This is a tragic picture of someone who comes so close to the kingdom, only to be turned away by the love of the world.

Mark 10:23-24 And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

Jesus uses this personal tragedy as a teaching moment. He looks at His disciples and makes a general statement about the spiritual danger of wealth. The disciples are "amazed," or more accurately, dumbfounded. In the common Jewish understanding of the day, wealth was a sign of God's favor and blessing. If the rich, who seemed to have it all together, couldn't get in, then who possibly could? Jesus then seems to broaden the statement in verse 24. Some manuscripts add "for those who trust in riches," which is certainly the point. But as it stands, He simply says how hard it is to enter the kingdom. Period. The difficulty is not just for the rich, but for everyone. The rich man's problem is simply a more potent and visible version of every man's problem: self-reliance.

Mark 10:25 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 a classic piece of Semitic hyperbole, a deliberately absurd illustration designed to make an unforgettable point. Over the years, well-meaning but misguided interpreters have tried to soften this by suggesting the "eye of a needle" was a small gate in Jerusalem's wall. This is nonsense with no historical basis. Jesus meant a literal sewing needle and a literal camel. The point is not that it is very, very difficult. The point is that it is impossible. A camel cannot go through the eye of a needle. And a rich man, trusting in his riches, cannot enter the kingdom of God. By his own effort, it cannot be done.

Mark 10:26-27 And they were even more astonished, saying to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

The disciples get the point. Their astonishment deepens. If it's impossible, then everyone is doomed. "Then who can be saved?" Their question is born of despair, but it is precisely the question Jesus wanted them to ask. They have finally arrived at the end of human striving. And here, Jesus delivers the gospel in a nutshell. "With people it is impossible." Salvation is not a human achievement. You cannot climb your way to heaven on a ladder of good works, religious observance, or philanthropic generosity. It is impossible. But then the glorious turn: "but not with God; for all things are possible with God." God can do what man cannot. God can thread the needle with a camel. God can save a rich man. God can save a self-righteous man. God can save a sinner. Salvation is a divine rescue, a miracle of grace from first to last.

Mark 10:28-30 Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, except one who will receive one hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life.

Peter, ever the pragmatist, connects the dots. The rich ruler failed the test, but they, the disciples, have passed it. "We have left everything." There's a hint of self-congratulation here, but Jesus doesn't rebuke him. Instead, He affirms the principle of sacrificial discipleship and attaches a staggering promise to it. Anyone who gives up earthly treasures and relationships for the sake of Christ and the gospel will not be short-changed. The return on investment is a hundredfold, now in this present age. This is not a promise of material prosperity in the crass sense of the health-and-wealth hucksters. The "houses and brothers and sisters" are found in the community of the church. We give up one family to gain a hundred families in the household of faith. But lest we get too comfortable, Jesus adds a crucial qualifier: "along with persecutions." The blessings of the kingdom in this age are enjoyed in the midst of conflict and opposition from the world. The full, unhindered inheritance is "in the age to come, eternal life."

Mark 10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

This concluding statement is a summary principle of God's kingdom. It's a great reversal. The rich young ruler was "first" in the eyes of the world, wealthy, respected, moral. But in his refusal to follow Christ, he became "last." The disciples were "last", uneducated fishermen who had left everything, but in following Christ, they would be made "first." God's standards of greatness are utterly contrary to the world's. This is a warning against pride (like Peter's) and an encouragement to the humble. In the final accounting, the only thing that will matter is not what we possessed, but who possessed us.

Application

This passage forces us to ask the same question Jesus put to the rich young ruler: what is the "one thing" that stands between us and total surrender to Christ? For him, it was money. For us, it may be something else, our reputation, our comfort, our political tribe, our personal ambitions, a secret sin. Whatever it is, it is an idol. And Christ, in His love, will put His finger on it and demand that we cast it down. The gospel is not about adding Jesus to our already full lives; it is about losing our life for His sake, so that we might truly find it.

We must also take to heart the impossibility of self-salvation. We are all like the camel, and the gate of heaven is like the needle's eye. No amount of effort, moral improvement, or religious activity can get us through. We must be brought to the point of the disciples' despair: "Then who can be saved?" Only then are we ready to hear the good news that what is impossible for us is the everyday work of God. He saves sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Our only hope is to abandon all trust in ourselves and cast ourselves entirely on the mercy of God, who makes all things possible.

Finally, we are reminded that the Christian life is one of joyful sacrifice and abundant reward. Following Jesus has a cost. But the return is a hundredfold in the rich fellowship of the church, and the promise of eternal life to come. We should not be surprised when this life comes "along with persecutions." The world that rejected our Master will not love us. But in losing the world, we gain Christ, and in Him, we gain everything.