Entering The Kingdom – part 1
058 Entering The Kingdom – part 1
Mark 10:17-31 (17-25)
July 26, 2026
You are aware of the segment we are currently studying in Mark’s gospel.
First of all,
We are in the second half of Mark’s gospel which focuses on what Jesus came to do.
The first 8 chapters focus on who He is.
· The disciples confessed Him to be the Christ in 8:29
Mark 8:29 “And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”
The second 8 chapters focus on why He came.
· Jesus began to announce that immediately following the disciple’s accurate confession.
Mark 8:31 “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
We understand the gospel as simply: The Person and Work of Jesus.
Mark’s gospel breaks easily along those two truths.
But as we have now entered this second segment of Mark’s gospel
We have encountered a problem.
The disciples don’t like what they’re hearing regarding the work of Jesus.
Mark 8:32-33 “And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
And that has been the problem.
They know Jesus is the Christ, but they refuse to accept His mission.
· They imagine Him to be going to earthly glory and power and that is where they
want to follow Him.
· This message of suffering, death, and resurrection that He keeps bringing up is
not a welcomed message to them.
· They want comfort, power, authority, and glory.
Mark has outlined their stubbornness, arrogance, snobbery, ambition, hard-heartedness, and most recently their confusion.
As we saw Sunday night,
They don’t even understand who is entering the kingdom.
Mark 10:13-16 “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.”
Jesus gave the disciples a very important truth about the kingdom.
“the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
In fact, Jesus would go on to say, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
And we learned a valuable truth,
That the kingdom of God is not earned, it is received.
· Entrance into the kingdom is not granted to those who pay the most money or
who do the most work.
· Entrance into the kingdom is granted to those who understand that it is a gift
of God by grace.
It is not the worthy who enter, it is the unworthy.
THIS MORNING Mark continues making that point as he presents to us one of the most famous stories in the synoptic gospel accounts.
We are introduced again to the individual known as
“The Rich Young Ruler”.
We talk about him a lot, and rightly so,
There is so much you can learn from his brief encounter with Jesus.
But as we have said, we want Mark’s point.
And Mark’s point runs in harmony with the previous story
About those who enter the kingdom.
In fact, this Rich Young Ruler is THE EXACT OPPOSITE of the children
· They were the least, he is the greatest.
· They had nothing, he is wealthy.
· They had accomplished nothing, he was an avid law-keeper.
· They were children, he was a ruler.
But they were blessed to enter the kingdom,
He ends up grieved and leaving without it.
It is a strong point from Mark to teach us about entering God’s kingdom.
Not only do we learn the type of people who enter,
But we also learn how access is also granted.
And to start our look at this famous story, I would just point out to you the chief point of Mark for including this story.
· There is a verse here that only Mark includes and it makes the difference.
(24) “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!”
That is Mark’s point.
It is hard to enter the kingdom of God.
· The other gospels reveal that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom.
· And indeed Mark does say that twice, both in verses 23 & 25.
But in verse 24 Mark drops any specifics and reveals that
The kingdom was hard to enter regardless of who you are.
AND THAT IS OUR POINT THIS MORNING.
IT IS HARD TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
And I wonder if that truth surprises anyone.
When I was a teenager and they would hall us to various evangelistic events, I remember some evangelist telling us that being saved was as easy as “A,B,C”.
All you had to do was:
· Admit – you were a sinner
· Believe – in Jesus
· Confess – Him as Lord
It’s that easy.
If you would do that, then you would be saved.
But I wonder how such a message aligns with the message of Jesus here.
Jesus says, “how hard it is..!”
IT WILL CERTAINLY BE SURPRISING TO THE 12
· (24) “The disciples were amazed at His words”
· (26) “They were even more astonished…”
REMEMBER: They were busy arguing who is the greatest in the kingdom.
The disciples act like men who are taking the kingdom for granted
And Jesus is speaking to them like that is a mistake.
But Jesus has been teaching something totally different.
· He’s been warning them about stumbling.
· Now He is showing them how hard it is to enter.
Instead of figuring out who is the greatest
They ought to be more concerned with whether they are in it at all.
Instead of positioning themselves as the best of the 12,
They ought to be more concerned about not letting their ambition cause them to stumble away.
The disciples are still dripping with arrogance and self-confidence.
Jesus is about to confront that directly with this young man.
So let’s begin working through this text this morning as we discuss 5 truths about entering the kingdom.
#1 ENTERING IS COSTLY
Mark 10:17-22
It is the familiar story of the encounter with the man we call
“The Rich Young Ruler”.
· All 3 synoptics make it clear that this man is wealthy.
· Matthew points out that he was a young man.
· Luke points out that he was a ruler.
That’s why we call him “The Rich Young Ruler”.
What you need to understand from Mark,
Is that from the disciples’ perspective this young man
Was the epitome of a prize candidate to enter.
It would be like you were holding a tryout for a football team
And young man walked up at 6-7, 290 lbs.,
Ran a 4.2 40-yard dash, and bench pressed 400lbs.
You’ve seen enough, this guy is obviously making the team.
That’s the sort of mindset that would have characterized the disciples.
WHY?
It was a common belief that the wealthy had a better shot at entering the kingdom than anyone else.
For starters, wealth was looked upon as an indicator of God’s favor.
· So clearly this man was pre-approved, having already been blessed by God.
Secondly, even if they fell out of favor
· They were much more capable of bringing sacrifices and offerings to appease God since they had more to spend.
They just had all the intangibles and measurements that were needed
To have easy entrance into God’s kingdom.
Who wouldn’t want a young man like this on their team?
He’s the type of young man you put on the recruiting poster.
This guy is clearly a shoe in.
But to the disciple’s surprise, this guy will not make the cut.
Let’s examine his story.
1) HIS REQUEST (17-18)
FIRST OF ALL,
We must note the humility with which this young man approaches Jesus.
· In Jesus’ day it was not proper for dignified men to run.
· Running required girding up the loins, exposing the legs, and participating in a shameful behavior.
But we read:
“a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him”
That is a young man who does not care about the social cost involved.
· He sees Jesus.
· Jesus appears to be leaving.
· This man has a question that has no doubt haunted him.
· He doesn’t seem to care what people think.
He runs up to Jesus and bows down.
That is a phenomenal start.
You can see the disciples grinning and nodding at each other,
“That this guy is getting in for sure.”
AND THEN THE QUESTION:
“Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Don’t miss a very important point from Mark here.
We’re used to the word “eternal life” because of John’s gospel.
· Mark’s gospel is not like John’s.
· John uses the word “life” some 47 times.
· For Mark this is only the 3rd time the word has come up.
· Mark is very intentional about using that word.
The first time Mark used it was pretty intense.
Mark 8:35 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
Jesus reminded the disciples that it was their very life that was at stake.
· If they wanted their lives to be saved then they would have to lose it.
· If they insisted upon keeping their lives as they enjoyed them then ultimately
their life would be lost.
I don’t know if the disciples fully understood
What He was talking about or not.
So Jesus brought up the word again:
Mark 9:43 “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,”
There again Jesus spoke about entrance into life.
He spoke of life as something you enter (synonymous with the kingdom)
SO IT IS CLEAR TO US
When Mark reveals a young man asking about “eternal life”
Mark wants you to associate this story with those texts.
When this young man asks that question, Mark wants you to remember
1. That the only way to gain life is to lose it.
2. That even if it costs you dearly to enter into life you should do it
because you don’t want to go to hell.
Those truths should be on our mind
As this young man approaches Jesus and asks about “eternal life”.
NOW, WE ALSO NOTICE THAT
Jesus immediately corrects him for what he says.
(18) “And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”
Now most people, when they hear this young man’s question,
Want to take issue with the word “do”.
They don’t like that he was asking what he should “do” (as in works) to be saved.
And while we do understand that salvation is by grace, not works,
That is NOT the word that Jesus takes issue with.
Jesus doesn’t correct him for asking what he should “do”,
Jesus corrects him for casually throwing out the word “good”.
“Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”
· No, Jesus is not denying His deity
· This young man doesn’t know Jesus is God
· He’s just not getting into that debate at the moment.
What Jesus wants this young man to realize is that
His understanding of the required standard is far too low.
He’s obviously sloppy with the word “good”
“Good” in the Bible is the absolute divine gold standard.
It is how God described creation before the fall.
Jesus says, it is a word that can only be used as a descriptive of God.
It is certainly not a word that describes men.
Romans 3:12 “All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
This young man has a misunderstanding of just how high and holy
And out of reach God’s kingdom actually is.
NO MAN COMES CLOSE.
· Go back to Sinai and watch the people tremble in fear as God speaks.
· Or go back to Isaiah 6 and see Isaiah cry out in fear over seeing God.
· Or read Psalm 15 which asks who can enter God’s heaven.
We realize very quickly that God represents a standard of holiness
That is absolutely unapproachable for sinful man.
So Jesus quickly corrects the young man
For even thinking that “good” is even a possibility.
On his best day, with his best efforts,
He’ll never even come close to “good”.
All his righteous deeds are nothing but filthy rags.
But what is clear is that this young man wants “eternal life”
And he wants to know how to obtain it.
· That’s a fair question.
· That’s actually a very good question.
· That ought to be the forefront of every person’s mind.
Where the story takes its first shocking turn
Is in the way that Jesus answers him.
So after we saw his request
2) HIS RESUME (19-20)
This is really surprising to us from Jesus.
I think it was John MacArthur who first point out that Jesus would have clearly failed evangelism class at seminary with this answer.
But Jesus says, “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.’”
We are clearly taught that
The way of salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.
We know that no man is ever saved by works.
Romans 3:20 “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
Galatians 2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
And then the granddaddy of them all:
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
We know that you can’t work your way into heaven.
So the answer of Jesus here is absolutely shocking to us.
WHY IS JESUS PREACHING LAW TO THIS YOUNG MAN?
Here is why:
Galatians 3:24 “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
It’s what Paul said of his own life:
Romans 7:9-10 “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;”
While it is technically true that if a man could flawlessly keep God’s Law
That he could earn eternal life,
It is also absolutely impossible for fallen man to keep it.
Only Jesus was able to flawlessly keep God’s Law
That is the basis for the imputed righteousness He gives to us.
But just because the Law cannot justify anyone does not mean we stop preaching it.
· The Law still has a place.
· The Law still has a valuable purpose.
· That purpose is to expose and condemn sinners.
· That purpose is to show sinners how badly they need help.
Here is a young man who has come seeking life,
· But he is seeking it under the misconception that he can achieve the good standard that is required.
So Jesus does what should be done with any self-confident person.
· Jesus takes him to the Law in order to throw him up against his own sinfulness.
Jesus quotes the back half of the 10 Commandments.
· These are the ones that deal with how we treat people,
· They are the ones that are most easy to see and observe outwardly.
Jesus lays this young man under the Law
· With the expectation that this young man will evaluate His life by the commands of God.
But that is when we find the next problem in this young man.
He is terribly short-sighted.
He doesn’t have a clear mirror.
(20) “And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”
It is obvious that he was not at the Sermon on the Mount
Or he would have realized that his self-awareness was terribly lacking.
· Jesus taught that hatred in the heart is the equivalent of murder.
· Jesus taught that lust in the heart is the equivalent of adultery.
This man may have kept the commandments outwardly,
But it is absolutely impossible that he had kept them inwardly.
He certainly has A DISCERNMENT PROBLEM.
BUT THAT’S NOT HIS ONLY PROBLEM.
That’s the problem he’s not aware of.
There is a problem that he IS aware of.
The problem that he is aware of is that
Despite his supposed religious excellence
He still knows that he does not have life.
HE’S NOT BRAGGING here when he tells Jesus that He has kept these since his youth.
He’s confessing that his piety hasn’t worked.
· He still has this gaping hole.
· He is still missing out on life.
· He still has no assurance.
· He still is terrified of judgment.
He knows there is a hole in his resume, but he does not know where it is.
He has been devoted to the Law but it hasn’t given him peace.
That’s why he has come to Jesus.
He wants to know what is wrong.
He wants to know where he has missed the point.
And that is where Jesus gets direct.
His request, His resume
3) HIS RETREAT (21-22)
The young man doesn’t know where his problem is, but Jesus does.
John 2:25 “…He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”
· He knew the woman at the well had been married 5 times
· He knew Zaccheus was hiding the tree
· He knew the Pharisees doubted His ability to forgive
· He knew exactly what the problem was in this young man’s heart
THIS MAN HAD AN IDOL.
This man had something that he loved more than God.
And Jesus is about to expose it.
That’s what “Looking at him” actually indicates.
The Greek word is (em-BLEP-o)
It was the word Mark used of the blind man who “looked intently”
It can carry the idea of “looking at with the mind”
Jesus is looking into this man.
He’ll do the same in verse 23, and 27.
Jesus is looking right into this man’s heart.
NOW, WE DO WANT TO POINT OUT,
Especially since Mark is the only one who brings it up:
“Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him…”
Mark loves to highlight the emotions of Jesus,
Really like no other gospel writer.
Mark 1:41 – “moved with compassion”
Mark 3:5 – “looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.”
Mark 7:34 – “looking up at heaven with a deep sigh”
Mark 8:12 – “sighing deeply in His spirit”
Mark 10:14 – “He was indignant”
Many times in Mark’s gospel we see the frustration, anger,
And even indignation of Jesus toward those in sin.
But that is NOT what He felt toward this man.
· Jesus is not angry at this young man.
· Jesus is not trying to harm him.
· Jesus wants to help him.
· Jesus loves him.
· Jesus wants to give him the truth.
And Jesus says, “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.”
BECAUSE IT IS OF SUCH IMPORTANCE,
I want you to look intently at verse 21 for a moment.
And let me ask you this question.
What “one thing” did this man lack?
· This young man who had been devout since his youth.
· This young man who had kept the Law to the best of his ability.
· This young man who was humble enough to run up and bow to Jesus.
Jesus said he lacked “one thing” if he was to gain eternal life.
What was that “one thing”?
It’s a little interesting because after saying there was one thing,
Jesus then told him to do 3 things.
· He told him to “go”
· He told him to “sell all you possess”
· He told him to “give to the poor”
But none of those things was the “one thing”.
In fact, he could do all of those things and still go to hell.
Those things were simply the things
That hindered him from doing the “one thing”.
What was the “one thing” he lacked?
JESUS
He needed Jesus.
He need the righteousness which only Jesus could supply.
To obtain that righteousness he needed to follow Jesus.
Don’t you find it interesting that Jesus didn’t simply say, “Believe”?
· That’s really what we expect.
· That’s sort of what we tell people.
We say, “You need to believe in Jesus.”
And we are often immediately told by people, “Oh, I do believe in Jesus.”
What did Jesus say? “follow Me”
· In order to do that you’re going to have to liquidate your wealth and give it away.
· You can’t bring it with you.
Now, we also notice that Jesus had no intention of defrauding this guy.
He promised “you will have treasure in heaven”.
All he really wanted the guy to do is transfer his wealth from earth to heaven.
BUT THIS IS WHERE MARK GETS EMPHATIC AGAIN
This young man needed to do exactly
What Jesus had previously told the disciples they had to do.
Mark 8:34-38 “And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
JESUS IS CONSISTENT!
You’ve got to follow Me and that will require losing your life.
If you want eternal life, then you must lose this life.
You must yield control of your idols.
You must give up your passions and plans and desires.
There is not room for two captains of your ship.
Either you are calling the shots, or Jesus is.
And look, every time I read commentaries on this text,
They are quick to say that giving all your wealth is not always necessary.
And that is true.
It’s not.
But it clearly is for some, and the question is, what if it is for you?
What if Jesus wants you to follow Him in a town you had not anticipated?
It might require selling your home
What if Jesus wants you to follow Him in another country?
It might really require liquidating your assets.
TURN TO: LUKE 14:15-27
Do you see how their refusal to lose their lives cost them the kingdom?
Do you see why Jesus told this man to sell it all?
Do you see why Jesus warned the 12 about their ambition?
Telling them to gouge out their eye lest it cause them to stumble?
If you want eternal life you must have Jesus.
He is the only way.
But if you want Jesus you must lose this life.
This world is a hindrance to following Jesus.
AND THAT IS WHEN WE SEE THE TRAGEDY.
(22) “But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.”
“saddened” there is an intense word. (stoog-NOD-zo)
It is only used one other time:
Matthew 16:3 “And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?”
· There it is translated “threatening”.
· Jesus spoke of dark clouds rolling in and totally changing the landscape.
That’s what happened to this man.
You could see the grief roll onto his face like dark storm clouds rolling in.
His whole demeaner changed.
And “he went away grieving, for he was on who owned much property.”
When given the option of eternal life or earthly wealth
He chose earthly wealth.
· His eyes, hands, and feet caused him to stumble into hell.
· He chose the lesser profit.
· He chose to gain this world and forfeit his soul.
Our world says, “Finders keepers, losers weepers”
Jesus teaches, “Losers finders, keepers weeper”
You see which this man was.
AND WE SEE THAT IT IS COSTLY TO ENTER THE KINGDOM.
It costs you everything.
· For some it’s money.
· For some it’s reputation.
· For some it’s comfort.
· For some it’s relationships.
· For some it’s all of the above. Your life
You cannot obtain Jesus while keeping this world.
There is no other way to say it.
Now, I want to introduce the next point, and we’ll come back to it tonight.
Not only is entrance into the kingdom costly
#2 ENTERING IS HARD
Mark 10:23-25
And now you know why it is hard.
It’s hard because it is so costly.
Modern day evangelism is such a distortion of the truth.
· We invite the unredeemed to some concert,
· Hit them with an emotional speaker,
· Dim the lights, throw on the mood music, get the counselors walking down the aisle,
· Tell them all they have to do is “come forward to accept Jesus”.
That is such a lie!
Evangelists today work to make entering the kingdom easy,
But Jesus said it is hard.
In fact, He says it 3 times in these 3 verses.
(23) “And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”
That is almost a lament from Jesus.
· That young man is grieving and you can feel Jesus grieving with Him.
· It is heart-breaking to watch that young man choose to go to hell.
But Jesus doesn’t run after him.
· Jesus doesn’t change the requirement.
Jesus turns to the 12 and makes the point that Mark is highlighting.
(24) “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!”
IT IS SO HARD TO ENTER!
· That’s why some of you wrestled with it so long.
· That’s why some of you continue to wrestle with it even today.
You see what it will require to surrender your life to Jesus
It is hard because your flesh doesn’t want to yield control.
And in fact, Jesus says it a third time:
(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.”
IT’S HARD.
In fact – IT’S IMPOSSIBLE
You cannot enter eternal life if you love the world.
THIS YOUNG MAN WANTED TO
Keep the world while doing enough good to earn his way into heaven.
AND JESUS SAID
That path does not exist.
Salvation like that is impossible.
The only chance you have at salvation is through Jesus Christ.
You must give it all to Him.
· Only He can obtain it.
· Only He can earn it.
There is no other way.
LOSE THIS LIFE AND FIND TRUE LIFE IN JESUS.
There’s much more to say about this tonight.