Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through it. I thank You that You have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Verses 19-24)
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside. Together they have become corrupt. There is none who does good. Not even one. Psalm 14 (italics, mine)
The young man saw Jesus surrounded by the children He'd blessed. The disciples were irritated with the mothers and fathers who'd set their children on His lap and ringed Jesus in with the noisy excitement of being near Him. "Move away! Give Jesus room here!" they yelled.
"Leave them alone," Jesus rebuked. "Don't keep children from coming to me. It's their childlike faith that will bring everyone to Me. Heaven belongs to anyone who will come to me with the wonder and trust of one of these little ones."
Into the midst of laughing children came a rich young man. Maybe he heard Jesus saying to enter the kingdom you much be like a little child. It seems logical as his question to Jesus was, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Only God is good," Jesus replied. He knew the young man was going to go for goodness. How perfectly he'd kept the law. But none is good...not even one. "You know the commandments: Don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't steal, don't bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother."
"I've done all those things. All my life," replied the young man. "What do I still lack?"
"If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and come, follow Me." Because only if we are perfect can the law save us.
He couldn't do it. The young man was very rich. Treasures in heaven were abstract. Treasures here kept the man from finding true redemption by following Jesus. It wasn't the selling of his stuff that Jesus was after. It was his heart. One that will follow after God, giving up all for the pearl of great price. The young man dropped his head and turned away. And Jesus was sad. He loved the man.
"It's easier for a camel to be pushed through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven," He said to his disciples.
They were astonished, though, because this man was a great person. He'd kept the law. Done everything right since he was a kid! They hadn't done that well! And it looked like God had blessed the man with great wealth because he was such a righteous person. What gives? "If this man can't be saved, who can?" asked the disciples.
"With man this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible." We can't save ourselves. We can't be righteous enough to enter the gates of heaven. Only the goodness of God transferred to our puny selves can make the temples we become worthy of His glorious indwelling. So really, it's way easier than we think. Children can do it. Babies, even. For it is the heart that follows freely after Jesus that is changed. Loving Him more than life. Dancing in His presence. Joying in His Word. Not wanting to be anyplace where Jesus chooses not to be. When He has become my salvation, not my own paltry deeds, birthed in questionable motives, I recognize I can't save myself and quit trying. I'd rather robe myself in God's salvation than trust He'll find me good enough to get into heaven without following Him. If the rich young ruler fell short, I am doomed. I'm nowhere near perfection.
This impossible thing, though, has been accomplished. For our sake He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5). Rejected by the very men who loved the law, as the rich young man did, Jesus became the sacrifice for sin, once and for all. Even the rulers who thought themselves more righteous than He. Thrown away, stripped and bloodied, in His death Jesus took on our sin. The perfect sacrifice. Who would've thought such a thing on the day He told His disciples that only God can save us? How could they have guessed it would mean the earth convulsing and the Teacher dying? As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God precious and chosen, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2).
I come each day before my God as a righteous child, allowed into the gates of His courts. Privileged to sit on His knee and dance happily with other children of my Father. Impossible for me to have edged my way into this family with my own credentials. Impossible to imagine such favor...such love and goodness! Were I to have to earn it, I'd be miserable. But He has become my salvation. Done the impossible!!! I am His and He is mine!! This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside. Together they have become corrupt. There is none who does good. Not even one. Psalm 14 (italics, mine)
The young man saw Jesus surrounded by the children He'd blessed. The disciples were irritated with the mothers and fathers who'd set their children on His lap and ringed Jesus in with the noisy excitement of being near Him. "Move away! Give Jesus room here!" they yelled.
"Leave them alone," Jesus rebuked. "Don't keep children from coming to me. It's their childlike faith that will bring everyone to Me. Heaven belongs to anyone who will come to me with the wonder and trust of one of these little ones."
Into the midst of laughing children came a rich young man. Maybe he heard Jesus saying to enter the kingdom you much be like a little child. It seems logical as his question to Jesus was, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Only God is good," Jesus replied. He knew the young man was going to go for goodness. How perfectly he'd kept the law. But none is good...not even one. "You know the commandments: Don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't steal, don't bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother."
"I've done all those things. All my life," replied the young man. "What do I still lack?"
"If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and come, follow Me." Because only if we are perfect can the law save us.
He couldn't do it. The young man was very rich. Treasures in heaven were abstract. Treasures here kept the man from finding true redemption by following Jesus. It wasn't the selling of his stuff that Jesus was after. It was his heart. One that will follow after God, giving up all for the pearl of great price. The young man dropped his head and turned away. And Jesus was sad. He loved the man.
"It's easier for a camel to be pushed through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven," He said to his disciples.
They were astonished, though, because this man was a great person. He'd kept the law. Done everything right since he was a kid! They hadn't done that well! And it looked like God had blessed the man with great wealth because he was such a righteous person. What gives? "If this man can't be saved, who can?" asked the disciples.
"With man this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible." We can't save ourselves. We can't be righteous enough to enter the gates of heaven. Only the goodness of God transferred to our puny selves can make the temples we become worthy of His glorious indwelling. So really, it's way easier than we think. Children can do it. Babies, even. For it is the heart that follows freely after Jesus that is changed. Loving Him more than life. Dancing in His presence. Joying in His Word. Not wanting to be anyplace where Jesus chooses not to be. When He has become my salvation, not my own paltry deeds, birthed in questionable motives, I recognize I can't save myself and quit trying. I'd rather robe myself in God's salvation than trust He'll find me good enough to get into heaven without following Him. If the rich young ruler fell short, I am doomed. I'm nowhere near perfection.
This impossible thing, though, has been accomplished. For our sake He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5). Rejected by the very men who loved the law, as the rich young man did, Jesus became the sacrifice for sin, once and for all. Even the rulers who thought themselves more righteous than He. Thrown away, stripped and bloodied, in His death Jesus took on our sin. The perfect sacrifice. Who would've thought such a thing on the day He told His disciples that only God can save us? How could they have guessed it would mean the earth convulsing and the Teacher dying? As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God precious and chosen, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2).
I come each day before my God as a righteous child, allowed into the gates of His courts. Privileged to sit on His knee and dance happily with other children of my Father. Impossible for me to have edged my way into this family with my own credentials. Impossible to imagine such favor...such love and goodness! Were I to have to earn it, I'd be miserable. But He has become my salvation. Done the impossible!!! I am His and He is mine!! This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
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