Luke 18:24 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 18:24

Comments

The Lord Jesus Christ sees that he is very sorrowful and says, ‘How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!’ It is a fact that so very often, if not nearly always, riches hurt us. Riches do make us selfish; they do make us proud; they do puff us up. They do make us concerned only about ourselves and our pleasures and what we can do. They buy us authority over others, and in our pride, we want that. So what the Lord Jesus Christ said is true. Christ forced this choice upon him, and so often this is what happens when we draw near to the gates of the kingdom of God. This young man was sorrowful because he understood that he could not have two things at once: he could not keep his riches and have a place in the kingdom of heaven as well. So he chose to do without heaven, and that is a choice which so many others repeat after him. Was this choice an informed choice? Had he truly evaluated the comparative worth of treasure on earth against all the treasures of heaven that are embodied in Christ? No, he continued to walk by sight and not by faith, and therefore he was unable to evaluate heaven.

Application

There is nothing that we should not be willing to give up for Christ’s sake. May the Spirit of God show us what is at stake, so that we are able to see through this world. It is not just that we underestimate heaven’s glory; we also overestimate the pleasures of this life. We listen to what the world says about itself. We listen to how man talks up this world and the pleasure he derives from it. But that is not an honest testimony, and there is a great deal of self-deception in it. The people of the world spend a great deal of effort convincing themselves that they have made the right choice, even though they are often bitterly disappointed.

Although he is demanding this particularly of this rich young ruler, yet riches do a lot of harm to a great many people, and we are living in an affluent age. Nearly everybody has a good deal of things, but you know you can get so attached to the things of this life that they become an absolute barrier from you seeking the Lord: you couldn't possibly love him and seek after him, because you love the things in this world much too much.

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Luke 18:24 Commentary and Bible Study

Explain meaning of Luke 18:24