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Day 223

Luke 18:18-27 "WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE? Luke 18:18"

Day 223 – Luke 18

Text: Luke 18:18-27

“WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE? Luke 18:18

This was not the first time these words were said to Jesus. In Luke 10:25-37 a certain lawyer had come to Jesus to ask Him this same question. It would be interesting to see how Jesus dealt with this question

1. To the lawyer who asked this question (Luke 10:25).

Jesus raised a question to this lawyer. He asked,
“What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
Luke 18:26

The lawyer replied,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbour as yourself.”
Luke 10:27

Jesus commended him for his astute answer and said to him,
“You have answered rightly;
Do this and you will live”
Luke 10:28

The man went on to ask, “Who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29), hoping to catch Jesus out on the word “neighbour”. Jesus went on to tell the parable of The Good Samaritan as His answer to the lawyer.

If a person truly wanted eternal life, then he must indeed be able to do more than just speak of having love for God. He must have love for his neighbour too. If he does not have love for his neighbour, does he indeed have love for God?

The challenge of Jesus to the lawyer… to love his neighbour must have been difficult for the lawyer to practice. Luke recorded total silence from the lawyer after the reply of the Lord Jesus.

2. In this particular context, a certain ruler came to Jesus and asked the same question. This time round Jesus gave an even stranger reply. The ruler came to Jesus and said,

“Good teacher, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 18:18

Whenever Jesus made a reply, He always replied at the deepest level. His answer spoke to the depths of the heart of the inquirer. Jesus knew that this ruler thought of himself as quite “good”. He addressed Jesus as if He were just an ordinary man… a good but ordinary man, like himself. In this understanding, he was very wrong!

Jesus had to help the man understand the term he used, “good” could be used in two ways.

1. It could be used in a relative way. Thus man could be said to be “good” – but only in a relative sense.

2. There was another way to use the word “good”. It could be used in an absolute sense. In this case, there is only ONE person who could be said to be GOOD. That person would be God Himself.

a) Jesus was not denying that He was “good”.
b) However, He was rejecting the way in which the man applied the word “good” with reference to Jesus. That made him see the good that was in Jesus as “relatively good”.
c) If therefore the ruler was quite good, then he could well see himself almost as “good” as Jesus.
d) Since he could not see Jesus as the Son of God, He sought to help the ruler to speak of “goodness” as an absolute word. In this case, the ruler would not really be “good.” No one is “good” when compared to the Absolute Goodness of God.

3. Having said this, Jesus was in fact leveling the ground. He was trying to teach the ruler that in God’s sight, all had sinned and come short of the glory of God. Man’s righteousness was as filthy rags before the Lord.

4. Obviously, the ruler missed the point that Jesus sought to make. He then went on to engage the man in further conversation. He cited the Scriptures,

“You know the commandments:
Do not commit adultery, Do not murder,
Do not steal, Do not bear false witness
Honour your father and your mother.”
Luke 18:20

THE PRIDEFUL SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS OF MAN

The man quietly and confidently replied,

“All these things I have kept
from my youth.”
Luke 18:21

The ruler had indeed carefully and conscientiously kept the law. He thought that if he kept the law carefully enough, he would surely merit salvation. He had esteemed himself so highly that he really thought he was good enough to inherit eternal life. He basically wanted Jesus to confirm that he was indeed a good man and that he was deserving of eternal life. He failed to see what Jesus was seeking to teach him.

Jesus then asked him to dispose of his wealth, if he were THAT GOOD… and then follow His Example… and become His Disciple. Suddenly realization hit him. He was not all that good after all. He went away sorrowfully, for he was very rich. He was spiritually poor, and he did not see himself till Jesus opened his eyes. What about you? Do you know if you have inherited eternal life?