Daily Devotional For Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Good morning Southside. I hope your day is off to a great start. We are making our way through Matthew’s Gospel in the current devotionals. Today, we come to Matthew 19:16-30. Because this is a longer discourse of Jesus talking to a rich young ruler, we will take a couple of days to look at this story. Here is the passage:
“And behold, a man came up to Him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ (17) And He said to him, ‘Why do you ask Me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’ (18) He said to Him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, (19) Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (20) The young man said to Him, ‘All these I have kept. What do I still lack?’ (21) Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ (22) When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (23) And Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. (24) Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’ (25) When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ (26) But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ (27) Then Peter said in reply, ‘See, we have left everything and followed You. What then will we have?’ (28) Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. (30) But many who are first will be last, and the last first’” (ESV).
When we read what appears to be from this rich young ruler a valid question to Jesus, you may scratch your head wondering, “Why in the world would Jesus answer him that way? Why didn’t Jesus just tell this man, ‘Believe in Me as Your Savior and Lord and commit to a path of discipleship by being mentored by one of My disciples”? Through the years pastors have almost vilified and condemned this man in their sermons. But would we be any different in our response to getting saved if Jesus gave us the same answer? The point is – He already has. Look at Luke 14:33, “So you cannot become My disciple without giving up everything you own” (NLT).
If you have been in church or a Christian for any length of time you have seen people confess their faith in Christ, get baptized, and get involved in church but only later never be seen again. Why? According to Jesus, they were never really saved. Knowing this man’s heart, Jesus gave him a test and he failed it. Salvation is only for those who are willing to forsake everything. This man walked away not because he heard the wrong message, but because he would not repent from his sin and follow Jesus unconditionally.
In verse 16, “behold” suggests how strange and even shocking it was that this man would openly admit to Jesus and His disciples that he did not have eternal life. The first thing we see in this story is how sincerely and genuinely this man came to Jesus seeking eternal life. The words “eternal life” are used around 50 times in Scripture and always refers to quality of life more than just the quantity of life. “Eternal life” does refer to an on-going existence after death but it also refers to the quality of that existence. This is not just true in Scripture, but we also see this in Greek mythology:
“When Aurora, goddess of the dawn, fell in love with a mere moral human man, named Tithonus. She asked Zeus to make her human lover live forever, but because she did not ask that he remain young, he continued to age and age until he was decrepit. Instead of being blessed, he was cursed to eternal degeneration.”
Eternal life is about a quality of existence after death. The lost person only is alive to sin and death. If he or she comes to Christ, then they are alive as a new creation and to an abundant life as well as an eternal life because they now have Jesus Christ living in them. This is the Apostle Paul’s point in Romans 6:1-13. While this rich young ruler had everything in his day to keep his life comfortable, he knew something was missing. He was missing peace, hope and joy. The fact that he came to Jesus publicly showed his sincerity. He not only felt his need spiritually, he felt it desperately.
Mark’s Gospel tells us that when he heard that Jesus was close, he ran to Jesus and knelt before Him (see Mark 10:17). He would not wait to get his question answered and he did not care if he lost face with others. He wanted an answer from the only One he believed could give him that answer. It seems he may have done this when Jesus was with the children. If so, it was his way of saying to Jesus, “I need Your help just as much as these children do.”
He called Jesus “teacher.” The Greek New Testament word is [διδάσκαλος; didaskalos]. This was a term used as respect for an accepted rabbi who knew the Old Testament Scriptures. This means he did not see Jesus as the Messiah, but only as another respectable rabbi. We can tell he has been raised in Pharisaic legalistic Jewish teachings. He asked Jesus what he must DO to have eternal life. A lot of people have been very critical of him for asking this, but Judaism had become a religion of do’s and don’ts full of rituals, rules and regulations. He has exhausted every DO and still felt lost.
He wanted to know how he could obtain eternal life. The goal of evangelism is to help lost people obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ. This young man did not need any further persuasion. He was already there. If he was living in our day, he was ready to sign the card, walk the aisle, raise his hand or whatever was required. No more convincing was needed. Matthew gives us few details about him. He tells us in Matthew 19:20 he was young. The Greek New Testament word is [νεανίσκος; neaniskos]. This means he was between his young 20s and early 40s – a broad range. Luke’s Gospel tells us he was a ruler (see Luke 18:18). This is the Greek New Testament word [νεανίσκος; neaniskos]. This word is used to refer to some official in a Jewish synagogue. What the rich young ruler calls “eternal life,” Jesus calls it “the kingdom of heaven” (vs. 23) and the disciples call it “being saved” (vs. 25). It is rare we have all 3 synonyms together about salvation. Tomorrow we will look more at this.
Assignment: When it comes to your own salvation and eternal life, do you ever have doubts? Do you ever do things as a means to insure your eternal life? If so, how do you handle this? Has the American dream given you a sense of peace, joy, and fulfillment? Why or why not? Do you believe that honoring the Ten Commandments and obeying Christ gives you the insurance you need to have the assurance of eternal life you desire? Have you ever come across someone who did not need any convincing but was ready to come to Christ? How did you handle them?
Scripture To Meditate On: Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (9) not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, thank You that there is nothing I have to do in order to be saved. Thank You that salvation is all You from beginning to end. Thank you that salvation and eternal life is not just about the duration of one’s life, but the donation as well. I pray I will never use this assurance as an excuse to sin. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly