Are you like a certain ruler? (Luke 18:18-23)

In Luke 18:18-23 we read of an exchange between Christ and a man who remains describes simply as “a certain ruler.”

When reading scripture, it is the very subtle things that can mean so much.  Whenever a person is actually named, we take note, because that name can mean something.  And so, when people are only described in scripture we should do the same.

Because that description can be for everyone.

And so we need to look at what the description is and then ask ourselves, “Do I ever fit this description.”

The word for “ruler” is archōn

It can be translated as a ruler, commander, chief, or leader.  It is translated magistrate once in the New Testament and that is in the Luke 12:58. 

A magistrate is one who judges a situation and determines a fair course of action.  Sometimes the fair course of action doesn’t seem fair.

Do you ever see yourself as a leader?  Do you ever see yourself having to act as the magistrate?  As a husband; a father; a businessman?

If you have you can appreciate that the certain ruler may have been at the point of wanting to know…

When does it pay off? 

When does fair come back my way?

Am I doing something wrong?

Is there anything more I can do?

He came to Jesus calling Him “Good Master.”  He came wanting to know.  But the answer he received was not what He wanted.

“Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.” (vv 2-23)

Sellest all thou hast.

It wasn’t just about giving all his money away.  It was about total surrender.  It was about giving his whole identity away… all the things he had earned, all the things that were his, all the things that had come to define him… the things that caused others to respect him.

We was very rich, and so he left very sorrowful.

And it wasn’t just about the money… it was about leaving his comfort zone.

And so I have to be honest with myself… that sometimes I am a certain ruler… content to hold on to what I believe defines me rather than letting go and letting my identity be completely in Christ.

I would rather live with the certainty of what I have – no matter what it might be – than live for what He declares me to be.

As men we tend to be this way.  If we know we have 20% of what could be… in our marriages, our relationships, our lives… we would rather settle than to take the risk… to shoot for the 100% and risk finding ourselves at 19%.  We would rather be told “do this and you will get that” than “give this up to gain that.”

Religion says do this to gain that.

Relationship says give up to gain.

Religion, the act or process of relying upon, has rules and so it needs rulers.

Rulers thrive in religion and so they stay in religion, because it gives them a place, a position.

Servant leaders, followers of Christ… we want relationship.  And we don’t care what we have to give up to gain it.

Willing and obedient… what we must be.

SDG