205 of 365 - What Must I Do?

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Matthew 19:16
 
Matthew tells of an encounter between Jesus and a young man that is a huge gut check on who we believe Jesus is and what we are willing to do as a result.

“Teacher,” the man calls to Jesus. Immediately we get an idea of who he thinks Jesus is.

The young man doesn’t recognize Jesus as Lord, but rather another good teacher who may be able to point him to that nagging thing that is missing in his life, despite all of his hard work, success, and wealth.

When we don’t rightly recognize who Jesus is, everything else is meaningless. Many throughout history and even today are quick to acknowledge Jesus as a good man and teacher who walked the earth. C.S. Lewis points out this can’t be; He either lied about who He was, was crazy for thinking He was someone He wasn’t, or He was truly the Son of God.

The young rich man continues with his question, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?” This man is looking for that one last thing he can check off his list to be satisfied and EARN eternal life. Jesus knows that none of us can do it without Him; that we can’t earn salvation.

Jesus plays along, basically responding if he wants to do it on his own, he needs to keep the commandments. Something Jesus knows full well no one but He could do.

“All of these I have kept,” the man says, shedding light on another flaw in his quest for salvation…the inability to see his own sin. Does he really believe he has kept all the commandments his entire life? Impossible.

To be continued…
 
Questions: Who do YOU say Jesus is? How would you approach Jesus? What question would you have for Jesus?