Part of the Gospel of Mark Bible study.
Introduction & Summary
At a glance. In Mark 10:17-31, a wealthy man runs up to Jesus and asks, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" He has kept the commandments since his youth. Jesus looks at him, loves him, and invites him to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow. The man goes away grieving, "for he had many possessions." Jesus then tells his disciples it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter God's kingdom, and promises that "for God all things are possible."
Picture this. Someone walks into your office, or asks you out for coffee. You sit across from each other, and you begin conversing. Words are said, but you know there is way more under the words. They’re searching for something more. You can see it in their eyes and in their posture. They carry a weight, and they want relief.
That's the man we meet in this passage. He doesn't come to Jesus with arrogance. He comes running, kneels in the road, and asks the question beneath every other question: "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mark 10:17).
He seems to have it all. He's successful, devout, a model of achievement by any standard. But there's a restlessness he can't shake. He has followed the rules and checked the boxes, and he knows something is still missing.
Then Jesus does something Mark alone records. He looks at him and loves him. What follows isn't a trick or an impossible test. It's an invitation, and it still challenges us about what we're holding onto.
Who Was the Rich Young Ruler?
Here's something many readers never notice: no single Gospel calls him the "rich young ruler." The name combines details from three tellings of the same story.
| Mark 10:17-31 | Matthew 19:16-30 | Luke 18:18-30 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How he's described | "A man" | "The young man" | "A certain ruler" |
| His wealth | "He had many possessions" | "He had many possessions" | "He was very rich" |
| How he comes | Runs up and kneels | Comes up to Jesus | Asks Jesus |
| Unique detail | Jesus "loved him" | "If you wish to be perfect" | He "became sad" but is never said to walk away |
So he was rich (all three), young (Matthew), and a ruler (Luke). "Ruler" may mean a leader in a synagogue or a member of a local council. Either way, he had influence and affluence.
By the standards of his day, and honestly by ours, he had arrived. Most people in first-century Galilee and Judea lived at or near subsistence. He lived far above it. And yet here he is, kneeling in the dust, asking what more he needs.
That makes him a stand-in for many of us. We may not have his wealth or power, but we've asked his questions: Have I done enough? Am I enough? When my days are done, how do I know God is at peace with me?
For how the three Gospels relate, see Why Are Matthew, Mark, and Luke Called the Synoptic Gospels?
The Question: "What Must I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?"
Notice the word he uses: inherit. You don't do anything to inherit. An inheritance comes because of whose child you are. Yet he asks what he must do. His question already carries the tension at the heart of the story: he assumes there's one more thing to acquire, one more box to check, and then the switch will flip.
"Why Do You Call Me Good?"
"Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.'" (Mark 10:18)
Jesus isn't denying his own goodness. He's inviting the man to think about what he's saying. If only God is good, and he's calling Jesus good, what does that mean about who's standing in front of him?
The Commandments He Kept
Jesus lists the commandments about how we treat others: "You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother" (10:19).
One line is surprising. "You shall not defraud" isn't in the Ten Commandments. Only Mark includes it, and it's pointed: defrauding was a sin of people with money and power, like withholding a worker's wages (Deuteronomy 24:14-15). Jesus may already be gently touching the sore spot.
The man answers sincerely: "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth" (10:20). Outwardly, he's done everything right. Jesus doesn't argue. He sees something deeper. For more on the commands of Scripture, see How Many Commands Are in the Bible?
"Jesus, Looking at Him, Loved Him"
"Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.'" (Mark 10:21)
Only Mark tells us this, and it changes everything. The word for love here is agapao, the self-giving love that chooses another's good. It isn't a passing feeling. It's commitment.
That love turns what could sound like a harsh demand into a moment of grace. Jesus isn't trying to win an argument or expose a failure. He sees the whole man, his successes, his longing, his inner turmoil, and he tells him the truth he most needs to hear. He doesn't own his possessions. His possessions own him.
Yes, hearing the truth stings. But love that is committed to your good is committed to your freedom. See Biblical Definition of Love.
The One Thing
Let's not misunderstand this. Jesus isn't saying wealth is evil or that every follower must give away everything. If that were the rule, we'd all be in trouble. Jesus speaks directly to this man's heart. For him, wealth was more than comfort. It was his security, his identity, the protective layer that kept him from having to trust God. It was the one thing standing between him and the life God was offering.
That's what makes the moment so powerful. Jesus isn't asking him to lose everything. He's inviting him to gain everything: "treasure in heaven" and, most of all, "follow me." But to take hold of it, he has to let go. Jesus taught the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount: "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). See The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew.
He Went Away Grieving
"When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions." (Mark 10:22)
This is the heartbreaking part. He came running. He leaves slowly. He wanted eternal life, but he couldn't bear to give up what he already had.
Many of us feel that same tension. We want the freedom Jesus offers, but we're not sure we can let go of what holds us. For this man, it was wealth. For others, it's status, control, a relationship, or whatever makes us feel secure or a little above other people.
It's worth reading this alongside the other man Jesus calls in this chapter. At the end of Mark 10, blind Bartimaeus throws off his cloak, likely the one thing he owned, and follows Jesus down the road (10:50-52). The rich man has much and walks away. The beggar has almost nothing and leaves it behind. See Blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52).
The Camel and the Eye of a Needle
As the man disappears, Jesus turns to his disciples: "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" (10:23). Then he uses one of his most memorable images:
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:25)
The camel was the largest animal in the region, and the eye of a needle was the smallest opening anyone could picture. Jesus is using deliberate exaggeration. It's not hard. It's impossible.
A word of caution about the "Needle Gate." You may have heard that "the eye of a needle" was a small gate in Jerusalem's wall that a camel could squeeze through on its knees once its load was removed. It makes a nice sermon illustration, but there is no evidence such a gate existed in Jesus' day. The story appears centuries later. It also softens Jesus' point, turning "impossible" into "difficult if you try hard enough." The disciples didn't hear it that way. They were "greatly astounded."
"Then Who Can Be Saved?"
The disciples' stomachs dropped. In their world, wealth was often seen as a sign of God's blessing. If even this successful, devout man couldn't make it, who could? "They were greatly astounded and said to one another, 'Then who can be saved?'" (10:26).
And here Jesus gives the hope that changes everything:
"Jesus looked at them and said, 'For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.'" (Mark 10:27)
Salvation isn't something we achieve. It's a gift. The man's mistake was thinking eternal life could be acquired the way he'd acquired everything else. Jesus shows that it isn't about what we can do. It's about what God does. By faith we connect with God, and God's grace works in us, loosens our grip on lesser things, and shows us a better way to walk. See What Is Grace in the Bible? and What Is Salvation in the Bible?
He walked away sad, but he didn't have to. He could have answered the way a desperate father does one chapter earlier: "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). He could have said, "Jesus, I can't do this. Teach me how to trust. Free me."
"We Have Left Everything"
Peter speaks up: "Look, we have left everything and followed you" (10:28). Jesus answers with a promise:
"Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age: houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life." (Mark 10:29-30)
This isn't a prosperity promise. The hundredfold is a new family: the community of believers, with homes opened and meals shared, a family far larger than the one anyone left behind. And notice the two words Mark alone includes: "with persecutions." Following Jesus costs something, and he says so honestly.
Then comes the great reversal: "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first" (10:31). The man who seemed first walks away. Fishermen and a tax collector who left their nets and booths are first in the kingdom. See Mark 2for Levi's story.
Is Jesus Asking Me to Sell Everything?
Not necessarily. Jesus called this man to sell everything because his wealth had become his master. Elsewhere, Zacchaeus gives away half of what he has (Luke 19:8), and Jesus says salvation has come to his house. Women of means supported Jesus' ministry from their own resources (Luke 8:3). The question isn't how much you own. It's what owns you.
Jesus told another story that sharpens the point: the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). A poor beggar lay at the rich man's gate every day, and the rich man feasted every night without seeing him. The rich man wasn't condemned simply for being wealthy. His wealth had become so much a part of him that it blinded him to his neighbor and hardened his heart. Jesus wanted to spare the man in Mark 10 from that same fate. That's love.
A few honest questions to ask:
If I lost my savings, my status, or my comfort, would my trust in God hold?
Does my money serve my neighbor, or only me?
What's the "one thing" Jesus might name in my life?
For practical help, see Biblical Giving, Greed in the Bible, and Bible Verses About Contentment.
Pastor's Heads Up. I have a friend who was in finance. They did well, I mean, very well. He was very generous with his time and money, and as he neared the point he could think of retiring, it became crystal clear: He felt called to leave that lucrative position and start a non-profit that would help others change their lives through micro-loans, thus Jim started the Gnu Foundation, and ever since, when we talk he speaks of someone who is joyful and at ease in his life and calling.
Walking Away, or Walking Toward?
"He went away grieving." Jesus had told him to go and sell. So which way is he walking? Is he going home to sell, or back to a life that has already left him empty? Mark doesn't say. The story is left open, and maybe that's on purpose, because the same question lands on us.
Will we walk away sad, holding onto attachments we think will give us comfort and life? Or will we step into the unknown, trusting that real life is found not in what we possess but in who we follow, even if our following is imperfect?
Jesus still looks at us with love and says, "Come, follow me."
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was the rich young ruler? A wealthy man who asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Mark calls him "a man," Matthew adds that he was young, and Luke calls him a ruler. All three say he was rich.
What is the main lesson of the rich young ruler? Whatever we trust more than God, Jesus lovingly invites us to let go of. Salvation can't be earned or acquired. It is a gift, because "for God all things are possible."
Did the rich young ruler go to heaven? The Bible doesn't say. Mark tells us he went away grieving and leaves the story open, which invites readers to ask how they would respond.
What does "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle" mean? It's deliberate exaggeration. A camel was the largest animal people knew, and a needle's eye the smallest opening. Jesus means that no one, especially someone relying on wealth, can enter God's kingdom by their own effort. Only God makes it possible.
Does Jesus want all Christians to sell everything? Not necessarily. He called this man to it because wealth held his heart. Scripture calls all believers to generosity, contentment, and trust, and some to radical giving.
Keep Studying
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version.
