Our God is Good through Life and Death!

Mark 10:17-34 

Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler

17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

18 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"

20 And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth."

21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."

22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

With God All Things Are Possible

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"

27 But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."

28 Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."

29 So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

Jesus a Third Time Predicts His Death and Resurrection

32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: 33 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."

Our God is so good through life and death.  When asked about how to inherit eternal life, Jesus told the rich man that only God is good and yet he must follow God’s word as the commandments define in relation to others.  He did not tell the man to be good but to do good in following the only righteous One.  This is later clarified in the epistles of the apostles who sat under the teach of Jesus and heard far more than the gospel books described for us.  Yes, it is by the goodness of God and His righteousness through the second Adam (Romans 5:12, 14, 20-21, Galatians 3:18, Romans 8:16-17, Colossians 1:12-14) that we inherit eternal life.  Our good works according to the commandments are the result (Ephesians 2:10) of them being inscribed by the finger of God’s Spirit on our regenerated hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, 2 Corinthians 3:3, 7-8).  We must then count and consider the cost of following Christ, but not allowing the thorns of this life (Matthew 13:22) keep us from putting Him first as the rich man here unfortunately chose to do.  Great earthly possessions keep us from the eternally valuable one of eternity in Christ; when God so calls a man, He bids him come and die as he takes up his cross to die daily in Christ as he follows.  That is the goal Paul spoke of in Philippians 3:14-15, 20; we cannot serve both God and riches (Luke 16:13).  The disciples took this to mean that nobody could let go of everything they owned and be saved to enter the kingdom.  Jesus told them clearly that what was impossible for us to do was absolutely possible for God to do in us, pointing to salvation by grace alone through faith in Christ and His righteousness alone (Galatians 3:6, 24, 21-22, Philippians 3:9).   Our works to earn salvation and the kingdom will always come eternally short (Romans 3:20, 23) because we can not be completely good as only God is good according to His standards as shown in His word.  The disciples then heard that in life and death God is good and their salvation in in Christ and life was their reward for suffering in this life with a promise beyond death and the grave.  Their humility was to be the gauge of their rewards as they left everything of earthly value out of their hearts and placed Him and the kingdom there.  Jesus then foretold His own suffering and death on their behalf that was looming in the near future.  He would be betrayed and put to death after being mocked, spit upon, scourged with whips, and murdered.  Ah, but He also promised life out of death by His resurrection on the third day after entering the grave!  He was the first-fruit (1 Corinthians 15:20-22) of our own resurrection of life from out of death as promised as demonstrated by Him going before us to guarantee the way.  Yes, God is truly eternally good for who He is and all He has done and will do for we who are in Christ!  Christ is life for us as Philippians 1:21 reminds us of His goodness and worthiness to be honored and praised with our lives.  We inherit eternal life though death because of that goodness.  Our God is good though life and death!