Matthew 19:13-22

The Rich Young Ruler
Book of the Bible
Matthew
Speaker
Tony Ferguson
Sermon Date

In this passage we are given account of those who brought little children to Jesus that He might pray for them and bless them. The disciples rebuked the people, probably thinking that they were doing Jesus a favor, but Jesus was greatly displeased with them. The greatest thing we can do with our children is to bring them to the Lord, and in this crazy world, the sooner we do that the better.

We are then given account of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking Him "good teacher, what good thing shall I do to have eternal life?". Jesus first gives this man a lesson on goodness. Jesus tells him that "No one is good but One, that is, God." This one statement Jesus makes not only shows us that none of us are good, but also causes us to make a determination about Jesus. The cults that say that Jesus is not God are by this verse also saying that Jesus is not good.

Jesus uses the Old Testament commandments and His own teachings to reveal this man's sin and bring him to a point of sorrow. Mark tells us that Jesus loved him.

Description of the book of Matthew

As you come to the New Testament the first three books you encounter (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are referred to as the "synoptic" gospels. They are called the "synoptic" gospels because for the most part, they have a "similar view" of the life and ministry of Jesus. Though they account for much of the same narrative regarding the life and ministry of Jesus, they are not identical, nor are they intended to be. They assemble the accounts in different contexts, and contain different amounts of detail, but they are all important. God always seeks to establish a matter on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses, so having these 3 synoptic gospels about the life an ministry of the Son of God is in no way redundant.

Matthew’s gospel communicates to us the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus in the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. From His lineage, to His birth, to His miraculous ministry, to His teachings, to His crucifixion, Matthew will time and time again point out that these things happened “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet…”.