Luk 18:18-30 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Luke 18:18-30: 18:18-30 The story of the rich religious leader warns against trusting in riches rather than pledging complete allegiance to God. 18:18 The man was probably a religious leader (traditionally ruler ), not a political ruler. • what should I do to inherit eternal life? This question was commonly discussed by the rabbis of Jesus’ day (see 10:27 ).

Summary for Luke 18:18-30: 18:18-30 ^a The story of the rich religious leader warns against trusting in riches rather than pledging complete allegiance to God. 18:18 ^b The man was probably a religious leader (traditionally ruler), not a political ruler.

• what should I do to inherit eternal life? This question was commonly discussed by the rabbis of Jesus’ day (see 10:27 ^c).
18:19 ^d Why do you call me good? The man was calling Jesus “good” as a general compliment, but only God is truly good. Jesus was challenging the man’s understanding of goodness—true goodness requires moral perfection.
18:20 ^e you know the commandments: Jesus cites the fifth through ninth of the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:12-16 ^f; Deut 5:16-20 ^g), which pertain to relationships between human beings.
18:21 ^h I’ve obeyed all these commandments: The man’s claim to have kept all the commandments shows that he misunderstood the nature of true goodness.
18:22 ⁱ The man’s love of his riches revealed that he had not perfectly obeyed God; he did not love God or others in the way that God requires (10:25-28 ^j). Love of riches is a form of idolatry (Eph 5:5 ^k; Col 3:5 ^l).
Summary for Luke 18:24-25: 18:24-25 ^m How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! Though Scripture sometimes speaks of riches as a blessing from God (2 Chr 1:11-12 ⁿ; Pss 112:3 ^o; 128:2 ^p; Prov 8:18 ^q; Isa 61:6 ^r), many passages warn against the danger of trusting riches instead of God (Ps 62:10 ^s; Prov 11:28 ^t; Jer 9:23-24 ^u; 49:4-5 ^v).

• the eye of a needle: See study note on Mark 10:25. This is not merely difficult, but impossible. No one can be saved while trusting in riches. Salvation comes only by dependence on God (Luke 18:27 ^w).
18:27 ^x The point of the whole episode is that salvation is impossible by human effort, but possible by the grace of God.
Summary for Luke 18:28-30: 18:28-30 ^y We’ve left our homes to follow you: In contrast to the rich ruler, Peter and the other disciples had given up everything to follow Jesus. Jesus affirmed that they would receive back far more than they had given up.
18:30 ^z repaid many times over in this life: Their reward would not necessarily be physical, but they would enjoy the blessings that come from spiritual wholeness and a right relationship with God.