(Mark10:17) Luke, in reporting this incident, calls the one who came running to Jesus an archōn (ἀρχων), Matthew, a neaniskos (νεανισκος). The word archōn (ἀρχων) means literally “a first one.” It speaks of preeminence. It is a term of some latitude. It is used by Matthew 9:18 for the chief of a synagogue, where it is conjoined to the word “synagogue.” Luke uses it for a chief Pharisee (14:1). Josephus apparently understands by it any member of the Sanhedrin. The word passed into Rabbinic as a general term for a great man or prince. The word neaniskos (νεανισκος) is a relative term which may be used of any age between boyhood and middle life. Swete says that the homage paid Jesus by this person is “remarkable because he is not a supplicant for material help. In his eagerness to obtain spiritual advice he shows no less zeal than if he had sought the greatest of temporal benefits.”
Good Master. The words are reversed in the Greek text, and they are “Teacher, good one.” Swete says: “The word ‘good’ is probably sincere, not a fulsome compliment, still less intended for irony. But it implies an imperfect standard of moral goodness, since the speaker regarded the Lord as a merely human teacher.”
Translation. And when He was going out into the road, there came one running toward Him, and having fallen on his knees before Him, he was asking Him, Teacher, good one, what shall I do in order that I might inherit life eternal?
(Mark 10:18) Swete says: “The emphasis is on the word “good,” not on the pronoun. The Lord begins by compelling the enquirer to consider his own words. He had used the word ‘good’ lightly, in a manner which revealed the poverty of his moral conceptions … The man is summoned to contemplate the absolute goodness of God, and to measure himself by that supreme standard. Viewed in this light the words are seen not to touch the question of our Lord’s human sinlessness or of His oneness with the Father; on the other hand they are consistent with the humility which led Him as Man to refrain from asserting His equality with God.” Expositors says of the question, “Why callest thou Me good?”; “which means not, ‘the epithet is not applicable to Me, but to God only,’ but, ‘do not make ascriptions of goodness a matter of mere courtesy or politeness.’ The case is parallel to the unwillingness of Jesus to be called Christ indiscriminately. He wished no man to give Him any title of honor till he knew what he was doing. He wished this man in particular to think carefully on what is good, and who, all the more that there were competing types of goodness to choose from, that of the Pharisees, and that exhibited in His own teaching.”
Translation. And Jesus said to him; Why do you say that I am good? No one is good except One, God.
(Mark 10:19) Swete says: “Having fixed the standard of goodness, the Lord proceeds to rehearse the divine precepts which to the Jew were the highest expression of the good will (of God) … The Lord cites only the commandments which regulate man’s duty to his neighbor, probably because they admit of a relatively simple application of the conduct of life.”
Translation. The commandments you know: Do not commit murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud; honor your father and mother.
(Mark 10:20) The word for “observed” is phulassō (φυλασσω). This word was used in classical Greek as a military term meaning “to guard, watch.” It was used of sentinels keeping guard. As used here in connection with the keeping of the commandments, it refers not only to the act of obeying them, but to that solicitude for their preciousness and honor, that leads one to carefully guard them from being broken. It means, “to take care not to violate.” Swete says: “The young man is relieved by the Lord’s answer. If the eternal inheritance could be secured on so simple a condition as the keeping of the Decalogue, it was his already.… The deeper meaning and larger requirements of the Law were yet hidden from him.”
Translation. And he said to him, Teacher, these things, all of them, I carefully awarded and obeyed from my boyhood.
(Mark 10:21) Jesus beholding him. The word is emblepō (ἐμβλεπω) “to fix the eyes for a moment on an object.” It speaks of a characteristically searching gaze turned on an individual.
Loved him. The word is agapaō (ἀγαπαω), “a love called out of one’s heart by the preciousness of the object loved.” It is used in the n.t., of God’s love, and of the love that God is. The tense is ingressive aorist, speaking of entrance into a new condition. Jesus fell in love with this young man. Swete says “The Lord loved in the man what He saw to be good.” Expositors quotes Grotius: “Jesus loved not virtues only, but seeds of virtues.” Matthew includes in the young man’s answer to Jesus, the words, “What lack I yet?” Expositors says: “The man is conscious of his defect, an important point in his spiritual condition.” Swete says: “The sale and distribution of his property were the necessary preparations in his case for the complete discipleship which admits to the divine kingdom. The words are not a general counsel of perfection, but a test of obedience and faith which our Lord saw to be necessary in this particular instance.” The word “follow” is akoloutheō (ἀκολουθεω) “to follow with another, to take the same road that another takes.” Jesus walked a road of self-abnegation, of self-sacrifice, of service to others, of separation. To have obeyed the instructions of Jesus, would not have given this young man eternal life. The latter can only be had in answer to personal heart faith in the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. But, that obedience would have been the first and the necessary step for this man to take in order to become a disciple (a learner) of Jesus. Taking the same road with Him, would have eventuated in his receiving salvation in answer to his faith in the Lord Jesus as Saviour. That which was keeping him from the latter step, was his love of wealth. The words “take up thy cross,” are not in the best manuscripts.
Translation. And Jesus, having fixed His searching gaze upon him, fell in love with him, and said to him, One thing you are lacking; go, whatever you have, sell at once, and give at once to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, make a beginning of following with Me on the same road that I am taking, and continue to do so.
(Mark 10:22) Swete says: “As he heard the sentence, his brow clouded over, the lighthearted optimism of his mood broke down.” The verb “was sad” is stugnazō (στυγναζω). Thayer gives as its meaning, “to be sad, sorrowful.” Referring to its use here he quotes the Revised Version, “his countenance fell” at the saying. The word is used of the saddening of either the face of nature or the human face, of the dark, stormy night, of the sombre, gloomy man who broods over unwelcome thoughts. Swete says the sadness of which this word speaks is usually the result of disappointment and grief, and that this is the case here. He quotes Wycliffe; “He was ful sorie in the word.” Vincent says: “The word paints forcibly the gloom which clouded his face.” Swete says: “The answer did not exasperate, but it gave him pain which was visible on his countenance. His hopes were dashed; the one thing he wanted was beyond his reach; the price was too great to pay even for eternal life. For the time the love of the world prevailed. Yet it is unnecessary with Origen and Jerome to characterize his sorrow as that of the world (II Cor. 7:10); rather it may have been the birth-pangs of a spirit struggling for release. His riches were indeed as thorns (Jerome) which threatened to choke the seed of the word (4:7, 19), but the end of the struggle is not revealed.”
Translation. And he, saddening at the word, went off, being grieved. For he was holding great wealth.
(Mark 10:23) Jesus looked round about. Swete says: “When the man was gone, the Lord’s eye swept round the circle of the Twelve, as He drew for them the lesson of the incident.”
“How hardly” is pōs duskolōs (πως δυσκολως). Pōs (Πως) is used here in an exclamation, and means “how?” Duskolōs (Δυσκολως) means “with difficulty.” The question of our Lord does not declare the impossibility of a wealthy person being saved, but the difficulty of getting him saved. How the words of James echo in our hearts, “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?” (2:5).
Translation. And Jesus, having glanced swiftly around, says to His disciples, How with difficulty will those who keep on holding wealth, enter into the kingdom of God?
(Mark 10:24) Swete says: “The Twelve were thrown into consternation at this last remark. What manner of kingdom was this which men must become as children to enter (v. 15), and which men of substance could scarcely enter at all.” Commenting on our Lord’s use of the word “children” (teknon (τεκνον)), he says: “The Lord, in sympathy with their growing perplexity, adopts a tone of unusual tenderness. Their perplexity arose from the fact that as Jews they regarded wealth as a token of God’s favor. Yet He repeats His hard saying, and this time removes His qualifying reference to the rich: ‘it is hard in any case, though specially hard for such.’ ” The words, “for them that trust in riches,” are an addition to the text here inserted to bring the verse into closer connection with the context by limiting its generality. Nestle rejects them.
Translation. And the disciples were astonished at His words. And Jesus again answering, says to them, Little children, How difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God.
(Mark 10:25) Some teach that the needle’s eye here refers to a gate in the wall of Jerusalem through which by means of much pulling and pushing a camel could finally be taken. The Greek of Matthew 19:24 and of Mark speaks of a needle that is used with thread, and that of Luke 18:25, uses a medical term for the needle used in surgical operations. It is evident that the gate is not meant, but the tiny eye of a sewing needle. This was probably a current proverb for the impossible. The Talmud twice speaks of an elephant passing through the eye of a needle as being impossible. It is therefore impossible for anyone whose love of riches keeps him from trusting the Lord Jesus as Saviour, to be saved.
Translation. Easier it is for a camel through the eye of the needle to go, than for a wealthy man into the kingdom of heaven to enter.
(Mark 10:26, 27) Swete says: “Their astonishment now passed all bounds and broke out into a cry of despair.… Who then can be saved if the rich are excluded? The Twelve have not yet grasped the special difficulties of the rich, who seem from their position to have the first claim to admission into the kingdom.”
They were astonished out of measure. The verb is ekplēssō (ἐκπλησσω) “to strike out, expel by a blow, to strike out of self-possession.”
With men it is impossible … With God all things are possible. The preposition is para (παρα) “alongside, beside, in the presence of.” That is, take your stand beside man on the question of riches, and it is impossible to be saved. But, take your stand beside God on the matter, and the formerly impossible becomes possible (A.T.R.).
Translation. And beyond measure were they amazed to the point of almost losing their self-possession, saying to one another, Then who is able to be saved? After having swiftly glanced around them, Jesus says, With man, impossible, but not in the presence of God. For all things are possible in the presence of God
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