One Thing You Lack
June 7, 2026 · Daniel Coughlin · Mark 10:17-27 · Gospel of Mark
Sermon Notes / Transcript
Scripture: Mark 10:17-27
Speaker: Daniel Coughlin
Sermon on Mark 10:17–27
Scripture Reading
Our scripture reading today is Mark chapter 10, verses 17 through 27. This is God's word and it is eternally true. As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to him and knelt before him and asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up. Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, One thing you lack.
Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor. And you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. But at these words, he was saddened.
And he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, said to his disciples, How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.
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. They were even more astonished and said to him, Then who can be saved? Looking at them, Jesus said, With people it is impossible, but not with God.
For all things are possible with God.
Opening Prayer
This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be pleasing in your sight today. Oh Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Introduction: Context
Well, this is a continuation in the scene that we saw and we talked about last week where Jesus had received the young children, even though the disciples were out there being his bodyguard, saying, No, stay back. And so, in contrast, in contrast to the children, right?
Again, think about in sequence of how Mark's presenting this. You guys all had a week break. Mark's presented this like, right, verse after verse. The children wanted to come to Jesus and the disciples, you know, No, stay back.
But a rich young man comes up. A rich young ruler runs up and the disciples like, right, like part ways. You know, just think about the parting of the Red Sea, right? They're like, Oh, the rich man's here.
The Rich Young Man’s Approach
And this rich man, he runs up to Jesus, right? And then what does he do? And then he kneels down. Like, if a rich man runs to you, I mean, it says something about who he is.
Like, this doesn't seem like a guy who is nonchalant and, you know, kind of indifferent. It's not the kind of guy who woke up Sunday morning and was like, Oh, maybe I'll just stay in bed this morning. He ran to Jesus. I don't know about you, but like, what makes you run?
What? What? You know, let's say that you heard that there was something in Moral Park, Moral City Park here, you know, like four blocks away. What would get you to run four blocks? Tickets to a concert? Free hamburgers? You know, like something?
Would anything get you to run four blocks to try and beat out your neighbors here so that you were the ones who had access to it? So this man saw some value in Jesus, right? Like, he saw something. And then as we talked about this morning at Sunday school, what does he do when he gets to Jesus?
He kneels down. Like, this is good. This looks really good. Jesus is there and he runs to him and he kneels down to him. He shows the homage that we should all give to God.
Outward Honor
And then he says, good teacher, right? Like, he, he, not only does he physically show honor, because sometimes I think we forget that our bodies are made. Like, we were, we were somewhere recently and I saw someone sitting very straight and proper. And I'm like, you know, as opposed to sometimes when, when I'm sitting at my office, right?
Slouch back like this, right? How you present yourself, what you do with your body matters. It, there's a way just, people see that. Like, there's a reason that in, in the, in the army, when people stand at attention, like, it matters how they do it.
It matters how they salute. Like, there are things that matter about how we comport ourself, how we act, what we do with our, with our physical selves. But it's not just, it's not just his body, right? Good teacher, he says.
And so there's, there's some honor showed there, right? Like, it's not, hey man, what, what, what's going on here? It's good teacher, right? And then not just that, but he says, what must I do to inherit eternal life, right?
A Man Who Looks Right
This man is spiritually minded. He cares about the right things. This is, this is an exemplary man, right? Like, if you have daughters, like, this is the kind of man you want to marry your daughter.
He runs to Jesus. He kneels before Jesus. He honors Jesus with his words. He cares about spiritual things, right?
Like, this is a good man from all appearances. From all appearances. He looks like a decent, good Christian man. Someone we'd want to welcome into membership. Someone we'd want to pull in and say, oh, come be a part of us.
You're like us. You desire the same things that we desire.
Jesus’ Response and the Law
Jesus responds to him. Not how I would respond to him, right? Why do you call me good?
You know, we don't have the level of discernment that Jesus has. Jesus sees right to your heart. He knows why you're here. He knows why that, why that man was there that day.
Like, you're not pulling a fast one on Jesus. No one is good except God alone. And then, and if you want eternal life, keep the commandments, right?
And he goes and he lists. Typically, when we talk about the Ten Commandments, there's the first table, and those are the first four commandments. They talk about our man's relationship to God. And then there's the second table. They're the last six commandments.
Those are man's relationship with other men, right? Honor your father and mother. Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't commit adultery. So that's where Jesus goes. He's like, okay, if you want to inherit eternal life, obey the Ten Commandments.
Reasonable, right? That's why God gave us, to show this is what God's expectation of man is. I'm playing fast and loose with a couple things here, so just go with me.
The Man’s Confidence
Because this is where Jesus goes to, right? I mean, the young man, though, wasn't fazed at all, right?
I saw some looks of recognition, like, ah, he's, he's, okay. The young man, though, teacher, I've done these things since I was a baby. Not a baby. A young man. Probably 12 years old. That's, that's what, what the word means there, right?
From my childhood. I have kept these things. I've done them. I'm good. I'm good, right?
So, right? Tell me I'm good. Right? Right? Tell me. I, you said, do these things, and I've checked all those boxes ever since I was a child. So, affirm that I'm good, that I've done all the things, right?
Isn't that what we all want to hear? That you're good? That you've checked all the boxes? That you've done all the things that you have to do? That you've arrived?
That's what this man wanted to hear.
The Exposure of the Heart
Then look at verse 21. Jesus, looking at him, felt a love for him. And feeling this love, he said to him, one more thing. Just one more thing.
Go and sell all that you have and follow me. Sell what you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me.
Jesus was not giving him one final work, one check more that he needed, right? Instead, Jesus is exposing that the man's heart wasn't really with Jesus.
He ran to Jesus. He knelt before Jesus. He affirmed Jesus. He cared about spiritual things. Kind of.
Right? Because what Jesus did by saying, sell all that you have, was to expose an idol in his heart. The idol of all his stuff. He cared more about his possessions, his earthly goods, than he cared about Jesus. And it crushed him. He saw it. He felt some sort of weight of guilt of, can't do that.
You can't ask that of me. I can't do that. And instead of saying, oh, help me. What did he say?
He didn't say anything. At these words he was saddened. And he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
Jesus’ Teaching on Wealth and Entry into the Kingdom
And I think what hits so hard about this is the man looks like, he looks great, right? I mean, you want to see a man running and kneeling and affirming and caring about spiritual things. Like, that's what we want to see.
And then Jesus unravels him with one question. One more command. You know, it's serious, but it's a simple request, right? Like, and you're going to die. I mean, you can't take these with you. I thought you were concerned about eternal life.
And here, I say to get eternal life, you got to give up this stuff here on earth. And you're going to make a big deal. Like, that's what saddens you? I thought you cared about eternal life.
Now, in case the disciples missed the point of that conversation, Jesus doubles down. And just in case you or I think, okay, it was just that guy's problem. He's not really talking about, because, right, we all want to think he's not really talking about earthly possessions in general.
We all want to find some way to soften this down. And Jesus is going to say, how hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of heaven.
So now the disciples are like, okay, so that man was an example. But Jesus really here is talking about more of a principle. It's a principle that wealth gets in the way of our admittance into the kingdom of God, right?
The young man, here's a young man who looked good, acted good. Jesus saw to his heart. And he made it clear that it's not enough hold on to the things of this earth and add Jesus to it.
Possessions and the Heart
It's not the world, your earthly goods plus Jesus. With this one simple request, Jesus revealed that the man's possessions, he thought he had many possessions, but really his possessions had him. He was bound up in the stuff.
Jesus keeps going, right? How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. How hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.
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.
The Camel and the Needle
Like, this is now the third time he said it. Example, first time. Example, first principle, second principle. Three times overall about how hard it is for a wealthy man to enter the kingdom of God.
How hard is it for a camel to enter the eye of a needle? Do you all know what a needle looks like? Has anybody done sewing and you know what the eye of a needle looks like?
And then, okay, so a needle, let's say the whole needle is this big. And then the eye of the needle, right, is like that big. Okay, give or take.
Now, how about a camel? How many of you have ever seen a camel in real life?
Most, some. How many of you have seen a horse in real life? Or a cow in real life? Anybody seen a cow around here?
Okay. A camel is big. A camel is like horse-sized, cow-sized. So think about that. Like, camel, eye of a needle.
Is this going through this?
No.
Rejecting False Interpretations
Now, again, I said people love to try and find ways to, like, make this easier to hear. And so I've heard sermons, and maybe you have too, where they're like, well, they're not really talking about the eye of a needle. There was a needle gate.
And the camels had a duck to get.
But that's nonsense, right? And the disciples see that it's nonsense. And anyone who reads this whole thing in context would see that that's nonsense.
Because, as soon as Jesus says the thing about the eye of the needle, what do the disciples respond?
The Disciples’ Question
Verse 26. They were even more astonished and said to him, then who can be saved?
Because if they were talking about just a camel ducking down, you wouldn't be astonished by that. Right? You wouldn't say, who can be saved?
Because you're like, oh yeah, that means he's got to duck down a little bit.
No. The whole point of it is, it can't happen.
Then who can be saved? Who can get a camel through the eye of a needle? But then it's not the eye of a needle anymore. Then it's something bigger.
So what's the point of saying it's like a camel going through the eye of a needle? It's virtually impossible. It is practically impossible. It is physically impossible. It is, by all earthly standards, impossible.
And the disciples get it, right? The disciples get it.
The Right Question
Then who can be saved?
This is exactly the right question. And it's almost the same question that the rich man asked.
What shall I do to inherit eternal life? That's what the rich man asked.
And the disciples say, then who can be saved? How? If that's required, if a camel's got to go through the eye of a needle, who can be saved?
How is this possible? What must we do to inherit eternal life?
Contrast: The Rich Man and the Child
This is where we see the beauty of the contrast that Mark's making here between last week's passage with the children and this week's passage with the rich man.
Because the rich man comes and he says, ah, I'm self-satisfied. Everything is going great. I've got all I need.
In fact, not only do I have all I need food-wise, water-wise, servant-wise, possession-wise. Like, I've got it all. I've also, you know, I live a moral life. I'm doing good here.
I don't steal. I don't commit adultery. I don't lie. I honor my mother and father.
What Do They Need?
What does he need? What did that rich man need?
Other than affirmation. Other than the satisfaction of a little bit of doubt in the back of his mind that said, something's off here. Something's not quite right.
Yeah, sorry. Sometimes I ask questions and they're more rhetorical. Sometimes I'm going to wait for a response, but that one was more of a rhetorical one.
It's not always clear.
The rich man thought he was all set. He had it all. He had done it all.
The Needs of a Child
What did he need?
What does a child need?
This is what we talked about last Sunday, so see if you remember. I'll take responses this time.
What does a child need compared to a rich man?
Right? Sometimes they need their diaper changed. Sometimes they need a bottle. Sometimes they need to be picked up and snuggled.
Food, water.
How about everything?
A little child needs literally everything provided for him. A bed. Sometimes they need to be rocked to sleep. Sometimes they need a plug stuck in their mouth.
Right? I mean, there's just all sorts of things that children need opposite of a rich man.
The Self-Sufficient Rich Man
The rich man lives self-satisfied. He doesn't need anything from anyone else, or at least he doesn't think he does. And the rich man is not willing to be made like a little child.
Now, maybe to some extent, right? He does kneel down. And what is kneeling other than putting yourself on the level of a little child?
He was not willing to receive the kingdom of heaven as a child. He would come on his own terms and his own merit.
His possessions gave him a security for his life, and he wasn't willing to upend this security in order to obtain eternal security.
Right? What he had was good enough for this life. He just wanted more on top of that, as opposed to saying, I'm willing to give it all up in this life in order to get the next life.
His only conception of securing his eternal future was the same way he lived in this life. He would achieve it by his merits. He would achieve it through his obedience. He would achieve it by his own sacrifice and his own personal holiness.
Right? Like, that's what we're taught in school. Right? Pick yourself up by your bootstraps. Work hard. Work diligently. You can be anything. Right? If you just put your mind to it and you do the hard work, you can do it all.
Application: Exposure of the Heart
And every day we're at risk of this same error with ourselves and our own spiritual life. With ourselves and our own children.
The most important thing is to look proper, but Jesus sees through how we look. Jesus sees through how we act in public.
Jesus sees children how you treat your parents at home. Jesus sees parents how you treat your children at home. Husbands and wives how you talk to each other behind closed doors.
Jesus sees through the gloss that we put on the outside and he sees through to your heart. He knows who you are.
The Danger of External Religion
So it's not enough to look proper. It's not enough to have a good reputation. It's not enough to come to church.
It's not even enough to run to church and then to kneel down in prayer. It's not enough when you're really protecting your own idols.
Right? The man ostensibly, he made it look like he wanted eternal life, but he also wanted a grasp onto this life. He wanted to keep, you know, one foot on the dock and one foot on the boat.
What happens when you try and do that? Have you guys ever been, you know what I'm talking about, on the dock and on the boat?
Right? Can you imagine a dock? It's, it's secured. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You fall. And then what happens once you fall? You get wet.
Application to Children
Children, listen. You've grown up hearing the scriptures and being expected to live a decent life.
Right? Your parents have given you certain expectations that this is how you should live. This is how you should act. This is how you should talk.
This is how you should present yourself. And that's good. Don't hear me say anything else. That's good.
That's a blessing. It's a blessing to have been raised in the church with expectations. Expectations to read the Bible, to pray to God, to go through the motions.
But you still need God. You still need his mercy. You still need to receive the kingdom of God as a child.
Checking off those boxes of, oh, I read my Bible this morning, mom. Oh, I prayed my prayer this morning, mom. That's not faith. That's not your heart.
That's what this rich young man did.
Application to Adults
And if you're not a child, if you're older, you're not off the hook.
Right? You could have walked with the Lord for decades. You could have attended church with perfect attendance records.
You could have been a deacon or an elder or a deaconess or a pastor. You'd be baptized by immersion.
You could be the chair of the Women's Society. You read your Bible every day. You pick up one of those reading plans and you check off every box.
And again, this is a blessing. These are all good things. Don't hear me knocking them.
But do hear that you still must receive the kingdom of God as a little child.
You don't go and say, because I'm this and I'm that. I'm a Baptist. I'm, you know, all the things.
This is who I am. I'm a Bible reader. I'm a prayer warrior. I'm a all good things.
But if that's where you find your worth, if that's where you find your merit, if that's where you find your identity, right?
Missionaries face the same risk. You can pour out all of your life for the church.
If you don't love the Lord and not willing to receive the kingdom as a little child based on Christ's merit, based on Christ's provision, not based on your own good works, your own good deeds,
tend to look at all that stuff and say, look at all I did for the church. Look at all I did for God and not see that all God's done for you.
Universal Problem of Sin
Try to come to Jesus just like the rich young ruler based on our own good deeds.
The problem is that both Jews and Greeks, every one of us is under sin. There is none righteous.
No, not one. No one who seeks God. All have turned aside and become worthless.
The Purpose of the Law
And so when we hear the law like that man did that day, what should it do?
Should it fill us up with pride and a sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction?
Or should it cut us to the quick and make us see even more our dependence and our reliance on God and his provision?
In Romans 7, Paul writes,
Seeing the demands of the law must open our eyes to our own sinfulness. The reality of our need for a savior.
Sinful man cannot meet the demands of the law.
And so that means we must avoid self-satisfaction in any domain.
Our morality, our love for God, and especially our self-satisfaction with wealth.
Hope #1: Jesus’ Love
But all is not hopeless.
And there's two points that I'm going to close on that give us reason to have hope here.
Hope in this passage that we must train our hearts and our minds to focus on rather than our own abilities and our desires.
The first one comes from verse 21.
Verse 21 says this, Looking at the rich young ruler, Jesus felt a love for him.
Now, had this man cleaned himself up yet? Had his heart been exposed?
Had his heart been broken? Had he come to know his sinfulness and his need for a savior?
No, he hadn't. And yet, and yet, Jesus felt a love for him.
That should give us hope.
The Kindness of Confrontation
Jesus isn't sitting there thinking, oh, worthless. Oh, sinful. Oh, self-indulgent and conceited and self-satisfied.
True. But he sees a love for us.
And so why, why did Jesus expose this man's sin?
Why did Jesus break this man's heart?
Was it out of judgment and condemnation?
Why did he break this man's heart?
Illustration: The Reckless Driver
Yeah, because he had, he had set his heart on something that was going to lead to death.
He was being a fool. He thought he was self-sufficient all on his own and had no real need of Jesus except to be affirmed.
And what's the kindest thing you can do to a person like that?
You don't want someone who thinks that they're, that they're doing well in this life, that thinks that they're sufficient on their own to continue down their path.
Because what happens?
Right? Like, okay, let's take it out of the spiritual realm. Let's put it something more tangible.
You've got a friend who thinks he's a great driver.
Thinks he's a great driver, right?
And, and he, you know, blows, you know, he's doing 15 over the speed limit.
He's taking turns and pulling his handbrake up as he goes.
So it swerves all around.
He thinks he's, I don't know, who's a good driver? Anybody know?
Woods, okay, great.
Right? He thinks he, he thinks he's a Woods brother.
He knows how to get around corners.
He knows how to cut through traffic.
What's the, what's the kindest thing you can do for that man?
Assuming he's not the Woods brothers.
Tell him he's an idiot.
You can tell him he's not a good driver.
You can, you can not lie to the police when they show up later that day saying, hey, was that you driving like a reckless fool?
Because you, why?
Because you want him to get in trouble?
No, because you want to save his life.
And he doesn't know himself.
He thinks he knows himself, but he doesn't.
And so he's careening towards death and destruction.
Maybe not even his own life.
Maybe he kills someone else.
Loving Confrontation
The kindest thing we were talking about, you know, all scriptures given for reproof and correction.
The kindest thing you can do for someone who's very self-satisfied is to just to pull the rug out from under them and to show them that they have a need in love, right?
I mean, Jesus did it in love.
It's not just to embarrass him.
So he doesn't die.
So he doesn't die and isn't lost.
Hope #2: God’s Power
Jesus' love for this man should be a great comfort to us because it came before any change.
Even when the rich young man preferred his earthly possessions over Jesus, Jesus loved him and loved him enough to confront him and care for him.
The second reason we have reason to hope comes from verses 26 and 27.
When they were even more astonished, the disciples, and they said to him, Then who can be saved?
And looking at them, Jesus said, With man it is impossible, but not with God.
For all things are possible with God.
Final Application and Encouragement
Listen, this is our ultimate comfort because it shows that we can be needy children.
We can not have it all figured out.
We can look at our life and really see what the law demands.
We don't have to lie to ourselves or others and say, I've kept all the demands of the law.
I'm holy. I'm righteous. I'm moral. I'm good.
Right?
Our ultimate comfort is that the salvation that God is working out in your life is only possible because God accomplished it and God is working it out.
That Jesus, when he was nailed to the cross, really accomplished salvation for you.
That you really trust that God is working in you both to will and to want to do his goodwill.
That's powerful.
Conclusion
If God is the one working, then all of a sudden it doesn't depend on fallible, weak, poor Daniel Coughlin.
It depends on God who is faithful and good and merciful and kind.
Right?
The rich young ruler came running, kneeling, speaking all the right words, and he went away empty.
Why?
Because he wouldn't come like a little child.
He wouldn't come empty-handed.
He wanted to bring his own merit, his own goods.
That's the call of Christ for us today.
Not to bring our righteousness, not to bring our merit, certainly not to bring our wealth,
but to come like children with nothing to offer and everything to receive.
With man it is impossible, but not with God.
For all things are possible with God.
This is and should be a great hope and encouragement to us as we really see ourselves.
So take heart.
Don't lose courage.
When you know someone with depression, these are the kind of things, this is the kind of truth, this is the kind of God that we serve.
He's good.
He cares for us.
He's merciful and kind and knows our weaknesses.
And so we come, not trusting in ourselves, but trusting in Christ alone.
Thanks be to God for his grace.
Closing Prayer
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we all have these things that we want to put our confidence in.
Whether it's our goodness or our wealth, our abilities, where we go to church, who we know,
help break us of these idols.
Help break us of these things that we trust in more than we trust in you, Father.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.