Here is undeniable evidence that commandment-keepers are the biggest fraudsters. The man who told Yeshua that he never broke the law and walked away from loving his neighbor is today’s moral trickster, obedient to the end but lost. Like the young and rich questioner in Mark 10 we cover up our nakedness with lies about our faithfulness, and by doing so we ensure that our friends can see that the inheritance remains just out of reach.

You know the commandments, Do not ever commit adultery, Do not ever kill, Do not ever steal, Do not ever bear false witness, Never defraud, Honour your father and mother.

Mark 10:19

The inheritance sought is the missing link

Lots of people pretend that they are obedient like this person. We assume that he was looking for a personal prescription – which he obtained in the end. We assume he misunderstood the saying, “You know the commandments …” We have to assume that he did not hear “Do not ever sleep with another’s… ” Do not ever kill” and so on because he obviously was content to keep living the Jewish lie and to keep telling it.

We have probably mapped out a range of responses to someone dropping a whopper like that on us. We even dare assume that revulsion and distance are the divine reaction to sin. Here was a guy who was winning with his confession of his own faithfulness. The one thing we must come away with from any study of the Law of God is the fact that no one ever kept it.

Eternal life is divine love

Yeshua had a warm feeling about a man who just fatally misread his predicament. We cannot fake it. There are not enough lies to cover our failure to do what God demands.