Mark 10:17
A man runs to Jesus and asks “What must I do to get eternal life”
It’s an important question. How can anyone rest satisfied without obtaining the answer to this question?
However, if you keep reading, you’ll find out that this man’s question was not good enough.
John 1:35-39
When two men were told that Jesus was the Messiah, their question to Him was “Where are You staying?” They didn’t merely ask Him what to do; they sought to get to know Him.
Here are another two examples to contrast:
Exodus 20:19
In essence, the children of Israel told Moses “Don’t let God speak to us, just tell us what to do.”
Exodus 24:3
When Moses told the Israelites what to do, their response was “We’ll do it all.” I think they meant it. However, Exodus 32 records the sad fact that it wasn’t long before the Israelites were doing the exactly opposite of what they had heartily said they would do.
Exodus 33:11
Joshua spent as much time as he could in the tabernacle: the place where he would be closest to God. The story of his life is a happy record of progressive victories.
A most striking example of the point being made comes from story of the religious leaders who had Jesus crucified, contrasted to the story of Mary Magdalene who hung out with Jesus:
“What must we do to be saved?” was the obsession of the rulers of the Jews in Jesus’ time. This drove them to be sticklers about God’s law. They went so far as to create heaps of their own laws, in an attempt to safeguard God’s commandments.
The Jewish rulers were especially strict about the Sabbath commandment. They guarded it with many of their own rules, and accused Jesus of breaking these rules (Luke 6:1-11).
This story is sadly ironic. Because the Jewish rulers envied Jesus they broke the tenth commandment (Matthew 27:18), the ninth commandment (Matthew 26:59), and the sixth commandment (Matthew 26:25). To top it all off, these self-appointed defenders of the fourth commandment even broke the Sabbath (Matthew 27:62,66).
Mary Magdalene, on the other hand, had not been one to keep God’s law (Luke 8:2). However, after she had experienced Jesus’ help and forgiveness, she spent all the time with Jesus that she could (Luke 10:39). As Mary spent time with Jesus, she became like Him. God’s law was written so fully on her heart (Jeremiah 31:33), that she wouldn’t even finish preparing Jesus’ body for burial until after the Sabbath (Luke 23:55 – 24:1)
The point is this: if your goal is only to keep God’s commandments so you can have eternal life, you won’t end up keeping them. If you seek to get to know God for who He is, you will end up becoming a commandment keeper.
Ask the question “What must I do to be saved?” But more importantly, seek to get to know God (Jeremiah 29:13).
“This is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3