The Rich and the Kingdom of God - Mark 10:17-30
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Reflection:
Today Jesus uses a common teaching method called "hyperbole" to get his point across. For those who tend to be literal about everything Jesus or the bible says, this and other teachings can be challenging. For instance, when Jesus says if your hand causes you to sin cut it off, obviously he is not advocating self mutilation. But the point in this method of teaching is to state an extreme to make a point, to jolt the listener into contemplation of what action to take. In this case, Jesus is teaching on the danger of accumulating and falling in love with money. Jesus says a few things today using hyperbole.
1. He says no one is good but God. He is pointing out that no one can buy eternal life by doing good. He is not saying that he isn't good or worse yet sinful, when he says only God is good. Since he is God, He is good.
2. He says the only way you can earn your way into heaven is keeping all of the commandments. This is impossible because we all fall short of keeping the law. That is why we need a Savior.
3. He says it easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Obviously a camel could never go through the eye of a needle. We also can assume there are some rich people who do go to heaven. Being rich in itself does not disqualify someone for eternal life. In this case, the man went away sad because his love of money was greater than his desire to follow Jesus. Money became his God, and this prevented him from worshipping and serving God.
It was impossible for him to gain eternal life, because he thought he could buy his way into it. Jesus says that earning our way into heaven is impossible, because we could never do enough good things to erase our sin problem. But. God has done that which is impossible for us by sending us a Savior through whom all things are possible. Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
The question for us to think about today is, "Is there anything in our lives that would cause us to go away sad from Jesus because we loved it more?" Or another question is, "Are we still under the false impression that we are a pretty good person? And that this should somehow count for something when we come before God!" But the Good News today is that all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us and forgives us. The only question is, "Who or what are we going to place our trust in?"
Jesus thank you for promising us that as we give up the things that keep us from you, we will not only be blessed in this life, along with the age to come eternal life. Amen.
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Reflection:
Today Jesus uses a common teaching method called "hyperbole" to get his point across. For those who tend to be literal about everything Jesus or the bible says, this and other teachings can be challenging. For instance, when Jesus says if your hand causes you to sin cut it off, obviously he is not advocating self mutilation. But the point in this method of teaching is to state an extreme to make a point, to jolt the listener into contemplation of what action to take. In this case, Jesus is teaching on the danger of accumulating and falling in love with money. Jesus says a few things today using hyperbole.
1. He says no one is good but God. He is pointing out that no one can buy eternal life by doing good. He is not saying that he isn't good or worse yet sinful, when he says only God is good. Since he is God, He is good.
2. He says the only way you can earn your way into heaven is keeping all of the commandments. This is impossible because we all fall short of keeping the law. That is why we need a Savior.
3. He says it easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Obviously a camel could never go through the eye of a needle. We also can assume there are some rich people who do go to heaven. Being rich in itself does not disqualify someone for eternal life. In this case, the man went away sad because his love of money was greater than his desire to follow Jesus. Money became his God, and this prevented him from worshipping and serving God.
It was impossible for him to gain eternal life, because he thought he could buy his way into it. Jesus says that earning our way into heaven is impossible, because we could never do enough good things to erase our sin problem. But. God has done that which is impossible for us by sending us a Savior through whom all things are possible. Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
The question for us to think about today is, "Is there anything in our lives that would cause us to go away sad from Jesus because we loved it more?" Or another question is, "Are we still under the false impression that we are a pretty good person? And that this should somehow count for something when we come before God!" But the Good News today is that all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us and forgives us. The only question is, "Who or what are we going to place our trust in?"
Jesus thank you for promising us that as we give up the things that keep us from you, we will not only be blessed in this life, along with the age to come eternal life. Amen.
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