Mark 10:17-27 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?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." 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." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "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."
The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
How many folks can relate to the rich man? America is the wealthiest nation which has ever existed. I believe this suggests that we all fall into the category of rich, at least comparatively speaking. I want God to challenge me and any reader with this question about wealth because there’s no sense going any further until I check my own heart and intentions. Let me check my heart by seeing, if I’m honest with myself, if I’m asking the question “what’s wrong with what this guy (the rich man) has said or done?”. Wealth leads to contentment which can lead to a notion of independence which then pushes God further and further out of our lives. Keeping in mind, however, the Bible teaches us that there were at least a few rich disciples who were counted among Jesus’ disciples (the women mentioned in Matthew 8:2-4, Nicodemus the Pharisee, Zacchaeus the tax collector, Joseph of Arimathea, just to name a few). What does this say about the power of God and the zeal He has for His glory?
The rich man ran up to Jesus and fell on his knees before him. He said good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life? This communicates to me one of two things: 1. this rich man highly respected Jesus and recognized Jesus had some measure of authority over him or 2. The rich man wanted to disarm Jesus with flattery and make a public showing of his piety before someone he considered to be the most famous teacher/prophet in all of Israel, at the time. From this scripture, in my opinion, the truth is somewhere in between. In my opinion this rich man is concerned with his outside appearance and the opinion of others, but I also believe he truly wanted something more in his life and somehow he knew Jesus had the answer. However, this rich man wanted the quick and dirty answers. He most definitely didn’t want to hear about perseverance, sacrifice and faith.
The rich man said “good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?” "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. Do you see what’s going on here? The rich man wants that quick and dirty answer from Jesus. In my opinion, Jesus answers his question with a challenge: ‘When you say “good teacher” do you believe that I am God or do you just want a quick and dirty answer?’ (I stress in my opinion because this is definitely open to interpretation.)
The funny thing is, Jesus actually gives the rich man the quick and dirty answer to eternal life. “You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" In my opinion Jesus is pointing out the sins in the rich man’s life, much like He did with the woman at the well. I say this because He doesn’t mention all of the commandments. Obviously Jesus knows the hearts of man and obviously He loves us despite this. I believe Jesus gave the rich man what he wanted (the direct answers) in order to point him to Himself (Jesus).
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." Notice the rich man’s response or rather notice what he omits in his response. He dropped the word “good” and thus acknowledges in speech what was truly in his heart. Jesus never said “How dare you call me good! Only God is good and I am not He!” Also, as I noted in the previous paragraph, I believe the rich man is lying to Jesus in this response.
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." Now Jesus issues the more straight forward challenge. He doesn’t call the rich man a liar or anything of the like. He cuts to the chase and says (basically) “get rid of that which hinders you, the deceitfulness of wealth, and come and follow me”. I wonder if I truly believe the Word is living because if it is then Jesus is speaking to me, and every person, here. Think long and hard about how these verses are speaking to you. There are some very real, very necessary challenges here which are completely counter culture and completely contrary to what we were all taught in school, the work place and our homes growing up. I’ve always been taught to work hard, make lots of money and maintain a good image and a good name for others. Well I’m here to tell you my name is meaningless, outside of Jesus. My name has it’s origins in man just like my sin. Remember “Narrow is the path”!
"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." The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." What was Jesus doing here? I believe He was now challenging His disciples to look to Him for salvation. The point is no one can be saved without Jesus. If none are good except God then none can be saved on their own (Psalm 14:2-3).
(Matthew 13:3-23)
How should the church address those people who receive the seed in the thorns, those who allow the word to be chocked by the deceitfulness of wealth? I would argue to say Christ centered, loving discipleship. However, this takes courage and confidence in Christ. It’s also counter culture, requires a focus on Christ and others and forces us out of our comfort zones.
Should affluent churches be placed in affluent areas? Should churches cater to the masses, especially the wealthier masses? Should churches pander to man at all? The flesh wants us all to run away to do everything to please men and lift up ourselves. The flesh wants us to worry about this life and fill it with more and more. Ultimately the flesh wants to be content with this life and independent of God. Woe to the man who is content with this life. I believe the desires we have for more (fill in the blank) are our desires for Christ. We should all be content with what the Lord gives us, but never content with our relationship with Him.
Love your brother so that there’s a possibility “He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
A prayer: If bringing my name low humbles me and lifts up the name of Jesus then may my name be nothing to every man. If my wealth holds me back from Jesus then may I loose it all for Him. May I realize my own sin, and in this realization understand why I need Jesus so much in my life. May I be more like Zacchaeus the tax collector, who when he stood before Jesus and heard the accusations of the crowd against Jesus, for his association with him, immediately gave away much of his wealth (Luke 19), not to please man, but to please Jesus. May I understand your Word so that, for your name’s sake, others may also understand. Amen.
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