And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up 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, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:17-31 ESV)
Ever wondered about this passage? There is an awful lot here to chew on this week… Maybe the camel reference is to help us chew on what Jesus is telling us…
First there is a man who kneels before Jesus and calls Him good and asks what he must do to get into heaven. Now be honest, how many times have you wondered what that magic thing is we have to do to make it to heaven. I mean I know there is nothing I can do, but that is just our interpretation, right. There has to be a magic thing that allows us access to heaven. And that is what this man wanted to know. What must I do to get into heaven? And Jesus answers him by asking why do you call me good, only God is good. Wait a minute isn’t He God? But the rich man doesn’t know this, or does he? He thinks He is a good teacher, but does he know that Jesus is God? But I digress…
Jesus then asks if he knows the commandments. And then Jesus tells him 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.’” Uhm, Jesus I don’t know if that is right or not. I mean do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness and honor your father and mother are commandments, but I really don’t remember this do not defraud, are you just testing me… But the rich man does not get that, he has the audacity to say, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” Wow. How many of you can say you have not broken a commandment? If we go without Jesus’ expansion of them, I can say I have not broken some of them, but not all of them, and I’m just talking about the 10 commandments. I am human. So this man says I have kept them all since my youth. Then Jesus looks at him and loves him. Jesus looks deep into his eyes into the depths of his soul and sees what this man lacks. He has an idol and it is his wealth. So Jesus tells him to get rid of his idol. Which we have turned into money is bad and wealthy people will not get to heaven. If we take this section literally, then all of us have to sell everything we have and give it to the poor to follow Jesus. This man had a problem with his wealth controlling his life, what would Jesus see if He looked into your soul?
But the disciples don’t get it… Jesus explains that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy man to get into heaven. Now again with the money, but understand that in Jesus’ day that if you had a lot of money you were blessed by God. Those that had were blessed and were first in society… OK maybe not just in Jesus day, do people with wealth think they get to be first, and are to be looked after more than those who do not have. Now that is a stereo type and I know some wealthy people who are are very generous and help in so many ways… But if you are blessed then you should be in heaven, but Jesus is saying that those who think they are blessed because of their possessions do not get it and won’t get in. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of needle also does not refer to the gate in the city walls which were called needle eyes, which would allow a camel to go through, but the rider had to get off and baggage had to be removed. These gates were named this long after it was recorded that Jesus said this.
Then Peter says, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” And Jesus responds, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” So if you have left something to follow Jesus you are going to have many more houses and brothers and sisters and children and mothers and land. Meaning you will have many more things to take care of. Mothers and children are those who needed families to take care of them. They were the least of these, and we will have more of them to take care of. But with all of these things, will come persecutions. We get persecuted with the possessions we get. We get more stuff and have to take care of, and we get persecuted in the process.
So are you ready to be persecuted as Jesus asks you to let go of your idol?
aSacredRebel 