Mark 10:17-27 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
“How Hard It Is to Enter the Kingdom of God”
Pentecost 21 October 14, 2018
Do you consider yourself rich? I don’t profess to know the answer to that question for everyone, but I have a guess. I would doubt that most of the members of Grace, or our guests in worship, would consider themselves rich. We see various news and other media reports about billionaire and millionaire sports figures, movie stars, and such with their lavish lifestyles. That’s what we think of as rich—no need to be cautious or careful with money. Some people, it seems, have more money than they could possibly spend in a lifetime. That’s not me, and I’m guessing that it’s not you either. Maybe you don’t consider yourself rich. But from another perspective, you could make the case that all of us are rich. From the perspective of history and thinking in a global sense, Americans in general tend to be very well off. Middle-class Americans today make considerably more money than the vast majority of people around the world and throughout history. We may not consider ourselves rich, but we are certainly very blessed in the area of financial resources. Others might look at us and say that we are rich. That maybe helps us to think more seriously about Jesus’ warning that it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. In fact, Jesus’ own words from our Gospel today say, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” Those words and the reaction of the disciples who heard them drive home the point that what Jesus says is broad and far-reaching. It is something to which we should pay close attention. Let’s do that today, and take a closer look at the exchange between Jesus and the rich young man from today’s Gospel. Jesus had walked on just a short way from where he had blessed the children when the enthusiastic man ran up to him. He fell down on his knees in front of Jesus and greeted him as, “Good teacher.” Clearly the man knew something of Jesus and considered him to be what he said, a good teacher. To that greeting, Jesus replied, “No one is good—except God alone.” But what the young man was really after was not found in his greeting. It was found in his question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That’s a very important question. This young man is far from the only person to have asked it. It recognizes and realizes that there is an eternity ahead of us after this life and that our condition in eternity is worth considering. What it didn’t recognize was the fact that sinful people cannot do anything to enter eternal life. Jesus was about to teach him a lesson in this regard. But he first said something a little surprising. Instead of turning this man away from his deeds and the good things he had done, Jesus actually highlighted those things. “You know the Commandments,” said Jesus, “‘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.’” Jesus knew and had taught many that they couldn’t keep these or any other commandments up to the perfect standard that God demands. But his point to the rich man would be made differently. The rich man thought he had done exactly what God commanded. “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” This young man very likely meant exactly what he said. He had probably grown up hearing how well-behaved he was. He certainly had never murdered anyone. He hadn’t committed adultery. His parents were proud of him and always had been. And so, he thought he was well on his way to heaven. Jesus knew that this man had not actually kept these commandments of God perfectly, but he still didn’t disagree with the man’s assessment. Instead, Jesus had another instruction that would drive home his point, that on his own this man could not reach heaven. Jesus told the man to do the one thing that he still lacked: to sell all that he had and give to the poor. Then he would have his treasure in heaven. Then he should follow Jesus. But the man walked away sad. He was a rich man and could not imagine selling everything to follow Jesus. He could not imagine giving
up so much in order to help the poor. He had asked the question of Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And then he walked away from the one who could give him eternal life. What Jesus showed to this man and to his disciples was that the first commandment really is the most difficult to keep. While the young man could convince himself that he had kept what theologians call the second table of the law—the commandments that talk about how we treat other people, he could not keep the first table—the commandments about how we show love to God. He had another God in his heart. His idol was the money and wealth that he had accumulated. And that is such a temptation that Jesus turned to his disciples and told them, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” How hard it is to not be overly attached to God’s gifts of wealth and possessions. Or, to put it another way, how easy it is for money to become an idol. This is a stern warning from Jesus for all of us to examine our lives. It is a warning that we all need to watch out for greed and for false pride. We all need to see ourselves in the rich young man who comes to Jesus expecting him to be impressed by his behavior. Wouldn’t we love a pat on the back from Jesus? Wouldn’t we love to hear him announce that we have done what we needed to do in order to obtain eternal life? But our pride needs to be crushed—we haven’t kept the commandments the way that God intends. Our greed needs to be destroyed—there can be no other gods in our lives. No, Jesus hasn’t asked you to sell all that you have and to give it away to the poor. But if he did, would you walk away from him sad just like the young rich man did? There is a reason that warnings against greed are found consistently throughout the Bible. Even Elisha’s servant Gehazi, who had seen many amazing miracles worked by God through the prophet, couldn’t resist the opportunity to gain riches for himself. It is hard indeed to enter the kingdom of God, and that is a warning to us about greed and pride. But it is also a declaration of God’s amazing grace. It is hard—it is impossible for a rich man or any other person to enter the kingdom of God, at least on their own. That’s the conclusion Jesus’ disciples drew rightfully from what Jesus had said. “Who then can be saved?” they asked each other. They knew that they were too rich to avoid the challenges Jesus was describing in their lives. It is impossible for anyone to be saved, but we have a God who does the impossible! Jesus, true God, did the impossible by being born into the world he had created as a baby. He lived a life free from greed and pride and offered his innocent suffering and death as a payment for the world’s sins. He did the impossible by calling sinners to repentance and through his Holy Spirit working faith in their hearts. He did the impossible, and by doing the impossible he brought his people to heaven and continues to bring his people to heaven. What is harder than a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle is happening as God calls the rich to be sharers in his eternal heavenly kingdom. The Bible is full of these positive examples, too. Abraham was a rich man who was absolutely willing to give up what he valued most when God asked him to do so. David was a rich and powerful king. He had done nothing to earn his position or his power, and even when he fell into shameful sin, God called him back and preserved his faith. I have met many Christians, and perhaps you have to, who even though they have money have not made it into an idol in their lives. Instead, they give generously of their treasures and their time to the sharing of the kingdom and the spread of the Gospel. How hard it is to enter the kingdom of God, but God’s amazing grace has accomplished that for many! Are you rich? By modern American standards, maybe not. By world-wide standards you probably are rich. Spiritually, God has made you rich by giving you his Son and forgiving your sins and making a home for you in heaven. And because you are rich in that way, you can be content with whatever God gives you.
The Text: Mark 10:17–27 (NIV) 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.”