U
undy15275
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I was recently asked a question about this story in the Bible. I'm praying that I may be of some help in explaining it to this individual or maybe others that may have questions as well. The story of the rich young ruler is told in 3 of the 4 Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. A young rich man came to Jesus asking how he could have eternal life. Jesus explains and reveals to the rich man something that he had been lacking in his life(Jesus always will go the extra mile with us!), that being the rich man loved himself more than his neighbor and loved his possessions more than he love God. **Scholars debate on how young the man actually was. Personally I don't think it matters. But I don't picture him being as young as 20 something, nor older than 35-40. Who knows?
Matthew 19:16-21 So Jesus tells the rich man, if you wish to have eternal life then keep His commandments. The young man responds by telling Jesus he had done this. Jesus response, "if thou wilt be perfect," meaning if he wants to be perfect, he should drop everything, selling all that he owns and follow Jesus. Jesus knew the man could not do this, but He revealed what the rich man wasn't seeing. How truthful is it that God does this same thing to us when we keep missing His message; and like the rich man, at times when our eyes are finally opened, we walk away "sorrowful." We must rejoice when truth is finally revealed to us and realize that no one is perfect except our Lord Jesus Christ!
Mark 10:23-26 "children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God." Let us not take this verse out of context. Its not saying that rich people will go to Hell. In Bible times, it was assumed that whomever was wealthy was in God's favor, well in modern times we know that's not biblical. Christians must be careful, having more money and more possessions opens up more doors for temptations. Its only logical, having more opportunities could mean more temptations we have to avoid and no matter how much money a person has(more or less), resisting temptations can be difficult. "to whom much is given, also much is required."I hope this helped. If anyone can add to this please do. A brother/sister had a lot of questions concerning this story and being rich. I probably didn't answer all of them. Help is gratefully appreciated! God Bless!
Matthew 19:16-21 So Jesus tells the rich man, if you wish to have eternal life then keep His commandments. The young man responds by telling Jesus he had done this. Jesus response, "if thou wilt be perfect," meaning if he wants to be perfect, he should drop everything, selling all that he owns and follow Jesus. Jesus knew the man could not do this, but He revealed what the rich man wasn't seeing. How truthful is it that God does this same thing to us when we keep missing His message; and like the rich man, at times when our eyes are finally opened, we walk away "sorrowful." We must rejoice when truth is finally revealed to us and realize that no one is perfect except our Lord Jesus Christ!
Mark 10:23-26 "children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God." Let us not take this verse out of context. Its not saying that rich people will go to Hell. In Bible times, it was assumed that whomever was wealthy was in God's favor, well in modern times we know that's not biblical. Christians must be careful, having more money and more possessions opens up more doors for temptations. Its only logical, having more opportunities could mean more temptations we have to avoid and no matter how much money a person has(more or less), resisting temptations can be difficult. "to whom much is given, also much is required."I hope this helped. If anyone can add to this please do. A brother/sister had a lot of questions concerning this story and being rich. I probably didn't answer all of them. Help is gratefully appreciated! God Bless!