The Rich Young Man

I have a question for Christians that has always puzzled me. In the following story it clearly seems to me that Jesus is denouncing worldly possessions, or at least overt wealth. Why does it not seem that Christians follow this example more than they do? Or am I interpreting the passage wrong? Is wealth good or bad? Should we give up our luxuries and give to the poor?



The Rich Young Man
Matthew:16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

17“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

18“Which ones?” the man inquired.

Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,' and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

20“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, 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.”

25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

27Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

28Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

The heart of the teaching is

21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

and

28Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Everything else in the passage seems to depend upon these teachings. They were explicitly directed toward one person, the rich ruler, who kept all of the commandments of God (Jesus cites the ten commandments and adds the greatest command (to love). The only thing that was lacking was to follow Jesus as a disciple. IMHO, to follow Jesus as a discple, one had to sell everything to follow: Jesus was an itenerate preacher who according to the Gospels traveled during almost all of his ministry and was supported by a few rich women. Everyone who was a close follower by necessity had to be able to move freely with no possessions, and additionally could focus all of their energy and attention on the teachings of Jesus.

I think that Jesus was calling this young person to be a serious disciple, who would receive training as an apostle. Nowadays, some people are called to give up everything for the mission field, and all Christians are called to sacrifice and live a life of responsible stewardship, but are not called to give everything.

Jesus isn't saying that having money or possesions is bad, but if one really wants to be holy, he should give up his material goods, and rely on the Grace of God.

He also means that those who do have money should remember to use it to help those who are less fortunate.

I think he's not saying that earthly possessions are necessarily evil, but love of them is. Our first love should be God. If God calls on you to give something up, you should not be so attached to it that you cannot. I think we are all called in one way or another to make sacrifices for God throughout our lives, and it is important that we are willing to accept them. So you could say that, in a way, it is literally true, but we must not necessarily live lives of poverty to be in accordance with it.

Maize said:

...23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, 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.” ...

Click to expand...

I'd like to focus on this passage.

In Biblical times, cities were often surrounded by a large wall to keep out invaders. Many walls had door to allow night travelers in, but it was small to keep an army from rushing in. It was so small, in fact, that for a camel to get through it, they had to unload all the baggage it was carrying and coax it on to its knees. BTW...the door was often called, the 'eye of the needle'.

IMHO, it's one of the most powerful and most misunderstood parables in the Bible. The camel like the rich man can get in, but he's got remove his earthly burdens and get on his knees(humble himself) to make it through.

I don't claim to be a Biblical scholar, but that what I think Jesus is saying through this parable. It appears in 3 of the 4 Gospels: Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18.