The Disadvantage of Riches

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

November 21, 2019

The Disadvantage of Riches

Page 196-197

Matthew 19: 16-26; Mark 10: 17-27; Luke 18:18-27

Some translations have the rich man asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life and others render the phrase, ‘the age to come.’ I prefer the latter because I believe it captures more of what the rich man wanted. The Jews believed God would usher in a new age, and in that new age life would be full of possibilities. There would be absolutely no barriers, or obstacles to fulfilling every Godly dream and ambition you had. Whether you longed to create beautiful music or art, experience deep, fulfilling relationships, or any other noble pursuit, in the age to come your dreams would come true.

There has been much speculation on what motivated the young man to run to Jesus with his question about the Age to Come. I think he ran to Jesus because he seriously wanted assurance that he would live in the Age to Come. He wanted Jesus to validate the choices he had been making for his life. Jesus did not validate the young man’s life, which underscores Jesus’ statement: “It is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. Humanly speaking, it is impossible” (Mark 10:24, 27).

The inference is that the young man wasn’t going to enter the Kingdom of God. I think we can infer that if the young man had been faithful in honoring the six commandments Jesus listed, then he was probably doing pretty well with the other four also, but that wasn’t good enough. The rich man’s problem was his underlying assumption that the culture in the age to come would operate the same as his present culture. Jesus is trying to help him see that where this present age is wedded to materialism and performance-based acceptance, the age to come will be wedded to the magnificent grace of God. When you are resting in your assurance as God’s beloved, you do not need any outside validation of your identity, and thus the use of wealth and possessions are seen in an altogether new light.

Jesus invited the young man to “come, follow me.” The young man would not follow Jesus. He turned and walked the other way. Jesus’ invitation continues to echo down through eternity. Every would-be disciple receives the same invitation, and everyone is judged by the answer they give. Those who dare to follow Jesus will be able to answer the question the disciples put to Jesus:

“Then who in the world can be saved?”

My Takeaway: “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God” (Mark 10:27).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.