Above Painting: For He Had Great Possessions, 1894, George Frederic Watts (British, 1817–1904)
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As Jesus 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.
–Mark 10:17-22
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(…continued) “Sell all that you have and give it to the poor,” Jesus said.
Think about that. If I told you that the only way you could be a Christian and get to heaven would be to sell everything you have, and give it to the poor; would that come to you as good news or bad news? Sell everything? (even my books?) We would all hear that as bad news. That is how the man in the story heard it, because it says he went away “disheartened and sorrowful, for he had great wealth and many possessions.”
First, a clarification. Jesus gave that particular command to that one man. He never said that to anyone else, though he did meet other wealthy people. Yes, he oftentimes had other things to say to them about how to use that wealth wisely and obediently and generously. But only here does he tell someone to sell everything. The story doesn’t say why Jesus said that to this man. We are not told what Jesus saw in this man that called for such harsh treatment. But it does say that Jesus looked at him and “loved him;” so whatever it was, he had some loving purpose in mind.
Jesus is not telling everyone to do that. If you are a farmer and sold everything, machinery and all, and gave the money to the poor, how would you harvest your crop? If you are a carpenter and sold all your tools, how could you build a house? If you are an accountant and sold your computer and all your papers and pencils, how would you do your work? If you sold your house, where would you live? Jesus is not telling everyone to do that.
But that doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t saying anything to us in this story. Jesus often talked about the dangers of money and possessions, and most of us would indeed be better off with far less stuff. Author James Dobson wrote, “Everything I own has a hook in me. After I buy it, I have to haul it home, find a place to put it, insure it, maintain it, move it, pack around with it, clean it, fix it, and someday, get rid of it.” Does that sound like how you spend too much of your time? But still, we don’t want anyone, not even Jesus, telling us what to do with our money– so these words come as bad news. But when we trust Jesus enough to take him at his word, we do find that even what sounds like bad news from Jesus, will be, in the end, all good news. If that rich man in the story would have taken the big step Jesus was inviting him to take, he would have been blessed beyond all imagination. Just think– he had the chance to be with Jesus, following him in person, for a few years. Instead, he chose to go home to all his stuff.
After the man went away, Peter said, “Jesus, we have left everything to follow you.” “Yes,” said Jesus, “and you will be blessed for it a hundred-fold, now and in the age to come, as you will receive eternal life.” Every act of obedience, every sacrifice, and every act of faithfulness will receive its reward. Of course, this does not happen in any simple way that we will immediately see and understand. But as the story implies, God has a whole eternity to make things right for us. God’s blessings, even right now, are far more than we deserve; and He promises an eternity of more. Anyone can see that is good news. If the rich man in the story would have stuck around a little longer, he would have seen that too. And even though he left, there was still hope for him. After he left, Jesus talked to the disciples about how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. The disciples, though most of them were not rich, were probably still thinking about what Jesus said to the man about obeying all the commandments. So, they said, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus replied, “Well, it is pretty much impossible; like for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” Then Jesus added, “But with God, all things are possible.” Some more good news.
Then Jesus added the part about being blessed for being faithful and obedient. In last line of this story (Luke 18:30), Jesus told them that for all they had given up they would be blessed “many times over, now and in the age to come.” That reminds me of the old saying, “What goes around, comes around.” We usually mean that in a negative way, that if you are mean to others and do them wrong, then eventually, the pain you cause will come back and hurt you.
But Jesus implies that same thought in a positive way. “What goes around, comes around;” so if you have been passing around kindness and goodwill and generosity, that will, in time, come back to you.
God will see to it. (see Proverbs 11:17)
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Almighty God, judge of us all, you have placed in our hands the wealth we call our own. Give us such wisdom by your Spirit that our possessions may not be a curse in our lives, but an instrument for blessing, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978, Augsburg Publishing House
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A few weeks ago I listened to a powerful sermon on the story of the rich young ruler, given by Baptist pastor John Piper. It was given at the 2026 graduation ceremony for the Bethlehem Seminary graduates in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (To display the below video, click on the ‘Read on Blog’ link in the upper right hand corner of this email).
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