Saturday's Scripture Story
The Rich Young Ruler
Matthew 19:16-26
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
16 Just then 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, keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’[c] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus 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.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, 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.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Footnotes
[c] Matthew 19:19 Exodus 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20
[d] Matthew 19:19 Lev. 19:18
Pondering Point
This encounter with Jesus gives a great example of the turmoil created by loving things of this world too much. In this account, the man is deeply religious and seemingly obedient to God’s word; he has a desire to seek God. Unfortunately, all that religious fervor comes in second to the man's heart-connection to riches. And that, Jesus shows, is enough to keep him separated from God. Yikes! You may not be as rich, but you can be as susceptible to the disease of putting God second.
Prayer
O my God, I pray that neither You nor I go away sad over my approach toward the riches I have, however many or few that is. Therefore, I submit myself and all my resources to You, to Your will, to Your kingdom - not to my own. Not to my own. But to You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Hook Questions
Use these questions with your group when you are using Bible stories as central piece to your time together:
- Who is the richest person you have known personally? From your view, how did they handle their riches in relation to God?
Bible Storying’s Core Questions
- What did you like (or learn new) about the story?
- What did you not like (or not understand) about it?
- What are the various people doing in the story? With whom do you identify within the story?
- What is God doing in the story?
- What might God be asking of you triggered by this
story? How is he challenging you?
A great way to get God’s stories to stick with you is telling them to other people.