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Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said, “One thing you still lack…Go, sell all you have and give to the poor.”
These words shocked Jesus’ followers as much as they did the rich, young man to whom Jesus spoke. He wanted to follow Jesus and asked for assurance that he would receive eternal life.
Underlying his request was the self-assurance that he probably already had eternal life due to his riches. In the minds of those around Jesus, riches meant blessing and favor from God. Riches meant they were closer to God’s promised inheritance than those without riches.
Jesus countered this assumption and then explained how life really works in God’s economy.
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“How difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God,” Jesus explained.
Now his followers were no longer shocked—they were overwhelmed with astonishment and even fear perhaps.
“Then who can be saved?” one retorted. Jesus said, “It is impossible were it up to humans, but all things are possible with God.”
Jesus made two important points. Those who enter God’s kingdom do so by God’s power at work in them to bring them into that kingdom.
Second, prosperity nor poverty reflect one’s relationship or standing with God. Poverty does not necessarily mean God is mad at you and prosperity does not necessarily mean God favors you.
Jesus continued…
* * *
He explained that those who’ve left everything to follow him in this life will be rewarded in this life, but with those rewards may come hardship and persecution. And the rewards may not be what we expect. But the greatest reward will come on the other side of death.
And then Jesus, for the third time in Mark’s account, explains what will happen to him in Jerusalem.
On their way to Jerusalem, Jesus’ followers were almost certainly anticipating Jesus to establish his kingdom and make his rule felt across the land. Jerusalem was the city of the king—the hub of power for which the Jews had great expectations.
Jesus said, “when I get to Jerusalem, I will be handed over to the authorities, condemned to death, mocked, spat upon, tortured, and then killed.”
Not what they anticipated on their way to Jerusalem.
Jesus then explained, “On the third day I will be raised from the dead.”
Resurrection would happen in Jerusalem. This resurrection would be the sign and promise of his coming dominion.
But riches and dominion never preceded Jesus’ resurrection. Riches did not come before Jesus’ victory.
And prosperity may never precede the death of his followers. That is okay because the greatest reward his followers will receive is on the other end of death just like it was for Jesus.