Luke 18:24-30 — Rich now, or rich forever?!

READ THIS: Luke 18:24-30

24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, 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.”

26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Yesterday, we talked about the story of the rich young ruler and his conversation with Jesus. Today, Jesus continues the lesson here in a conversation He has with the disciples and others nearby! Jesus tells the rich young ruler that it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (which is really tiny, by the way) than it is for a rich man to enter into God's kingdom. But what does that mean for us? When we compare our wealth to the wealth of many others in the world... a lot of us happen to be pretty rich! Does that mean that we will make it to heaven one day?

Well... no, and yes! Why no? If the question is "can my worldly riches, or really anything from this world, get me into heaven?" then the answer is always going to be no! Because worldly riches, worldly actions, worldly power, etc. doesn't earn us anything. It is impossible for man to get into heaven on their own! So, why yes? Because of verse 27: "what is impossible with man is possible with God!" We didn't have a way to heaven, but Jesus became that way for us! In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Eternal life with Jesus is possible because of the gracious gift of the One who gave us everything! BUT, that doesn't mean we should think we can have Jesus and get to keep all our riches for ourselves! We aren't meant to hold onto the things of this world, but instead we need to be freely ready to give them to Jesus.

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Why do you think it is so hard for the rich to enter into God's kingdom? What holds them (and maybe even us) back from choosing Jesus?

2. In verses 29 and 30, Jesus talks about the things that people may have to leave behind to be with Him... what are you holding onto that may stop you from chasing after Jesus the way you should?

TRY THIS:

Check out this awesome passage, Proverbs 11:28, about trusting in riches vs. trusting in our awesome God!

28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

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