------------------------------------------------------------ Jesus and the Kingdom of God E-Mail Bible Study ------------------------------------------------------------ Week 5 - Mark 10:17-31, Matthew 13:44-46 COSTLINESS OF THE KINGDOM The Rich Young Ruler and Parables of the Priceless Pearl and Treasures ------------------------------------------------------------ Both the incident with the Rich Young Ruler and the parables are "kingdom" materials. About the ruler, Jesus comments, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God." Each of the parables begin with the phrase "The Kingdom of Heaven is like...." The Kingdom isn't like joining a church, or having a religion. Let's examine this aspect of the Kingdom. MONDAY ------ ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 1: OBSERVATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT SAY? ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.1 The two short parables are "easy." What do they have in common with each other? What is the main point of these parables? What application do these parables have to OUR lives? 1.2 The incident of the Rich Young Ruler is much harder for us to accept. Read each of the parallels to this passage: Mark 10:17-31 = Matthew 19:16-30 = Luke 18:18-30. What does the TEXT tell us about the man's (a) appearance, (b) circumstances and responsibilities, and (c) psychology. Please don't analyze him spiritually yet. Save that for later. TUESDAY ------- 1.3 What is the young man's question which precipitates this teaching? What drove the man to come to Jesus in the first place? Jesus gives two answers. What are they? ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 2: INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT MEAN? ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.1 (Mark 10:18) Why does Jesus make an issue of the young man's use of the word "good"? Is Jesus denying his divinity here? If not, what is Jesus' point? 2.2 (10:19-20) I always thought that we were saved by grace rather than by keeping the law. Why doesn't Jesus tell him that when the young man recites his righteous deeds? WEDNESDAY --------- 2.3 (10:21) What did the young man lack? What did Jesus tell him to do? Why is this so hard for us to accept? Why would Jesus ask so much more of this young man than anyone else he counseled spiritually? Is this FAIR? COMMENT: You saw the idea of "treasures in heaven" a couple of weeks ago in Matthew 6:19-21 also. Part of the responsibility of a righteous Jew was to give alms to the poor. 2.4 (10:20-22) What was Jesus' attitude towards the young man? What was the young man's attitude towards Jesus. Why didn't Jesus run after him and plead with him to reconsider? Didn't Jesus understand what a visible and powerful supporter might do for his cause? THURSDAY -------- COMMENT: In the popular mind in Jesus' day, wealthy people (such as many of the Pharisees) were the only ones who could really *afford* to be really righteous, since they could tithe fully, give adequately to the poor, etc. While in our culture the rich might be looked down on spiritually, in Jesus' culture it was the other way around. COMMENT: The camel was the largest animal in Palestine. The eye of a sewing needle was a tiny opening. Jesus is using a popular proverb of impossibility. We see in some of the writings of the Rabbis a similar phrase, such as "draw an elephant through the eye of a needle." The point is its impossibility. for hundreds of years there have been various explanations floating around to soften the "impossibility" to some kind of "you can do it if you really try" approach. One of these imagines a gate through the wall of Jerusalem called "the needle's eye," so small that a laden camel couldn't get through unless it were to be unloaded and kneel down. It is very picturesque, but apparently has absolutely no support in fact. It also distorts what Jesus is trying to say from "impossible for man" to "possible by man." Note that the disciples' reaction was surprise at the impossibility of salvation for the rich. I have researched this considerably and found that nothing in my research library provides any support for the gate in the wall theory. All my sources, from older commentators such as Matthew Henry (1710) to my newest scholarly commentaries on Matthew and Mark, to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1974), discredit the story as unsupported. 2.5 (10:23ff) WHY is salvation impossible to those rich in material things? Why is salvation impossible to those rich in other ways? Why is it so hard for us to accept this truth? 2.6 If Jesus is so judgmental towards the rich, how then does this passage teach the grace of God? Is Jesus judgmental toward the rich? 2.7 What does Peter's question in 10:28 have to do with the topic being discussed? What is the point of comparison? How is Jesus' promise of homes and family and wealth fulfilled, do you think? FRIDAY ------ ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 3: APPLICATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME? ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.1 How would our perception of the Kingdom of God be dimmer if we didn't have the story of the Rich Young Ruler to learn from? Why is this story so important to our understanding? 3.2 Can a person who doesn't sell out everything to gain the Kingdom be saved? (See also the parables of the treasure and the precious pearl in Matthew 13:44-46) 3.3 Are there some areas the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about "selling out" in so you can embrace the Kingdom more fully? ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1997, Ralph F. Wilson, all rights reserved. Joyful Heart is a trademark of Joyful Heart Ministries. For reprint permission contact pastor@joyfulheart.com