Mark 10:17-31, New International Reader's Version

Rich People and the Kingdom of God

¹⁷As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him. He fell on his knees before Jesus. “Good teacher,” he said, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”

¹⁸“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good except God. ¹⁹You know what the commandments say. ‘Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not be a false witness. Do not cheat. Honor your father and mother.’” (Exodus 20:12–16; Deuteronomy 5:16–20)

²⁰“Teacher,” he said, “I have obeyed all those commandments since I was a boy.”

²¹Jesus looked at him and loved him. “You are missing one thing,” he said. “Go and sell everything you have. Give the money to those who are poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²²The man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he was very rich.

²³Jesus looked around. He said to his disciples, “How hard it is for rich people to enter God’s kingdom!”

²⁴The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter God’s kingdom! ²⁵Is it hard for a camel to go through the eye of a needle? It is even harder for someone who is rich to enter God’s kingdom!”

²⁶The disciples were even more amazed. They said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “With people, this is impossible. But not with God. All things are possible with God.”

²⁸Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

²⁹“What I’m about to tell you is true,” Jesus replied. “Has anyone left home or family or fields for me and the good news? ³⁰They will receive 100 times as much in this world. They will have homes and families and fields. But they will also be treated badly by others. In the world to come they will live forever. ³¹But many who are first will be last. And the last will be first.”

Children’s Sabbaths Theme:

Love

Object:

Hula Hoop (large enough to crawl through); a backpack stuffed full to be fully expanded, so that you cannot fit through the hoop with the backpack on; a needle.

Message:

Today, I have a big backpack filled with many things I love. I love all my stuff and like to take all my prized possessions with me wherever I go. (Show children the backpack.) My backpack is bulky because it’s full of things I love. I have some things in it that I love more than anything else in the world. Because it is stuffed with so many things. Wearing my backpack is particularly challenging.

Let’s pretend that I am hiking on a beautiful mountain trail. Hiking is good exercise. Imagine that while hiking, I come across an opening in a cave. I would love to explore that cave, but I am unsure if I will fit through the opening.

Let’s pretend that this hula hoop is the cave opening. Do you think that I will fit through this opening to the cave? It’s going to be tight. (Attempt to crawl through the opening with the backpack on.) It seems I won’t be able to fit through the cave opening with my backpack full of my most prized possessions. I wonder what I can do to get into the cave. Do any of you have any ideas? (Allow children to respond.) Take off my backpack? That’s a great idea. (Take off the backpack and crawl through the hoop.) Look at that. I made it through the opening to the cave. Thanks for giving me such a great idea to get through the cave opening.

The entrance to our imaginary cave was small, but I wonder if it is as small as the eye of a needle. Do any of you know what the size of the eye of a needle is? (Show the needle to the children while they answer.) The eye of the needle is a very, very tiny space. Do you know what Jesus said about the eye of a needle? (Allow children to answer.) Jesus said 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. Have any of you ever seen a camel? Is a camel a big animal? (Allow children to answer).

That is an odd statement, isn’t it? A camel is such a large animal; it even has a hump on its back. To go through this tiny little eye of a needle seems impossible. There’s just no way it is possible. But what Jesus meant was that it would be difficult for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom if that person loved his riches and “stuff” too much. Jesus didn’t mean it would be impossible for rich people to enter God’s kingdom; he meant they would need to love God more than their riches.

Today’s Bible lesson tells of a rich man who asked Jesus what he must do to get into heaven. This man was a nice person, and he tried hard to obey God’s commandments. But Jesus could see into this man’s heart, and he knew there was a problem. What do you think the man’s problem was? (Allow children to answer.) That’s right. The man loved his riches, money, and most prized possessions more than he loved God. That is a problem.

Jesus looked lovingly into the man’s eyes and told him exactly what he needed to do. “Go and sell everything you have. Give the money to those who are poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” Jesus was asking the man to walk with him. That’s great exercise. But the man couldn’t do it. His riches and money were too important to him. So, he walked away from Jesus and did not follow him. The man didn’t walk with Jesus. Instead, he walked away from Jesus.

Jesus’ disciples were shocked when they heard what he told the man. They asked him about it, and Jesus said to them, “With people, this is impossible. But not with God. All things are possible with God.” Did you get that? All things are possible with God. It’s easy to “love” our stuff and our money more than we should. We might even think about our stuff more than we think about God. But God can help us. We need to put God first in our life. We need to think about God more, and our stuff less. We do that when we walk with Jesus. Jesus wants us to follow him without being distracted by our stuff.

Let me ask you a question. What is impossible for God? (Allow children to answer.) Nothing! All things are possible with God. All things are possible when we walk with Jesus.

Prayer:

God of love. Help us to love you more than anything in this world. Help us make you first in our lives, as you are the one who can make all things possible. Amen.