Title: Money or the Kingdom of God
Is it money or the kingdom of God?
Mark 10:23-31, 7th Sunday of Creation, October 14, 2012
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "It is very difficult for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God." 24 The disciples were astonished at the words, but Jesus answered them again, "Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a rich man to go out through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. 26 The disciples were very astonished and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but with God it is not." All things are possible with God. 28 Peter said to her, "Behold, we have left everything and followed you. 29 Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, for me and the gospel, there is no house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children. Those who forsake their lands 30 will not receive in this life a hundredfold more houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecution, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But the first will be last, and the last will be first. there are many
In Mark 10:25, we find a word that is very familiar to us but is not easy to understand. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” To say that a camel goes through the eye of a needle is a kind of literary hyperbole. It means that it is so difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. How much money does a rich person refer to here? Would you be rich if you had a fortune of 10 billion won? Are they in the upper 1% of the society? Or maybe 10%? Wealth is a relative concept. To a person who lives on 500,000 won a month in a single room, a person who lives on 5 million won a month in their own 30-pyeong apartment will look rich. It's hard to say who's rich with just a number. Even Jesus didn't mean to say that. You cannot enter the kingdom of God because you are rich, so there is no way you could have said this. Why did Jesus talk about the camel and the rich man, which is easy to misunderstand?
disappointed rich man
This verse is a story connected with an event that happened earlier. In Mark 10:17 and below, there is a story about a rich man. As Jesus was walking, a man came and asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” This man was a man who tried to live his life with integrity. He was interested in eternal life, that is, the true life. You must have thought of such a problem in a hurry. But I couldn't find an answer. He asked Jesus if he should do something more good and good. Jesus asked if he had kept some of the commandments in the Ten Commandments. The content was mainly about relationships with people. This man was full of confidence, and he replied that he had kept it well since he was a child. In today's terms, it means that I did my best to go to church and live a good life with my mother's faith. He must be a man worthy of praise. But Jesus said he lacked one thing. After disposing of everything he had and giving it to the poor, he said, ‘Follow me’ (Mark 10:21).