A Rich Man Refuses to Follow Jesus^(A)

¹⁷ Jesus started to leave, but a man ran to him and bowed down on his knees before him. The man asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get the life that never ends?”

¹⁸ Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. ¹⁹ And you know his commands: ‘You must not murder anyone, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not lie, you must not cheat, you must respect your father and mother ….’^[a]”

²⁰ The man said, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these commands since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus looked at the man in a way that showed how much he cared for him. He said, “There is still one thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have. Give the money to those who are poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²² The man was upset when Jesus told him to give away his money. He didn’t want to do this, because he was very rich. So he went away sad.

²³ Then Jesus looked at his followers and said to them, “It will be very hard for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom!”

²⁴ The followers were amazed at what Jesus said. But he said again, “My children, it is very hard^[b] to enter God’s kingdom! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom!”

²⁶ The followers were even more amazed and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “That is something people cannot do, but God can. He can do anything.”

²⁸ Peter said to Jesus, “We left everything to follow you!”

²⁹ Jesus said, “I can promise that everyone who has left their home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farm for me and for the Good News about me ³⁰ will get a hundred times more than they left. Here in this world they will get more homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and farms. And with these things they will have persecutions. But in the world that is coming they will also get the reward of eternal life. ³¹ Many people who have the highest place now will have the lowest place in the future. And the people who have the lowest place now will have the highest place then.”

A Rich Man Refuses to Follow Jesus^(A)

¹⁸ A religious leader asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”

¹⁹ Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. ²⁰ And you know his commands: ‘You must not commit adultery, you must not murder anyone, you must not steal, you must not tell lies about others, you must respect your father and mother ….’^[a]”

²¹ But the leader said, “I have obeyed all these commands since I was a boy.”

²² When Jesus heard this, he said to the leader, “But there is still one thing you need to do. Sell everything you have and give the money to those who are poor. You will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.” ²³ But when the man heard Jesus tell him to give away his money, he was sad. He didn’t want to do this, because he was very rich.

²⁴ When Jesus saw that the man was sad, he said, “It will be very hard for rich people to enter God’s kingdom. ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”

Who Can Be Saved?

²⁶ When the people heard this, they said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus answered, “God can do things that are not possible for people to do.”

²⁸ Peter said, “Look, we left everything we had and followed you.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “I can promise that everyone who has left their home, wife, brothers, parents, or children for God’s kingdom ³⁰ will get much more than they left. They will get many times more in this life. And in the world that is coming they will get the reward of eternal life.”