A Rich Young Man’s Question^(A)

¹⁷ As Jesus started ·to leave [on his way; on a journey], a man ran to him and ·fell on his knees [knelt] before Jesus. The man asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to ·have life forever [^Linherit eternal life]?”

¹⁸ Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? ·Only God is good [No one is good except One—God; ^CJesus is not denying his own divinity, but is challenging the man’s understanding of goodness]. ¹⁹ You know the commands: ‘You must not murder. You must not ·be guilty of [commit] adultery. You must not steal. You must not ·tell lies about your neighbor [testify falsely; ^Tbear false witness]. You must not ·cheat [defraud]. Honor your father and mother’ [Ex. 20:12–16; Deut. 5:16–20].”

²⁰ The man said, “Teacher, I have ·obeyed [kept carefully; guarded] all these things since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus, looking at the man, loved him and said, “There is one more thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²² He was ·very sad [shocked; appalled] to hear Jesus say this, and he left ·sorrowfully [grieving], because he ·was rich [had many possessions].

²³ Then Jesus looked [around] at his ·followers [disciples] and said, “How hard it will be for ·the rich [those with many possessions] to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴ The ·followers [disciples] were ·amazed [astonished] at what Jesus said. [^CIn Judaism wealth was generally viewed as a reward from God.] But he said again, “My children, it is very hard^[a] to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ 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 [^Cmeaning it is impossible, by human effort; see v. 27].”

²⁶ They were even more ·surprised [amazed] and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “·For people [Humanly speaking,] this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

²⁸ Peter ·said [spoke up] to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or ·farms [fields] for me and for the ·Good News [Gospel] ³⁰ will get more than they left. Here in ·this world [the present age] they will have a hundred times more homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and ·fields [farms]. And with those things, ·they will also suffer for their belief [persecutions]. But in the ·age [world] that is coming they will have ·life forever [eternal life]. ³¹ Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.”