The Wealthy and Kingdom Membership

Jesus Calls for Justice and Mercy

Parable of the Great Dinner

Luke 18:18-25 The Message (MSG)

The Rich Official

18 One day one of the local officials asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to deserve eternal life?”
19-20 Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good—only God. You know the commandments, don’t you? No illicit sex, no killing, no stealing, no lying, honor your father and mother.”
21 He said, “I’ve kept them all for as long as I can remember.”
22 When Jesus heard that, he said, “Then there’s only one thing left to do: Sell everything you own and give it away to the poor. You will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 This was the last thing the official expected to hear. He was very rich and became terribly sad. He was holding on tight to a lot of things and not about to let them go.
24-25 Seeing his reaction, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who have it all to enter God’s kingdom? I’d say it’s easier to thread a camel through a needle’s eye than get a rich person into God’s kingdom.”

For Reflection

What would you do if Christ asked you to do the same?  That is precisely what Christ asks of all of us (metaphorically speaking). We must place all treasures secondary to the will of God to follow Christ and to work toward becoming equivalent in form to Christ; to love as Christ loves, and to serve each other as Christ has served us.

Pray

Pray so that you can reach your full human potential as a child of God.

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