Reaching the Kingdom of God in The Rich Young Man
The Rich Young Man is a story about a young man who is attempting to reach the kingdom of God. The young man asks Jesus what he needs to do in order to gain eternal life. Jesus simply tells him to follow the Commandments. They are you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not defraud and honor your father and your mother. The young man, being a virtuous man, states he in fact has followed these laws since he was young. In that Jesus turns to the young man and tells him that there is one thing he is missing in order to gain eternal happiness. Jesus tells him that he must give away all his worldly possessions to the poor and follow him. With this the young man grows sad because he is very rich and has much to give up. With this Jesus turns to his disciples and says, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" He then continues and states, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." At the end of the passage Jesus says something very important which is restated many times throughout the gospels. He says, "But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.
In the gospel story according to Mark, the rich man calls Jesus "good teacher." Jesus responds to this reference by asking the man why he refers to him as good because in fact only God is good. There is a similar passage located in the book of Matthew 19, 16-17. In it the same rich man asks Jesus what good he must do in order to gain eternal life. Jesus tells him, "Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good." Both passages show that God is the only one who is good. It is not capable for humans to achieve salvation but it is up to the goodness of God to present us with the gift of everlasting life. Without the goodness of God everlasting life would be impossible.
By inborn nature, Man does not hate wickedness, and love virtue. God gives us lessons to show us how to live good and Godly lives. The below story is a modern adaptation of the Rich man and Lazarus
In Tobias Wolff’s 1985 short story “The Rich Brother,” we are introduced to two brothers. According to Wolf, you cannot even tell that they are brothers because of their physical differences, but as the story goes into more detail we can tell that they are different in every aspect. One of the major differences is that one is wealthy and the other is always in need of financial assistance. The older brother, Pete, is a successful real estate agent while his younger brother, Donald, works as a painter whenever he can. The two brothers are very different in their belief about what is valuable. Pete is a man that has worked hard and values what he has acquired. His brother Donald, on the other hand, values sharing whatever he has. Even if giving everything he has leaves him with nothing.
In Andrew Carnegie’s “The Gospel of Wealth” he outlines what the rich man’s responsibilities to the public is regarding his wealth. Andrew Carnegie was one of his times wealthiest men and wrote this in 1889. He states that, “Our duty is with what is practicable now-with the next step possible in our day and generation. It is criminal to waste our energies in endeavoring to uproot, when all we can profitably accomplish is to bend the universal tree of humanity a little in the direction most favorable to the production of the good fruit under existing circumstances (Carnegie 23-24).” In his writing he talks about the best way to dispose of the wealth one has acquired. The remainder of this paper will address the
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
The story from the Bible is not intended to persuade people to stay poor but to uphold the loyalty to God. (The Straight Dope) However, it can be reflected in a different perspective that the reluctance to give up the great possessions exist from the early history of human and all wealth except for labor-made possession is kind of theft because it more or less deprive manual workers of labor and free time which can be used to produce wealth. Moreover, the distribution of wealth is unfair from the emergency of surplus property. Therefore, there is an assumption that property is a kind of theft. (Proudhon, 1840)
The three parables contained in chapter fifteen of the Gospel of Luke are a tightly woven trio anchored on either side by closely related teachings. The preceding chapter gives instruction on humility and hospitality, telling the reader to open the invitation to one’s meal table to all, including the poor, the sick, and the unclean. In the following chapter the reader finds instructions for how to use wealth to benefit those same people. In the middle of these we find chapter fifteen, containing the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal and his brother. As a part of the triplet, the parable of the lost sheep challenges the reader to not only invite the poor into one’s community, but to receive them as family with joy and celebration.
The ideas of the gospel of wealth are a scary concept today. If you look at it with a revisionist viewpoint the idea that rich are rich because God said so leaves us open for so much discrimination. The thoughts of this time were not able to see this, and the business owners wanted to keep the power in their hands.
In the documents titled, William Graham Sumner on Social Darwinism and Andrew Carnegie Explains the Gospel of Wealth, Sumner and Carnegie both analyze their perspective on the idea on “social darwinism.” To begin with, both documents argue differently about wealth, poverty and their consequences. Sumner is a supporter of social darwinism. In the aspects of wealth and poverty he believes that the wealthy are those with more capital and rewards from nature, while the poor are “those who have inherited disease and depraved appetites, or have been brought up in vice and ignorance, or have themselves yielded to vice, extravagance, idleness, and imprudence” (Sumner, 36). The consequences of Sumner’s views on wealth and poverty is that they both contribute to the idea of inequality and how it is not likely for the poor to be of equal status with the wealthy. Furthermore, Carnegie views wealth and poverty as a reciprocative relation. He does not necessarily state that the wealthy and poor are equal, but he believes that the wealthy are the ones who “should use their wisdom, experiences, and wealth as stewards for the poor” (textbook, 489). Ultimately, the consequences of
The Bible does not say that money is bad. However, what it does say is
He carries with Him the transcendence that comes only with God Himself. Therefore, His work on our behalf makes our salvation sure. Jesus, the God-man, has atoned for our sins. We can place our confidence in Him because of His divine nature” (7). This is the ultimate application of the gospel of John. John is a book that Christians need to read and gather as much information out of it as possible to share with others who do not believe in or have not heard of Jesus. The applications written in this book are for all to hear and for all to reap the benefits of. Jesus is the only one who can save humanity from the sin that we have brought upon ourselves in which the consequence is death. Jesus died on the cross so that we would not have to pay for our sins. God sacrificed His one and only son so that we may live eternally with Him in Heaven. According to the lesson on John, the Holy Spirit empowers Christians to provide the gospel message to others and share the love of Christ (Lesson 7.23.3). We are to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our actions so that the Lord might save as many as
The rich were the ones that liked the temple system. A system where in order to receive forgiveness one had to pay to be able to participate in the sacrifices. The ones that could afford to do this were the rich, because they had the money. This was not the case of the people that were poor. It was hard for them to get sacrifices, so they were looked at as lesser people in God’s favor. This however is not the case. Jesus came to change this way of thinking. An example of the rich versus poor issue is seen in the story of the wedding feast. The people that came to the wedding at Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle were likely the rich people. The people there at first couldn’t have been poor people, they had to have been rich people. If you were rich, you were able to go to the banquet when it started. The ones that were typically late to banquet were the poorer, working class who had to spend the day working. Thus when the wine ran out at the celebration, it was a big deal because it happened when the richer people were still there and wanting more, when normally the wine wouldn’t run out until near the
In this teaching, Jesus is telling us that the treasures on earth is not the same as the treasures in heaven. We should be saying don’t waste your time on the so call riches of the earth that does not provide anything that will be useful when we leave this place. God says that if your treasures are stored on earth they can be broken and stolen from thieves. However, we must also allow ourselves to be humbled, teach and help others and ourselves on the path to
Good works do not do not bring people to heaven but after receiving salvation, good works follow them to heaven where they will receive their rewards according to his works as stated in Matt 16:27. If one receives salvation but does not follow through with good works then his faith is dead. Good works are so very important because good works reveals a persons faith which ultimately glorifies God and a full reward is given as it says in James 2:18 “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” There are so many other verses in scripture that talk about good works and the rewards given according to works, but the bottom line is, good works are vital to the Christian life for many
In the General Epistles, we are shown how to follow Jesus in hard times and when it is essential to walk with Him. The General Epistles show us the difficulties of life when dealing with captivity, mistreatment by those of a higher social standing, and racism. Today we have many similar difficulties but they are in the form of working for human glorification, benefitting others who are not in need for our work, and maximizing profits for a company. These scenarios are not for Gods purpose but only for human purposes. The General Epistles also show us how to deal with these difficulties and overcome them in a way that we can be helpful working toward Gods purpose. Trusting that God will provide for us and that we must work to only benefit others
Systematically, the disabled citizens were excluded from religious affairs and functions by Jewish leaders and other religious leaders. Lepers were often required to separate themselves completely from the community at large . This is why so many parables and teachings of Christ focused on the sick and the poor; they were outcast by religion and the rich. Some believe that there are many parables that are like so many folktales and fables. Many fables, especially Greco-Roman Jewish fables are closely parallel with the gospel parables and that perhaps when Jesus spoke the parable he was pulling from the original Egyptian Fable about a rich man and a poor man . Fables typically have a moral to learn and usually end in irony. Mary Beavis states the ...