Who can enter the kingdom of God? (Mark 10:17-31)

[Stephan Choe]

April 8, 2025

Key verses 27: “But Jesus looked at them and said, ”With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

Jesus once said, "If one of you wants to build a house, he first sits down and estimates the cost. He has to see if his money is enough." (Luke 14:28).

What does it cost me to follow Jesus as his disciple in order to receive eternal life?

In today's sermon, we want to think about the cost of following Jesus in order to receive eternal life.

We are to understand the path of following Jesus to eternal life on the basis of Jesus' teaching.

1. The danger of riches (10:17-27)

A young man asked Jesus: “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus did not answer this question for the time being, but replied: "What do you call me good? No one is good but God alone."

He then substantiated his answer by listing a number of commandments:

“You know the commandments: <You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not rob anyone; honor your father and mother.>”

All the commandments that Jesus listed concern human relationships with one another. These commandments are the second part of the Ten Commandments.

The first four commandments relate to the relationship between God and man, and Jesus summarized them briefly: <You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.>

The remaining six commandments cover interpersonal relationships, and Jesus summarized these six commandments briefly: <Love your neighbour as yourself>.

And Jesus enumerated to the young man only the interpersonal commandments.

The young man replied: "I have kept all these things. What do I still lack?"

The young man replied that he had kept these commandments from his youth.

What did Jesus say to him?

He said to him: "You lack one thing. Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me."

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me!” (Mt 19:21).

Jesus' words “if you want to be perfect” imply that the rich young man kept the meaning of the commandments superficially. For the spirit of the commandment is love, love for God and love for people.

His superficial observance of the commandments was made visible by his reaction when Jesus said to him: “Go, sell all that you have and give the proceeds to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” 

The rich young man loved money more than God and people. That's why he became sad and went away!

We ask ourselves whether Jesus' command only applies to the rich young man or to all rich people or to all people.

We can see this question as a specific question for the rich man or as a general question for all Christians.

We can understand Jesus' words as a specific teaching for the rich man.

Jesus wanted to call the young man to be his disciple. He was capable, so he could be a good disciple of Jesus. Despite his young age, he had already become rich and he was apparently also pious. If this man were to become a disciple of Jesus and dedicate himself to spreading the gospel, he could lead many people to faith. But he should first make a clear decision of faith by placing his trust in God and the divine blessing by giving up his wealth.

Even today, the Lord calls certain people to his service as preachers, pastors or missionaries who use their gifts fully to follow Jesus and proclaim the gospel. To do this, they are to renounce their dependence on his money and skills and trust in the Lord completely and follow him.

One example of this is the Korean Pastor Bo-young Park.

He was the son of a pastor. Unfortunately, he became an unbeliever and became rich as a successful dermatologist. But he met Jesus at the age of 39 and was dramatically converted. And he donated all his possessions to the poor and after studying theology, he began pastoring St. Mark's Attic Church for poor orphans and later Incheon Ark Church in the Incheon metropolitan area. He is famous for his testimony of conversion and his life for the poor and sick.

We can understand Jesus' words to the rich young man also as a generally valid teaching for all Christians.

For all Christians, this teaching of Jesus means that you should not use your wealth for yourself alone, but for other people and for God.

The young man in this Bible text valued his wealth very highly. When he heard Jesus' answer, he was horrified and went away sad because he loved his wealth more than God and people. Anyone who values money more than Jesus or people is obviously dependent on his money. So he is an idolater.

The Bible teaches us that we should not love money more than God and people. Rather, we should love God and people more than money.

Money is not a sin in itself. The decisive factor is our heart. If our heart is attached to money, we are idolaters. But if we love God and people more than money, money is a means to God's blessing.

The Bible teaches us that prosperity can be a blessing from God. Hard work and earning money are fundamentally a good thing. It can lead to wealth.

Money itself is neither evil nor good, but neutral. But a person's attitude towards money makes him either an idolater or a worshipper of God. Of course, everyone needs so much money to support themselves. But those who have much more money than their own needs should put it to good use for God or for other people.

Unfortunately, it is easy for money to turn people into idolaters, because greed can make a person's heart become attached to money so that his life revolves around money.

God-fearing Job in the Old Testament was actually rich. But he lost almost everything he had. Nevertheless, he loved God more than anyone else. God blessed him twice as much as he initially had (Job 42:12). His example shows us that wealth itself can also be God's blessing. But we should love God more than anyone else.

As the young man left Jesus in sorrow, Jesus said: “How hard it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Naturally, Jesus' disciples were horrified by Jesus' words.

Jesus went on to say: "Dear children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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" (25).

With these words, Jesus once again sharpened his statement. Naturally, his disciples were even more horrified and asked each other:

“Who then can be saved (and enter the kingdom of God)?”

Jesus looked at the horrified disciples and said to them:

“With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God!” (27).

Jesus meant with his answer: “You can do nothing good to earn eternal life!”

No, no one can earn eternal life through his own works. But all things are possible with God. This means that man can only receive eternal life through the grace of God, and God would like to give people eternal life through Jesus Christ.

The rich young man had done his best to keep the law. But that was not enough for him to receive eternal life. For he could not fulfill the law perfectly. As an example of his imperfection, he loved himself more than God.

All people cannot earn eternal life by transgressing any law, such as lying or lust. Thus, there is not a single person on earth who keeps all of God's laws perfectly. The reality is that all people have transgressed some law. Therefore, no one can be perfect before God and earn eternal life through his own work.

Is it then impossible for people to receive eternal life and enter the kingdom of heaven?

Yes, there is a way. Let us listen to Jesus' answer!

Jesus answers: “With men it is impossible, but with God it is possible.”

How?

By the fact that God sent Jesus Christ and punished him for our sin so that we can receive forgiveness and eternal life. This is a wonderful grace from God.

Jesus paid for everything we are guilty of in our lives on the cross. We now need to accept forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus.

That's why we can say: "It's impossible for me. But God has given me forgiveness and eternal life!"

Anyone who looks to the crucified and risen Lord with a repentant heart receives forgiveness and eternal life free of charge.

Jesus was prepared to leave the glory of the Father and pay for your and my sins with his life on the cross.      

Where can we find a son of a king today who would give up his wealth and luxurious life and be prepared to lay down his life for his enemies? Imagine if we had to give up our life goals and dreams so that our enemies could have a good life.

Jesus was prepared to give everything so that we would not perish.

Can we too say:

“I will consecrate everything to Jesus, nothing more will I call mine, body and soul, goods and possessions, everything shall be His”?

Each of us is called upon to give Jesus an answer to this question.

2 The reward of following Jesus (28-31)

Then Peter  asked Jesus a question: “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

He wanted to ask: “What will become of us?”

Jesus replied:

“Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields in the midst of persecution now, and eternal life in the world to come.” (29-30).

Jesus' words here are no longer just about the twelve disciples, but about everyone who wants to follow Jesus. He spoke of a double “reward”, namely the reward of earthly life and the reward of eternity.

This verse must not be twisted into the so-called “prosperity gospel”, in the sense that every Christian is bound to become rich. That would be wrong.

But it would also be wrong to think that God would not reward our commitment to Him here on earth - in whatever form. Jesus has clearly stated this in our text.

It depends on the motivation here. Some people might think: “I'm going to commit myself to evangelism for a few years and then God has to give me a super good job or something.”

The motivation for this commitment would be wrong. It's not really about the kingdom of God, but about the worldly reward.

Rather, our motive for commitment should be the kingdom of God and God's glory.

The reward of discipleship is much greater than what we have sacrificed for Jesus. Our effort here is disproportionate to how God will reward us.

In this sense, Jesus said in Mt 6:33:

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his glory, and all these things will be added to you.”

Francis of Assisi was saved from sin by Jesus' word in verse 21 and received eternal life. He once mistakenly attended a church service. There he happened to hear the saying: “One thing you lack; go, sell all you have and give to the poor... and come and follow me!”

He repented of his selfishness and decided to follow Jesus.

Missionary Sara Chang used to have the Korean first name “Hyun-Gum”, which can mean “cash”. But she was able to receive eternal life by repenting of her love of money and deciding to love God more than money and to give her income to God's work.

“But Jesus looked at her and said, ‘With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God’” (27).