Camels, Needles and Riches
Tim Keller | June 3, 1992
Overview
Jesus said an awful lot of hard things. And in the story of the rich young ruler, Jesus says two hard things: he says our understanding of riches and our understanding of moral goodness are wrong.
The rich young ruler is not only rich, but he’s also a man of exquisite moral character. Yet, Jesus sends him away. Jesus turns our common notions about wealth and goodness on top of their heads and he gives us new ones—ones that are explosively in contradiction with what the world thinks, but ones that, if we obey them, have the power of God exploding in our midst.
Let’s look at these two principles. Jesus tells us 1) something new about wealth and 2) something new about moral goodness.
Outline
Mark 10:17-31
Jesus’ words reveal how tough it is for rich people to get into God’s kingdom. This shakes up common thoughts about money and being good. Jesus uses a story about a young man who loves his money too much to show that humans can’t do this on their own, but with God, it’s possible. When Jesus tells this young man to sell everything and give his money to the poor, he’s showing how important it is to put God first. Jesus’ teachings make clear that when you meet Him, you might feel happy or sad, but you won’t feel nothing at all.
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