Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 290
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
10:18-34
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. But
to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not
murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not
testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since
I was young.”
Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one
thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and
give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then
come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many
possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich
to enter the Kingdom of God!” This amazed them. But Jesus said again,
“Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, 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!”
The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?”
they asked.
Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow
you,” he said.
“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given
up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a
hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and
property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person
will have eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least
important then, and those who seem least important now will be the
greatest then.”
They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead
of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus
once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him.
“Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will
be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They
will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. They will mock
him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days
he will rise again.”
