As Jesus was setting out on his journey, a man ran up, knelt before him and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'”
And the man said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you still need to do: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross and follow me.”
Saddened by what he heard, the man went away in grief, for he had many possessions.
(Mar 10:17-22)
Questions to consider:
- Why does Jesus say that only God is good? Why wouldn’t he consider himself “good?”
- If you were to measure yourself by the 10 Commandments, how would you stack up against the rich man?
- Why did Jesus tell the rich man to sell all his possessions?
- What does it mean to “take up your cross and follow me?”
- What makes the rich man sad?
- If Jesus asked you to do the same thing he asked the rich man, would you be able to do it? Why or why not?
A Far Country 