Does God Love Rich People?

The story of Jesus and the rich young ruler is included in each of the first three Gospels.(Matt 19, Mark 10, Luke 18) In fact the teaching of how love of money can get into the way of faith is one of the preachers’ favorites. But is this story in the scripture really teaching against money?

Let’s look at the three versions and any difference between them. First, none of the three versions identify him as a rich man to start off. Luke does describe him as a ruler using a Greek word often used to describe the rulers of the synagogue or the Sanhedrin and Mark refers to him as young. As a ruler amongst the Jews, he would have been well schooled in the teachings of the rabbis. And because he is noted to be young, he has apparently excelled at the teachings. Sounds like Paul.

So what happens if we look at this story as if the man is godly?

The man comes to Jesus and asks what he needs to have eternal life. If he were a sincerely godly Jew of Jesus’ day, this scene makes perfect sense. Those who were eager to learn the proper walk were constantly questioning the rabbis. Even other rulers. This happened many times to Jesus including Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. If this man were anything but sincere, wouldn’t we have seen that in the reactions of the disciples? Instead they are shocked that Jesus seems to indicate that this man will not inherit eternal life. In fact they say if not this man, who then can be saved?

Another thing that points to his sincerity is the following verses :

Mar 10:17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

Mar 10:20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him…

Jesus knew the heart of this man and loved him! He loved him because he knew the man was seeking to be the best follower of God that he could be.

So looked at this way we have the following scene. A godly man comes to Jesus and says what do I need to do to have eternal life and Jesus says keep the commandments. His response is that he has been keeping the commandments, so what else does he need to do? Jesus says to reach the next level he should sell everything he has and come be one of Jesus’ disciples.

This is where the story takes a turn. It says that he went away sad because he had great wealth and Jesus makes the comment that riches make it difficult to enter the kingdom of God. It is here that the disciples say how can we do it if he can’t? If the issue is greed, then why would the disciples worry that they can’t do it? In fact, Peter makes the statement:

Luk 18:28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.

Which we know cannot be talking about possessions because he still had his house and his fishing boat. So if not wealth itself, then what is the issue? One possible explanation is that the Greek words for wealth here describe "hard to sell" properties. I had some friends who decided to move to Fiji to work in a mission. It took them almost a year to “unwind” all of their commitments and sell their possessions. And they were not rich like this man! What if he was sad because Jesus had said that he needed to come with him now and that it would be difficult because of all of his possessions?

The following verses from Luke shows a similar situation:

Luk 9:57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
Luk 9:58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Luk 9:59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Luk 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
Luk 9:61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
Luk 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

These are not Jesus being uncaring, but his telling us to be in the position to drop everything and follow him. Like the Israelites were told to be ready to leave Egypt at a moments notice. We should never be so anchored in the world that we can follow him at a moments notice.

Finally we do not know that he did not do as instructed by Jesus. What if his name was Nicodemus or Joseph? Would that change how we think of this teachable moment with Jesus?

Maybe we need to rethink how we look at all of his parables and ask do we view them with the bias that was taught to us. I will end with a quote I discovered recently:

“No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions - he had money too!” — Margaret Thatcher

Shalom, Jeff.