Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all

Mark 10:13-31 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶ And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

¹⁷ As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ 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.’” ²⁰ And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ 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.” ²⁶ They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

²⁸ Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, ³⁰ but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

There are many people who seek to walk in all of the promises of God. In John 10:10 Jesus says:  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”   The abundant life that Jesus offers and what many today tend to believe abundance is may be very different. Today we tend to believe that abundance means having excess and most often we relate it to material things or wealth. What Jesus says in today’s text would seem to contradict that thinking. He says: “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” …“How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” … “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.”   I am certainly not saying that God does not bless people financially and that we should not want to enjoy nice things and have financial and material abundance. But we do need to take what Jesus says here seriously. Having great wealth may indeed make it more difficult to enter the kingdom of God. It is not that wealth; money or abundance is evil, but as Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:10, The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.   It is a key there that some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith. It is not only those who are wealthy who can be drawn from the faith, but even a poor person who longs for wealth can be drawn away. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says:  “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

What is it then that makes up the abundant life that Jesus gives?  Today’s text says:  They were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.   A child is not concerned about financial matters. For the children in today’s text, all they sought was to be in the presence of Jesus. They did not ask for a sign. They were not seeking His provision. All they sought was to be in His presence. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says:  “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”   The “all these things” that Jesus is talking about are food, clothing and shelter, everything we need. Philippians 4:19 says:  God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  God will give us all we need and more. But He will not supply for our greed. He does not want us to have anything that might cause us to wander from the faith. Just like children, we need to grow in the responsibility of handling the abundance of God in our lives being faithful with what He provides.

Look again at what Jesus instruction to the man was:  “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”   Then look at what He told the disciples:  “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake,  but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.”   We don’t need to sell all that we own to follow Jesus. Rather, instead we need to follow Him with all that we own. We need to share the blessings we have with others, both the material things and the spiritual gifts we have been given. We cannot out give God. 2 Corinthians 9:6 says:  He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Notice though that even in the midst of the provision, in the midst of the abundance of God, Jesus says that while we will receive a hundred times what we have given to follow Him, there will still be persecutions. God’s abundance will not eliminate every problem or difficulty from our lives. Indeed if we truly follow Jesus presecution will increase. In John 15:18-20 Jesus says:  “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”   Like a child, we should first and foremost seek to be in the presence of God, even in the midst of trials. The psalmist says: Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

May the words of the psalmist be our prayer and declaration today:  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Amen.