Walking away from Jesus, with sorrow
Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’" And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. -Mark 10:17-22
Questions:
1) If Jesus really loved this guy, why didn't He just invite him to follow? Why did He point out the guy's lack and give Him such an extreme instruction as a pre-condition to discipleship? Doesn't Jesus welcome everyone with open arms?
2) Does this passage challenge you about your own materialism and/or financial conduct? Can you be specific?
3) Can this passage be applied to anything else besides material wealth? Are there other things that are important to us that Jesus might authoritatively direct us to give up? Examples? Personal examples of things He instructed you to renounce as a prerequisite to real discipleship?
4) Care to speculate about what happened to this guy? It says He went away sad. Do you think any consequences resulted from the fact that he went away -- rather than obeying Jesus and following Him?