Historical Context
The book was written after Jesus death, between A.D 44-75, but believed to more closely to be approx A.D 67-68. At this time the audience may have been experiencing persecutions. The author of the book is not stated, but the consistent traditional view of the church history is that John Mark, the relative of Barnabas , is the author of the book. Papias (born between AD 50-60) appears to be the first witness of Mark indeed being the author of the book, along with others, Justin Martyr, Clement of Rome, and Ignatius came to the same conclusion . So for this assignment I’ll refer to the author as Mark solely for reading purposes.
The book of Mark was written to a Greek speaking (this is the langauge of the original text), …show more content…
However, Jesus does tailor his answer to a devout jew who had a strong understanding of the law. Today Jesus may possibly answer the question differently because our culture isn’t as in embedded in following the commandments because Jesus came to save us through grace alone. But if wealth was an idol a person today put before God he may still address them in that area.
Enduring Principles that Underlie this Text
The rich man is asking how he can have eternal life and Jesus says the thing he lacks is selling all he had. It appears that the rich young man loved his money over God. Money was his idol. He was not willing to surrender everything to follow Him so it is harder for Him to enter God’s kingdom. Whether or not the rich who love their money more than God get into Heaven I’m not sure.
However, through our actions God can see our heart. Having faith in God should result in a life fully surrendered to God Our faith requires a change in us, you should beable to see it. Its not just a knowledge thing (James 2:17-26).
We cannot be saved by our own works (10:27) but that it is through God’s grace we can receive …show more content…
You can learn from this to show love to others. Jesus commands us in John 13:34 to love one another. 1 Corinthians 14:1 tells us to let love be our highest goal. And if we fail to show love to the poor we are failing to meet our highest goal. 1 John 4:19-21 says that whoever loves God loves others. A faith that does not manifest itself in love toward God or man it is dead or worthless. So to be more christlike, where anyone is need give freely to them and know that God provides for all the needs of his children (Phil 4:19)
Don’t be materilistic but give to the poor. We live in a materilistic culture and some are more than others, but most of us are. We may feel tempted to try find some reason that this radical demand Jesus gives the man in 10:21 some how applies to someone else because it is not in our nature to be like this. We are naturally tempted by wealth and the things of the world. But God wants us to love others and we can do that through giving what we have to them (Luke 3:11). Know that God says it is more blessed to give than to receive.
God may want us to surrender everything to him and that may be hard for us. If you aren’t tithing you might consider doing so. 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the
The book was written after Jesus death, between A.D 44-75, but believed to more closely to be approx A.D 67-68. At this time the audience may have been experiencing persecutions. The author of the book is not stated, but the consistent traditional view of the church history is that John Mark, the relative of Barnabas , is the author of the book. Papias (born between AD 50-60) appears to be the first witness of Mark indeed being the author of the book, along with others, Justin Martyr, Clement of Rome, and Ignatius came to the same conclusion . So for this assignment I’ll refer to the author as Mark solely for reading purposes.
The book of Mark was written to a Greek speaking (this is the langauge of the original text), …show more content…
However, Jesus does tailor his answer to a devout jew who had a strong understanding of the law. Today Jesus may possibly answer the question differently because our culture isn’t as in embedded in following the commandments because Jesus came to save us through grace alone. But if wealth was an idol a person today put before God he may still address them in that area.
Enduring Principles that Underlie this Text
The rich man is asking how he can have eternal life and Jesus says the thing he lacks is selling all he had. It appears that the rich young man loved his money over God. Money was his idol. He was not willing to surrender everything to follow Him so it is harder for Him to enter God’s kingdom. Whether or not the rich who love their money more than God get into Heaven I’m not sure.
However, through our actions God can see our heart. Having faith in God should result in a life fully surrendered to God Our faith requires a change in us, you should beable to see it. Its not just a knowledge thing (James 2:17-26).
We cannot be saved by our own works (10:27) but that it is through God’s grace we can receive …show more content…
You can learn from this to show love to others. Jesus commands us in John 13:34 to love one another. 1 Corinthians 14:1 tells us to let love be our highest goal. And if we fail to show love to the poor we are failing to meet our highest goal. 1 John 4:19-21 says that whoever loves God loves others. A faith that does not manifest itself in love toward God or man it is dead or worthless. So to be more christlike, where anyone is need give freely to them and know that God provides for all the needs of his children (Phil 4:19)
Don’t be materilistic but give to the poor. We live in a materilistic culture and some are more than others, but most of us are. We may feel tempted to try find some reason that this radical demand Jesus gives the man in 10:21 some how applies to someone else because it is not in our nature to be like this. We are naturally tempted by wealth and the things of the world. But God wants us to love others and we can do that through giving what we have to them (Luke 3:11). Know that God says it is more blessed to give than to receive.
God may want us to surrender everything to him and that may be hard for us. If you aren’t tithing you might consider doing so. 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the