Encountering Jesus will challenge us to trust Jesus as our treasure instead of our treasure....

This week, we have been looking at encounter between a leading political figure and Jesus that is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Wednesday we looked on as Jesus challenged the ruler, who was rich, to give up the one thing that was in competition with Him in terms of devotion and worship. Jesus challenged this ruler here because Jesus knew that how we handle our treasure reveals what we treasure. Jesus challenged this ruler because Jesus knew that this ruler treasured his treasure more than he treasured Jesus.

We looked on Jesus revealed that what ought to be present in this rulers life that was not present in this rulers life was that Jesus was to be large and in charge of this man’s life. What was deficient in this man’s life was that this man did not trust Jesus as his treasure. Instead this man trusted and treasured his treasure. Today, we see Luke reveal how this ruler responded to Jesus challenge in verse 23:

But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

Luke tells us that this ruler responded to Jesus answer by walking away from Jesus dejected. When faced with the decision about who or what he was going to trust in, this man walked away from Jesus because his treasure was more important than Jesus. If this ruler had to choose between his possessions and Jesus, this ruler would choose to trust in his possessions.

And that is the choice that this ruler made. This ruler walked away from Jesus and toward his treasure because that is what he had placed his trust in. We see how Jesus responded to this ruler walking away from Jesus in verse 24:

And Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! "For 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."

Now notice what Jesus does not do here. Notice that Jesus does not run after the ruler. Notice that Jesus does not say to the ruler “Hey come back, I really need to you to follow Me”. Notice that Jesus does not say to the ruler “Hey come back, I have decided that I will lower the bar of expectations when it comes to following Me".  Notice that Jesus does not say to the ruler “Hey come back, I have decide to compromise and change my position when it comes to what you must treasure”.

Notice that Jesus does not say “I’m okay with being second; if you want to put your possessions first that’s fine with Me”. Instead, Luke tells us that Jesus looked at the man as we walked away and said "How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”For 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."

Now this saying was a common hyperbole about something that was impossible to occur. In the Jewish culture of the first century, a camel was the largest animal that lived in the region where Jesus lived and taught. By contrast the eye of a needle was one of the smallest items that a person in the Jewish culture of the first century would have dealt with on a daily basis.

By making this hyperbole, Jesus is revealing for us the reality that it was impossible for rich people by their own efforts or energy to live in a way that was right with God. By making this statement, Jesus was flying in the face of the cultural view of the first century and the prosperity gospel movement of today.

You see, in the Jewish culture of the first century and the prosperity gospel movement of today, material wealth was viewed as a sign of God’s blessing. Material wealth was viewed as evidence of being right with God. And because of that reality, people in the first century would have been shocked at Jesus statement. We see Luke reveal this reality in verse 26:

They who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?"

Jesus disciples, along with the large crowds that were following Jesus, responded to Jesus statement with a question that flowed out of fight and alarm: "Then who can be saved?" In other words, Jesus disciples and the large crowds were basically asking “Well, if that is the case, if 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, then who can be right with God so that they can be with God in Heaven?”

From the perspective of Jesus disciples and the large crowds that were following Jesus, if rich people who were viewed as being favored by God could not get into the kingdom of God, then who could get into the kingdom of God? From the perspective of Jesus disciples and the large crowds that were following Jesus, if rich people could not get in then no one could get in. Luke reveals for us how Jesus answered His disciples and the large crowds in verse 27:

 But He said, "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God."

In other words, Jesus basically says to His disciples and the large crowds that were following Him “what is impossible for people to do, which is to perform for God in a way that makes them right with God, God is able to do”. You see, Jesus wanted His disciples, and the large crowds that were following Him to clearly understand that it was trusting in God’s performance for us through Jesus, not in our performance for God, that makes us right with God. We see how one of the disciples, a man named Peter, responded to Jesus statement in verse 28:

 Peter said, "Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You."

Now you got to love Peter. I mean Peter responds to Jesus statement by basically saying “Well Jesus, what about us? What about the twelve of us who are following you? We are right with God, aren’t we? We are going to be with God in Heaven, aren’t we? After all, we left all of our treasure to follow You. We have made You large and in charge of our lives instead of making our treasure large and in charge of our lives. We are following You instead of following our treasure. So we are right with God, right?” Luke then reveals for us how Jesus responded to Peter as he concludes this section of Jesus life in verse 29:

 And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life."

Now to fully understand what Jesus is communicating here, we first need to understand what Jesus is referring to when He refers to the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God refers to God’s royal reign that was to come through the arrival of the Messiah, whom God had promised to send to bring the Jewish people back to God.

To become a part of the Kingdom of God would result in not only a new relationship with God vertically, but would also result in new relationships with others horizontally. We experience those new relationships with others as a part of the new movement that Jesus instituted called the church, which is designed to reveal and reflect Jesus and the Kingdom of God here on earth until Jesus returns to usher in the Kingdom of God in its fullest sense for all eternity.

Jesus point to His disciples was that while the decision to trust and follow Jesus as their ultimate treasure may result in the loss of family relationships, those relationships would be replaced by a new set of family relationships as a part of the family of God. And while the decision to trust and follow Jesus as their ultimate treasure may result in the loss of family relationships, the decision to trust and follow Jesus as their ultimate treasure would result in them experiencing the forgiveness of their selfishness and rebellion and the relationship with God that they were created for in Heaven.

And it is here, in this event from history from the life of Jesus involving an encounter with a rich young ruler and his question that we discover a timeless truth that can occur when we encounter Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Encountering Jesus will challenge us to trust Jesus as our treasure instead of our treasure. Just as it was for the rich young ruler, just as it has been throughout history, encountering Jesus will challenge us to trust Jesus as our treasure instead of our treasure.

You see, just as it was for the rich young ruler, we can find ourselves in a place in our lives where we can respond to an encounter with Jesus by walking away from Jesus because we view our treasure as more important than Jesus. Just as it was for the rich young ruler, we can find ourselves in a place in our lives where, when faced with the choice of trusting in our possessions or trusting in Jesus, that we choose to trust in our possessions. Just as it was for the rich young ruler, we can find ourselves in a place in our lives where we can respond to an encounter with Jesus by walking away from Jesus and toward our treasure because that is what we have placed our trust in and treasure.

So here is a question for us to consider: What are you placing your trust in as your treasure? What do you treasure as your ultimate treasure? What does how you spend your time, talents, and treasure reveal about what you trust in as your treasure? Are you walking away from Jesus because you treasure your pleasure, possessions, or position more than you treasure Jesus? Are you walking away from Jesus and toward what you treasure because that is what you have placed your trust in?