A Year in Luke/ActsNäide

Continuing the theme of who the kingdom is for, a rich man comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to “inherit” eternal life. Notice how his language is financial and transactional. Jesus mentions the commandments of the law, which the man happily replies he has obeyed, but then Jesus goes to the core. He touches the barrier to the rich man’s relationship to God: his wealth. Notice also that Jesus does not say that he will then inherit eternal life, but that he will have treasure in heaven and offers a very practical next step: to follow him.

This rich man wanted to keep the kingdom of God at arm's length, paying what he needed to and doing the right thing. This was the attitude of many in Israel, and is the attitude of human beings in general to the kingdom. We love to say or do the right things rather than be the kind of person who lets go of everything in order to enter the kingdom of God. For Jesus, the kingdom of God was not something that one can keep at arm's length now and inherit later, it was arriving with him! He was calling all who were willing to join him in establishing it. Jesus’ promise is clear: if we really are willing to lay aside everything, we will gain so much both in this life and the life to come.