Read­ing Time: 2 minutes

Introduction

The ques­tion on etern­al life is an exist­en­tial and per­en­ni­al ques­tion. Even the so-called athe­ists and agnostics can­not avoid won­der­ing the ‘how’ of life after this earthly sojourn. It is in this con­text that we have to under­stand the ques­tion of the Jew­ish ruler who inter­rog­ated Jesus on the cri­terion for gain­ing etern­al life. The con­text of this con­ver­sa­tion is the king­dom of God and the require­ments for enter­ing it. Judging from the dis­cus­sions and the inter­ven­tion of the ruler, it appears the ruler was present dur­ing Jesus’ teach­ings con­cern­ing the king­dom of God. Like the Phar­isees (cf. Matt 17:20a), he equally poses his own ques­tion in order to cla­ri­fy his doubts about the issue at hand. But unlike the Phar­isees, he is not inter­ested in know­ing the “when” of God’s king­dom. On the con­trary, he is more inter­ested in find­ing out from Jesus what he as an indi­vidu­al must do (besides keep­ing the com­mand­ments) so that he could be admit­ted into the king­dom of God. Jesus’ words in Mark 10:13–16 must have aroused ser­i­ous doubt in this young ruler. Wealth and etern­al life are import­ant themes for every indi­vidu­al, rich and poor alike.

You still lack one thing

“Teach­er, I have kept all these since my youth. Jesus, look­ing at him, loved him and said, you lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treas­ure in heav­en; then come, fol­low me” (Mark 10:20–21). Fol­low­ing Jesus’ answer, the man wanted to jus­ti­fy him­self and reminded Jesus that he has been keep­ing those commandments.…..

Conclusion

What will I do to have etern­al life? What will I do to make heav­en? The quest and the ques­tion about the king­dom of God and how to make it. It is a per­en­ni­al ques­tion. Even non-believ­ers (if there are) won­der what this king­dom of God is all about. Just as the young man approached Jesus with the ques­tion after hear­ing his teach­ings about the king­dom of God and on the con­di­tions for enter­ing it, many Chris­ti­ans should also ask the same ques­tion. This is neces­sary because like the Jews, many Chris­ti­ans think what grants one access to the king­dom of God is metic­u­lous observ­ance of self-estab­lished laws.

FOR DETAILS, GET YOUR OWN COPIES OF THE BOOK “THE WORD OF LIFE: SUNDAY REFLECTIONS” (vols. I and II)!! The reflec­tion for the 28^th Sunday of the year (B) is found in vol. II pages 454–466. Happy reading!

For details on how to get it, con­tact the author on this link: https://m.me/uchennabiblia?fbclid=IwAR2yeg4a6sDGBp9QGkIvKj6FSADumMokN6lshdE0zuo-JHs6qOmlhA7jyHo or email me at: postmaster@uchennabiblia.com or simply send an SMS on 08116100926, and I will get back to you.

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