Five Followers: “The Rich Young Ruler” The three would-be followers in Luke 9.57-62 Elisha in 1...
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Transcript of Five Followers: “The Rich Young Ruler” The three would-be followers in Luke 9.57-62 Elisha in 1...
Five Followers
Five Followers:• “The Rich Young Ruler”• The three would-be followers in Luke
9.57-62• Elisha in 1 Kings 19.19-21
Five Followers
Matthew 19.16-22 “a young man” (vv 20 and 22)Luke 18.18-23 “a ruler” (v.18)Mark 10.17-22 “a man” (v.17)
- So we deduce • Rich• Young• Ruler
Five Followers
What we can tell about the man:• Healthy: “there came one running”• Wealthy: “he had great possessions”• Wise: He kept the Law “since he was a boy”
Every parent’s desire:
Five Followers
The Importance of ContextMatthew 19.13-15; Mark 10.13-16; Luke 18.15-17
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Five Followers
One detail exclusively in Mark’s account
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Jesus looked at him and loved him.
Five Followers
Jesus’ verdict on the young man
“One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have … Then come, follow me.”
Jesus offers no compromise to his followers
Five Followers
The three would-be followers
Would-be follower #1:“I will follow you wherever you go.” • “Foxes have holes and birds have
nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Five Followers
The three would-be followers
Would-be follower #2“Follow me.”• “Let me first go and bury my father.”“Let the dead bury their dead: you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Five Followers
The three would-be followers
Would-be follower #3:“I will follow you Lord, but let me first go back and say goodbye to my family.”• “No one who puts his hand to the
plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Elijah and Elisha: 1 Kings 19.19-21
Elisha was ploughing with 12 yoke of oxen, and he was behind the twelfth pair. • = the youngest and least important.Elijah went up and threw his cloak around him. Elisha left his oxen – “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will come with you.”• - seems like the third follower. But:Then Elisha took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the ploughing equipment to cook the meat.• - no going back to farming.
Five Followers
Would-be Follower #1: • Warning: Count the CostWould-be Follower #2:• “let me first”: Side-tracked through
obligations and responsibilitiesWould-be Follower #3:• “let me first” : Jesus requires priority
even over family
Five Followers
The rich young ruler: Attached to materialism, contrasted with the simple
obedience of a child.
Five Followers
Elisha: Said goodbye to family and to profession in order to obey God, whatever the cost.