21st after pentecost year b - mark

This was queeried by me with collaboration from River Needham.

Mark 10:17-31
¹⁷As Jesus was setting out on a journey,

a man ran up and knelt before him,

and asked him,

“Good Teacher,

what must I do to inherit everlasting life?”

¹⁸Jesus said to him,

“Why do you call me good?

No one is good but God alone.

¹⁹You know the commandments:

‘You shall not murder;

You shall not commit adultery;

You shall not steal;

You shall not bear false witness;

You shall not defraud;

Honor your parents and caregivers.’”

²⁰He said to Jesus,

“Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”

²¹Jesus,

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.”

²²When the man heard this,

he was shocked

and went away grieving,

for he had many possessions.

²³Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,

“How hard it will be for those who have wealth

to enter the reign of God!”

²⁴And the disciples were perplexed at these words.

But Jesus said to them again,

“Children,

how hard it is to enter the reign of God!

²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

than for someone who is rich to enter the reign of God.”

²⁶They were greatly astounded and said to one another,

“Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus looked at them and said,

“For mortals it is impossible,

but not for God;

for God all things are possible.”

²⁸Peter began to say to Jesus,

“Look,

we have left everything

and followed you.”

²⁹Jesus said,

“Truly I tell you,

there is no one

who has left house or siblings or parents or children or fields,

for my sake

and for the sake of the good news,

³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—

houses, siblings, caregivers and children,

and fields with persecutions—

and in the age to come eternal life.

³¹But many who are first will be last,

and the last will be first.”

Queeries for the text:
Why does Jesus question his own goodness?
What does it mean for Jesus to love the man?
What does the young rich man lack?
What was the man grieving? What did he decide to do?
What does it mean for Jesus to call the disciples children?
Was Jesus really talking about a dromedary and sewing?
Who has left house, family, and fields today?
Which fields come with persecutions?
Who is last?  Who is first?  Why are they trading places?

What are your queeries?



I preached on this text this past weekend, so if you'd like to see a bit of the sermon that came from this queerying, check it out!