Go, sell and follow me [questions on Matt 19b]*

Go, sell, and follow me [questions on Matthew 19b]

Matthew 19:16-30

1.    Read v16. What kind of a man came to Jesus [20, 22]? What question did he ask Jesus? Through his question, what can we understand about his mind, particularly about life and eternal life? What about his need? In his view, what was necessary to get eternal life? What does it mean for someone to ‘get’ eternal life? What do you think when he said ‘good thing’?  [Think about these questions by meditating on each of these concepts: good thing, must, get, and eternal life.]

2.    Read v17. Why did Jesus ask this question? What about this man might have been troubling to Jesus’ mind? What did he mean when he said that there is only one who is good? What does this statement imply, in reference to this man and the good things he was compelled to do.

3.    Why do you think Jesus used the presumptive mood by using ’if’, even though it was obvious that this man wanted eternal life? What is the difference between what this man was asking and what Jesus was offering? What was Jesus’ suggestion for if the man wanted to ‘enter life’? What is the implication of Jesus’ offer? How can obeying the commandments help one enter life [Romans 3:20]?

4.    Read v18. According to Jesus, which commandments are to be obeyed in order to enter life? Why did he not list the first four? What did he add? Over all, what emphasis was he making? Why?

5.    What was the man’s answer? What can we learn about him from his answer? Discuss this in regards to his upbringing, moral life, desire, and spirit. What question did he ask? Why? What was he driving his life toward [21]? Why? What does it mean to be good? Is there a difference between being perfect and being good? If there is, then what do you think it is?

6.    Read v21. What was Jesus’ offer for the man’s desire to be perfect? How could he become perfect by doing these two actions [Matthew 4:17; 9:9-13]?  How did this man take Jesus’ offer? Why? How do you think his riches affected his mind and his life?

7.    Read v23-4. Why and how difficult is it for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God? What is the obvious difficulty for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle? How is this similar to how hard it is for a rich man to enter eternal life? In this simile, what problem of wealth is Jesus pointing out?  

8.    Read v25. Why were the disciples so astonished? Discuss this by assessing their view of the rich and how they lived. Why did they think that, if a rich man had so much difficulty, then no one could enter eternal life? Read v26. Why did Jesus equate the rich with a ‘man’? In what sense are all men like the rich young man in this story? What did Jesus mean in v26? Discuss this in view of man’s ability or inability to keep the law and God’s provision for this[Mark 8:37; 10:45 ; Galatians 3:13].

9.    Read v27. In what sense was Peter’s life in line with Jesus’ suggestion to the young man [ref. v21]? What was the difference between Peter and the young man? In what aspect did they share the same mind?

10.  Read vv28-30. What kinds of ‘reward’ would they get? When? In what setting? Also, discuss the particularity of the reward that Jesus’ disciples would receive. What are the things that hold people back from following Jesus? What rewards does he offer those who follow him? What does it mean that one ‘will receive a hundred times’? What is the danger of being the first? What is it about being first that makes one vulnerable to such danger [v27]?