Threesome: Peter, James and John discuss Christ’s encounter with the rich young man.

 Mark: 10:23 “Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.’ And the disciples were amazed at his words.” 

James: I’m surprised! I didn’t think the Master would let this young man go off like that.

Peter: I’ll say! What do you think He meant by promising we would all get everything back a hundredfold for following Him?

John: Never mind that. I have a better question: why do you think he told the young man to give up everything?

 Peter: Why is that so important? We all had to give up everything!

John: Yes, but for us, everything was a couple of fishing boats, our nets, and our business contacts for selling fish. Not a big deal.  But you could see from the way this man was dressed that he is wealthy.

James: Yes. He has a lot more to give up than we do.

Peter: You’re right. So, why make him give it up? Why not tell him to join us and bring everything he has with him? Wouldn’t that make more sense? And make life easier for all of us too?

John: That’s not the way the Master sees it. Obviously he liked this man. You could see that from the way He looked at him. And the man had a lot to offer. He was well educated, intelligent, devout, and an all around good person. He probably would have made a better preacher and teacher than any one of us. And he probably would have joined us, if he could have brought everything with him.

Peter: So you agree with me? Why not let him bring it all?

John: Because he would always have that wealth to fall back on. The riches would be his security, his source of life, behind everything else. The man would not be committed to Jesus. The wealth would be first in the man’s head, even if it was in the background, and Jesus would be secondary.  

Peter: Maybe that’s it. Jesus insists on being our center; He is what connects us all. That’s how He sees it.  And the money gets in the way. If the money is there, money becomes central. 

James: Why do you think the Master told the man not to call Him “good”?

Peter: That’s not what Jesus was doing.

John:  That’s right! Jesus was smiling when He said that.  He was using the word the man used, but with a different meaning. It was a way of telling the man: Good? You have no idea exactly how GOOD I AM!

 James: I guess I missed that. I was paying more attention to what He said next: “No one is good but God alone.”

John: Don’t try to figure that out.

Peter: Why not?

John: Because only He knows what He means by that. We could argue about that all day and never get anywhere.

James: What is there to argue about? He’s saying that only God is absolutely good; that’s all.

(Peter and John look at each other, and silently agree not to dig further into James’ statement.)

Peter: Fine.   John, you were saying that this man was special, how he seemed better educated than we are, and how he could have made a more effective disciple than the lot of us. I think you’re right. So why did Jesus let him walk off? Why not talk to him more, discuss, explain things, and reason with him?  He could have persuaded the man to leave his wealth behind if He really tried.

James: That’s right. Look how He never stops talking to us, explaining things over and over again, encouraging and correcting and moving us towards what He wants. He could have had his way with the man if he kept pushing.

John: Yes, but that’s not His way of doing things. He invites, He calls, He makes the opportunity available, but He doesn’t  pressure or force or manipulate.  He doesn’t play those games with anyone.  Even with us. He keeps at us because we did say yes and decide to follow Him. But even now if we decided to walk off He would let us go.

Peter: Suppose you had all the money and possessions this man had, would you still be here? Or would you leave the group and go back to it?

John: I’m glad I don’t have to make that choice, but I think I would stay.

Peter: Today I feel that way. Other days, well, I don’t know. I like following Him. But I don’t know where He is going. It is an adventure, I have to admit that. But it is scary too. You can never tell what is going to happen next, or what He is going to do.

James: What about this man who went back to his riches? Can he get into the kingdom of heaven? Is he still on his way to God?

Peter: Well, he was on the right road before the Master called him, because he was keeping all the commandments. As long as he keeps that up, what’s the problem?

John:  The wealth, the money. That’s the Master’s point.  At any moment the money can take over and become central. The man could not even recognize it when that takes place. But if it does, then the man is no longer on the right way. Then the wealth controls him and the way he relates to people. 

James: It's that dangerous?

 Peter: The Master says it is. It’s probably a blessing we don’t have to make that choice. We probably would get seduced by the wealth. But what about the question I asked to begin with? Jesus promised we would all get back a hundredfold what we have given up to follow Him, remember? What do you think He meant by that? We surely are not going to get rich!

 John: Relationships. That’s what He’s talking about, our friendship with one another because we follow Him. Look how different we all are. None of us would be close to another, or care about one another if we were not following Him. We would never choose to be friends or brothers in real life.

Peter: We still don’t like one another that much even though He keeps harping on it with us all the time.

 John: That’s the point I’m trying to make! Following Him is what unites us. Everything else about us would have us fighting with one another all the time. We are so competitive, and have such different tastes, we could never get along. Only He can make us brothers.

James: Well, He hasn’t done it yet.

John: We’re all still with Him, aren’t we? That’s the important thing. If we manage to stay close to Him, I think we’ll end up caring about one another in spite of ourselves. That might be the biggest wonder He performs!