Jesus and the Rich Ruler - BibleLessons4Kidz



Jesus and the Rich Ruler

Matthew 19:23-30; Luke 18:18-27; Mark 10:17-27

Supplemental Teaching Idea: (produced by Willow Creek) [pic] FLIPT DVD #6 – What’s #1?

Main Point: We need God. He should be #1 in our lives.

Key Verse: Matthew 6:33a Put God’s kingdom first. Do what He wants you to do.” (NIrV)

Say This: The culture that Jesus lived in believed that they could live forever in heaven with God if they were “good enough” and kept all of God’s laws. God gave the law, the 10 Commandments, to show people that no matter how good they were, they could never measure up to God’s perfect holiness. The law was given to show people their need for a Savior.

Show and read aloud the 10 Commandments:

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Say This: As the people heard these rules and then tried to live by them, they soon realized that it was impossible to keep them all. And it’s impossible for us too!

The Bible says that if we’ve broken even one of God’s laws, it’s the same as breaking them all!

James 2:10 Suppose you keep the whole law but trip over just one part of it. Then you are guilty of breaking all of it.

Even if we disobey just one command, we are guilty of breaking ALL of God’s commands.

God is perfect and holy. His holiness cannot tolerate even a hint of sin.

PowerPoint:

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[pic][pic]Illustration: Suppose you are about to drink a nice, cold Coke. Just as you’re about to take a big sip, your friend tells you that another kid put a drop of his SPIT in your coke. Would you want to drink the coke? (No). Why not? (Because even though I love Coke, I would not ever want to drink another person’s spit).

Say This: Just as one drop of spit ruined the entire can of coke, so one sin breaks the perfect relationship that God had with people.

God gave the 10 Commandments to show us that we are NOT good enough to be accepted in God’s sight. We are sinners, and we need a Savior.

Prop: Show a thermometer. PowerPoint:

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Say This: Just as a thermometer shows your parents how sick you are, so the 10 Commandments show us how needy we are for God. The thermometer does not make you better. It simply indicates how sick you are. Keeping the 10 commandments does not make us right with God; they show us our desperate need for Him.

Prop: Show a mirror. PowerPoint:

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Say This: Every day before I leave my house, I look in the mirror to be sure that my face is clean. Suppose I look in the mirror and see a big glob of jelly doughnut on my face. Would I take the mirror and clean my fact with it? (No). The mirror SHOWS me my need to clean my face.

The 10 Commandments are like a mirror. They show me that I have sin all over. They show me that I need a Savior to make me clean and whole again.

Our Need

Most people agree that they have sinned by doing or thinking wrong things. But few people admit that they are HELPLESS sinners. Many people think that THEY can “do something” to take care of their sin. They think that they can outweigh their bad by the good things they do.

PowerPoint:

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The Bible teaches there is NOTHING we can do to make ourselves acceptable to God. In fact, even the good things that we do are viewed as filthy rags.

Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like someone who is "unclean."

       All of the good things we do are like polluted rags to you.

    All of us are like leaves that have dried up.

       Our sins sweep us away like the wind.

God wants to save everyone from their sin, but only those who acknowledge their helplessness can be saved. It’s like the person who is drowning. As long as he is fighting the lifeguard, he can’t be rescued. It is only when he gives up and RECEIVES the help that he can be pulled from the water.

PowerPoint:

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Say This: One day, a young (Matthew 19:22), rich ruler came to Jesus and asked Him a very important question: “What do I have to do in order to live forever with God in heaven?”

PowerPoint:

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Say This: At first, it may look like Jesus gave him a very unusual answer, but you will see how Jesus is helping this man understand his NEED for God.

The Bible says that Jesus looked at him and LOVED him (Mark 10:21). Jesus told him –

Keep the commandments: don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie, and honor your parents.

The young man told Jesus that he had been keeping all of these rules since he was a child.

Ask: At this point, do you think this man was yet seeing his NEED for God? (No, not yet. He was still looking to himself and all that he had done).

Say This: He then asked Jesus if there was anything else he should do.

PowerPoint:

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Jesus told him that he needed to sell everything he owned and give all the money to the poor, then to follow Jesus.

NOW the rich man had a problem that he couldn’t solve. A commandment that he couldn’t keep.

This man needed God. God should have been #1 in his life. But He wasn’t, all of his stuff was #1 instead. All of his stuff was blocking the way to his relationship with God.

Application: Is there anything in your life “blocking the way” to a deep relationship with Jesus?

When he first came to Jesus, he thought he was a pretty good guy. But when Jesus told him to sell everything he owned and give the money to the poor, he realized that fell short; he needed God. He could not save himself.

The Bible says that the young man went away sorrowful.

Ask: Why do you think he was sad? (Because Jesus told him to give up what was most valuable to him).

(Note to the Teacher: This rich young ruler left SAD; whenever the Pharisees left Jesus, they were MAD).

PowerPoint:

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Say This: Jesus then said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it was for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Luke 18:24-25)

I Timothy 6:10 says that the LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all evil.

Luke 16:13 You cannot serve both God and money.

Because Jesus loved this man, He wanted the absolute BEST for him. Jesus wanted to RESCUE him from the cruel worship of money.

Application: When money grabs onto your heart, you find yourself walking away from Jesus.

Say This: Jesus wasn’t merely telling this man to give up his money, Jesus was essentially telling this man that money was blocking his way to God. God was not #1 in his life, and He should be!

This man was enslaved to his stuff, and this hindered him from having a loving relationship with God.

He valued his status as a rich young ruler. If he sold his things and gave the money to the poor, he would no longer be rich and powerful.

Note to the Teacher: from

Then Come, Follow Me (18:22b)

The story of the rich young ruler exposes a raw nerve in us that causes a reaction. But disposing of wealth was not all that Jesus asked the man to do.

"When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.' “(18:22)

He concludes with two commands. "Come" is Greek deuro, an adverb functioning as an interjection, "here, (come) here, come!"[11] The word "follow" is the characteristic word of discipleship, Greek akoloutheo, "' follow,' figuratively, to follow someone as a disciple, 'be a disciple, follow.' "[12]

However, I don't think that the following Jesus invites this man to do is just figurative. Jesus looked at this man and loved him (Mark 10:21). I think He is inviting the rich young man to join Him on His journeys, to become one of the disciples who enjoy the immense and unspeakable privilege of spending time with Jesus and learning from Him on a day-by-day basis. What a wonderful invitation!

But the invitation implicit to us is no less wonderful. We, too, are invited to come to Jesus, and then to follow Him on a spiritual life journey. To enjoy His company, His presence. To be taught along the way by his Word and Spirit. To become part of his great extended family, the Body of Christ throughout the world. And to be filled with hope in the closing days of our journey as we know His promises and feel His comfort with us.

"Come, follow Me," is the invitation Jesus extends to you and me.

Say This: Jesus told him that to be a true disciple, a true follower of Jesus, all this stuff would have to go. Jesus knew, however, that in being a true disciple, this man would have true peace and joy.

The idea of selling his stuff and giving all that money to the poor made the rich young ruler sad (Luke 18:23). He did not want to give up his stuff in order to follow Jesus. He loved his things too much.

The Bible teaches us that we are to love God MOST (Exodus 20:3). This is actually the very first commandment!

And this was the one that made it so hard to be a true follower of Jesus.

Jesus was giving him the opportunity to be freed from the slavery of his money and things to find true freedom, peace, and joy in God.

Application: Is there anything that you love more than God?

Is there anything that stands in the way of your relationship with God?

We must be careful ALWAYS to keep God #1 in our lives.

Main Point: We need God. He should be #1 in our lives.

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