The Rich Man's Struggle
to Enter God's Kingdom
A Reflection on Mark 10:28-31
Part 2: Mark 10:23-31
Continuing my reflection on this scripture, I return to Jesus' sobering words: "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" This statement so disturbed the disciples that Jesus repeats and intensifies it: "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
I understand that Jesus isn't condemning wealth itself but rather identifying the spiritual danger that accompanies it. Wealth can create the illusion of self-sufficiency. When I have everything I need materially, I can easily forget my dependence on God.
"Look how wonderful and amazing I am, I am so brilliant and now everyone knows how successful I really am, I need nothing but my own wisdom, to have and do anything I want." -How foolish!
My faith teaches me that possessions themselves aren't evil, but the attachment to them can become a major obstacle to following Jesus completely with all my heart.
The disciples' astonishment reveals a common misconception of their time (and perhaps ours): that wealth was a sign of God's blessing and favor. If the materially blessed struggle to enter God's kingdom, they wonder, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus' response is profound: "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." This statement is central to our understanding of grace. Salvation is not something I can accomplish through my own efforts; it is God's gift. The Catechism teaches that grace is "the free and undeserved help that God gives us" to respond to his call to become children of God.
Peter, always quick to speak, then points out: "We have left everything to follow you!" I can relate to Peter's sentiment. Following Christ in my faith has required sacrifices. There are things I've had to leave behind—certain relationships, habits, attitudes, and attachments. Like Peter, I sometimes want recognition for these sacrifices. I have no regrets, I pray that when I stand before Jesus in judgement, that He knows my heart was never attached to the things or the successes of this world, but rather my love for Him was my most valued treasure.
Jesus' answer is both comforting and challenging. He promises that no one who has sacrificed for him and the gospel "will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life."
I find in this promise a beautiful description of what the Church is meant to be—a new family where we receive "a hundred times" what we have given up. When I left certain things behind to follow Jesus Christ more fully in the Church, I gained a spiritual family spanning continents and centuries. This isn't prosperity gospel; Jesus explicitly includes "persecutions" in his list of what we will receive. The path of discipleship includes suffering. If you are lavished in this life with comfort and the spoils of this world, without ever suffering, especially never suffering for your faith and love for Jesus, I believe you have received your reward already.
Jesus concludes with the paradoxical statement: "But many who are first will be last, and the last first." This reversal of worldly values is at the heart of our understanding of the Kingdom. The values of God's kingdom often invert the priorities of the world. Success, as defined by Christ, often looks like failure in worldly terms. Wealth in God's eyes often appears as poverty to the world.
In my spiritual journey, I've found that detachment from possessions isn't just about material things. It's about recognizing that everything is a gift, everything belongs ultimately to God, and I am merely a steward. When I hold my possessions with open hands rather than clenched fists, I find the freedom that Christ promises - freedom to follow him more fully and to receive the hundredfold return he guarantees to those who put him first. In eternity, our wealth here means absolutely nothing, but what we do with our wealth reveals where our hearts are. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” -Matthew 6:21
©2025 James Dacey Jr.
