The Bible records many of Jesus’ sayings, but we have become so familiar with them, that we overlook how controversial many of them were:
He said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23-24).
The disciples were amazed. Wealth was another area where Jesus upset the mind-set of diligent Jews. They considered the wealthy to be blessed by God, so it was unthinkable that they wouldn’t enter the kingdom. Hence the disciples’ response, “Then who in the world can be saved?” (10:26).
Jesus was turning their values upside down and though they had heard Jesus teach about the attitudes that God blesses in the Beatitudes (Luke 6:20-22), the disciples, at this point, hadn’t changed their thinking from that of the prevailing culture.
