Every time I think of today’s passage, a particular and somewhat peculiar image comes to mind. It’s the image of trapping a monkey. Have you ever heard of this? In parts of the world where monkeys are common, one way to trap them is with something like a box, or a gourd, or a coconut husk. What you do is cut a hole that’s just big enough for the hand of the monkey to slip inside. You place some kind of fruit inside and when the monkey reaches in and grabs the fruit, they can’t get their fist and the fruit back through… they’re trapped… until they let go.

In today's passage, Jesus challenges a rich man to let go of his great wealth in order to inherit the Kingdom. Unfortunately I’ve most often heard this passage used to single out rich folk in our context as those for whom it’s difficult to enter the kingdom. Now, I don’t say that because I think we should somehow soften this hard word for people with wealth. I say it because I think many of us can disassociate with the man who comes to Jesus in this passage if we don’t have a ton of wealth, or because wealth isn’t something we’re attached to.

But, I want to push our listeners on both of those fronts. First, if you view yourself as someone with little wealth. If you are a human in western civilization with access to this podcast episode…. In comparison to the rest of the world and to humanity throughout time, you have extreme wealth. Second, as you’ll see at the end of this passage, Jesus isn’t just talking about money, he’s talking about family, and land, and possessions. He’s talking about any of our attachments. So you are included in this invitation.

We are a society that is held captive by our attachments. Like the monkey who can’t let go of the fruit, we definitely struggle to let go of our money. But what about our ideas of family, success, security, or influence? We hold on to our dreams and desires and whatever we imagine will give our life meaning. But when our fists are tight around other things, how can we take hold of the kingdom of God?

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1. What word or phrase surprised you in this passage?

2. Both the rich man and Peter come to Jesus having done very different things in the interest of inheriting the Kingdom. The rich man has all the right answers, yet is unable to give up something he’s really attached to. Peter has given up a lot to follow Jesus and might struggle with feelings of loss over what he’s set aside. Can you relate to either of them?

3. If you were to come to Jesus and ask him a question like this, what might he point to in your life, and invite you to let it go and trust that he will provide that for you in the present age?

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