Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!”
- KJV And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
- NKJV Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”
- NASB And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”
- NLT Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus observes how hard it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom. Wealth easily becomes a barrier to wholehearted trust in God.
Overview
Turning the encounter into teaching, Jesus warns that riches breed self-reliance and divided hearts. The difficulty lies not in money itself but in the trust and security people place in it. This challenges the common assumption that prosperity is a sign of God's favor and readiness for the kingdom.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Cor 1:26Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.
- Luke 18:24Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!
- Mark 3:5Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Matt 18:3“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Mark 10:15Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
- Jas 4:4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
- John 3:5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
- 2 Pet 1:11and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
- Matt 19:23–26Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Mark 5:32But He kept looking around to see who had done this.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 10:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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