Back to Matthew 19:13-22...Jesus and the children and the self-confident

 


I came across this post on the Big Horn Flats on the Tonahutu Trail and it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere.  I was on a 26 mile hike to probably end my hikes with the boots on.  It gave me something to think about as I had about 14 miles to go.  What was the sign on this post?  So when I made it home I went digging on the internet to see if I could find a photo of this post with the sign on it.  I found this photo in 2016 that sported half of the sign.


The caption of this picture said they thought it said "Wonderland Lake."  I did a Google Earth search and there was nothing called that in this area.  So I started digging deeper and came up with this picture from 2009.


Now we have the whole sign but it was still hard to make out what it says.  I was thankful that they took another shot that was a close up of the sign.


The mystery is solved and my curiosity has an answer.  Grand Lake 12 miles makes sense looking this way and it made me think that there was probably another sign like it on the North Inlet Trail that travels in the other direction to the same location.  It amazes me that we have this resource at our finger tips that offers us so much information but it took someone posting this material so I could find it 16 years later.

I have preached on this passage of Jesus and the rich young ruler many times.  Going through it again reiterates how the Bible just gives giving and giving.  Jesus takes this young man with his question that is going in the wrong direction not to the right direction directly but rather on a side trip to ultimately answer his question.  There is one thing that has to happen if the rich young ruler is to have eternal life.  That one thing was to respond with repentance.  It was needed that he recognized his sin and reached out to the One who only could provide the solution.  Jesus took him to the need to repent so He could offer him to solution of a lifetime, to come follow Him.  The sad part of the event is that the rich young ruler chooses not to repent.  He chooses to hold onto his sin rather than grab the hand of the Savior.  

The law of God from the only Good, the 10 commandments exposes his sin and God, the only Good, provides the only answer to that exposed sin.  Many times we take people to the cross before taking them to why the cross was so necessary.  In Mark's account the actions of Jesus is recorded prior to Jesus giving the answer to his questions.  It says that Jesus looked at him and loved him and said to him.  He gave His full attention to him.  His motive of love is made known before He says what He is going to say, the truth.  This is a perfect example of speaking the truth in love.  The most loving thing Jesus could have said to the rich young ruler was that he needed to repent but it was said because He truly loved him.  The rich young ruler went away sorrowful because he had so many possessions, his real god.  I would only think that Jesus also was sorrowful to see the rich young ruler going away to continue to follow his god who was not good.  

So much packed into this passage and it leads into the next 2 passages for Jesus' disciples to unpack.  These are such important things to experience and understand prior to Jesus getting to Jerusalem and the cross that would provide the solution for sin.  This truth came also from the motive of love.  The love of the Father to give His one and only Son.  

A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 39th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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