“The Rich Men” (Part Three)

In considering Jesus’ teaching about wealth, we need to also see examples from the pages of the Bible that display how wealth can impact us, both positively and negatively. So far we have seen three such examples, and today we close with the last.

A Rich Man Rescued (Matthew 27:57-60)

Joseph of Arimathea had wealth, but it did not have him—Christ did!

1. Had wealth, but also had Christ.
2. Though he had been afraid (John 19:38) to declare for Christ, at the critical moment in history when the most was at stake, he was not ashamed of the Savior.
3. Supplied his own tomb- notice that there are no disciples there, just Joseph and the women.

He was- the believing rich man.

So back to the beginning, what ever happened to the rich young ruler? One of two things…

Either

He repented and accepted Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior

(in which case, he could have been Joseph of Arimathea)

OR

He died in his sins without hope

(and possibly could have become the rich man of Luke 16)

We all stand at the crossroads with a decision to make- about eternity, about our values, about our basis for hope- and we need to do so with a very important statistic in mind…

One out of every one- dies!

So, the question is… where do you find yourself in the story? Where do I?