In the account of the rich young man, the natural order of things is reversed. The one who was young and wealthy left the presence of Jesus, the poor and rejected. The one who was materially rich was, in the end, spiritually bankrupt. For all of his affluence and influence, he shrank away in sorrow from the One who was joy incarnate. The young man’s riches could not help him, and he had just turned his back on the only One who could. The story is not so much a warning against wealth as it is an invitation to come to Jesus and inherit eternal life.
Christ is worth infinitely more than what we see, touch, and gain in this quick and temporal life. He is worth leaving houses, lands, and loved ones for (19:29). He is worth selling everything for (13:44, 46). He is worth the often humiliating wait at the back of this world’s line.
The world will look at you with ridicule for whatever it is you gave up for Christ, but they won’t see that, in Him, you now stand at the front of the line. Jesus changes everything!