What did Jesus mean by this?

Jesus wanted to put him on the spot,so to speak, Jesus knew the mans heart…Jesus wanted this man, who had everything ,to see what the condition of his heart would have to be like in order to go to heven…we must be compassionate and willing to share when others are in need…

Yes, there are people that have done this, however, they are def. not the majority. I agree with fun when he says it was to reveal the condition of his heart. We are people that are doers… and we think that we have to “do “ something to inherit eternal life. That is what this young man was asking. What can “I do”, to receive what you are offering. Jesus, haveing the ability to understand what the man was thinking, understood and knew what he was asking. So, he went to the heart of the matter, just like he always does. He spoke the hardest thing that he could, in answer to the man, knowing what his response would be, beforehand. His answer showed him exactly how hard it would be to receive eternal life, so that the man could understand the gift that he was being offered. The man went away sad, because he was not willing to give all that he had. Jesus went on to show in the next paragraph, that with God, all things are possible. Which is what he knew, before the conversation. Salvation is possible thru what he has provided, alone. He does not want us to try to earn it, he just wants us to receive it. The man had already been “good”, all his life, he was already doing what was expected of him… Yet… his humaness, wanted to do something to “help out”, or “earn” his salvation… and Jesus… wanted him to know, that this was extremely hard, if not totally impossible. For there are none of us that are “perfect”, we are all flawed, and in need of a savior. To get to heaven, perfection is needed, and we fail the test. Some of us are stronger than others, and some can do some things that others cannot, but, none of us are “perfect.” We have all come short of this standard. We have all failed, in one way or another. Some, agreeably more than others, but, Jesus was establishing the fact that to get to heaven, and live eternally with the Godhead, in a place of perfection, we would not, or could not, get there, by our own standards. Heaven is Gods home, and the place of his throne, it is his right, to set the rules. He is the creator. He is the judge. He, also, is the savior. He rules the universe. He set the sun, moon and stars in their place, he gave us the breath of life, he determines our alloted days on earth, his spirit, is what renews us, to our original place, before sin entered, thru Adam and Eve. He determines the standard of righteousness, by which, we are accepted, back into his realm. He gives the directions, we follow. WE ARE NOT GOD, HE IS. WE ARE NOT SAVED BY OUR OWN POWER, IT IS HIS PROVISION, FREELY GIVEN, THAT MUST BE ACCEPTED. OUR WORKS WILL NOT GET US INTO HEAVEN. HE SAID THAT THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS, WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD. IN THIS CASE, HE IS NOW TALKING ABOUT THE BLOOD OF HIS OWN SON. HIS DEARLY BELOVED, THAT HAD DONE NO WRONG. TOOK ON HUMAN FORM, AS A HELPLESS BABE, BORN OR WOMAN, LIVING IN THE SAME CONDITION, THAT WE ARE, LEARNING, GROWING, EXPERIENCING, JUST AS WE DO, YET… WITHOUT SIN… THIS MAN JESUS, WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT EVER LIVED, THAT FULLY OBEYED THE WILL OF THE FATHER… UNTO DEATH… SO THAT WHOSOEVER WILL, MAY FREELY COME TO THE FATHER, FOR FORGIVENESS OF their SINS. HIS ONE TIME, SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF, APEASED, THE RIGHTEOUS REQUIREMENT OF HIS HEAVENLY FATHER, AND OPENED THE DOOR, FOR US TO COME IN AND BE A PART OF their WORLD, JUST AS IT WAS AT THE BEGINING, BEFORE SIN CAME INTO THE PICTURE. THIS IS GODS PROVISION. HE HAS MADE IT AVAILABLE. IT IS UP TO US, WHETHER OR NOT, WE RECEIVE IT. HE SET THE RULES. WE EITHER OBEY, OR DISOBEY. IT IS FULLY UP TO US. HE HAS DONE ALL HE IS GOING TO DO, TO REDEEM US. HE DOES, HOWEVER, WORK CONTINUALLY , THRU EVERY MEANS AT HIS DISPOSAL, TO DRAW US, TO TEACH US, TO WOO US, TO SHOW US THE TRUTH. YET… MANY OF US, STILL REJECT HIM… WE ARE CHOOSING OUR OWN DESTINY. IF WE DO NOT ACCEPT WHAT HE HAS GIVEN, THERE IS NOTHING ELSE THAT CAN RESTORE US. WE WILL BE FOREVER CAST AWAY FROM HIS PRESENCE. WHEN DEATH COMES, WE WILL THEN UNDERSTAND, ONCE WE CROSS THAT THRESHOLD, INTO THE NEXT REALM, BUT, IT WILL THEN, BE ETERNALLY TOO LATE TO MAKE A DECISION. THE TIME TO DO THAT IS NOW. TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION. REPENT OF UNBELIEF, AND RECEIVE WHAT HE HAS TO OFFER. PEACE AND JOY, IN THE HOLY GHOST, AND LIFE FOREVER MORE, WITH HIM, IN GLORY. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOOSE?

I must disagree with you all. Jesus showed by his example and that of his disciples very clearly what he meant. He meant that his followers should have no possessions, not be concerned with material goods, and trust God for their daily physical needs. Modern Christians make lots of excuses for not having to follow this because it’s neither comfortable nor convenient. Nonetheless, Jesus’s teachings on wealth and possessions are quite clear.

Hello kingofpop Let me just say, It was at that particular time that jesus spoke with the rich ruler, The rich ruler was obedient and followed the commandments he asked Jesus “What do I lack” Jesus replied “Give all your riches to the poor and follow me if you want to be perfect” (There is the the key word PERFECT) the rich ruler chose his riches over everlasting life with Christ becase he could not give away his abundance of materialistic trinkets. There is a choice here, on one hand there is everlasting life or on the other hand a very short time on earth, death and a pile of accumulated treasures

When you said you do not know of any christian giving away all their things, well name me one person who died and took all their treasures with them! Do we not leave all our money and houses to those we love? Leave all our worldly possesions to our children and leave money to charity after we have passed away?

Jesus also said It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. We are not expected to give away everything it states in the bible that God only asks a tenth (If you earn a tenner this week then God only asks for a pound to go to help the poor and needy and if you are very poor a free will offering. Either way God loves a happy giver.

It means to give up your possessions, but not like everything, it means more if you have something you don’t necessarily need and someone else needs it…then you should give it up. It pretty much means don’t be selfish, or more be ready and willing to give up your belongings in order to get into heaven.

I agree with eleni that it’s too easy to make excuses which avoid the impact of these words on our own lives, but I do think we need to look at them in context. The Bible says that Jesus looked at this rich young man (described as a ‘ruler’ in one Gospel) and saw in him (that is ‘him’, not all) the ‘one thing lacking’. In this man, the one thing lacking was that he relied on his wealth and status to prove to himself that he was OK in God’s eyes. The Jews saw material wealth as a direct sign of God’s approval. So this is where Jesus challenged him.

For others there was something else ‘lacking’. For Zaccheus it was the fact that he’d been greedy at the expense of others (a bit different). For the Pharisees it was the fact that most of them used their rules and their dedicated obedience to see themselves as better than the rest. For Herod it was the fact that he’d married his brother’s wife! So Jesus sees what it keeping us back from God and lets us know. It may well be our reliance on wealth. It might be cheating, self-superiority or a relationship, as in the previous examples. It might be something else. It will probably hurt to hear it, whatever it is! (The rich young man walked away when Jesus challenged him with this, although we don’t know if he later followed Jesus’ advice.)

Thus, the advice is similar to Jesus’ dramatic and exaggerated advice to ‘cut off your hand if it offends you’. He was not talking literally, he was saying that even the most important, genuinely valuable things, can keep us from God, and it’s worth giving them up to gain that relationship with God.

All that said, the first church in Acts did sell their posessions and hold all things in common. They believed Jesus’ return was imminent, and that was part of the reason for their radicalism - they didn’t think it would need to go on for too long! But their self-sacrifice and concern for their community rather than for themselves was a mark of their seriousness about Jesus. We do need to see the same sort of dedication in Christian life today. It’s too easy to separate our beliefs from how we spend, how we save and how we create our lifestyles in the western world today.

In short form. . . Jesus is saying He must come first in your life before anything else. . and to give freely of what you have. . . And I like that answer rivercookie. . . Welcome to fun advise.