The Rich Young Ruler
Matthew 19:16-30
April 24, 2016
Kids will understand:
 The story of the rich young man who came to Jesus.
 That Jesus pointed out the difficult.
 That each person has to make sure they are keeping the first commandment—
there is nothing that is more important than God in their lives.
Activity
Supplies:
basketball
paper wad
garbage can
6 soda crackers
butter
bread
plastic knife
spoon
paper plate
Ask the kids the following questions. Then choose one of them by saying, “Prove it!”
Bring them forward to demonstrate.
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Who can bounce a basketball 20 times without messing up?
Who can eat 6 soda crackers in one minute?
Who can throw a paper wad across the room and hit that garbage can?
Who can walk around the room rubbing their belly, patting their head, and
singing “Jesus Loves Me”?
Who can spread butter on bread using only one hand?
Who can put their elbows together behind their back?
Who can hang a spoon from their nose for 10 seconds?
Who can spin around 10 times fast without getting dizzy?
We’re going to hear about a young man who came to Jesus and said he wanted
something. Jesus’ answer was kind of like saying, “Prove it.” There was one thing the
young man had to do to prove that he was living the first commandment, “You shall
have no other gods before Me.”
Bible Account
Divide the kids into 2 groups. Assign group #1 to say, “And Jesus said” and group #2 to
say, “And the rich young man said.” Point to the appropriate group when indicated in the
story. Beforehand, recruit 2 adults to say the dialogue. One will be responsible for the #1
quotations and the other adult will be responsible for the #2 quotations. Ask these people
to read through the story several times in preparation, so they can add plenty of emotion
and inflection, and not appear to be reading. The narrator will tell the part of the story
which is not in quotations.
(Narrator) One day a young man approached Jesus. It was easy to tell that he was
wealthy, because he wore expensive clothing.
(point to group #2 kids) And the rich young man said,
(adult #1) Teacher, sir, tell me what good thing I have to do so that I can receive
everlasting life.
(point to group #1) And Jesus said,
(adult #2) Why do you ask me about good things? There is only One who is good.
(point to group #2) And the rich young man said,
(adult #1) But is there something else I can do to receive eternal life?
(point to group #1) And Jesus said,
(adult #2) Obey the commandments that God has given.
(point to group #2) And the rich young man said,
(adult #1) Which ones are you talking about?
(point to group #1) And Jesus said,
(adult #2) Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not lie about
someone. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.
(point to group #2) And the rich young ruler said,
(adult #1) I’ve obeyed all of these. What else should I do?
(point to group #1) And Jesus said,
(adult #2) Go sell everything you own and give the money to the poor. Then, come
follow Me. That will give you treasure in heaven.
(point to group #2) And the rich young ruler said,
(Narrator) Nothing. He hung his head, turned around, and walked away from Jesus.
He was sad because he had many possessions and he didn’t want to give them up.
(point to group #1) And Jesus said,
(adult #2) Let me tell you something. It is VERY difficult for a rich person to enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. Actually, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than it is for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.
Was the rich young man obeying the first commandment that says that you should
have no other gods before Me? How was Jesus asking the rich young man to “Prove
It” that God had first place in his life?
Science Experiment
Supplies:
2 eggs
2 clear glasses of water
salt
Beforehand, put lots of salt in one glass of water. Make sure it is dissolved completely.
What did Jesus want the rich young man to do? Accept answers. Gently place one egg
in the plain water. The egg will go to the bottom of the glass. Jesus wanted to see if the
young man was willing to go all the way with his devotion to God. The egg went the
entire way. For the man to go all the way he would have to prove that his god was not
his possessions. Jesus told him he could prove that by selling everything he owned and
giving the money to the poor.
But what did the rich young man do? Accept answers. Gently place the other egg in the
salty water. It will not go to the bottom, but will be suspended halfway or make its way
back to the top (depending on the amount of salt you have in the water). The rich young
man couldn’t go all the way in his devotion. There were other things that were more
important to him that he couldn’t give up. What got in his way? It was his riches. What
do you think got in the way of this egg so that it didn’t go all the way to the bottom like
the other one? There was salt in the water. There was something in the rich young
man’s life. What do you think it was? Did God hold first place in the young man’s life?
The young man said he had kept the commandments since he was a child, but Jesus
pointed out that he hadn’t by what he tells him to do. What does Jesus tell him to do?
Jesus said to go and sell everything and come follow Him. The first commandment is to
worship only the one true God, but the man’s actions and decisions made it obvious
that he was worshipping his possessions instead.
Game
Supplies:
“What’s Missing?” PowerPoint game
Show the first slide of the collection of objects. Give the children 20 seconds to view
them and try to remember what they saw. The slides that follow will each have one of
those objects missing. Look closely to identify what is missing.
To be successful at this game, we had to think about what was missing and study the
picture to figure it out. Sometimes the answer came to us quickly. And other times, we
needed the help of a friend. We knew something was missing … we just weren’t sure
what it was. How is this game like the story of the rich young man?
Message – Part 1
Supplies:
PowerPoint slides #2 and #3
If we’re honest, we can all relate to the story of this rich young man. We’ve owned
things that became too important to us. We’ve had things we didn’t want to give up.
God chose this story to be in the Bible so that we could learn about ourselves, and so
we could learn what God expects of us. So, let’s see what we can learn.
(show slide #2) We must realize something is missing.
In the game we just played, we figured out what was missing. But, what this rich young
man was dealing with was not a “thing” that was missing.
The young man would not have come to Jesus with his question if he hadn’t been
troubled by the feeling that something was not quite right in his life. He felt like
something was missing and he wanted Jesus’ help. The man was missing knowing for
sure that he was part of the Kingdom of God.
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What does it feel like when you know your life is not the way God wants it to
be?
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What should we do when we realize that there’s something missing in our lives?
The rich young man went to Jesus, and we can go to God in prayer to ask Him
for answers.
(show slide #3) We cannot “do” our way into heaven.
Each time Jesus named one of the commandments, the rich young man checked them
off. He had not broken any of the commandments that Jesus listed. He had not
murdered anyone. He had not stolen anything. He had been faithful to his wife. He
had honored his father and mother. He sounded like an all-round pretty good guy.
When Jesus said there was only one thing left, I bet the man was pretty excited. I
wonder if he thought, “One more thing on my list and I’ll have heaven.” But the “one
more thing” that Jesus told him was huge to the young man.
People today are guilty of doing the same thing, though … even people who are
believers. We have things on our list like: read our Bibles, memorize scripture, pray,
help our neighbor, and go to church. These are all good things, but checking them off
our list is not all that God wants. He wants us to prove that we have no other gods
before Him—that nothing in our lives is more important than Him.
Puppets - Video
Supplies:
video – “It’s on the List”
Today’s video element is a puppet show where one puppet has an interesting list that
she thinks will help her get closer to God. When a friend tries to show her the truth
about what would help her get closer to God, she’s not so sure that sounds like a good
idea. Our puppet wanted to “do” her way into heaven; she wanted to mark things off
her list in order to receive the Kingdom of Heaven. Show the video “It’s on the List.”
Message – Part 2
Supplies:
PowerPoint slide #4
(show slide #4) We may not like Jesus’ answer.
The Bible tells us that when the young man heard Jesus’ answer to his question,
“What should I do to receive the Kingdom of Heaven?” he didn’t like what he heard.
Jesus told him he had to do something that was going to be really hard for him to do.
Jesus could see that the rich young man’s possessions were really important to him. All
the people in town knew that he was wealthy and treated him special because of that. If
he gave all that up, he wouldn’t be looked up to in his town. He wouldn’t be treated in
special ways that only rich people were treated.
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What do you think the young man thought Jesus’ answer would be?
How do you think God felt when the rich young man turned away?
When we ask God for an answer, sometimes it might be the answer we were thinking it
would be. But, sometimes His answer may be difficult to accept. It might mean that we
have to do something that scares us or makes us uncomfortable or that we just don’t
really want to do. Let me tell you about 2 different people who asked God for an
answer.
Story #1: Molly’s husband was a minister and had been contacted about going to Africa
as a missionary. Molly was frightened because of the stories she had heard about Africa.
Her grown children would be far away and she would miss them if they went to Africa.
But, Molly prayed for God’s answer. The answer that Molly wanted was for God to say,
“You don’t have to go to Africa, Molly.” Instead, God assured Molly that everything
would be all right. She went to Africa and fell in love with the people there, because
that’s what God had planned. Molly followed God’s instructions, even though they were
difficult.
Story #2: Daryl loved his remote control airplanes. Every evening, he rushed home,
grabbed some dinner, and then went to the garage to put more airplanes together. On the
weekends, he went to remote control airplane shows and to special events where he could
show off what he built. His wife and children hardly ever saw him. One day his family
talked to him about how they missed him and wished he would spend a little time with
them. Daryl prayed that God would give him some direction and God told Daryl that he
needed to give up his airplanes. Daryl refused! That was too much for God to ask.
Unfortunately, Daryl’s wife and children left; years later Daryl realized that he had made
his remote control airplanes more important than his family. God told him that, but Daryl
wouldn’t accept God’s answer.
When we ask God for an answer, it may mean that we are going to have to change and
that can be painful. Be ready to hear God’s answer and live by it.
Message – Part 3
Supplies:
PowerPoint slide #5
(show slide #5) It is difficult for someone who is rich to give God first place.
Do you know someone who is rich? Ask the children to name people they consider to be
rich. Are you rich? If you live in America, more than likely the rest of the world looks
at you as rich. So in the eyes of the world, every one of us is the rich young man of this
Bible story. Are our nice homes, our cars, our video games, our vacations taking the
place of God in our lives? Are they more important than worshipping the One True
God?
What did Jesus say about how difficult it is for a rich man to get into heaven? He said
it was easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle. Can you imagine that?
Activity
Supplies:
giant rubber band or
smaller rubber bands
needle
A local office supply store will have the giant rubber bands that are used around bundles
of documents, magazines, etc. If you can’t find one of these big rubber bands, then make
your own by knotting a rubber band chain together to make a circle.
Just in case you need the instructions for making a rubber band chain.
 Place 2 rubber bands end to end, laying one rubber band slightly over the end of
the other so they overlap.
 Lift the part of the rubber band that is underneath up, over the part of the rubber
band that is on top of it, and then through itself (outside the overlapped part).
 Keep pulling it through and tighten. It will form a knot that holds the 2 rubber
bands together.
 Repeat this knot-tying process by adding one rubber band at a time to the chain.
 Tie the ends together to make a loop of your desired size.
You want the large rubber band or the loop you made to be big enough that a child can
stretch it to go through it, but tight enough that it is difficult. This will be your eye of the
needle.
Choose one child to try to go through the rubber band without any assistance. Start with it
over their head and then they will take the rubber band all the way down their body so
they can step out of it. If you have multiple rubber bands, then get several kids doing this
at the same time.
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Is the eye of a needle bigger or smaller than our rubber band?
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Is a camel bigger or smaller than the person who went through the rubber
band?
Hold up a needle and show how small the eye is. Can you imagine a camel trying to get
through this little hole! Jesus was making a point about difficulty when He said that it
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. That’s going to be pretty hard.
Does that mean that there are no rich people in heaven? No. Jesus was saying that
when people have a lot, they get attached to their stuff. They tend to make their stuff
more important than anything else … more important than their families, more
important than their friends, more important than God. It’s very easy for a rich person
to make their money and riches into their god. And it’s not easy for them to give them
up.
Blessing
May you have no other gods before our God.