“Matthew 19–20; Mark 10; Luke 18,” New Testament Institute Teacher Manual (2025)
Christ and the Rich Young Ruler, by Heinrich Hofmann
Matthew 19–20; Mark 10; Luke 18
The Savior taught important truths about divorce and marriage. He blessed little children and taught a rich young man what was required to follow Him. Those who sacrifice for Christ will receive everlasting life. Jesus taught the parables of the laborers in the vineyard, the unjust judge, and the Pharisee and the publican.
Additional Resources
Scripture Helps: New Testament, “Matthew 19–20; Mark 10; Luke 18”
The “Introduction to the Course” provides guidance on how to use the four standard lesson elements that follow.
Encouraging Personal Study
Before class, consider sending students one or more of the following messages or some of your own:
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What questions do you have about marriage and divorce? Read Matthew 19:3–6 to learn what the Savior taught about marriage and divorce. You could also watch the video “Marriage and Divorce” (3:02).
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Have you ever felt that someone didn’t deserve a blessing because they didn’t put in the same work as you did? Read Matthew 19:27–30; 20:1–16, and ponder what you learn from this parable.
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How do you think the Lord might respond if you asked Him, “What more can I do to follow Thee?” Consider how Mark 10:17–22 could help you learn how the Lord might answer this question.
Questions and Sharing
Provide time for students to ask questions and share insights and truths they discovered in their personal study of Matthew 19–20; Mark 10; Luke 18.
Skill Training
Matthew 19:1–9 might be a helpful place to use the skill “Sharing Gospel Truths with Love and Sensitivity” in Scripture Study Skills.
Learning Activity Options
Multiple learning options are provided for you and your students. Prayerfully choose which option or options will be most meaningful for your class.
What did Jesus Christ teach about marriage?
Improving Our Teaching and Learning
Share gospel truths with sensitivity and love. When discussing difficult topics, approach them with sensitivity, understanding, and kindness. Model how to talk about the truth with love. It may be important to take some time to discuss and practice the skill “Sharing Gospel Truths with Love and Sensitivity” in Scripture Study Skills.
Consider inviting students to discuss the following questions:
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What are some of the attitudes about dating and marriage in the world today? Read Matthew 19:3–9 as a class. Invite students to mark words and phrases that demonstrate how the Lord feels about marriage.
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What specific phrases in this passage help you understand the Lord’s view on marriage? (Students may identify truths like the following: Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and intended not to be broken apart.)
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What do you find challenging about these verses? Consider reading and discussing “Matthew 19:3–9. What did Jesus Christ teach about marriage and divorce?” in Scripture Helps: New Testament.
Since your students may have a wide variety of views on marriage, you could display the following questions and resources and let them decide what they would like to discuss:
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What if I’m anxious about marriage? Watch “Face to Face for YSA: with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Sister Carole M. Stephens, and Elder Donald L. Hallstrom” from time code 15:25 to 25:46. Then discuss what you learned.
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What do the Lord’s prophets teach about divorce in our day? Watch and discuss “Marriage and Divorce” (3:02). Or read and discuss the following statement by President Dallin H. Oaks:
3:2There are many good Church members who have been divorced. … We know that many of you are innocent victims—members whose former spouses persistently betrayed sacred covenants or abandoned or refused to perform marriage responsibilities for an extended period. Members who have experienced such abuse have firsthand knowledge of circumstances worse than divorce. …
… For most marriage problems, the remedy is not divorce but repentance. …
… Spouses should do all within their power to preserve their marriages. … They should be best friends, kind and considerate, sensitive to each other’s needs, always seeking to make each other happy. They should be partners in family finances, working together to regulate their desires for temporal things. …
… A good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect woman. It only requires a man and a woman committed to strive together toward perfection. (“Divorce,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 70–71, 72, 73)
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What are some practical steps you can take to create a happy and lasting marriage? Read paragraph seven in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (Gospel Library), and discuss key principles to creating a happy and lasting marriage.
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What successful marriages have you seen? What have you learned from them? (Consider watching “Enduring Love” (4:16) to see an example of loving service within a marriage.)
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You might bear your testimony about the Lord’s teachings on marriage.
How can I avoid feeling envious when God blesses others?
You might share the following scenario:
John doesn’t want to admit it, but he feels a little envious at the good fortune and blessings a friend has recently experienced. This friend just recently started attending church again after he stopped coming several years ago. John wonders why his own years of Church service and faithfully living the gospel haven’t resulted in similar blessings.
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What are your thoughts about this scenario?
Remind students that before Jesus shared the parable of the laborers, Peter asked what reward the disciples would receive for forsaking all to follow Him (see Matthew 19:27–30). Invite students to read the parable in Matthew 20:1–16, or you could show the video “Laborers in the Vineyard” (3:05). Ask students to look for what the parable can teach us about Jesus Christ. (It may help to point out that the word penny in this parable refers to a denarius, a Roman coin typically used to pay a laborer for a full day of work.)
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If you had worked all day, how would you feel about receiving the same wage as those who worked for only an hour?
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What do you learn about God in this parable? (Students might share truths like the following: God is generous and desires to bless all people.)
Share and discuss the following statement by President Jeffrey R. Holland:
As the householder in the parable tells them (and I paraphrase only slightly): “My friends, I am not being unfair to you. …You are paid in full. Take your pay and enjoy the blessing. As for the others, surely I am free to do what I like with my own money.” Then this piercing question to anyone then or now who needs to hear it: “Why should you be jealous because I choose to be kind?”
… There are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition. May I plead with us not to be hurt—and certainly not to feel envious … ? We are not diminished when someone else is added upon. …
… This is a story about God’s goodness, His patience and forgiveness, and the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a story about generosity and compassion. It is a story about grace. It underscores the thought I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it. …
My beloved brothers and sisters, to those of you who have been blessed by the gospel for many years because you were fortunate enough to find it early, to those of you who have come to the gospel by stages and phases later, and to those of you—members and not yet members—who may still be hanging back, to each of you, one and all, I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there. (“The Laborers in the Vineyard,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 31–33)
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What stood out to you from President Holland’s teachings?
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In what ways have you enjoyed God’s goodness, generosity, and mercy?
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What can you do to be more joyful and less envious when others receive blessings from God? (Students could record their thoughts and feelings.)
Consider reminding students of the scenario about John from the beginning of this learning activity. You could invite the students to share what they learned from this parable that could be helpful for John to understand.
What can I do to show the Lord I am fully committed to Him?
You could write on the board the following question: What lack I yet?
Read together Mark 10:17–22, or watch “Christ and the Rich Young Ruler” (2:28). Invite students to reflect on the question written on the board and the Savior’s response.
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Why was the Savior’s request hard for the rich young man? What is something hard the Savior has asked of you? (Consider asking students to ponder the second question silently.)
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What was the Lord asking of the young man besides forsaking his riches? (Students may identify a truth like the following: If we desire to follow Jesus Christ, we must be willing to give our all to Him.)
Consider displaying the following statement by President Jeffrey R. Holland:
With or without riches, each of us is to come to Christ with the same uncompromised commitment to His gospel that was expected of this young man. In the vernacular of today’s youth, we are to declare ourselves “all in.” (“The Greatest Possession,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 8)
Invite students to form small groups and come up with one or two examples of what it means to be “all in” as we come unto Christ. If helpful, you could display the following discussion prompts:
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Repenting of my sins can show I am “all in” because …
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Making and keeping temple covenants show I am “all in” because …
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Sharing the gospel with a friend can show I am “all in” because …
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Committing to a temple marriage can show I am “all in” because …
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Accepting a challenging Church calling can show I am “all in” because …
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Serving a mission can show I am “all in” because …
Give students time to share their examples of what it means to be “all in.” You might invite students to ponder and record something they feel impressed to do to show the Lord that they are “all in.”
How can I avoid a self-righteous attitude?
You could write the word self-righteous on the board and invite students to think of ways they might sometimes view themselves as better or more righteous than other people. They might consider how such an attitude may have influenced the way they viewed or treated others.
Read Luke 18:9 together, and invite students to identify the reason Jesus shared this parable.
Draw the following chart on the board:
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Pharisee |
Publican |
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Invite students to read Luke 18:10–14 and to compare the prayers of the Pharisee and the publican. If needed, review “Publican” and “Pharisees” in the Guide to the Scriptures (Gospel Library).
Ask students to write words and phrases on the board that reflect the attitudes of the Pharisee and the publican. Students could explain what these words and phrases suggest about each of the men. You might share that when the publican “smote upon his breast” (Luke 18:13), he was expressing anguish and deep sorrow.
What is missing from the Pharisee’s prayer that is evident in the publican’s prayer? What principles can we identify in this parable? (Students might share principles like the following: God offers mercy to the humble. Self-righteousness hinders repentance and compassion toward others.)
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How does self-righteousness hinder our repentance? How does it hinder our compassion toward others?
Watch Elder Robert C. Gay share an experience in “Taking Upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ” [time code 0:37 to 2:52]. What did you learn from the experience shared by Elder Gay?
How did the Savior, who was without sin, treat those who had sinned? (see for example, John 8:1–11; Luke 7:36–50).
Consider displaying the following teaching from Elder Dale G. Renlund:
A repenting sinner draws closer to God than does the self-righteous person who condemns that sinner. (“Our Good Shepherd,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 31)
To help students feel the importance of avoiding self-righteousness and of being humble, invite them to reflect on times they have experienced or witnessed the power of humility. Encourage students to share examples. Invite students to prayerfully think about what they will do to cultivate a humble and repentant attitude.