Mark 10:17-31
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
The key phrase in this passage, I think, is this: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said,….” Without this phrase, we can read Jesus’ instructions to give everything away either as a test to see if this man was really faithful or as a requirement for entrance into the kingdom of God. When we hear that Jesus says what he says out of love, however, that changes everything. Now Jesus is not setting the bar, he’s responding to need.
“You lack one thing,” Jesus goes on to say. I don’t think this is “lack” in the sense of “you can’t get into the kingdom without it.” Rather, I think it’s more, “there is one thing keeping you from full and abundant life.” Part of what leads me in this direction is a detail from the very first sentence: “As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him.” Think of the other scenes in Mark’s story of Jesus where people have “knelt” or “bowed down” (same word in Greek): Jairus, begging for healing for his daughter (5:22), the woman who had been bleeding to explain why she touched him hoping for healing (5:33), and the Syrophoenician woman asking that Jesus cast a demon out of her daughter (7:25). Do you see what I mean? All these stories are healing stories. In fact, I can’t think of a story in Mark where someone runs up and kneels or bows down who isn’t asking for healing.
What if this is a healing story as well? Perhaps the man isn’t just desperate, but sick, soul sick with all his possession. But he doesn’t know it. And so Jesus tells him – not to test him or raise the bar or give him a how-to guide to getting in heaven, but because he loves he loves him – that the one thing that is keeping him from enjoying the abundant life God promises here and now is all his possessions. And so Jesus tells him out of love to give them away.
And he can’t. The diagnosis is too great, the illness runs too deep. He has literally lost himself amid his possessions because he can’t imagine himself or his life without them.
Is there a part of our lives that we can’t imagine being without? If not wealth, is it career, or family, or loved ones, or accomplishments, or our memories? The typical move at this point would be to suggest that these things are also keeping us from Jesus. Maybe that’s true; I don’t know. Instead, let me say two things, maybe three. 1) Whatever Jesus asks of you, he will ask out of love. 2) The odd and difficult thing is that sooner or later we may very well lose many of the things we cherish to age or fortune or circumstances. 3) When that happens, Jesus will still be there to love us, just as he loves us now.
Prayer: Dear God, You are love. Remind us of your love and help us to trust your love enough to let other things go. Remind us of your love and help us to love one another. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: Michael Belk, “Jesus and the Rich Young Man”
What a wonderful perspective – a healing story! Thanks so much for this. One thing I’ve always wondered, though, is whether the man might actually follow Jesus’ prescription. People always assume he walks away and never looks back. But really, mightn’t he have walked away to sell his belongings, then return to follow Jesus. He never says, “I can’t” or “No, I won’t do that.” The scripture says he walked away shocked and grieving, and both reactions would be appropriate for a man intending to do the very thing Jesus prescribed. Personally, I like to think he went through some appropriate mourning about giving up his life of wealth, but then did sell his belongings and followed Jesus.