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Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud, 'Honor your father and your mother.'" And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth." Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
- Mark 10:17-31
Yesterday, we read that Jesus left Galilee and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again. The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him. And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?" They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her." And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept." But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch the; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.
Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God." My study bible points out for us that "the man approaches Jesus as a mere human and Jesus replies as such, not denying His own goodness but focusing the man's attention entirely on God: No one is good but One, that is, God."
"You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud, 'Honor your father and your mother.'" Let us remember that Jesus is now in Judea, with Jerusalem the center of Jewish religious worship and leadership. Here He affirms obedience to the Ten Commandments as essential to this quest "for a righteous and eternal life," as my study bible puts it.
And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth." Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Let us first note that Mark's text tells us explicitly that Jesus loved this man, and we can therefore infer that this is the reason for the extra teaching He's about to give. My study bible has a note here: "Jesus recognizes and approves the man's moral righteousness. But He tests him at his point of greatest vulnerability, where he needs to repent most. It is his money that is keeping him from salvation. Jesus challenges him with the ideal of total sacrifice for His sake. The command to sell all is for this man, or for any other whom Christ may call in this particular way, but should not be construed as a universal requirement. Christians are to use their possessions according to God's purposes, above all to help the poor and needy, but they are not to reject ownership of property. However, voluntary poverty is a legitimate part of a freely chosen way of life -- for example, for monastics."
Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!" My study bible tells us, "Riches grip the heart like few other things. When people trust in money more than God, refusing to return their wealth to Christ, they fail to gain eternal life."
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." There are many ways this verse has been interpreted as to the specific meaning of the language here. Whatever way we look at it, my study bible's note is true: "Jesus uses an exaggerated image to indicate the extreme difficulty of entering the kingdom for those given to riches."
And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." My study bible says, "The disciples have done what Jesus asked the rich young man to do. Justification before God is never, in the Old Testament or the New, said to be by faith alone, though it is by faith apart from the law (Gal. 2:16). God calls on people to believe and to act because they believe (see James 2:17)."
So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first." My study bible tells us: "Discipleship is radical self-denial, a total offering of oneself to God. This implies readiness to give up dear possessions or even relationships that stand in the way of following Christ." It also notes regarding verse 30: "That disciples will receive earthly rewards a hundredfold now in this time is not an absolute promise: countless saints and martyrs were not so rewarded. However, God has a way of returning and multiplying earthly blessings along with persecutions to faithful men and women according to His will."
One thing we can note about today's reading is a promise of a kind of exchange, and this is very important. Today's passage includes the lessons of discipleship from the past several days of readings, and particularly those regarding self-sacrifice. Jesus has moved from the discipline of the example of removing an eye, a foot, a hand, so that one may enter heaven maimed rather than hell whole, to this example of sacrifice. The point is that when we come up against something that keeps us from mission then those things must be left behind. Whether we are talking about personal desires or character traits that have to go in order to be better disciples, or possessions that tie us to a place in which we fail to put service to God's calling first, Jesus is talking about detachment, letting things go -- even those things of which we are fondest somehow -- that stand in the way of His real calling, whatever and wherever that is. Let us note that in the example said to the disciples, this includes family relationships as well. If we can use a rather simple modern example, a person who has problems with addiction must often leave behind familiar surroundings, even a family setting, in order to be free of the temptations or triggers that prove too much. If we are called to serve, then Christ will call us out of ourselves somehow, and into a new life of becoming more like Him. There is no set pattern to service, we can't all say where service to Him will manifest. But Jesus promises an exchange here. We exchange a worldly identity -- and all the things that go with it -- for the identity that God breathes into us, the soul that can dwell in eternal life, with Christ as its head and image. And this is the great promise of the hundredfold in today's reading. We know much about the persecution and varied suffering of saints and martyrs, but again a very modern example of finding life in the midst of sacrifice is the heartbreak and disappointment of the things we may think are good to pursue, only to find ourselves abandoned by false dreams and false values, or people it hasn't been good for us to cling to. There also, in that sacrifice of what was precious to us, we find Christ and the life He has for us. That's a very modern story in which we, too, can understand sacrifice as something necessary in order to see the real life He has for us. The world will offer us so many images of ourselves to pursue, so many things we think are good, or even necessary and all we need for a good life. Mission can come anywhere, but it will always be symbolized for us by the Cross. Let us remember the exchange He promises, and that in this encounter with God, where what we formerly loved has been taken away, it is there we find the real beauty that gives us true mission, the light that shines in the darkness. Let us remember the exchange, and in a peculiar sense, the words of the angel in Christ's tomb: "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" We seek life from the author of life, the One who gives us the way, the truth and the life. If it doesn't make much sense on our terms, or through our planning, it's not supposed to! God's transcendence gives us the life that is beyond our own means. Jesus tells us today, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."
