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

 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 man who are first will be last, and the last first."

- Mark 10:17-31

Yesterday we read that Jesus 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 them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.  But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little 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 comments that this man does not come to test Jesus, but rather to seek advice from a person whom he considers to be a good Teacher.  Jesus' response is not one that denies that He is God, but is meant to lead this rich young man to that knowledge. 

"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."    This young man has formally kept all the commandments.  But my study bible comments that formal observance of commandments alone does not make a person righteous before God.  This young man had a true desire for eternal life, but he sensed that he still lacked something.  Therefore, he continues to pursue the answer from Jesus.

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.  My study bible makes an important statement here, for all of us.  Our dependency upon Christ also depends upon the sacrifices we make to follow Him.  That is, what we freely and willingly give to make room for Christ in our lives.  This man lacked only one thing.  My study bible says that the specifics of how one follows Christ will be different for each person.  Because wealth had such a strong hold on his identity, his only hope was to sell and give his possessions.  St. John Chrysostom comments that to give away his possessions is the least of the instructions Christ gives to this young man.  But it is a preparation.  To take up the cross, and follow Him is a far greater and more difficult calling.

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."   My study bible tells us that through the centuries, there have been many interpretations suggested for this impossible image of a camel going through the eye of a needle.  Some suggest that the word is not camel, but rather "rope" which sounds similar in Aramaic.  Others suggest that there was a city gate called the eye of a needle which was so tight that a camel could barely squeeze through if it were first unloaded of all of its baggage -- symbolic of wealth or possessions to which we are "tied" or "attached."  In the Talmud there is a similar expression used:  "for an elephant to go through the eye of a needle."  But whatever it is that the original phrase refers to, it clearly conveys the impossibility of salvation for those attached to riches or possessions.  The disciples' astonished response, "Who then can be saved?" tells us the impact of Christ's statement, and the scandalous impossibility of salvation that is suggested.   But even for things that with men are impossible:  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 man who are first will be last, and the last first."    My study bible says that Christ is not commanding believers to divorce spouses and abandon children here.  Rather, according to St. Chrysostom, this indicates the struggle to keep faith under persecution even if it means to lose one's family.  It may also indicate the need for acceptance that unbelieving family members might cut off ties because of the believer's faith (see 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).  My study bible adds that believers are promised a hundredfold of houses and relatives not in an earthly sense, but rather in a spiritual sense.  This includes the fathers and mothers of the Church, all our brothers and sisters in Christ, and houses of worship and fellowship.  Again, Jesus repeats His words to the disciples about what it is to be great, and how greatness is connected to notions of sacrifice and service (see Saturday's reading).

What is sacrifice?  Why does it matter?  In the theology of the Church, to grow in the likeness of Christ also depends upon our willingness to sacrifice.  In the past several readings, Christ has been speaking about the notion of greatness among the apostles.  He has repeatedly emphasized that to be great -- or "first" -- among them, one must be prepared to be "last."  In order to truly assume positions of great responsibility and authority in the Church, each one must be prepared to sacrifice impulses that would lead to abuse of power and corruption.  Jesus gives illustration of the difficulties of this process by using metaphors of bodily mutilation:  a hand, a foot, an eye.  These stand in for those impulses of selfish abuse and exploitation and personal passions (see Saturday's reading).  They stand in for examples of impulses to abuse power over others.  In today's reading, Jesus calls upon a rich young man to make sacrifices and to give to the poor.  This calls us to the heart of what is understood as "righteous" behavior.  But it cuts even more deeply into the truths of who we are.  St. John Chrysostom, early father of the Church and the one whose name is borne on the liturgy that shapes all traditional worship services, is acute enough to teach us that this is not a question of simple justice, but that, in fact, it is the path we all must go to perfection in Christ.  This young man is asked to do this not for the sake of the poor, but for his own sake.  His attachment to his riches is too strong; he is unable to truly "follow Christ" without first making such a sacrifice.  We can see how devastatingly difficult it is for the young man, who goes away disappointed.  Perhaps our greatest clue here is the explicit statement in the Gospels that Jesus loved him.  This is a strong, active statement, and is borne out in the command Jesus gives to him that follows:  "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."   It is giving this command that is the action of divine love in Christ for this young rich man.  So it is with each of the disciples who have left all and followed Him, and so it is with us.  As St. Chrysostom, in his understanding and wisdom, points out, we may not be given the same commands.  We each will have different things to which we are so fully attached that such attachment stands in the way of a deeper identity we will find in our communion with Christ.  Nevertheless, to give away or cut off from ourselves such attachments may feel like cutting off a hand or a foot or an eye.   It may be that we are asked even to leave family members behind, or other relationships that we hold dear, should they prevent us from a fully loving communion with Christ in the heart, an understanding of ourselves as a follower or disciple of Christ.  The things or even people we find ourselves deeply attached to may be pulling us away from the direction Christ wants us to go toward.  Our own beliefs and choices or habits may do the same.  The way of the cross that Christ proposes for each of us (in His command to the rich young man) is a way of giving up what stands in the way of this depth of identity in Christ.  In this context, we may sacrifice what the world thinks is good, but it is in order to receive what Christ thinks is good for us, a true greatness that bears Christ into the world through us.  Is there something standing in your way of making such a choice?  Do you find yourself at the crossroads of a difficult decision?   Let us note clearly that the sacrifice Jesus calls for from the rich young man seems dramatically nonsensical on strictly worldly terms.  So may it be in our own lives.  But it is in the following through of those choices that we find ourselves and come to ourselves.  It is the way of the cross for each, and in doing so we find substance that doesn't exist for us otherwise.