Who then can be saved?

 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 and the disciples 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 notes that this man does not come to test Jesus, but to seek advice from one he considers to be only a good Teacher.  Jesus' response does not deny that He is God, but rather is designed to lead this rich young man to this knowledge.

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."   My study bible points out here that formal observance of commandments doesn't make a person righteous before God.  This man has an earnest desire for eternal life, and he still sensed he lacked something.  Therefore he continues to press Jesus for the answer.

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.  To be perfect, my study bible tells us, asks of us a kind of sacrifice that is whole and not partial.  That is, we put our lives in the hands of Christ, and give our whole selves to find direction and guidance for what we need.  In this sense, we sacrifice all and we follow Christ.  This is the fullness that the young man lacks.  My study bible adds that nothing is gained unless this sacrifice is given freely.  But the specifics of how one follows Christ will be different for each person.  As wealth had such a grip on this rich man, his real hope was to sell and give away all of his possessions.   According to commentary by St. John Chrysostom, this is the least of the instructions Christ gives here.  To follow Him in all things 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 of the various interpretations which have been given for this image of a camel going through the eye of a needle.  Some have suggested that the word for "camel" in Aramaic is similar to "rope," and so perhaps this is the correct wording -- suggesting possibly a rope broken down into its tiniest threads and passed through the eye of a needle.  There is another suggestion that the "eye of a needle" was a particular city gate, through which a camel might barely squeeze only if it were first unloaded of all its baggage, which could symbolize wealth.  In the Talmud there is the expression "for an elephant to go through the eye of a needle."  But whatever the phrase might refer to, or however we understand it, my study bible says that it displays the impossibility of salvation for those who are attached the riches or possessions.  This is  revealed in the response of the disciples, "Who then can be saved?"  But with God's grace, even what is impossible for human beings alone can come to be.

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."  The disciples then ask -- in the person of Peter -- about their own sacrifices to follow Christ.  My study bible comments that Jesus is not commanding believers to divorce spouses and abandon children.  According to St. John Chrysostom, this refers to keeping faith under persecution, even if it means to lose one's family.  But it also can teach us that we must accept that some unbelieving family members may sever ties because of one's faith (see 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).   Believers are promised a hundredfold of houses and relatives not in an earthly sense, but a spiritual one.  In the Church we have fathers and mothers,  sisters and brothers in Christ, and houses of worship and fellowship.

 It is interesting for us to consider the ties that Jesus promises us within our faith.  According to the teaching to this young man, and the explanations of my study bible, it is necessary to sacrifice for the sake of following Christ.  This isn't a formula in which you must give up x, or y, or z.  Rather, it is a question of relationship.  We are related to Christ in our faith not in part, but wholeheartedly.  Faith doesn't just take one little piece of us and say that we can keep the rest back.  The soul can't be divided up into sections, with some going to God and some bound only to earthly or worldly things.  We're not meant to be split, and such a split will always create pain or discomfort.  It is something needing to be reconciled.  But our relationship to God might be similar to a relationship to a spouse, in the sense that we're not bound simply by what's convenient or what suits a limited perspective.  Just as a marriage will always ask us to grow and stretch beyond what we might have understood or expected, so our relationship to God will ask us for something even more deep and far-reaching.  For our relationship to Christ is one as creation to Creator; that is, the whole of our well-being depends upon that relationship.  We are sustained in God's love and reality, and we depend upon God for our existence.  Therefore, the things that get in the way of our growth in that particular relationship are the things we place first, the things we might worship in place of God.  If we are defined by wealth or possessions more deeply than we are defined in terms of the relationship to God, then we esteem those possessions highly indeed.  God doesn't ask us for more than we can do, but our way of following Christ will pull us along to consider what things are getting in the way of our own fullness.  Again, as in a marriage, it is that wholeness of a relationship, person-to-person, that changes us and draws us into deeper self-identity.  That wholeness of the person-to-person relationship challenges us to dig more deeply within ourselves, to be transformed, and to come to terms with a deeper identity of the heart.  So it is in our relationship with God, only that relationship is person-to-Person.  One day we might be perfectly happy with a habit leftover from childhood.  But the next day we might find it creating discomfort, not fitting with our present, more grown state of life.  We may find ourselves having to choose between the childhood habit and our own growth, and this is especially true of discipleship in our faith, which will always ask us to grow as persons.  Our faith is going to ask us to become real adults, and truly mature.  We are going to have to come to terms with the courage to face life in which all of our friends might not approve of our faith, in which father or mother might not agree with the place we believe our prayers ask us to go -- just as family members may resent a devotion to a spouse, in which "two become one flesh."  St. John Chrysostom tells us that giving up possessions may be the easiest command we face.  If we think about it, it is far harder to change relationships, to face the turbulence of those whom we love for the sake of our faith.  But at the core of our faith is this relationship in which Christ tells us, "Follow Me."  This is a lifetime discipline, a life in which there are many turns and changes in the road, and we may find ourselves late in life as someone our younger selves could never possibly have recognized or anticipated.  Let us "let go" enough to follow on that journey, and be glad for what the journey brings, for Jesus also promises us extended relations we didn't have, new things of beauty to pursue and behold, and a greater happiness than we understood without Him.  Many have journeyed on this road of faith, and we have their testimonies.  We have the lives of the saints, and the many who in modern day understanding give us their own journeys of change:  through help with addictions of all kinds, through help with family and spousal relations, through God's help to understand and accept the difficult and disappointing circumstances of life.  Let us understand the challenge to meet His love and find acceptance of the things He asks of us.  Today in this period of Lent, we all go through transformation of a kind that asks us what we find most important.  At the very least, we are all asked to remain at home, possibly away from work and jobs, away from loved ones and elderly parents who need and love us.  We have to weigh the challenges in terms of what is more important, and all of it is, to some extent, a sacrifice.  Let us consider our prayerful period of Lent, and find our way in more deeply seeking His will.  Let us commune with Christ regularly in prayer, and leave things in His hands.  We cannot control everything, and perhaps that very notion of control is something He is asking us to relinquish right now.  Let us see what life is like when things are in His hands, when we place our faith in a deeper sense of priority, and find time to meet with Him, His word, and our brothers and sisters who help us strengthen our faith when we need it most.