Mark 10:17-31.
MARK 10:17-31.
THE STORY OF THE RICH YOUNG MAN.
SEEMS A SIMPLE STORY DOESN’T IT?
IF YOU ARE RICH YOU WON’T GET INTO HEAVEN!
EASY, THAT’S IT WE CAN ALL GO HOME.
HAVE AN EARLY MORNING.
BUT WE CAN’T GO HOME YET, YOU MAY SAY.
OUR HUSBANDS, WIVES WON’T BE EXPECTING US, AND IT’S TOO EARLY TO GO TO THAT DINNER WE’VE BOOKED.
OKAY, SO LET’S LOOK AT THE STORY A LITTLE MORE CLOSELY.
THE STORY OF THIS PASSAGE IS STRAIGHT FOREWORD:
IT IS NOT REALLY ABOUT MONEY.
IT’S ABOUT THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE BY DOING THE WILL OF GOD.
THIS IN JESUS’ TIME FOR A JEW, MEANT OBEYING THE LAW AS EXPRESSED IN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
THE MAIN QUESTION, THE MAIN THEME YOU SEE IN THIS PASSAGE IS NOT ABOUT MONEY.
THE QUESTION ASKED WAS ---
“WHAT MUST I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?”
THIS YOUNG MAN WAS NOT THE ONLY PERSON TO ASK JESUS THIS QUESTION.
IN LUKE CHAPTER 10 V 25 IT SAYS,---
ON ONE OCCASION AN EXPERT IN THE LAW STOOD UP TO TEST JESUS. “TEACHER,” HE ASKED, “WHAT MUST I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?”
THE SAME QUESTION BEING ASKED!
ONE BY A RICH YOUNG MAN, THE OTHER BY AN EXPERT IN THE JEWISH LAW.
WHAT DID JESUS TELL THE EXPERT IN THE LAW, THE SCHOLAR.
“WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE LAW” JESUS ASKED HIM?
THE SCHOLAR ANSWERED “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOUR SELF.”
“YOU HAVE ANSWERED CORRECTLY” JESUS REPLIED. “DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”
SO WHAT DID JESUS SAY TO THE RICH YOUNG MAN?
IT WAS THE SAME ANSWER, BUT PUT IN A DIFFERENT WAY, A DIFFERENT ANGLE ON IT, ALL TO DO WITH THE YOUNG MAN’S CIRCUMSTANCES.
“YOU KNOW THE COMMANDMENTS,” JESUS SAID.
“DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,
DO NOT STEEL, DO NOT GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY, DO NOT DEFRAUD, HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.”
“TEACHER” THE YONG MAN SAID, “ALL THESE I HAVE KEPT SINCE I WAS A BOY.”
JESUS LOOKED AT HIM AND LOVED HIM.
JESUS LOVED HIM BECAUSE HE RECOGNIZED THE MAN’S EARNESTNESS.
“BUT ONE THING YOU LACK,” JESUS SAID. “GO, SELL EVERYTHING YOU HAVE AND GIVE TO THE POOR AND YOU WILL HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN. THEN COME, FOLLOW ME.”
YOU SEE THE ANSWER JESUS GIVE THESE TWO PEOPLE WERE THE SAME.
LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, TO THE SCHOLAR.
COME FOLLOW ME, TO THE YOUNG MAN.
TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD IS TO FOLLOW HIM.
TO FOLLOW JESUS IS TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD.
THE ANSWERS ARE INTER-MINGLED ONE WITH THE OTHER.
BUT THERE WAS A DEEPER MEANING THAN JUST THE YOUNG MAN SELLING EVERYTHING AND GIVING TO THE POOR.
THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE, OR SALVATION, IS A TREASURE NOT TO BE EARNED BY SELF DENIAL
OR GIVING AWAY MATERIAL GOODS, BUT IS TO BE RECEIVED BY FOLLOWING JESUS. IN GIVING AWAY HIS WEALTH, THE YOUNG MAN WOULD HAVE REMOVED THE OBSTACLE THAT KEPT HIM FROM TRUSTING IN JESUS.
YOU SEE BOTH ANSWERS MEAN THE SAME THING.
THE ANSWER TO THE RICH YOUNG MAN MIGHT SEEM SIMPLE.
“YOU KNOW THE COMMANDMENTS!” JESUS SAID.
“YES, I HAVE KEPT THEM” ANSWERED THE YOUNG MAN.
BUT YOU SEE THERE IS MORE TO IT THAN AVOIDING WRONG DOING, AND THIS IS WHAT JESUS WAS SAYING.
THERE IS MORE TO IT THAN WRONG DOING, WHICH LEADS TO AN OVERCAUTIOUS, NEGATIVE APPROACH TO LIFE.
JESUS RESPONDS TO THIS YOUNG MAN BY ISSUING A CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP, AND CHALLENGES HIM TO RECOGNISE THAT THIS IS A COSTLY WAY TO FOLLOW.
IF HE WANTS ETERNAL LIFE, HE MUST PURSUE THE VALUES OF LIFE IN GOD’S KINGDOM; AND IN THE CASE
OF A WEALTHY PERSON, AMONGST OTHER THINGS THIS MEANS SHARING ONE’S RICHES WITH THE POOR.
WHEN THE MAN FINDS THIS DEMAND TO HARD TO FOLLOW AND LEAVES JESUS, A DISCUSSION ENSUES BETWEEN JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF RICHES.
IN OLD TESTAMENT THOUGHT RICHES WERE UNDERSTOOD AS A SIGN OF GOD’S BLESSING, AS WAS LONG LIFE AND THE GIFT OF MANY CHILDREN.
RICHES PROVIDED SECURITY, BROUGHT ENJOYMENT AND ENABLED PEOPLE TO DO GOOD WORKS THAT MIGHT EARN THEM MORE BLESSINGS FROM GOD.
BUT NOW JESUS WAS SAYING, DISCIPLESHIP CALLS US TO LET GO OF MATERIAL SECURITY AND THE STATUS IT
CONFERS, AND TO PUT ALL OUR TRUST DIRECTLY IN GOD.
VERSES 26-27, SAYS,--
THE DISCIPLES WERE EVEN MORE AMAZED, AND SAID TO EACH OTHER, “WHO THEN CAN BE SAVED?”
JESUS LOOKED AT THEM AND SAID, “WITH MAN IT IS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT NOT WITH GOD; ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD.”
JESUS ACKNOWLEDGES HOW DIFFICULT IT IS FOR HUMANS TO ATTAIN THIS LEVEL OF DETACHMENT FROM WORLDLY VALUES.
IN HIS RESPONSE JESUS ASSURES US THAT ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH GOD’S GRACE.
THE TRAGIC THING ABOUT THE RICH YOUNG MAN AND HIS DECISION TO TURN AWAY WAS THAT IT SHOWED, NOT THAT HAVING GREAT RICHES WAS HIS PROBLEM, BUT THAT IT REFLECTED HE HAD A GREATER LOVE FOR HIS POSSESSIONS THAN FOR ETERNAL LIFE.
BUT THIS STORY IS NOT JUST OF THE RICH YOUNG MAN, NOR OF THE STORY WE HEARD OF THE SCHOLAR ASKING ABOUT ETERNAL LIFE, NO IT IS A STORY FOR ALL OF US.
TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD FOR ANY OF US HUMAN BEINGS IS HARD, FOR IN OUR SINS WE HAVE MOVED
AWAY FROM GOD. LIKE THE CAMEL WHICH IS A VERY LARGE ANIMAL CAN’T GET THROUGH AN EYE OF A NEEDLE. SO TO WE HUMANS CAN’T ON OUR OWN DOING ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
JESUS SAID “THE GATE IS SMALL AND THE ROAD IS NARROW THAT LEADS TO TRUE LIFE AND ONLY A FEW FIND IT.”
THE VIVID CONTRAST BETWEEN THE LARGEST ANIMAL IN THE AREA AT JESUS’ TIME AND THE SMALLEST OPENING REPRESENTS WHAT, IS HUMANLY SPEAKING, IMPOSSIBLE.
WITH MAN THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT NOT WITH GOD.
SALVATION IS TOTALLY THE WORK OF GOD. EVERY ATTEMPT TO ENTER THE KINGDOM ON THE BASIS OF
ACHIEVEMENT OR MERIT IS FUTILE. APART FROM THE GRACE OF GOD, NO ONE CAN BE SAVED.
THE RICH YONG MAN HAD HOPES AND DREAMS OF GAINING ETERNAL LIFE BY KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS, OF LIVING A GOOD LIFE,
BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING THERE THAT JESUS SAW, THAT WOULDN’T LET HIM TAKE THAT ONE STEP FURTHER AND PUT GOD FIRST IN HIS HEART. HIS HOPES AND HIS DREAMS ON THIS OCCASION WERE SHATTERED BY JESUS.
SO MANY OF OUR HOPES AND DREAMS REMAIN UNFULFILLED!
COMPOSER FRANZ SCHUBERT DEPARTED THIS WORLD LEAVING BEHIND HIS ‘UNFINISHED SYMPHONY.’
SIMILARLY, PROLIFIC AUTHOR CHARLES DICKENS WAS UNABLE TO FULLY DEVELOP THE PLOT OF HIS NOVEL ‘THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD.’
WE TOO UNDOUBTEDLY HAVE ASPIRATIONS THAT WE
WILL BE UNABLE TO FULFIL.
BUT WHAT A BLESSING TO KNOW, THAT THE WORK OF OUR REDEMPTION WAS TOTALLY AND PERFECTLY ACCOMPLISHED BY JESUS ON THE CROSS.
THE LAST WORDS OF JESUS, “IT IS FINISHED,” ARE ACTUALLY A SINGLE WORD IN THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE.
BUT THE WORD HOLDS OCEANS OF MEANING. WHAT JESUS GASPED ON THE CROSS WAS “COMPLETED!” OR “ENDED!” THAT CRY FROM THE CROSS ANNOUNCED THAT NOT ONLY HAD HIS SUFFERING COME TO AN END BUT ALSO HIS REDEMPTIVE WORK WAS ETERNALLY ACCOMPLISHED.
ALL THAT HE HAD COME TO ACHIEVE IN HIS HUMAN LIFE WAS FINISHED. DONE!
WE CAN DO NOTHING TO ADD TO HIS SACRIFICE. CHRIST’S SELF-GIVING DEATH WAS ALL-SUFFICIENT. WE STRETCH OUT THE EMPTY HAND OF FAITH, AND GOD IN GRACE PUTS INTO IT THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE.
THE RICH YOUNG MAN WOULD NOT IN THAT MOMENT OF TALKING WITH JESUS STRETCH OUT HIS EMPTY HAND OF FAITH, AND THEREFORE COULD NOT RECEIVE THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE GIVEN IN GRACE BY GOD.
ARE THERE THINGS IN OUR LIVES TODAY THAT WE PUT BEFORE OUR GOD?
IS GOD, JESUS, AT THE CENTRE OF OUR LIVES?
OR LIKE THE RICH YOUNG MAN WILL WE TURN AWAY WHEN JESUS ASKS US TO FOLLOW HIM.
‘THERE IS A TREASURE YOU CAN OWN
THAT’S GREATER THAN A CROWN OR THRONE:
A CONSCIENCE GOOD IN WHICH TO LIVE,
THAT ONLY GOD HIMSELF CAN GIVE.’
THE CHOICE WE MAKE DETERMINES OUR
ETERNAL DESTINATION;
ONE LEADS TO EVERLASTING LIFE;
THE OTHER, CONDEMNATION.
THE CHOICE YOU MAKE TODAY
WILL DETERMINE YOUR TOMORROW.
IF YOU DON’T KNOW JESUS
IF YOU’VE GONE AWAY FROM HIM AND WANT TO COME BACK TO HIM JUST PRAY ----
FATHER GOD, I LOVE YOU,
COME INTO MY LIFE
JESUS, I LOVE YOU,
COME INTO MY LIFE.
SPIRIT, I LOVE YOU, COME INTO MY LIFE.
AND IF YOU WANT SOMEONE TO PRAY WITH YOU AT THE END OF THE SERVICE JUST STAY IN YOUR SEAT AND BARBARA OR I WILL COME AND PRAY WITH YOU.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY.
AMEN.