This sermon was preached at Glenwood and Canoe Ridge Lutheran Churches, Decorah, Iowa, on October 7, 2018. It’s based on Mark 10:17-31. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson.
Mark 10:17-31
17 As [Jesus] 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?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 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.’” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money[a] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
23 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!” 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is[b] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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.” 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another,[c] “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
28 Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 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,[d] 30 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. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
The Rich Man (NRSV).
The Rich and the Kingdom of God (NIV).
The Rich Young Ruler (AMP).
Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler (NKJV).
These are just some of the titles that have been given to this episode in Mark’s gospel. The one I appreciate the most, though, is this: A Rich Man’s Question (CEB).
The man’s question of Jesus seems to not only set the scene for the rest of the story but also to inform Jesus’ response. Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
To explore the impact of the man’s question, let’s compare him to another man in the gospel of Mark who approaches Jesus and kneels before him. Way back in chapter one, a leper came to [Jesus] begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean” (Mark 1:40).
The Greek word here translated as kneeling suggests kneeling as in supplication.1 Only two people in the gospel of Mark are described as kneeling in this way—the rich man and this leper—so I think it makes sense to compare and contrast them.
The leper’s first words are not a question, but a declaration of faith: If you choose, Jesus, you can make me clean. The leper makes it clear, from his very first words to Jesus, that this is about what Jesus can do. If you choose, Jesus, you can make me clean. The rich man, however, makes it all about him: Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
I wonder if it isn’t this difference that leads Jesus to respond as he does to each of them. In response to the man with leprosy, Jesus is described as being moved with pity. He stretches out his hand, touches the man, and says to him, I do choose. Be made clean (Mark 1:41)!
Elsewhere in the gospel of Mark, Jesus is also moved with pity. When he sees a crowd of people who are like sheep without a shepherd, he begins to teach them (Mark 6:34). When he sees a crowd that has had nothing to eat for three days, he feeds them (Mark 8:2). He is moved with pity and he responds accordingly—feeding, healing, teaching—providing all that is needed.
In response to the rich man, however, Jesus is not moved with pity. Instead, Mark tells us, Jesus looked at him and loved him. Nowhere else in the gospel of Mark is Jesus described as loving someone like this. What makes this rich man unique? What makes Jesus look at him and love him? Does Jesus love the man because he has actually kept all the commandments? Or because he so sincerely thinks he has?
When Jesus is moved with pity, he gets to work: he heals the man with leprosy, he teaches the ones who are like sheep without a shepherd, he feeds the hungry crowd. With this one that he loves, though, he simply speaks, diagnosing the problem and then writing a prescription: 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.
The one who seemingly has everything, lacks one thing. What is it? Treasure in heaven? Compassion for the poor? Whatever the opposite of self-interest is? Selflessness? The ability to put the needs of others ahead of his own comfort?
What is that one thing he lacks? The recognition that this isn’t ultimately about him but is instead about Jesus? Is what he lacks the declaration of faith that the leper possesses? If you choose, Jesus, you can make me clean. If you choose, Jesus, you can give me eternal life. It’s not about me doing anything. It’s about you doing everything.
The prescription Jesus writes is a hard pill to swallow. This man thinks eternal life is a matter of his own doing. So maybe it’s that Jesus, out of love for him, gives him a command he can’t possibly keep—at least not as he’s currently living.
He’s depending on himself—what he can do, what he can earn, what he can possess—for his sense of security and worth and well being. He’s coming to Jesus for answers instead of coming to Jesus for healing. He’s content to keep on doing it all himself…until Jesus commands him to do something he’s simply not capable of doing, at least not by his own power.
And so he is shocked and goes away grieving.
The man healed from his leprosy goes out and proclaims freely what Jesus has done for him, spreading the word. Despite Jesus insisting that he not tell anyone, he tells everyone. He can’t help himself. He’s healed. He knew that if Jesus chose to he could make him clean…and he did! Can’t you just picture him smiling from ear to ear, running and jumping for joy, freed from every burden, filled with life?
The rich man, however, paints just the opposite picture. He was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. The word translated here as shocked is used only one other time in the entirety of the bible, in Matthew, to describe the sky as red and threatening (Matthew 16:3). So picture the rich man, face like a red and threatening sky—gloomy, overcast—unable to believe how Jesus has responded to his question.
Eugene Peterson’s translation here describes the man this way: The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.2
This is what being loved by Jesus looks like?
Maybe I would prefer Jesus to have pity on me rather than love me. I’d really prefer for him to just fix the situation—fix me—rather than me having to do anything, especially something so hard as this. How can I possibly let go of all the things that give me a sense of security and worth? How can I possibly entrust my future to Jesus rather than to my own strength and ability? How can I possibly simply be loved by God?
He goes away grieving. The only other time Mark uses this word is at the last supper Jesus shares with his disciples. One of you will betray me, Jesus tells his friends. And they were grieved (Mark 14:18-19).
It’s devastating when we first recognize the truth that we can’t find life on our own. We can’t manufacture our happiness or our success. We can’t trust in our own ability to do the right thing for ourselves or for others. Despite our best intentions, we betray Jesus again and again. We betray the ones he loves. We betray ourselves. In the words of Amos, from our first reading for today, we trample on the poor. We push aside the needy. We fail to establish justice. We love evil and hate good (Amos 5:11-12, 15).
We can only kneel at the feet of our Savior and beg to be cleansed, healed, forgiven, renewed.
Will God be gracious? Will Jesus look on us and love us? Yes.
We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).
Did the rich man return to Jesus, broken? Able to admit his inability to do this on his own? Ready to follow Jesus in the way of eternal life here and now? We don’t know. Mark doesn’t tell us. And perhaps that, in itself, is an invitation for us to write the end of the story with our very selves.
Will we walk away from Jesus’ love, grieving the potential loss of all those other things that we want to depend on for strength and security?
Or will we let go of all that we’re holding onto so tightly and respond to the love of Jesus by following him in the way of true life?
Jesus, look on us with love.
Amen.
Pastor S.,
I really appreciate the effort you put in to sharing your sermons this way…i enjoy them
Lori
Thank you so much, Lori. I appreciate you reading them. Peace…