Mark 10:20-22
Some
people have a way of knowing exactly where to touch to find out what is really
happening in a situation. They are able to walk into a room, spend a few
moments observing, and then engage in a way that brings the greatest change.
Some of this power comes from their personality, since people often seem to
look up to them. Some of it comes from their ability to size up people and
situations.
This
is a skill that is very useful in life. If you are a negotiator, then being
able to pick up on people’s agendas and motives is important. It is often the
unspoken that carries the most weight. It can pay to be like Sherlock Holmes,
seeing every detail and forming conclusions from the data in a moment.
Jesus
is engaging with a man who is tormented. He wants desperately to know if his
life matters. He wants to know if he has been following the right path, doing
the right things, behaving the right way. He wants to please God, but he isn’t
sure he has done it. So he comes to Jesus with a question.
He
answers Jesus’ answer with a statement of completion. He in essence says, I’ve
got all that covered. If that is all there is to it, then I have it made. And
yet Jesus sees something more in him. Deep inside, this man knows he isn’t good
enough. He knows he falls short. He can feel it. Otherwise, there would be no
need to ask Jesus about the entrance criteria. He wants it, but he knows he
hasn’t gotten it yet.
At
the root of Jesus’ answer is the truth that only God can provide the means to
heaven. No matter how hard we try, no matter what we do, we will fall short of
divine perfection. So Jesus zooms in on this man’s hesitancy. There is one area
over which the LORD doesn’t have control in this man’s life. This man has not yielded
his wealth.
Notice
that Jesus loves this man. He is not giving him a difficult task because He
despises this man’s wealth. Wealth is not the issue. The issue is the place
wealth occupies in this man’s life. It stands center stage. Jesus knows this
and wants to help him. He loves him, after all. He is not trying to drive him
away.
This
man could have responded by saying, “Yes, Lord! I will do it right away. Save
me a spot on your team.” He could have taken Jesus’ advice and done the ‘do’
that he had asked for with his initial question. Remember, he asked, what must
I do! Jesus has told him what he must do.
Jesus
tries to help this man by pointing out that wealth had him, rather than he
having wealth. So many, even the poor, don’t have wealth. Wealth, or that lack
of it, has them. Some ride the disability train, or the prejudice train, or the
nobody’s helping me train until they have long run out of track. They spend
money on SUV’s, big screen TV’s,
smartphones with data plans, addictions, and expensive shoes, but get food
stamps because they don’t have money for food. I am afraid Jesus would call on
these people to stop living off other people’s efforts.
If
we don’t work, we don’t eat. I have
found hunger to be a great motivation to do something. Handouts are a great
motivation to do nothing. I want to encourage you to read the book by Robert
Lupton, Toxic Charity, if you want a
better way to help the poor.