Mark 10:17-23
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good - except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
At first glance this story about Jesus and a rich young man seems to be all about money. It seems as if Jesus is condemning wealth and those who possess it.
But that would be a huge misunderstanding of the story!
This is not primarily a story about money at all; it’s a story about a cluttered heart; a heart yearning for God but settling for the lesser god of wealth.
The young man starts with the central question of human existence, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
By his response, one gets the sense that Jesus already knows where the young man is going and so he gets out way ahead of him.
“Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”
By saying this Jesus is establishing right off the bat that the young man isn’t as good as he thinks he is. But even so Jesus gives him a chance to declare himself by quoting a few of the commandments.
The young man tips his hand, and his heart, by responding, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.”
In other words, “I am truly good; good enough that I think God owes me eternal life; after all, that’s what I deserve.”
Now notice the next line, as touching and heartbreaking a line as there is in the Bible:
Jesus looked at him and loved him.
Why? Shouldn't Jesus be at least a little irritated at the young man’s cheekiness, if not outright arrogance?
No. Jesus loved him. He loved him because he already knew the impostor “god” that dwelled within the young man’s heart. He already knew that, apart from being born again by the gospel of the kingdom, the young man was lost.
So Jesus goes straight for the heart:
“One thing you lack,” he said, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
Is Jesus saying that we can buy our way into heaven by giving to the poor? No! The gospel is free; salvation is a gift of faith that cannot be earned or bought. Rather, Jesus is confronting the false god of money that holds this young man’s heart hostage; and he’s doing so because he loves him.
Jesus is saying that in order for the seed of the gospel to grow we must be willing to surrender the “lesser gods” of our hearts. In this case, Jesus called the young man to rid himself of the idol of wealth through radical generosity. But, sadly, the young man’s response reveals the depth of his love of money:
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
The point is not that we should all be poor; or that we should give all our wealth to the poor! The point is to take a good look at our hearts and ask, “Who or what do we serve?” Do we serve our wealth and the pursuit of wealth? Or do we serve the God who saves us by his grace; and does our wealth serve the God who gives it to us in the first place?
Perhaps Jesus was thinking of that rich young man when he said:
The one who receives the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
Pastor Brian Coffey
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