From thebricktestament.comI imagine the rich man from this story in Mark as a fervent and earnest fellow. (No, I don't imagine him made out of legos - but that's fun for a Monday morning, no? And I'm oddly moved by the final frame where he sadly walks away from Jesus who is standing with open arms.)
The rich man thinks he has done everything right in order to inherit eternal life, which he believes is what he wants most of all. He has kept the commandments since his youth. I wonder why he is so worried about eternal life? What nagging doubt about his righteousness moves him to seek out Jesus? We don't know. He comes to Jesus on his knees. Seeking out Jesus was not an easy thing. Clearly he is motivated to find an answer to the question that plagues him: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
It becomes evident that eternal life isn't what this man wants most of all. He wants his possessions more. We know this because when Jesus answers his question: "What must I do to inherit eternal life," the man is grieved. It is too hard.
Was he just looking for Jesus to affirm all his choices? Was he looking for Jesus to tell him he was ok as he was, that any real change was not necessary? In the paragraphs that follow, Jesus makes it clear that a life of discipleship requires hard choices. These choices become possible when we trust Jesus. This man's problem wasn't wealth exactly; it was that he trusted in his wealth more than he trusted Jesus.
This man receives the rare gift of having his question answered by Jesus. In a beautiful little phrase, "Jesus, looking at him, loved him," we are told that Jesus looked with kindness upon the rich man's desire. Jesus answered his question. But the answer was something the man wasn't prepared to hear.
The story of the rich man makes me wonder about all the times my prayerful requests have been met with apparent silence. It seems likely that Jesus takes the same attitude of love and directness to my prayers that he has with the rich man. That's a good thing. The problem, then, isn't that God is silent. It's that I don't want to hear what God has to say. It will be a comfort to remember that Jesus looked at the rich man and loved him.
Mark 10:17-31
The Rich Man
17 As he 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?’ 18Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You 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; Honour your father and mother.” ’ 20He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘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.’ 22When 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!’ 24And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is* to enter the kingdom of God! 25It 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.’ 26They were greatly astounded and said to one another,* ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27Jesus 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.’ 29Jesus 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,* 30who 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. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’
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