And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Mark 10:21 (ESV)
This verse highlights a portion of a conversation that Jesus had with a rich young ruler in the Book of Mark. This particular story is of interest to me because it shows this man who seemingly had everything in this world that people desire. He was wealthy. He had influence and authority. He was diligent in his religious observations. On the outside, he was the picture of having it all together. Yet, he was missing something and he knew it. He knew that even with all these blessings his eternal salvation was not assured. So when Jesus came to his community, he was quick to come and kneel before him and ask him the most important question there is in life, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This rich young man and his quest looks awful similar to someone I know very well… me. And I dare say he looks like all of us.
It is a beautiful picture of this man coming to Jesus and kneeling before him to get his question answered. This is commendable and something we should all model in life. We should never hesitate to come to Jesus with all of our questions. From the smallest of questions about our pains and hurts, to the big eternal questions of assurance and salvation. Jesus wants us to come to him. He wants us to be open and honest with him about our struggles and desires. His heart is gentle and lowly. His heart is tuned to be in rhythm with ours. We can come to him whenever and wherever and pour out every thought and emotion that occupies our minds. He is always there. He always hears us. He will always answer us. Though maybe not in the manner we expect.
This was true for the rich young man as Jesus gave a shocking answer to his question of what he must do. Jesus told him he was lacking one thing and he needed to go and sell all that he had then come follow him. You see, Jesus cut through all the masks and deceptions that the rich young man was hiding behind. Jesus saw the idol that was gripping this young man’s heart and answered him in a manner designed to bring a confrontation within his soul. The rich young man could not walk away from this encounter the same as he arrived. In one little statement, Jesus revealed the error of this man’s ways and the false thinking that had taken his heart. You see, the man was trusting in his own self-righteousness to save him. The question he really wanted answered was, “Am I good enough?”
Jesus, knowing all of this about the rich young man, looked at him and loved him. Here is this man who is blind to the nature of deception in his heart. A young man who is asking the right general question, but missing the point. A young man looking for a tangible objective he can accomplish to affirm his self-righteousness. Jesus sees through all these layers of misunderstanding and loves him. Jesus wasn’t exasperated that the man was still ignorant after all these years of trying to be a faithful religious person. Rather, Jesus loved him.
In loving this young man, Jesus cut to the deeper sin and called the young man to deal with the only thing keeping him from inheriting eternal life, his own pride and self-reliance. Because Jesus loves this young man, he brings the hard truth to his mind and shows him the darkness of his heart. The great thing about this is that Jesus loves us just like this as well. Jesus knows that I too need the hard truth of sin’s grip on my heart to be revealed in my life. I need to see the ugliness of my own self-righteousness. I need to have the veil of deception ripped down from my eyes. I need the lies that I tell myself to be refuted and demolished. I need Jesus to bring his righteousness to bear in my life.
I need humility… I need to be humble enough to come and kneel before Jesus and open my heart before him in all its profound ugliness. I need to be patient and listen to him as he shows me the root cause of my disobedience and waywardness. I need to then do all he commands and follow him. My life is not my own. My life belongs to Jesus Christ and him only. My joy is wrapped up in him. When I seek happiness outside of Jesus, it will only bring heartache and pain. Comfort, joy, and peace are to be found in the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit dwelling in my heart. Calling me to drink deeply from the living waters of grace and mercy flowing from the throne of Christ.