Mark 10:17-31
Dear RTB’ers,
Mark calls him “the rich, young man”. Luke adds that he was a “ruler” (Luke 18:18) and Matthew agrees that he was young (Matthew 19:20, 22), but all three of these gospels agree that he was wealthy. While none of us is a ruler and most of us are not young, we are mostly “wealthy” – at least, we are wealthy compared to many of the poor in our own country and certainly compared to many in the “third-world”. Certainly, yes, we have much. So I put myself into the story. (You might want to join me…) If I am the “rich young man” – or even the “relatively wealthy retired older guy” – and I come to Jesus asking about eternal life (v. 17), I certainly cannot answer as did our young man, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” (v. 20b) So I fail there. But then Jesus goes deeper and says “… go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and … come, follow Me.” (v. 21b) And where does that leave me? Still sitting at my chair, typing away…
Basically I find that there are two extremes. On the one hand, I reason that God has never asked me to sell all that I have and come follow Him. I “argue” that He has called me to other tasks, given me other gifts to use to His glory. But on the other hand, I wonder if God has not really asked of me every day – to sell it all and come follow Him! Our pastors and preachers often let us off the hook, explaining that Jesus often spoke in hyperbole and that we should not take Him so literally. But this story troubles me every time that I read it. I hope it troubles the rest of you, too.
Blessings!
See also: April 22 (2021) / Mark 10:17-31