Mark 10:17-21: a reflection

17As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God. 19You 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.’” 20He said to him, “Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth.” 21Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.”

A rich man runs up to Jesus, eager, sincere, asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. He has kept the commandments since his youth, and he means it. And then comes a line easy to rush past: Jesus, looking at him, loved him. Before Jesus says anything hard, Mark tells us the hard thing came from love. Jesus looked at this man and loved him.

And out of that love comes the difficult word: one thing you lack; go, sell what you have, give to the poor, and come, follow me. Jesus puts his finger on the one thing that held the man, his wealth, the possession that possessed him. It was not a cold demand or a trap; it was love naming the single attachment standing between this man and the life he was asking for. Love tells the truth, even the costly truth.

There is something to receive in that order, love first, then the hard word. When God puts his finger on the one thing you are clinging to, the thing you would rather he left alone, it is not because he wants to deprive you. It is because he loves you and sees what that one thing is costing you. The call to let go, whatever your version of the rich man's wealth is, comes from a Jesus who looks at you and loves you. Trust the love behind the hard word, and follow.

Lord Jesus, you looked at the rich man and loved him, and out of love named the one thing he was clinging to. When you put your finger on the thing I would rather you left alone, help me trust that it comes from love, and give me courage to let it go and follow you.