Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good,
only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t
steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.”
He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”
Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said,
“There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All
your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.”
The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he
expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight
to a lot of things, and not about to let go.
Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any
idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The
disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You
can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a
needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”
That got their attention. “Then who has any chance at
all?” they asked.
Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can
pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”
Peter tried another angle: “We left everything and
followed you.”
Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house,
brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and
the Message will lose out. They’ll get it all back, but multiplied many times
in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles.
And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many
who are first will end up last, and the last first.”
One of
the most memorable moments from the movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
comes at the end. After bequeathing his factory to the boy Charlie, Wille Wonka,
played brilliantly by Gene Wilder, says the following to Charlie:
“Don't forget what
happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted…. he lived happily
ever after.”
If only that were true.
So many people have found this out the hard way. They amass wealth, power, and/or influence, thinking
it they are securing the keys to happiness only to find themselves miserable in
ways they never dreamed. Jesus looks
into the eyes of this young man who already has acquired great wealth and sees
the hints of this misery already developing this young man and is filled with
compassion for him. He wants to save him
from the suffering that is already on it’s way, but realizes it will be costly
to the rich young man. The hold that wealth
has on the man is complete. Jesus realizes
that the only way this hold can be loosened is if the man is physically
separated from it. The hold that the
wealth has on him is confirmed when he leaves Jesus sad because he cannot bear
the truth with which Jesus confronts him.
After the man has left, Jesus uses
the encounter to point out the difficulty of wealth to his disciples. It is a rare individual who can be wealthy
and follow God completely. This is hard
for anyone to hear, but in Jesus’s time, it was even more difficult because the
teaching flies in the face of the then-common belief that wealth was a sign of
divine blessing. Jesus teaches here and
elsewhere that often, the opposite is true; wealth can be a curse. It can create a blockage to divine blessing and
connection.
We’d all like to think that we are
the rare individual who could pull it off – we’d be the one who could hold
wealth, but not let it erode our trust in God.
I think the disciples may have been thinking the same thing and so they
ask, “than who has any chance at all?”
They were hoping Jesus would say something like, “it won’t be a problem
for you guys,” but alas he says something even more surprising.
““No chance at all if you think
you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do
it.”
Peter points out that all the disciples hearing this actually
done what Jesus told the unfortunate man to do.
They’ve left behind people and things in order to follow Him.
Jesus finally
offers some reassurance in response that the disciples’ sacrifices have been
noticed by God. They have chosen God
over other things and their choice was the wisest thing they’ve ever done. They, unlike the wealthy young man, were able
to trust God to provide for them when they gave up the means to provide for
themselves. However, their choice doesn’t
accomplish the provision; God does. God
always does. This truth is at the core
of the entire passage. Only God can
offer eternity. Eternal life cannot be earned;
it is always the gift of God.
Question: To what
extent do you believe you have earned the blessings you now enjoy?
Prayer: Lord, expose
any way in which we feel entitled to the good things we enjoy and break any
unhealthy attachments we have to things other than you. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for
those who are wealthy nut miserable nonetheless.
Song: Can’t Buy Me Love
– The Beatles
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