There's Always More With Jesus

Mark 10: 17--22

One of the keys to a good conversation is asking good questions. When you ask thoughtful questions, it shows you are interested in the person you’re talking to, and if you ask the right questions, you may unlock some great insight or information from the person you’ve questioned. That’s why we like to watch or read interviews of people who interest us. A thought-provoking question can produce a fascinating answer.
Then again, sometimes a question can be not thought-provoking, just provocative. An intrusive or ill-timed question can stop a conversation in its tracks.
Questions. We even have them about the Christian faith. That’s normal, and there’s nothing wrong with that, as I said, the right question can unlock some things that help us to understand or deal with an issue more fully. But sometimes people ask the wrong question. That’s OK, if they’re open enough to be challenged in their thinking. If not, though; if a person is stuck on a bad question and can’t proceed until they get an answer that “makes sense,” then that person might prevent themselves from hearing something they need to hear.
For an example, we need look no further than today’s Gospel lesson. A rich young man, who was obviously a “winner” by the world’s standards, comes to Jesus with a question. It is an understandable question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It is a revealing question, probably much more so than that young man realized—because by asking “What must I do…” he put the burden on himself to do what needed to be done. It is the natural, human question to ask; it is the question that all man-made religion is based on; and it is the wrong question. Or maybe it would better to say that the question rests on a faulty assumption—that we can do something to inherit eternal life; that the ball is in our court, so to speak. At any rate, it would seem that this successful guy is coming to Jesus to find out what he needs to do to make an already exemplary life just a little bit more polished.
This view of Jesus creeps into the thinking of many people, Christians included. “Look how good a job I’m doing with my life, Lord,” we say, “just give me your seal of approval and I’ll continue to do a great job on my own.”
But Jesus will not settle for that. He is not content to be a divine Dr. Phil, dispensing advice or affirming our good decisions. And the way he answers the rich young man shows it. Jesus demands much of this man, much more than expected. Jesus asks the young man to give up the one thing that was closest to his heart—his wealth. Jesus doesn’t argue with this so called “winner” about his claim to have kept the Law from his youth. With this demand to sell his possessions and give to the poor, Jesus is asking, are you living in the Spirit of the Law? Do you really love your neighbor as yourself? And the rich young man comes to a sad realization. No, I don’t. I don’t love my neighbor as myself. I love the stuff that I’ve got. He went away full of sorrow, because he didn’t get the answer he had hoped. At that point in time, he must’ve been thinking, “if that’s what it takes to earn eternal life, I don’t think I can do it.” He was disheartened, because Jesus has basically answered his question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life” by saying, “There is nothing you can do. You’re serving a false God right now. Repent of that and I’ll show you the way.” And tragically, the rich man doesn’t think he can.
This is not “Jesus the nice guy” we’ve come to prefer. This is Jesus the truth-teller, and He won’t settle for surface-level stuff. Where we prefer a Jesus who affirms that we’re basically good people, the real Jesus confronts the sinner whose gossip, grudges, and insufficient charity toward others is proof that our wishful thinking is wrong. Where we prefer a Jesus who compliments our faithfulness to home and family, the real Jesus confronts the sinner whose secret thoughts and actions are often quite unfaithful. Where we prefer a Jesus who blindly gives us whatever we ask for, he confronts the sinner who typically forgets to say “thank you.” He confronts the sinner because he loves the sinner, just like he loved the rich young man and wanted to help him. He makes it clear: “There’s nothing you can do to inherit eternal life.” Once we finally believe that, then he can say, “There’s nothing you can do; but there is something I can do.” This is the great news of the Gospel.
Jesus wanted to be more than a wise teacher for the rich young man. When it says in verse 21 that Jesus loved him that means he was willing to go to the cross for him. Jesus had already predicted his death twice and he was about to do it again. In love, Jesus was willing to do what this successful person could not—what none of us could ever do—and that is deal with sin, and make its curse go away, once and for all. When we let ourselves think of Jesus, nailed to a cross for us, we are confronted with the severity of our sin—and the incredible mercy of God. There, at the cross, Jesus is punished not for his sin but for yours and mine. Why? He loves you.
Jesus required that wealthy young man to give up everything for him. He could not. Neither can we. Therefore Jesus gave up everything for us, to the extent that he would bleed and die and be forsaken by His Father, all so that he could say, “This is what I have done for you, so that you can inherit eternal life.”
Jesus demanded much more than the young man expected. But He also gives much more than expected. To those who are broken and remorseful; to those who repent of a self-righteous attitude; to those who have tried to fix themselves and are ready to give up, Jesus holds out his gifts, bought and paid for with his blood. Here is forgiveness. Here is peace with God. Here is meaning and life. Here is confidence in the face of our own suffering. Here is certainty in the face of our own death. Here is the promise of life with God that lasts forever—eternal life in which praise and worship and unity and service and love will never end. All of it brought about not by what I have done but by what Jesus has done by suffering, dying, rising from the tomb, and ascending into heaven to give the gift of the Holy Spirit to His Church. What must you do to be saved? Look away from yourself and trust that Jesus has done it all. Trust that his mercy covers you. Trust that baptismal waters cover you. Trust that the robe of Jesus’ holiness covers you. Trust that with Jesus, there is always more grace, more mercy, more forgiveness, than we can comprehend