30.04 | And Loved Him
Mark 10:1-31
‘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.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.’
Mark 10:21-22
When you’ve read the New Testament a few times, you start to realise something.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s Gospels are really quite similar.
Scholars call them the ‘Synoptic Gospels’, which is essentially a fancy way to say that they are very similar. The common assumption is that both Matthew and Luke had access to a copy of Mark’s Gospel (which is the shortest, and likely the earliest written), and used this as a template for their additions and expansions.
However, Mark’s Gospel also has its own groove. And sometimes, he includes little phrases or words that add something that may seem minor, and yet are transformative of how we might otherwise read the stories.
Today he gives us one such line. We find it in the story of this wealthy young man, who comes to Jesus—earnest and enthusiastic, wanting to find the way of life and truth. Jesus, as I imagine Him, sees deeper than the enthusiasm that the man brings, and gives him an initial answer that is true, but only goes so deep: Keep the commandments.
But the young man knows this. He’s done this, and knows that his current life still lacks something intangibly beyond. He knows that simply obeying these rules is a start, but it hasn’t taken him to completion. He still hungers for something more.
So Jesus offers Him the deeper way.
You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have … and come follow me.
How does this land with you?
I have sometimes read this and felt a little offended on the young man’s behalf. It feels like Jesus makes it harder for him than for others. It feels like the man came genuinely searching, and that Jesus asks something of him that he may not ask of everyone else. If I’m honest, my offence is rooted in wondering how I would answer this same challenge were he to put it to me.
But Mark uniquely gives us a little insight that corrects my offence.
It’s three words:
And loved him.
He loved him.
Jesus saw into the young man’s heart. He saw his potential and his captivity. He saw a man who could abandon all things and give his life in utter devotion to and service of the cause of the Kingdom. He saw the young man’s true self, and saw that this true self was not fulfilled in all this encumbering wealth; rather, it was restricted. It was suffocating him. It was the single barrier that he had left to life in all its fullness.
It’s easy, when we find the more challenging words of Jesus, to join this man in walking away sad. Or offended. It’s easy to assume that Jesus is making things too difficult, or that there is an implied critique in His words.
But Mark’s three words change everything. They illuminate the actual heart of Jesus, in His most challenging sayings and words.
It shows us that His words of challenge are not there for our restriction or critique, but rather, that these very words of challenge come out of a heart of the most extraordinary love you will ever know. That when His challenges seem hard, it is not because they are cruel, but because His desires for and belief in your life goes so vastly beyond your parameters of thought and ambitions for what your life could be that it doesn’t fit into your boxes. The young man went away sad, because in his idea of flourishing, he ultimately wanted Jesus’ affirmation on the existing comforts of his life. But Jesus' doesn’t do this. Our ambitions are too small. Jesus called him instead to a life greatly beyond.
This is our Lord, too. He doesn’t call us to the easy ride of pedestrian spirituality, banally agreeing with all our existing life choices. But rather, He calls us onwards and upwards, out of those places of comfort that have become shackles to the further growth of our souls.
Why?
Very simply, because He looks at us, too, and sees all the glorious potential of our lives, and every inhibiting thing that gets in the way,
And loves us.
Reflect:
A health warning. This reflection is only for the brave.
Ask the Holy Spirit the question that the young man asked Jesus:
What do I still lack?
Listen and reflect.
What comes to mind? Where might He be inviting you further?
Is there one thing you need to let go of, or take hold of, to journey further with Him?
Pray:
Lord Jesus,
You look me in the eye,
And love me.
And yet, Lord,
When I look you in the eye,
I am quickly filled with doubt:
Doubt that your call will be for my good;
Doubt that your heart knows the anxieties and pressures of mine;
Doubt that your intentions are for my freedom rather than my limitation.
But, Lord,
I come back to you in trust today.
Open my heart,
To the magnitude of your love;
And soften my choices,
Towards the extremities of your onwards call—
That my life may be imbued with the life of eternity
And my way be in the footsteps of You.
Lord Jesus, in Your Name,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
1 Samuel 10:17-13:23 | Proverbs 13:20-25