October 15, II
Mark 10:17-31
Here's another text that is so rich and full it's hard to get a hold on, and it is challenging to most of us.
The man addressing Jesus here starts off by showing his hand in the way he asks his question. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" He doesn't say receive, but inherit. One inherits something that has been stocked up on or saved, often by someone else. We inherit commodities by virtue of our relationship to someone else; for Jesus, eternal life is something only God can give us, therefore his comeback to the man that God alone has power in these things.
But it seems something in this man catches Jesus, so he goes on with the conversation, telling the man to follow the old teachings, specifically the 10 commandments (though curiously he substitutes the words "don't defraud" for "don't covet," and I haven't read anyone who really explains that, but I think it's important to note in a society where defrauding has become such an art). The man says he's done his best to follow these his whole life.
Then, in the only instance in the Bible where any writer talks of Jesus in these words, Mark says Jesus "loved him." One can almost see a wistful smile cross Jesus' face as he senses the man really has done these things, but that there's just one thing keeping the man from complete faithfulness. So he tells the man to remove the block, which in this case is his wealth, and to follow Jesus. And in the only call story in the gospels where the one called refuses to come, the man goes away "shocked and grieving."
And one interpreter says that at that point the disciples were probably looking at Jesus with mouths agape, for what pastor would turn away a potential donor of large funds that way!
The rest of this reading talks more about how great wealth can get in the way of people being willing to serve God as God needs them to. Jesus isn't condeming wealth or lifting up the virtues of poverty here, he is simply stating what anyone with any possessions knows: having stuff makes you afraid to lose it and eager to have more, and those two motivations can keep even the best of us from risking discipleship fully. Jesus addresses those whose lives have been defined by wealth. The disciples are surprised because in their time, wealth was seen as a sign of God's favor; if you have property, it's because God is pleased with you and has "prospered the work of your hands." Jesus debunks this theology, still prevalent today in many circles, and says that only by the power of God can the wealthy overcome their fear and greed and move into full relationship with God.
Because this text has been so simplified or ignored over the years, we need to dwell with it and read it again. We also need to discern where we are in relationship to our things and how they may, or may not, be blocks to discipleship for us. shelly
Here's another text that is so rich and full it's hard to get a hold on, and it is challenging to most of us.
The man addressing Jesus here starts off by showing his hand in the way he asks his question. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" He doesn't say receive, but inherit. One inherits something that has been stocked up on or saved, often by someone else. We inherit commodities by virtue of our relationship to someone else; for Jesus, eternal life is something only God can give us, therefore his comeback to the man that God alone has power in these things.
But it seems something in this man catches Jesus, so he goes on with the conversation, telling the man to follow the old teachings, specifically the 10 commandments (though curiously he substitutes the words "don't defraud" for "don't covet," and I haven't read anyone who really explains that, but I think it's important to note in a society where defrauding has become such an art). The man says he's done his best to follow these his whole life.
Then, in the only instance in the Bible where any writer talks of Jesus in these words, Mark says Jesus "loved him." One can almost see a wistful smile cross Jesus' face as he senses the man really has done these things, but that there's just one thing keeping the man from complete faithfulness. So he tells the man to remove the block, which in this case is his wealth, and to follow Jesus. And in the only call story in the gospels where the one called refuses to come, the man goes away "shocked and grieving."
And one interpreter says that at that point the disciples were probably looking at Jesus with mouths agape, for what pastor would turn away a potential donor of large funds that way!
The rest of this reading talks more about how great wealth can get in the way of people being willing to serve God as God needs them to. Jesus isn't condeming wealth or lifting up the virtues of poverty here, he is simply stating what anyone with any possessions knows: having stuff makes you afraid to lose it and eager to have more, and those two motivations can keep even the best of us from risking discipleship fully. Jesus addresses those whose lives have been defined by wealth. The disciples are surprised because in their time, wealth was seen as a sign of God's favor; if you have property, it's because God is pleased with you and has "prospered the work of your hands." Jesus debunks this theology, still prevalent today in many circles, and says that only by the power of God can the wealthy overcome their fear and greed and move into full relationship with God.
Because this text has been so simplified or ignored over the years, we need to dwell with it and read it again. We also need to discern where we are in relationship to our things and how they may, or may not, be blocks to discipleship for us. shelly
posted by shelly @ 1:56 PM
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