Mark 10:19-22

Passage

Jesus continues to teach the young man by reminding him of the 10 commandments.  The young man says that he has kept all these since he was young and can remember.  So Jesus really challenges him.  Jesus looks to him out of love and says, “You still lack.  Go, get rid of everything, give it to the poor, and follow me.”  The young man went away sad, because he had many possessions and great wealth.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus begins to teach the man out of God’s Law.  The purpose of the Law is to demonstrate our shortcomings as well as to show us how to live.  When we look into the Law, we should always see the ideal as well as how we don’t match up to the ideal because of our sinfulness.  That is the purpose for the Law.  That is the reason God gave us the Law.  The Law helps to keep our perspective right where it should be.

Do you like studying the Law in the Old Testament?  Why?  Why not?  What is hard about studying the Law?  What is easy about studying the Law?

Second Thought:

Now we find the true source of the young man’s problem.  This young man came to Jesus with such enthusiasm.  He was sure Jesus could fix all his problems.  He ran up to Jesus knowing that his problems could be solved.  The only catch was, the young man had no clue what his problems were!  When this young man looks into the Law, he is not humbled.  He becomes arrogant!  He says, I’ve done all that stuff!  Jesus knows it’s a lie, and he knows the young is being proudly short-sighted.  Jesus bluntly reminds him that he still has lack.  He is not perfect.  He cannot claim to have obeyed all the commandments.  Nobody can.  This man may have all the enthusiasm in the world, but he is incapable of looking at himself honestly to discern where his problems actually reside.   Yes, the young man comes with passion.  But when Jesus tries to get him to stop and think, there’s just nothing there.

Why can passion only get us so far in faith?  Why is it so difficult to honestly look at ourselves in truth rather than seeing what we want to see?

Third Thought:

The young man goes away sad.  He came with such promise, he walks away empty-handed.  In fact, I think it is worse than empty-handed.  He walks away from the truth.  Jesus gave this man an opportunity to truly learn about himself and rather than develop that relationship he chose to go back to his stuff.  Rather than think about himself, admit his faults, and submit to God this young man turns back to his worldly stuff and seeks satisfaction there.

Why is it so hard to give things up?  Why do we often turn to things for help when we really should be turning to God?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 10:23-25