Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Thursday of Oculi (Lent III)

Thursday of Oculi (Lent III)

Daily Lectionary Readings: Genesis 39:1-23; Mark 10:13-31; (Sirach 17)

Mark 10:17-22 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 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.

What is this young man asking, and what’s going on in his head? So often, it is what's going on inside our own heads. He's assuming two things, thinking about them all wrong! Like it or not, this young man is no different from us! First: He calls Jesus “Good Teacher.” He’s approaching Jesus as a merely human teacher who may or may not have some wisdom to dispense. "I've heard from all these other rabbis. They were unable to tell me what I wanted to hear. Now I’ll hear from Jesus. Maybe he’ll tell me what I want to hear.” Ever notice that every single time someone addresses Jesus as "teacher" rather than "Lord," a scolding and a call to repentance will follow!

Second: He asks, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He thinks it’s up to him! There must be some good deed I need to perform to gain heaven. What am I missing? Jesus will let me in on the secret. Does that sound like anyone we know?

So Jesus takes these two falsehoods swiftly: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”1 If you want to find out the key to eternal life, you need more than an ordinary teacher.

If you ask Jesus a law question, good Lutheran Pastor that He is, Jesus is going to give you a law answer. “You know the commandments.”2 Then He quotes all the commandments that have to do with our relationships with our neighbor. Jesus says, "There’s no secret knowledge, no hidden good works you need to do to gain eternal life. You already know what to do because God has already told you how to do it yourself. So then, my friend, how do you measure up?” Well, how about you? How do you measure up? You don’t, and that is Jesus’ point!

He replies: “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth on up.”3 Well, now we’re getting somewhere close to the root of the problem! The young man thinks he has already done these things well enough. But something is still missing! Something tugs at his conscience as though he hasn’t done enough. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here asking Jesus this question.

If the young man thinks he has done enough by way of commandments about not murdering and stealing, a respectable-looking life lived publicly (while his sins go on in secret), then Jesus is going to point to the commandment that He didn’t mention in His list. The young man has a false god that he’s worshiping.

Mark records: “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “‘One thing you lack: go, sell all that you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’”4 See how Jesus looks at him and loves him. Jesus’ reply is not because he is unreasonable or harsh! No! Jesus loves him, just as He loves everyone no matter their age or social status. Jesus looks at us right now and loves us. And when He reveals our misplaced priorities and all our many sins to us and then calls for us to repent, He does so because of that ἀγάπη – agápe - that sacrificial, unconditional love for us! He wants us to be saved. He wants us to have treasure in heaven. He wants us to believe in Him… not ourselves.

Jesus is not prescribing a newer, stricter law to follow! He is here bringing you toward repentance to show you your false gods. For the rich young man, it was his money. He can’t let it go! It’s his god.

Jesus is holding up that crystal-clear mirror showing him he is a sinner. The man thinks he’s coasting through life by his outwardly visible works and searching for whatever else it is he needs to do to be sure of heaven. What does that mirror show him? What does it show you? Jesus shows all of us that we are sinners, and what we need is faith in someone other than ourselves. We need Christ!

Jesus Christ is the "rich young ruler" who left everything behind for you and me. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”5 Christ set aside the riches of heaven and became a man – not an ordinary teacher but an extraordinary servant without so much as a place to lay His head at night.6 He walked the way to the cross to bear our sins and the weight of the false gods we harbor inside to suffer the judgment for all on the cross. He did this so that you might become rich, gaining true treasure in heaven. An everlasting kingdom of righteousness, blessing, peace, and immeasurable joy in the presence of God.