Follow Him

Scripture/Bible:  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?" 18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" 20 And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." 21 And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 22 At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." Mark 10:17-27

Reflection:  Finally, we have a man, a rich young man, who had all the self confidence of an apparent faith. Though he seemed unsure of eternal life but he seemed very sure of his rights. He seemed sure that he was the child of God and if he followed certain rules and ethics of life he would inherit God’s Kingdom.

The facts that he used the word ‘inherit’ smacks of a certain kind of arrogance based on confidence, sonship and rights.  Only a son or a close relative can seek to inherit and if it is a son then he can demand his share of inheritance, as in the above Gospel text above.

If anyone thought that following the commandments or selling everything is enough to inherit eternal life, then you are wrong.

You have to first acknowledge your true state, which is evil and steeped in sin: “No one is good but God alone.”  (vs. 18)

The rich young man failed to see this element and hence Jesus had to remind him about the commandments he needed to keep; “Yet, if it had not been for the law, I should not have known sin.” Rom 7:7 And he needed to be reminded of the commandments so that he may know his true worth.

But it made little impact on the man whose conscience failed to show him his defects in the light of God’s perfect law and its limitations. 

For though he seemed to have kept God’s law perfectly, he missed out on the most important commandment which Jesus had not pointed out to him so far; to love the Lord your God with all your heart….……more than your possessions too.

From this we know that the rich young man missed out on that truth which clearly says that we need to love the Lord our God more than our possessions of wealth and money, image and false sense righteousness based on the law. .

Prayer: “Restore us, O God of hosts; let thy face shine, that we may be saved!”  Ps 80:7

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