Proper 23 B
Something’s Not Right
St. Mark 10:17-22
11 October 2015 – Redeemer
You know something is wrong. You simply do not feel right, so you go see a doctor. And then, by God’s gift of healing, the doctor pinpoints the problem. It might be through a simple exam, his or her hands touching, pressing, feeling, and then, ouch, right there, that’s the spot. All those years of study, all that practice of medicine, of becoming familiar with the human body, enables the doctor to do what I have not been give to do – heal myself. It matters not – it might be the physical therapist, the surgeon, or the chiropractor – they have been given the gift of healing, but they don’t just throw every medicine or treatment at you. They move your arm or leg just so, they palpitate and probe, and when you grimace and say, “That’s it!” once the problem has been identified, by God’s grace the healing begins.
The young man who came to Jesus knew something was wrong. And we ought to rejoice in that. From the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke we know this man was rich, young, and a ruler. And yet, he knew something wasn’t right in his life. Perhaps his sister had breast cancer. Or his best friend had died in a motorcycle accident. Or the volatility of the Jerusalem Stock exchange was putting his fortune in peril. While any of those events might have caused him great suffering they also did him some good. He realized that he was dying or that wealth wasn’t everything or that his power didn’t really give him power over anything that mattered.
He came to Jesus. There’s no better place to go when life isn’t right than Jesus. Learn from this young man. He heard something, saw something, believed something about Jesus. Maybe it was these men following Jesus who had left home and work to hang their lives on Jesus. Or maybe it was Jesus Himself – a model of servanthood and grace – maybe that was what was missing in the man’s life.
So we commend that young man for seeing, even in the midst of wealth and power and youth that his life was not right and, then, for going to Jesus. But from the moment he opens his mouth we sense something is wrong. First he says, “Teacher.” Do you know that in the Gospels, when someone calls Jesus teacher it usually is either misguided or sarcastic. When James and John want Jesus to make them the greatest – they call Jesus “teacher.” When the disciples are on the stormy sea and wake Jesus and scold him for not caring they call him, “teacher.” When the Pharisees and Herodians came to trap Jesus in his words they addressed him as “teacher.” The man did not address Jesus as Lord, but as “teacher” and that may be why Jesus rebuffs him.
Then the man asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The question is kind of like the title “teacher” – it sounds like a good question, but it really isn’t. Inheritances aren’t earned. They are given. Suppose one of your children asked, “What can I do to get more money when you die?” It’s a self-centered question and the Kingdom of God is not what you do or get for yourself. Jesus has been preaching against that for a good part of Mark’s Gospel. The good news is that Jesus can take a bad question and respond with a great answer. This is where Jesus cares for the man’s soul by touching what is really wrong with him.
And at first the man doesn’t feel anything. Jesus gives him commandments 4-10. If you want to inherit eternal life says Jesus – you must perfectly love your neighbor – your parents, your spouse, your neighbor’s name, property, and people. The man was certain he had done all those things so Jesus must probe the man’s heart. To save the man the Great Physician must show the man what is getting in the way of having a right life. “Go, sell, all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.”
Jesus pressed exactly where the man’s problem was and the man felt great pain. Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Now he was grieving. In his own mind he has just received a death sentence – because that which he loved most Jesus commanded him to give up.
Why would Jesus do this to the man? Why would he do it to you? Why would His Word press upon that one part of your life that is a tender spot? Why would he risk offending you so much that you might walk away?
Saint Mark tells us. Jesus, looking at (the man), loved him, and said to him, “Go, sell, all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.” Why would Jesus with His Word offend you? Because He loves you as He loved the rich young man. Jesus wanted the rich young man to have eternal life, but the rich young man thought that he (the rich young man) could inherit eternal life. He wanted Jesus, but he wanted Jesus and his wealth, Jesus and his life, Jesus and whatever.
So Jesus gave the man an impossible Word, “Go and sell all that you have,” That is as impossible for the man to do as when Jesus told the twelve a few weeks ago, “If your hand causes you to sin cut if off.” Jesus preaches these impossibilities so that the rich young man bows his head and says to Jesus, “I can’t. I’m sorry. I cannot do what you ask.” He preaches His hard words to us so that we bow our heads when he presses on our false gods and earthly idols and say, “I can’t. Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”
Jesus wanted this young man to believe that the only way for his life to be right is Jesus, because only Jesus is true God. Only Jesus is God in the flesh. Only Jesus takes your sin upon Himself. Only the blood of Jesus Christ pays for our sins. Only Jesus’ death can silence Satan and give you hope when the doctor says there is no hope, or the policeman stands at your door and says, “I’m sorry, your grandson is dead.” Only Jesus does the work of earning eternal life for you and bestowing that heavenly treasure on you through His Word and your baptism and His Supper.
Jesus gave that young man a commandment he could not keep. In the Old Testament, in the midst of the commandments, God tells us why, when He says, “I, the Lord, your God am a jealous God.” Normally we don’t look on jealousy as a good character trait, but with God it is good because He is good. God is jealous for us in that He wants no one else to have us. He does not want to lose us to our sin, to our false gods, to the love of the world, to Satan. So when God stands in the flesh of Jesus He is jealous – jealous for the rich man, jealous for you. So jealous that He would press and twist and even bring pain to your soul that you might repent. So jealous that He would supply the saving medicine of His death and resurrection which heals you when you’re so broken by sin and suffering you cannot imagine health. So jealous He would take your place, bear your sins, suffer your death, and endure your hell. So jealous He’ll let you feel the pain and hurt of your sin. So jealous He’ll forgive you no matter your sin.
So what do you think happened to the rich young man? Did he repent? Did he confess his worship of wealth and return to Jesus with sorrow over his sin? Did he inherit eternal life? Saint Mark doesn’t tell us because in the end it isn’t about that rich young guy – it’s about Jesus and you. You’re the one Jesus is jealous over. You’re the one He would hurt to heal, and risk losing to save. You’re the one for whom Christ lived and worked, and suffered and died, because you’re the one whose life isn’t right and Jesus wants you to have eternal life. In His Name. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
10 September 2015 anno Domini