READING: MARK 10:17-31

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good – except God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.”’

‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy.’

Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked round and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!’

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, ‘Who then can be saved?’

Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’

Then Peter spoke up, ‘We have left everything to follow you!’

‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – along with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.’

REFLECTION

Hello, welcome to the first foundations podcast of February! Thank you for joining me as we continue our journey through Mark. Today our passage is Mark 10:17-31. Do read it all to get a full picture of the passage, but for now I will read verses 20-23 to us. In this passage we see Jesus answering the questions of a rich young man. The man has asked the question ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus lists the commandments given in the Old Testament and this is the point we pick up the conversation:

“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Jesus’ answer is simple. Following the commandments of the Old Testament is a good start. Living a moral life in line with scripture is certainly a good, tangible thing to be doing. However if we want to really know God, if we want to walk in His new Kingdom then there’s only one way to do that. When Jesus says come and follow me we must respond. Maybe just won’t cut it. I’ll finish what I’m doing now Jesus and then I’ll follow you later doesn’t cut it. Jesus doesn’t take the offer away, He still stands at the door and knocks, but we can’t have a relationship where He just comes in for a cup of tea every now and again. If we say yes to following Jesus then we are choosing to put Him above all else in our life. We are saying come in and stay Jesus, make your home here, stay through the good times and the bad times. Be my priority, be my guide, as the song goes, be my everything.

This is where the whole money thing comes in. First things first, is money bad- no. Is having a lot of money in and of itself a bad thing- no. I believe that God blesses us abundantly, so why should that exclude money? Jesus didn’t have an aversion to using money when necessary- one of His miracles was producing a coin from the mouth of a fish so He could pay the temple tax! He didn’t say give your money to the poor to get rid of the evil money, to let someone else deal with it.

The point Jesus is making here isn’t even limited to coins and credit cards. Jesus is talking about appetite. When we say yes to Jesus we choose to submit to Him. We choose to say I trust you Jesus to know what is best for me. I choose you Jesus to be my priority. To be my hope. To be my provider. In this story the man has allowed money to take the place of Jesus. It has become something that is more important to him than Jesus. It stops Him from saying Yes I will follow you. He has put his trust and hope in money. He has possibly allowed money to become the thing that drives him, that satisfies him. When we do this we give in to our own appetite. Like with ambition on Monday there is nothing wrong with having an appetite. I have an appetite for biscuits 90% of the time. However the problems come when we allow this appetite to rule us. When we start making major decisions around it. Thinking we can compromise a little here or there to fulfil our appetites. Our desire to put money, food, sex, whatever it is above Jesus.

Jesus says this can be fatal for our walk with Him so let’s take it seriously, but remember the Bible also tells us that there is no condemnation for those who genuinely try and follow the Lord. So today, are there any places where we are allowing our appetite to creep up on us. How can we address that?

PRAYER

Thank you Lord that you stand at the door and knock. That you call us to follow You. Thank you for the new life that you call us to. Please help us today to be aware of anything holding us back from following you. Help us to address that Lord, give us people to process with, to hold us accountable. Bless us today as we look to walk ever closer with you, our Lord and friend. Amen.

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