October 13, 2024

Today's Reading: Mark 10:17-22

Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 11:26-12:12; Matthew 12:22-37

“Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. (Mark 10:18)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Law questions get law answers. The rich man has two things on his mind as he approaches Jesus. First, Jesus is one of the Good Guys… a man wise in teaching about the things of God. Second, the rich man wants to know how eternal life is inherited. What should become apparent to us is the strange nature of the man's second thought. Inheritances aren’t earned… Inheritances are bestowed.  

The problem for the rich young man is often our problem; we understand that Eternal Life is the greatest thing of all, but unfortunately, we’re often tempted to think that it’s something we earn by what we do. Being “good” is necessary for salvation, but we don’t ask often enough, “What does ‘good’ mean?” While we often place a lot of emphasis on doing good… we often fail to ask WHO is doing the good and for Whom is the good one doing it. Jesus asks, though… “Why do you call me good?”  Do you say I’m good because of what I’m teaching or how you’ve seen me acting? He calls Jesus a teacher… Jesus is certainly that, but why does the man call Him good? The answer to this is that the rich man sees Jesus as a teacher, which He is, and that He sees Jesus as just one good teacher among many.

Jesus is so much more than a teacher, though; as He says to the rich man… “No one is good except God alone.” These words are both true and comforting. They’re comforting in the sense that God has come into our midst. Jesus is Goodness in the midst of sinners who aren’t good, and He’s come not just to teach, not to give new laws, new paths, or to provide an example… He alone is the Good One… sent by His Father, as the blessed Good One, Who fulfills both tables of the law, crediting His work to us by Baptism and bestowing the inheritance of forgiveness and life freely.

No one is Good but God alone, that’s true… but St. Mark writes and the Spirit opens our ears to see that Christ alone has accomplished all that is good and right. He’s fulfilled all the law, bore the weight of our sin, died to put our death to death, and has risen again to justify us… that is… to bestow forgiveness and life to us… to bestow the inheritance of the kingdom of God, salvation and eternal life to us in the church. The Good Teacher IS the Good Shepherd… who has bestowed His goodness to us, Who lives in us by His word and makes us good, beautiful, righteous, and perfect. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, whose grace always precedes and follows us, help us to forsake all trust in earthly gain and to find our treasure in You, our Heavenly treasure; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

-Rev. Adam DeGroot, pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church in Rio Rancho, NM.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Embracing Your Lutheran Identity, Author Gene Edward Veith Jr. will guide readers through that heritage, starting with the Early Church and moving through the Reformation to Lutheranism today. Readers will learn about key people in the history of Lutheranism, from two teenagers who were the first martyrs of the Reformation, through the Saxon immigrants who left everything behind so they could practice Lutheranism freely, to the Lutherans who have stood strong for the faith in our own day.