No Way

One time a man was sent to prison. Sitting in his cell in the dark, he heard someone yell: “42.” The whole cell block burst into laughter, including the new man’s cellmate. Just as he was about to ask his cellmate what that was all about, another prisoner shouted out “67” and the whole cell block erupted into laughter again. After this happened a couple of more times, the man asked his cellmate what was going on. “Well,” said his cellmate, “we’ve all been in prison so long and we’ve heard all the same jokes so many times that we gave each one a number and when we hear the number, we remember the joke and laugh.” “Huh,” thought the new guy. “Can I try?” “Sure,” said the old timer. The new guy shouted out “56.” There were a few muted chuckles, so he tried another number: “13.” No one laughed this time. “What gives?” he asked his cellmate. “Well,” the old time said, “some people can tell a joke and, well, some can’t.”

The same could be said about the Bible, amen? Only, instead of calling out a number, all I have to do is call out “prodigal son” or “the rich young ruler” and you know what I’m talking about, am I right? Some of us have heard these stories so many times … like one that we’re studying today … and we just assume that we already know all there is to know about this particular passage but our familiarity, I’m afraid, can block us from discovering new and exciting aspects to stories and passages that we may have heard dozen or even hundreds of times … which is why I have been emphasizing that we approach Mark’s gospel as though we are hearing it the first time and … looking at or listening to Mark’s gospel as though it were the only gospel in existence or the only gospel that we’ll have hear in our lifetime.

Case and point. How has this man in today’s passage become known? That’s right … as the what? The “rich young ruler.” But if you look closely at the passage, all it says is that “a man” ran up to Jesus and knelt before Him and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Remember … we’re hearing this story for the first time. We don’t know he’s wealthy until later in story when he walks away in shock … and even then, we don’t know any more than that about him. All we know is that he is a man … that he is Jewish because of his claim to have kept the Law since his Bar Mitzvah … and he is wealthy. There is no mention of his age … nor any mention of his status in life or in the community … so why is he known as the “rich YOUNG RULER?” Because Matthew refers to him as a “young man” in his gospel and Luke calls him a “ruler” in his gospel. Matthew doesn’t mention the man’s status in his gospel and Luke doesn’t mention his age in his gospel … and they each had a reason for including the information about this man that they did … but over time, we’ve melded all three versions of this story into a single character known as the “rich young ruler” … and so, when we read any one of the three versions and we automatically think of him as rich, young, and a ruler or leader … which is why I really, really want you to just stick to Mark’s version of this event today.

As is typical of Mark … his beginning is simple and direct. A man runs up to Jesus, kneels before Him, and asks Rabbi Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. I’m not sure why Mark started out this story the way that he did but I’m glad that he did because he keeps the focus where it belongs … on Jesus and not on the man … because the question that the man raises should be one that we all ask ourselves: What must WE do to inherit eternal life … and so, when this man runs up and kneels before Jesus and asks the question, he does so in our place, understand? We want to know the answer too … or at least we should, amen?

I have read so many commentaries and heard so many sermons that try to delve into this man’s mind, his motivation. I’m not going to do that this morning because I don’t see any point in it when you think about it. If it were important for us to know why he was there, I think that Mark would have told us or God would have wanted us to know but it would have influenced our ability to relate to this man … or, more importantly, relate to the answer that Jesus gives … or severely limit it. For example, let’s say that Mark tells us that the man is deeply concerned about his eternal future because he gained his wealth from unfair business practices … well, we’re going to judge him one way. If Mark tells us that he was troubled because he was a deeply religious man and was concerned that there was some law he might be breaking unconsciously and thus risking his eternal future, again, we would look him differently. I can’t tell you the number of commentaries I’ve read and sermons that I’ve heard that try to delve into this man’s head and his motivations … and I have to wonder why. What’s the point? Does it matter why he’s there?