“Going Through the Eye of a Needle”
Mark 10:17-31
Our Gospel lesson for this morning starts out with a bit of irony.
What do I mean by that?
The story begins with these words: “As Jesus started on his way…”
“On his way,” is a code phrase for Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem.
It’s Jesus’ final journey which ends with a Cross.
Jesus is knowingly going to Jerusalem to die, but this man who comes to Him is asking Jesus how to find life.
Isn’t it ironic?
Hold on to that thought.
We will come back to it.
(pause)
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
I wonder what drove this man to Jesus.
I wonder what was going on in his life that caused him to run to Jesus, kneel down, and ask his question.
What’s the desperation behind the question?
What’s his desire?
We could speculate about him but chances are there have been times in all of our lives when we have asked the same kind of question.
I think it’s a question we ask when we bump up against our finitude and our powerlessness.
I wonder when you have asked this question?
What was going on in your life?
Or perhaps, you are asking this question this morning.
“Jesus, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What must I do to find myself again?”
“What must I do to be more fully alive?”
“How do I step through the impossibility of what is and into the possibility of what might be?”
When I was a Senior in high school some friends of mine and I were hanging out in a park drinking beer, smoking pot, and discussing what we wanted to do with our lives.
One of my friends answered, “I am going to keep doing the same thing I am doing right now for the rest of my life.”
And I thought to myself, “Not me.”
“I’ve seen something different; something better.
And I feel called.
I am going to be a United Methodist Minister like my Uncle.
I don’t know how I am going to do it.
I will need to clean up my act somehow, but that is what I am going to do.”
“How am I going to do it?”
“What must I do?”
I had no clue, but I knew that was what I was supposed to do and deep down inside I knew it was what I WAS going to do.
So, here we have in Mark Chapter 10, this rich young ruler.
Luke’s Gospel informs us that he is a ruler and Matthew’s Gospel tells us that he is young.
From the perspective of most, this guy has got the world by the tail.
He’s got what many people can only dream about:
He’s got youth, power and money.
He’s got everything this world can offer.
What else could he possibly need?
It’s interesting that he kneels before Jesus when he asks his question because everywhere else in Mark when a person kneels down to ask Jesus for something it is for a healing, for him or her, or for someone else.
Does this rich young ruler feel as though he’s sick and needs to be healed?
Maybe he’s heartsick and somewhere deep down he knows this and so he’s seeking Jesus out with his question.
Maybe, deep down inside, he knows there is more to life than money and power.
Maybe he has found that it’s ultimately not satisfying.
Maybe he is aware that youth is fleeting.
Maybe, in a sense, he has it all, but in another sense, he realizes he’s missing the most important thing.
And, of course, he suffers from the same disease we all suffer from, I mean, someday his body will wear out and he is going to die.
What happens after that?
Surely, he knows he can’t take his riches with him.
Also, even though he has “kept all [the commandments]” since he was a boy, he knows that underneath it all he is a sinner.
And he really hasn’t kept them.
He’s tried and tried.
But, ultimately, he has failed.
So, what must he do?
What must he do?
I love verse 21.
It says that “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”
Jesus looked at him and loved him.
And that is how Jesus looks at all of us—with love, a great love, the greatest love the world has ever known.
Has this ever entered your mind?
Has it ever occurred to you that Jesus is always looking at you and always loving you?
Oftentimes Owen gets up on his own in the morning, but sometimes I have to go into his room and wake him.
And it doesn’t take much.
I usually go in and turn off his nightlights and then ruffle his hair or give him a hug and he’ll be up and out in the living room almost immediately.
One day last week, I did this, but when I gave Owen a hug I felt so much love for this little boy of mine that I didn’t want to let go.
So, I kept the hug going for a minute or two.
My head was against his and all I could hear was his breathing.
As I listened to the air going in and out of his lungs, I was overwhelmed with my love and thankfulness for him.
And yet, the love God has for us is much, much more.
Jesus looks at the man and loves him, and after all, isn’t this why Jesus is on His journey to the Cross?
“For God so loved the world…”
And it is out of this great love that Jesus says to the rich young ruler, “Well, it looks like there’s only one thing left for you to do.
Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
“Sell what you own and give it to the poor.”
We may like to think that this is merely some spiritual advice Jesus gives to avoid the idolatry of money, and that may be part of it, but for Jesus, as with the Old Testament, abundant wealth next to grinding poverty is unacceptable to God.
In 1 John 3:17, it says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, then how can the love of God be in that person?”
Jesus is calling the rich young ruler to change his relationship with the poor—to help them, to love them, to identify with them.
But the financial, social, and political costs are too much for this guy.
And who can blame him?
Let’s try and put ourselves in the rich young ruler’s place.
Otherwise, it is really easy to judge him from afar.
It’s easy for me to say, “Huh! Can you imagine?”
What a greedy fool.
He chose money over following Jesus.”
But if I say this, I’m judging not only him, but myself as well.
I haven’t sold everything I have and given it to the poor in order to follow Jesus.
As a matter of fact, I can’t imagine being able to do something like that.
What would happen to my family?
How would we eat?
How could I send my kids to college?
Where would we sleep?
What would my wife do to me?
Would I even have a wife anymore?
I mean, let’s be real here.
Who, do you know in the affluent United States of America that is going to sell all they have and give it to the poor in order to follow Jesus?
I haven’t met anyone who has done that.
And yet, this is what Jesus says is the one thing the rich young ruler lacks if he wants to inherit eternal life.
“How difficult it is for the rich 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.”
Jesus’ point is very clear: Just as large animals simply do not fit through tiny openings, so the wealthy do not fit into the Kingdom of God.
This causes the disciples to have a panic attack.
The radical, seemingly impossible demand of the kingdom of God is not lost on them.
Contemporary Jewish belief had taught them that riches was a sign of God’s blessing, so as they looked at the rich guy walking away, they asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Ultimately, we all have the same problem of earning our way into salvation.
It can’t be done.
What, then, is the answer?
Looking at His disciples, just as He looked at the rich man, and loving them just as much, Jesus says, “With mortals, it is impossible but not with God, for everything is possible with God.”
This is not a cheap grace solution that allows us to carry on with business as usual.
Something still has to change for God’s impossible possibility to be realized.
Let’s go back to the rich man’s question that started this whole incident: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
His question already hints at a deeper answer.
What can anyone do to inherit anything?
Inheritance is more about belonging to a family than earning something, and this helps explain what is going on in verses 28-30.
Leaving everything and following Jesus, as Peter says the disciples have done, brings them into a new family.
This household of God is an incredibly rich present reality, but one that is marked with persecution.
It does involve taking up our cross.
It’s also a future reality characterized by the fullness of life where first and last will no longer have any relevance.
But how do we become a part of God’s family?
Now let’s return to the irony that begins in verse 17.
“As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him…”
As Jesus started on his way to Jerusalem where He would ultimately be arrested, and beaten, and murdered on a Cross the man ran up to Him asking Him what he must do to inherit eternal life.
Another thing about inheriting something is that someone has to die.
Jesus so loved the rich man.
Jesus so loved the disciples.
Jesus so loves you and me.
Jesus so loved the world, that He came and died so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but shall inherit the kingdom, becoming part of His family.
As we are told in John Chapter 1, “to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
Yes, all things are possible with God and Jesus is heading to Jerusalem to fulfill that promise.
I think the rich man who walked away that day may well have been one of those who, after Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension joined the Church as it is described in Acts 4:32, where “All the believers were one in heart and mind.
No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.”
Thanks be to Jesus, the Good Teacher, that all things are possible with God.
Do you find yourself this morning asking the same question as the rich man in our Lesson for this morning?
Do you feel Jesus calling You to be a part of His family but you think you have to do something first, clean up your act before you can come in, perhaps?
Believe, give yourself to Him.
He loves you; love Him back.
He gave His all for you; give your all to Him.
Ask Jesus to take care of the rest; He already has, you know.
