ENCOUNTER: DAY 12

SCRIPTURE READING - DAY 12

Mark 10:17-22

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:
'Do not murder, do not commit adultery,
do not steal, do not give false testimony,
do not defraud, honor 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. (NIV)

MEDITATION BY Mike Brantley


Enter the scene: blinding sun, animal smells, and dust. Jesus concludes and in the departing bustle, a rich young man runs and falls at Jesus’ feet. In those days, the rich never ran and certainly never knelt to a peasant—prophet or not. But he pleads, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” What brought him to such desperation?

Look closer. He is not a Pharisee, but a Sadducee: the social elite controlling Palestinian life. This young man enjoys privilege and influence with the Romans. He’s culturally Hellenized and his faith justifies his station in life. If he had it all, why did his religious life not satiate his ache? Jesus responds, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” He continues, “You know the commandments: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.”

Jesus did not choose commandments regarding our relationship with God, but our relationships with people, our common life. The young man’s response reveals his awareness that his religion has not reconciled him to God. “Teacher, all these things I have kept since I was a boy.” Even his words resound his ache. At this, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Of course he “looked” at him, but this is eye-to-eye. Of course Jesus loved him. Yet, here again, Mark tells us something deeper—this is a specific, deep love.

Recognizing his sincere desire for more, Jesus replies, “One thing you lack...sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

This young man is confronted with what he really loves—his heart’s desires. Jesus calls him beyond religion and “sin management.” With true life within reach, Jesus reveals that the desires of the rich young man’s heart are worthless, cheap plastic, and calls him to discard it all and follow. “At this, his eyes fell.” Stop here and catch this climatic moment. The instant he broke eye contact, the young man's decision was made. He could not bring himself to give up the life he loved. He came thirsty, but expected an answer he could control—maybe a religious accessory or discipline to make life smoother. He wasn’t expecting real life to demand reckless abandon.

I was taught that this passage regarded money. Yet, recently I’ve embraced this absolute consuming call to stop distracting my heart with meaningless, unsatisfying desires. As you proceed through Lent, may Jesus expose every entangling, distracting hindrance and transform you to freely and recklessly abandon all.

REFLECTION


Why are you participating in Lent and reading this devotional? What does your heart desire?


Are you in love with temporal, hindering entanglements? What are they?


If you have reduced following Jesus to religious piety and sin management, what is he saying to you right now as you lock eyes?