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The Thing You Lack and the Love of Jesus
As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. (Mark 10:17-22)
The man in this story seems like a good guy, doesn’t he? He has kept the commandments since his youth and through his adulthood. Jesus doesn’t bother to refute this claim. Not only that, but he continues to seek out wisdom and persists in asking understanding from Jesus, who he calls “good teacher”. This man seems to have his head on straight. So why is it that by the end of this exchange we are left with only the picture of this man walking away from Jesus, upset at what he learned? It seems this man had held back a part of himself from God and wasn't ready to give up that last stronghold. He was unwilling to give up his possessions.
Do you make the same mistake that this man made? Do you give God the rule over many areas of your life, but are holding back on a certain area that you take particular pleasure in? Perhaps you go to church and read your bible, but you’re a drunkard. Maybe you have a devoted prayer life but you still sleep with people you aren’t married to. Like the man in Mark 10, you need to allow Jesus to identify the one thing you lack. That last stronghold in your heart and life that you haven’t allowed God to take charge of. It is not enough for Jesus to be Lord of 95% of your heart and your life. He is to be Lord of all. Unlike the man of Mark 10, you need to heed His teaching.
But that’s not all. After this man affirms to Jesus that he had been active and faithful in keeping the commandments since he was young, Jesus looks at him and loves him. I’m not sure what this moment would have looked like exactly, but I have always imagined that Jesus looked him in the eye for a few moments and gave him one of those quiet, deep looks of love that some of us may have experienced at important junctures of our own lives. The kind of look that a dad might give a daughter as he is giving her away at her wedding. Or the look a husband gives his wife as he holds their child for the first time. A look that has no words, but says all that it needs to. I imagine Jesus gave this man that look.
Why does Mark tell us that Jesus looked at him this way? Jesus was about to tell the man something that he needed to hear; something that he lacked in his faith, that would be very hard to hear; something that, Jesus knew, would make this man very sad. Mark wants you to know that Jesus didn’t do it for any other reason than His love for that man.
Jesus’ love for this man is the same love that he has for you. He looks at you and loves you. Because Jesus loves us, Jesus teaches us to give up our whole life. Even that last little bit we were holding onto. Because Jesus loves us, He tells us the truth that will lead us into eternal life with Him. Sometimes we think that love wouldn’t make someone sad or be divisive or ask something difficult of someone else, but this story shows us that love rejoices in the truth, not in sin (1 Cor. 13:6). Not only that, but that loving someone means you do what is best for them, and bringing someone closer to God is always what is best for them. That is what Jesus is doing in Mark 10 for this man, and that is what Jesus wants to do for you. Will you let Jesus identify the one thing you may still be lacking? Will you let Jesus love you?
