Musings on the Daily Lectionary

The several versions of today's gospel reading have led people to speak of "the rich young ruler" even though no such person appears in the gospels. In Mark (our reading for today) he is simply "a man." In Matthew he is "the young man," and in Luke he is "a certain ruler."

This story is a difficult one for many of us, for most of us are certainly rich by the standards of Jesus' day. That's probably why people often disparage this fellow who came to Jesus asking what he should do to inherit eternal life. They presume he must have been unusually greedy, or they think his answer to Jesus about keeping the Law since his youth to be arrogant. But in fact, the Apostle Paul describes his own keeping of the Law the same way. In Jewish thinking of the time, to have "kept all these since my youth" does not claim perfection. It means that a person has diligently tried to keep the Law and has asked for forgiveness when he faltered. And the story says nothing about the man being greedy.

And if there is any question as to how to view this fellow, Mark's gospel states, "Jesus, looking at him, loved him." Jesus' command, "Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me," is not a way of catching some religious hypocrite. It is the one thing this man lacks and that Jesus wishes for him.

Just as many of us do today, people in Jesus' time assumed that riches were a sign of God's blessings. But here Jesus speaks of them as a curse, a curse that I and many others pursue nonetheless. I check my stock portfolio online most days, happy when it goes up in value and grumbling when it goes down. Obviously I have a hard time accepting what Jesus says. "Children, how hard it is 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."

If Jesus ever said to me, "Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me," would I be able to do it? I wonder if I'm poor enough to say "Yes."

Click here to learn more about the Daily Lectionary.