As Jesus was Setting Out

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark:

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother.”
He replied and said to him,
“Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.”
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
“You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
“How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
“Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God.”
Peter began to say to him,
“We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

Jesus was setting out on a journey.

Where was He going?

He was going to die.

That’s what He’ll say in the very next Gospel passage. Right after this story, He’ll set out for Jerusalem and remind His apostles that He’s about to be betrayed, tortured and lynched, and three days later He will rise. The apostles will be scandalized that He said such a thing, just as they’re scandalized now. It doesn’t make any sense.

As Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die, a man ran up, knelt down before Him and asked what He must do to inherit eternal life.

Jesus reminded the man of all the commandments he already knew:  You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.

“All of these I have observed from my youth,” said the man, but he hasn’t. That’s impossible. No one has ever observed the commandments perfectly. All have sinned; all have fallen short. There must have been some way he hasn’t observed the commandments, but he can’t think of one.

Jesus looks at this man and loves him. That’s what God does. God looks at us, sees us, comprehends everything, knows just where we’ve failed– and then, rather than passing judgement, He loves. That is what Jesus does to the young man who doesn’t think he’s ever broken a commandment. He looks at him, and loves him.

“You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

The man goes away, sad, for he has many possessions. And what he does next, we don’t know.

Maybe he really does sell it all and then come back to follow Jesus to Jerusalem, to die. Or, maybe he goes back to his possessions, deeming them more important than eternal life. Maybe he first returns to his possessions, and then repents, and goes to find Jesus.

Jesus says to His disciples, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

And the apostles are exceedingly astonished. This can’t be true. Rich people are the very best people; everybody knows that. They pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and create jobs for everyone. They must be clever, to be so flush. They must be prudent and wise, to have so much. Look at the philanthropy they practice. Look at the foundations they’ve founded. Look at the apostolates they run, prudently, and how the Lord provided them with such a nice cushy living as a reward for their stepping out in faith. If the rich man can’t get into the Kingdom of Heaven more easily than shoving a camel through the eye of a needle, then there’s no hope for anyone at all.

The apostles throw up their hands in shock. “Who, then, can be saved?”

“For human beings it is impossible, but not for God,” Says God, who is poor, and is going to Jerusalem to die. “All things are possible for God.”

Simon Peter speaks up, just as he always does. Simon Peter always has to have the last word.

He wants to show how different he is from the rich man who went away sadly. “We have given up everything and followed you.”

Jesus looks at Simon Peter and loves him, just as He did to the rich man. He knows that Simon Peter has given up everything to follow him. He also knows that Simon Peter is all full of hot air. Simon Peter will deny Him three times and run away crying on the day He is condemned to die in Jerusalem. But Jesus loves Simon Peter anyway. “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

What does that mean?

What can that possibly mean?

If the rich man comes back, will he find everything he’s given away returned to him, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come?

In Jerusalem, not long from now, after the scandalized apostles are scattered and abandon Jesus to die, when they all repent and come back to the cenacle and wait for the Resurrection, will they get back everything they’ve given up to follow Him?

Will all of us, in all of these centuries since, who have given up everything to follow Him, and failed Him again and again, and come back to wait for the resurrection,  find what we’ve lost?

The apostles who have given up everything follow Jesus to Jerusalem, to fail and deny Him and ruin everything and then repent and wait for Him. They will go out into new lands that are not their own, blessing houses that are not theirs, making of everyone they baptize a brother and a sister. Then will come the persecutions, and finally, everlasting life.

The rich man goes away, sad because of his many possessions.

What happens next, we do not know.