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Mark 10:17-22

¹⁷ And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ 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.’” ²⁰ And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” ²¹ And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²² Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

As Jesus is setting out on on His journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him. We’re going to call this young man Mark. Mark was famous. Everything Mark did was successful. Mark was a straight A student. He was the quarterback and captain of the state champion football team. He was the homecoming king. He landed the best, high-paying job and had the nicest house on the block. Mark married a trophy wife. He went to all the dinner parties of the elite. And best of all, Mark never let any of this go to his head. He Is the kind of neighbor who would mow your lawn and let you borrow his boat to go fishing.

Mark runs up to Jesus, kneels before him, and asks, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” But already there is a problem. Sure, Jesus teaches, but His teaching is not an outline of a life plan, or a series of actions, or a five-step-program for eternal life. Jesus is not a teacher of what to do to earn salvation. Jesus does not teach you how you can attain salvation; He does your salvation. Jesus is not a teacher of what you must do to inherit eternal life; Jesus gives eternal life.

Jesus will not allow any of this nonsense of being called good teacher if Mark thinks that there are other good teachers who can offer whatever variety of other ways, other deeds, other paths, or other commands that he can do to earn eternal life. Jesus says, “Good? Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. By calling me ‘good’ are you calling Me ‘decent fellow’? Or are you calling Me ‘good’ in the sense that God is good? Mark, think about what you are saying. I am good as God is good. But no one besides Me can be Good as God is good. God has already said what you must do if you want to earn eternal life: 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.’”

Jesus is calling Mark to take a close look at his life full of success after success and to really consider what God thinks of his life, to consider if he had really kept those commands. Mark should have taken a moment to ponder all those times he had failed in doing the Commandments. If he had done so, Mark would have realized his failure, and he wouldn’t have been asking Jesus for just another command to fail keeping.

But instead, Mark flat out rejects Jesus’ answer. By asking what he still lacked, Mark reveals that he doesn’t really think that Jesus is a good teacher because he already knew all of that Commandment stuff. Mark had asked a straight question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus gave him a straight answer, “Keep the Commandments.” But Mark is still as unsatisfied as before. He says, “Hold on there Jesus. There must be something more that I have to do. I already know those simple Commandments, and I’ve kept them my whole life. That’s stuff for preschoolers. There must be something more I have to do. Give me a grownup assignment.”

Jesus looks at Mark, and Jesus loves him. Jesus sees that Mark inwardly knows there is still something lacking, and Jesus sees that Mark has no clue as to what it is. Mark’s problem is that everything is lacking. Mark’s problem is that he isn’t willing to do what it takes to earn eternal life. Mark will not do what God requires. So Jesus turns up the heat of the Law and responds, “Mark, you poor, likeable sap. You’re not getting it. You say you want to do something to be saved, but you aren’t willing to do it. And I’ll prove it to you. Go. Sell all your possessions, and give it all to the poor. Then, come, follow Me.”

The hammer of the Law falls, and it falls hard. By demanding this, Jesus peels back all the layers of sin that were holding Mark captive. Jesus goes beneath all Mark’s politeness, his personal piety, and his moral accomplishments. All of that is stripped away by Jesus’ command. Jesus sweeps away the covering of all Mark’s accomplishments and there stands Mark’s idol completely naked for everyone to see – his stuff. And Mark’s face clouds over and becomes gloomier and drearier than a London fog. Mark sees for himself what Jesus saw – Mark was completely unwilling to do what Jesus, the Good Teacher, says is necessary to earn salvation. Mark was too much of a winner.

Four weeks ago, we heard about the father whose son was possessed with a demon (Mk. 9:14-29). After he told Jesus his sad story, he begged, “If you can do anything, have mercy on and help us.” And Jesus responded, “’If you can,’ all things are possible for the one who believes.” And the father cried out, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” That should have been Mark’s prayer. “Jesus I am weak. I’m not willing to do what you say is necessary for me to earn salvation. I love my stuff too much. Help my unbelief.” But he doesn’t. Instead, Mark leaves Jesus and walks away. And Jesus, who truly is the Good Teacher, lets him go. Jesus lets Mark go away because the Law needed to do its work in Mark.

Jesus is doing for Mark what God’s Word does for each and every one of us. God’s Word, His Law, cuts and slices through everything that we would do to earn our salvation because nothing we can do will be good enough to earn eternal life. In fact, as we will see as this story continues to unfold next week, Jesus says salvation is impossible for us.

Jesus is the one who does our salvation. Jesus is going on His journey to do exactly what Mark was unwilling to do. Jesus gave all His glory and heavenly treasure to become man. Jesus gave all He had to you poor, miserable, wretched sinners. He went to the cross where He shed His holy, precious, innocent blood – for you. Jesus hung on the tree to give His very life for you and suffer God’s wrath for you.

Salvation is not about giving everything over for God. Salvation is about God giving everything to you. And you, in simple God-given faith, trust that what He has done for you is sufficient. It is always best to have God doing the salvation verbs because that way, they are reliable. When you are doing the salvation verbs, they fall flat on their face and are not reliable.

Jesus has become Man – for you. He has bought and freed you from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil. He has done all of this with His holy and precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. He has bought you for His own because He loves and cherishes you. And His grace will always precede you and will always follow you. So give up your trust in anything and everything else. In Jesus, and in Jesus alone, you will will find your heavenly treasure. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.