The Gospel of Mark: The Rich Man

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “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.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” ~ Mark 10:17-27


This is one of those passages that you can tease out all kinds of things from: the law the man does keep; the way he can't give up his riches; the difficulty the rich have in understanding what true life is all about; the way the disciples still get confused at stuff they really should understand by now...

But what always strikes me in this passage are a few words that don't pop up in the other gospels' versions of this story.

After the man tells Jesus he has kept the law (and is probably pretty proud of himself for that), we are told that Jesus looked at him and loved him.

Even though this man would not end up following him.

Even though he was too attached to his possessions.

Jesus loved him.


Holy God, thank you for the gospel - the good news - of your Son. Open my mind and heart to this good news and enliven me with your Spirit of servanthood that I might share this good news with a world in need. Amen



Engagement Question:


What are the things that you notice most in this story?

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