Mark 10:17-22 New Living Translation 17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good.19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. When I was a kid my family and I would to Mexico and visit family. I vividly remember drawing water from a well probably because it wasn't something I had to do in Chicago. We take for granted that we can just go to our kitchen or bathroom, turn a faucet and out comes clean water. In Mexico, at least wear my family is from, you had to dig your own well or walk to the town well if you wanted water. It's obvious if you want water your going to need an empty bucket to get it out of the well. But somehow we think we can come to Jesus with our hands full and expect to receive something.
The man in today's reading, "came running up to him, knelt down, and asked". It all sounds so humble but Jesus quickly gets to the heart of the man or in other words what he treasures most. The came up to Jesus and asked Him what he must do to inherit eternal life and Jesus, determined to show him his inability to keep the Law, told keep the commandments. Somehow in in all of us to try and do good thinking this will gain us points with God. Even as believers we tend to view the world this way and we prove it the moment something in our world goes wrong we either say it out loud or think it in our heart, why me I always serve you or something along that line. The Law is summed up in two, love God and love others. This man thought he had obeyed the second and Jesus proved him wrong when he told him, “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” In other words, empty your hands and I will fill them. The bible tells us, "The man's face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. How many people today fill our pews with hands that are full expecting God to give them something. When will we learn the only way we can come to God and expect to receive anything form Him is with empty hands. Jesus indeed is good and loved this man enough to tell him the truth knowing he wouldn't receive it. We are called to share the good news regardless of the outcome. This man couldn't even receive the bad news, that we are all sinners in need of the Savior. It's no wonder he rejected the Good News, in his eyes his hands were already full.
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