Jesus loves the self-righteous

 JESUS LOVES THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS

“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

MARK 10.20–21

Based on MARK 10.17–22

How many parents have been embarrassed by their children’s temper tantrums in the supermarket? Or their lack of manners upon receiving a gift? Anyone who has raised a child understands the importance of teaching their children to show respect, to obey the rules, and to become an upstanding citizen of society.

But any good parent knows that more important than a child’s external compliance is their internal sensitivity to God’s Spirit and their wholehearted surrender to Him.

Here we see Jesus’ love for a young man who, by all external measures, perfectly fulfilled the law of Moses, he obeyed and honoured his parents, he was honest in his business transactions, he was truthful in his testimony, he was pure in his relationships.

Any parent would be thrilled to have their child grow up and become an upstanding member of society as this young man had become. So, at first, Jesus’ demand to sell all he had seems unfair. After all, this man was doing pretty well, wasn’t he? Why place this undue burden on him, especially when He hadn’t asked the same of other rich disciples, like Matthew, Zacchaeus, and Nicodemus?

Such a strict command seems uncharacteristically harsh, until we read the text carefully and realise. Jesus looked at him and loved him.

This young man seems self-assured in his rule-keeping and has no problem showering Jesus with praise. Certainly others looked up to him and respected him. But in His love, Jesus studied him carefully and looked past the externals, pushing to the deeper heart issues this young man was facing.

Externally, he seemed perfect. Internally, he was wrestling with greed and idolatry, and these sins were threatening to suffocate the life out of him — and to keep him from finding eternal life in Jesus. Moved with compassion, Jesus clearly articulates the unspoken sins that overrun this young man’s heart and calls him out, not to shame him, but to invite him to a life of true fruitfulness.

Jesus’ good seed cannot grow roots and bear fruit in a heart that is suffocated by the weeds of the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for more and more stuff (Mk 4.19). It would be callous and unloving of Jesus to allow those sins to continue growing, it is His love that compels Him to reach in and yank them out by the roots, allowing the soil of our hearts to remain receptive to His Word and to produce a crop that’s a hundredfold. If only we’d let Him.

But repentance was too much of a sacrifice for this man. Jesus’ intuition was spot-on, and the rich young man went away sad. Forced to choose between money and Jesus, he had chosen money. Jesus had seen him. Jesus knew him. And Jesus had lovingly called him to a richer life. But he wouldn’t have it.

Prayer 

Precious Jesus, I confess that my heart is overrun with sin that woos me away from you. Till up the soil of my heart, Lord Jesus, and put to death any affection that competes with wholehearted adoration of You. I renounce any good or evil thing that comes between me and You. Take it all, and help me desire You alone.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

If you want to read more 

Mt 10.37–38, Mk 4.1–20, 10.21, Jn 12.1–8, 1Tim 6.8–10, 1Jn 2.15–16