Jesus, God’s wise and sharp word, is worth more than gold and silver.  He judges what the heart thinks of and what it wants to do.  He also serves to warn the wealthy and self-satisfied of the risks they run.

A man who seems to be in dire need of an answer kneels down before Jesus and asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  To reply, the first thing he does is warn the man that only God is good.

For the man who seems respectful and sincere may just be shopping for an answer.  It seems, then, that Jesus wants to warn him first that he is not just one teacher among others.  For he says always point to God, as it did on the matter of divorce.  That was when the Pharisees tested him to find out if he was on the side of Hillel or Shammai.

So, Jesus sends the man back to God’s commands.  Not to all, but just to those that deal with love of neighbor.  And the man says has kept them all from his youth.

Jesus, then, looks at the man and loves him so much that he calls him to be a disciple.  The man is to sell what he owns and give to the poor.  Thus, though poor on earth, he will have treasure in heaven.  And he can, then, go with Jesus.

But such call is too much for the man since he has great wealth.  So, he goes away; his wealth takes hold of him, holds him back.  And Jesus looks around and goes to warn his disciples in stark and hard-to-believe language of the risks of wealth.

To warn those who have wealth and those who are self-righteous 

No, there are no two ways about it.  It is no mere counsel that the Good News of Jesus gives to those who want to be perfect.  That is to say, to follow him means to put him ahead of wealth and other things.  All of us Christians must let go of all that makes us self-righteous, self-satisfied, self-made, worthy.  After all, we can pass through the eye of a needle by God’s grace only so thanks are due him.

Yes, we must be empty of ourselves to be full of him (SV.EN XI:311).  So that, sad, we may have joy, poor, we make others rich, and with nothing, we own many things.  And, for sure, to live forever means to live and die in the service of the poor, and to give up wealth and all to go with him (SV.EN III:384).  Such self-emptying means to receive in this life, too, a hundred times more.  But then again, he does warn us of persecution still.

Lord Jesus, make us heed you as you warn us about being wealthy in all kinds of ways.  See to it that there is equality, communion, among us who share one bread and one cup.  And thus, those who have much will not have more, and those who have little will not have less.  Let us grasp that, though there will always poor folks in the land, in effect, these will not be poor, since those who have will share the plenty that God means for all with those who do not have.

13 October 2024
28th Sunday in O.T (B)
Wis 7, 7-11; Heb 4, 12-13; Mk 10, 17-30