BE CHILDISH
It is no coincidence that the catechism we still use today was put together at the height of the Reformation. It is no coincidence because the Catechism contains the main teachings of Scripture that the Reformation was all about. It is a summary of what God says in his Word and that was what the Reformation was bringing people back to. And so as the leaders of this Great Return to God’s Word realized that more and more Christian people and entire congregations were beginning to come back to the clear and simple teachings of Scripture, they knew that their children would have to be taught these truths as well. And so in 1529, Martin Luther gathered up all of the sermons and treatises he had written on the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, confession and forgiveness, and he put these summaries of the Bible’s words into a book that we now call the Small Catechism. And from then on, for the next 480 years up to this present day, genuine Lutheran churches all over the world have used this summary of Scripture to train their children in the main and most important teachings of God’s Word. The Small Catechism is one of the greatest blessings that the Lord has preserved for us out of the Reformation of 16th century Germany. And it is a great blessing not because the Catechism is simply a nice historical document. And it is not a blessing because it is a book of Lutheran teachings, but because it is a book of Scriptural teachings.
Sadly, the majority of the people in this world do not believe the scriptural teachings that so many children have been taught over the last five centuries. Even the brightest individuals around us fail to see the truth. There are scholars in this life that know the Greek and Hebrew of Scripture inside and out. The have gained their doctorates in the languages of the Bible and are immersed in the words of God every day. But despite all of their learning, many of them refuse to believe a basic truth found in the Apostles’ Creed: that Jesus is the Savior of all their sins. They deny something that the smallest of children know is true. What Jesus said about those who lived in his day is still true in ours: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”
There are intelligent people in many different fields that are the best at what they do. They are the geniuses of our time. They are the ones looked to for answers and advice and solutions. But despite all of their knowledge, many of them fail to recognize the Lord as the only true God, the only true Creator, the only source of everything good. They ignore the very 1st Commandment - a command that little children across the world know by heart. What Jesus said about people in his day is certainly still true today: “You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”
There are people in our lives that are blessed with an extraordinary amount of natural wisdom. They are never surprised. They know exactly how things work. They know exactly what to do, exactly how to do it, exactly what to say, and exactly how to say it. But despite all of their talents, they scoff at the teachings of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They dismiss as ridiculous the idea that God would forgive sins through water and bread and wine if they are combined with the right words of Scripture. They laugh at something that little children have no problem agreeing with. “You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” And it will always be that way. The supposed “intelligence” of people, their learning, their ability to reason deductively, their logic, their desire for scientific proof will always get in the way of believing the clear words of God in the Bible.
And so I encourage you today to be childish. Be childish when it comes to the teachings of Scripture. Don’t grow up! Don’t graduate from these truths that we find in the Catechism! Don’t think you know them so well that you can now leave them behind and move on to the bigger and more complicated things that God says! Because although these summaries of Scripture found in the Small Catechism were originally written for children, they were not written only for children. They were written to be learned at childhood and then to be studied for the rest of our lives. Even Martin Luther, the author of the Catechism, the one who gathered up these main teachings of Scripture and put them in book form, said, “I must still read and study the Catechism daily, yet I cannot master it as I would like, but must remain a child and student of the Catechism. This I do gladly.” If Martin Luther had to remain a child when it came to the basic teachings of the Bible, we probably should too. And so be childish. Study these teachings laid out for children. Review them. Memorize them. Cling to them just as a child would. Because less childish we become, the more our faith suffers.
When we are told as children that the 4th Commandment means that we should “honor serve and obey” parents and all those in authority, we don’t question that directive. We as children might not be able to carry that out perfectly, but we know and believe that we were supposed to honor and serve and obey anyone who is placed over us. There is no debate. But as we grow up, and as we begin to see the faults and sins of those who are placed over us, that Commandment to serve and obey all those in authority is a little tougher to swallow, isn’t it? My boss is an idiot, so why should I listen to him? My government is unfair, so why should I pay all of the taxes that I don’t agree with? My parents are getting older and more senile, so why do I have to honor them and respect them when they don’t even know what they are talking about anymore? The older we get and the less childish we become with the teachings of Scripture, the harder it is to accept the things we so firmly believed in when we were younger.
In the Apostles’ Creed we were taught and we still confess that “God still preserves me by richly and daily providing… all I need to keep my body and life. And God also preserves me by defending me against all danger, guarding and protecting me from all evil.” And when we were children, it was not a problem for us to believe that. If God said he would provide and protect and defend us, we knew he would, we didn’t worry about it at all! But as we grow older, and the more we run into sinful people and sinful disasters, the harder it is to trust that this promise of God is actually true. We start to worry about the bills - Is God really going to preserve me? because I can’t see how I’m going to get out of this mess! We start to become discouraged about our health - Is God really going to guard me against sickness? because this pain is unbearable and he won’t take it away! We start to stress out about the future - Is God really going to protect me and those I love? because this situation doesn’t look like it will turn out for the good! The older we get and the less childish we become with the clear teachings of Scripture, the harder it is to believe what we so firmly trusted in years ago.
As children, we heard that when every-day water was connected with specific words of Jesus, our sins were forgiven. And we were taught that when normal bread and wine were connected with Jesus’ words of institution, the bread and wine also became Christ’s true body and blood - and again for our forgiveness. And we were fine with that! We didn’t question the logistics of the sacraments as children. We didn’t try to figure out how something so impossible could be true. We simply took the Lord at his Word. But his words about baptism and the Lord’s Supper don’t make sense to a logical mind. They don’t fit any formula of scientific proof. In fact, what Scripture teaches about baptism and the Lord’s Supper seems to defy everything we have come to know about this world and how it works. And so the older we get and the less childish we become with the clear teachings of Scripture, the harder it is to believe what we so firmly trusted in when we were kids. There are many times that we fail to be childish with the Bible. We question, we doubt, we scrutinize, we waver, we even criticize the Lord’s Word and his will at times. That is not being a child of Scripture; that is being an enemy of Scripture.
And so thank the Lord that he still treats you like a child! He does not treat you like an adult: like one who can handle things and who is held responsible for problems when things go wrong. He treats you like a child who is completely dependant on his Father. He does not demand that you keep his commands and believe his Word perfectly in every respect. He does not ask you to earn your keep if you are to remain on his good side. He does not require you to be able to explain every teaching perfectly in order to get to heaven. He does not tell you to take the first few steps and he will carry you the rest of the way. Nor does he give you a jump start as long as you do your part in the end. Rather, instead of treating you like you can do it yourself, the Lord says, “You can’t keep my commandments perfectly? Then I will come down to this earth and keep them perfectly for you. You can’t take the punishment that your sins deserve and survive? Then I will take the punishment your sins deserve and be victorious. You can’t die and rise from the dead? Then I will die and rise from the dead so that you will be able to do that one day as well. You can’t fight off all of the temptations in this life, guard yourself against all of the evil, protect yourself from all of the pain, and deliver yourself from all of the dangers? Then I will fight of the temptations in this life. I will guard you from the evils. I will protect you from the pain. I will deliver you from the dangers. And I will do this for you because I am your Father and you are my child. I am your Father. You are special to me. I am your Father. You are precious in my sight. I am your Father and I will never let you down.”
In the Small Catechism there is an explanation for each part of the Lord’s Prayer. The explanation for the very first phrase, “Our Father who art in heaven,” says this: “With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that he is our true Father and that we are his true children, so that we may pray to him as boldly and confidently as dear children ask their dear father.” The Almighty God, Creator of the Universe and everything in it, is also my dear Father. And he has sent his Son who, the Catechism says, “has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.” And not only that but he has sent his Holy Spirit who “has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith… [And] on the Last Day he will raise me and all the dead and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.” This is most certainly true! It is a fact! It will be done! It is what I believe. It is what you believe. And we believe these things because this is what God tells us in his Word. He does not say these things to the wise and intelligent. He does not whisper these things in the ears of the brilliant and the scholarly, but to you and to me - his children.
And so keep being childish. Never let go of these precious truths of Scripture that secure your salvation. Take that Catechism off the shelf and use it as part of your personal or family devotions. It is not necessary to do so, but it will be very beneficial to your faith. And if you do not own a catechism or if your catechism has long been placed in a box never to be found again, ask me, ask Pastor Haberkorn, ask Pastor Cornelius. We will find you one. We will be more than happy to order you a Small Catechism as well as the Large Catechism for you to use, for you to study, for you to soak in as often as possible. It would give us no greater joy than to see God’s children being childish. It is my prayer that none of you ever grow up when it comes to God’s Word. I hope I never do either.
Amen.
“May the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” - 2 Thess. 2:16-17
Monday, October 26, 2009
10/25/09 - Pentecost 21 - Mark 10:17-27
HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH?
- We are never good enough
- Only Christ is good enough
It is always an unpleasant thing to be told that you aren’t good enough. Whether you apply for a job and are told that you just aren’t qualified for the position or you hope to go to a certain college but are not accepted because of your grades or upon entering a contest of some kind you quickly find out that all of your work and all of your talent does not stack up against the who will come in first - it is an unpleasant thing to be told that you aren’t good enough. Even something as simple as reading the eye chart at the ophthalmologist’s: “Sorry, you missed too many; that’s not good enough. You’re going to have to get glasses.” Or getting the tests back from your routine checkup at the doctor’s office: “The results aren’t good enough. Your health is not where it should be. You’re going to have to go on a diet.” It is hard to hear that you aren’t good enough especially when you’ve actually put in a lot of effort to do well!
This morning we run across a story about a man who put in a lot of effort to do well. And not just at one thing, but in everything. He genuinely tried to do everything that the Lord commanded as best as he possibly could and he actually thought that he had done fairly well over the years. He had been conscientious, he had been careful, he had been faithful to the laws of Scripture, and he was hoping that his efforts would not go unnoticed. He had done his very best and now he wanted to know if his best was good enough. And so he ran up to Jesus one day, fell to his knees, and asked the Lord, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It seems that this man truly wanted to know if he had done enough to get to heaven. And if there was something else, he’d do it! He was willing, he was ready. “Just tell me what it is, Lord! I’ll do anything you say!” “You know the commandments,” Jesus told him. “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.” But Jesus’ response did not satisfy the man’s question. Instead of realizing that the Lord had just given him a whole plate-full of things to do that he could not keep according to the standard set by God’s law, this man says to Jesus in complete sincerity, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” [“I’ve done those things, Lord. I know I’m supposed to keep the commandments and so I’ve spent my entire life following them. Is there anything else? What’s left? What haven’t I done that I should do?”] And so Jesus, knowing this man’s heart, gave him something to do that cut to the crux of the matter. “One thing you lack,” Jesus said to him. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” And the gospel writer Mark says that when this man heard Jesus’ words, his “face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth.”
This man who had diligently committed his life to following the laws of Scripture, a man who had zealously pursued everything that was good and morally upright, a man who truly thought he had been able to keep all of the commandments of God, could not even keep the very 1st Commandment. He did not fear, love, and trust in God above all things because he loved his possessions more. And he went away sad, not only because he couldn’t get himself to do what Jesus asked him to do, but because he finally realized that he had never been able to keep the most important commandment of all: “You shall have no other gods.”
The 1st Commandment isn’t anything too complicated, is it? It is simple and straightforward. It is something we learn right away in catechism class and a command that we will never forget even if we forget everything else. We are supposed to fear (honor and respect) God above all things. We are supposed to love God more than anything else. We are supposed to trust in God more than we trust in any blessing or any person in this life. This commandment is completely understandable. There is very little gray area when it comes to this law. We know what to do and we know what not to do. And yet despite of its simplicity, we still don’t keep it. When it comes to the 1st Commandment, we aren’t good enough! We have proved ourselves to be incapable of keeping this command just as the rich man in our story was. And for the very same reasons: we are impressed with the blessings of this life so much at times that those blessings become more important to us than the one who gives us those blessings.
And don’t fool yourself. Don’t try to convince yourself that you’ve actually kept the 1st Commandment fairly well throughout your life - because that’s simply not true. You may have never bowed down to a golden calf before and you may have never prayed to Mary or one of the so-called “saints” in your life, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t abuse the 1st Commandment every day. When you’ve encountered sicknesses in your life, have you ever trusted in the medicine you were taking or the doctor who was treating you or your own body’s immune system to fight it off without trusting in God himself who works through those things for your ultimate healing? Has love for your children or your spouse or your parents ever given you more joy and happiness than your love for the Lord and for the reading and hearing of his Word? When you’ve faced troubles in this world have you ever relied on your own ability to fix them before you went to the Lord in prayer and asked him for help? Have you ever been a little greedy for something when you should have been content with what the Lord had already given you? Have you ever treated a guest in your house with more attention and care and respect than you have treated the Lord himself in his own house at times? Have you ever been proud of what you’ve done or what you have or who you are instead of being proud of what the Lord has done for you?
If you have ever broken the 1st Commandment in any of these ways at any time, you are not good enough. Based on the sins you have committed against this commandment and every other, you are not good enough to be accepted into heaven. And you never will be good enough to be rewarded with eternal life. And neither will I. Because we can’t make up for the sins we’ve committed in the past. We can’t get God to overlook our punishment based on good behavior. We can’t convince him to make an exception. We cannot do anything to inherit eternal life. We simply are not good enough. And not matter how hard that is to hear, that’s the truth.
The rich man didn’t want to hear it either. But he had to finally accept it. Because he knew that he couldn’t do what Jesus asked of him and, more importantly, he hadn’t done what Jesus had asked of him. The rich man was forced to admit that he could do nothing to inherit eternal life. Jesus’ own disciples even understood that concept. After the rich man walked away, Jesus said to them, “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 a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And the disciples were amazed at what Jesus said and they wondered, “Who then can be saved?” They got it! They knew what Jesus was saying. If this rich man who had seemed to do everything correctly could not be saved, then who could? Who could live his life better than this man whom Jesus turned away? And that was the point. That was the point Jesus was trying to make. “With man this is impossible,” Jesus told them, “but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Jesus used this opportunity to show his disciples that what is undoable for man is simple for God. What is unattainable for man is easy for God. What is unfeasible for man is effortless for God. Even as something as big and as complex as salvation for sinners, Jesus has no problem achieving. The Lord wanted his disciples to know that despite the rich man’s failures it was even possible for him to be saved. And despite their failures it was possible for them to be saved. and despite our failures it is possible for us to be saved. How? How could a sinner who had all failed to keep the very 1st Commandment - let alone every other commandment - be saved? The answer to that question is found in a short little sentence right in the middle of our story. Jesus had just reminded the rich man of the 10 Commandments and this man had boldly and self-confidently said to Jesus, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” And the very next thing that Mark writes is the key: “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”
My brothers and my sisters, my fellow sinners, this is your salvation. This little sentence in Mark 10:21 is one of the most beautiful sentences in all of Scripture. Because this sentence is nothing but God’s grace for sinners. “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” This man had just shamelessly told Jesus that he had kept God’s laws perfectly! This man had arrogantly thought that he was actually good enough to earn his way into heaven all by himself as long as he was made aware of everything he was supposed to do! This man was not looking to Jesus as his Savior but as his instructor. And yet Jesus looked at this rich man and loved him anyway. Jesus’ heart went out to him. Jesus wanted this lost soul to be brought to faith. He truly longed for this man to inherit the eternal life he was so desperately seeking. And so out of love Jesus revealed this man’s sinfulness. Because without a knowledge of his sin, this man would never see the need for his Savior. Without being confronted with his failures, this man would never truly understand why Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem that day.
Jesus had been making his way to Jerusalem when this rich man stopped him. And it was going to be Jesus’ final trip to the capital city. Just a few days after this incident Jesus eventually reached Jerusalem and he did so on the back of a donkey on what we now call Palm Sunday. Five days after that this “Good Teacher” was lying dead in a grave with holes in hands and feet, a gouge in his side, gashes in his back, and multiple puncture wounds in his head. He was lying there in a tomb of a rich man to save a rich young man he had met hardly a week earlier. Jesus was motionless on a slab of stone because that rich man couldn’t keep the laws etched on two stone tablets. Jesus was dead because the rich man deserved to be. And Jesus rose back to life because the rich man needed him to be.
We don’t know if the rich man ever came to faith in his Savior, but we do know this: Jesus died and rose for his sins. Because that is what Christ’s love does. It sacrifices - even for sinners. Especially for sinners. Only for sinners. Christ’s love is set aside for sinners like you and for sinners like me. He looks at us and loves us just as he looked at that rich young man and loved him. Because when he looks at us he sees sinners who aren’t good enough on their own and who are in dire need of a Savior. When Jesus looks at us he sees lost souls who need him. And he is more than willing to give himself up for us. And because of that sacrifice we know - we are guaranteed - that we will inherit eternal life. We don’t even have to bother asking the question: “What must we do to inherit eternal life?” because we know that’s the wrong question. No one can “do” anything to “inherit” something else. You can only inherit something if the person who dies leaves it to you. Jesus died once. And he left his inheritance to you. Jesus rose once as well to make sure your inheritance would last forever. You have eternal life right now. There is no doubt. Not because of what you have done and not because of what you can do - you aren’t good enough! You have eternal life right now because of what Christ has done. And that - that is good enough.
Amen.
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father - to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.” - Rev. 1:5-6
- We are never good enough
- Only Christ is good enough
It is always an unpleasant thing to be told that you aren’t good enough. Whether you apply for a job and are told that you just aren’t qualified for the position or you hope to go to a certain college but are not accepted because of your grades or upon entering a contest of some kind you quickly find out that all of your work and all of your talent does not stack up against the who will come in first - it is an unpleasant thing to be told that you aren’t good enough. Even something as simple as reading the eye chart at the ophthalmologist’s: “Sorry, you missed too many; that’s not good enough. You’re going to have to get glasses.” Or getting the tests back from your routine checkup at the doctor’s office: “The results aren’t good enough. Your health is not where it should be. You’re going to have to go on a diet.” It is hard to hear that you aren’t good enough especially when you’ve actually put in a lot of effort to do well!
This morning we run across a story about a man who put in a lot of effort to do well. And not just at one thing, but in everything. He genuinely tried to do everything that the Lord commanded as best as he possibly could and he actually thought that he had done fairly well over the years. He had been conscientious, he had been careful, he had been faithful to the laws of Scripture, and he was hoping that his efforts would not go unnoticed. He had done his very best and now he wanted to know if his best was good enough. And so he ran up to Jesus one day, fell to his knees, and asked the Lord, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It seems that this man truly wanted to know if he had done enough to get to heaven. And if there was something else, he’d do it! He was willing, he was ready. “Just tell me what it is, Lord! I’ll do anything you say!” “You know the commandments,” Jesus told him. “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.” But Jesus’ response did not satisfy the man’s question. Instead of realizing that the Lord had just given him a whole plate-full of things to do that he could not keep according to the standard set by God’s law, this man says to Jesus in complete sincerity, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” [“I’ve done those things, Lord. I know I’m supposed to keep the commandments and so I’ve spent my entire life following them. Is there anything else? What’s left? What haven’t I done that I should do?”] And so Jesus, knowing this man’s heart, gave him something to do that cut to the crux of the matter. “One thing you lack,” Jesus said to him. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” And the gospel writer Mark says that when this man heard Jesus’ words, his “face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth.”
This man who had diligently committed his life to following the laws of Scripture, a man who had zealously pursued everything that was good and morally upright, a man who truly thought he had been able to keep all of the commandments of God, could not even keep the very 1st Commandment. He did not fear, love, and trust in God above all things because he loved his possessions more. And he went away sad, not only because he couldn’t get himself to do what Jesus asked him to do, but because he finally realized that he had never been able to keep the most important commandment of all: “You shall have no other gods.”
The 1st Commandment isn’t anything too complicated, is it? It is simple and straightforward. It is something we learn right away in catechism class and a command that we will never forget even if we forget everything else. We are supposed to fear (honor and respect) God above all things. We are supposed to love God more than anything else. We are supposed to trust in God more than we trust in any blessing or any person in this life. This commandment is completely understandable. There is very little gray area when it comes to this law. We know what to do and we know what not to do. And yet despite of its simplicity, we still don’t keep it. When it comes to the 1st Commandment, we aren’t good enough! We have proved ourselves to be incapable of keeping this command just as the rich man in our story was. And for the very same reasons: we are impressed with the blessings of this life so much at times that those blessings become more important to us than the one who gives us those blessings.
And don’t fool yourself. Don’t try to convince yourself that you’ve actually kept the 1st Commandment fairly well throughout your life - because that’s simply not true. You may have never bowed down to a golden calf before and you may have never prayed to Mary or one of the so-called “saints” in your life, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t abuse the 1st Commandment every day. When you’ve encountered sicknesses in your life, have you ever trusted in the medicine you were taking or the doctor who was treating you or your own body’s immune system to fight it off without trusting in God himself who works through those things for your ultimate healing? Has love for your children or your spouse or your parents ever given you more joy and happiness than your love for the Lord and for the reading and hearing of his Word? When you’ve faced troubles in this world have you ever relied on your own ability to fix them before you went to the Lord in prayer and asked him for help? Have you ever been a little greedy for something when you should have been content with what the Lord had already given you? Have you ever treated a guest in your house with more attention and care and respect than you have treated the Lord himself in his own house at times? Have you ever been proud of what you’ve done or what you have or who you are instead of being proud of what the Lord has done for you?
If you have ever broken the 1st Commandment in any of these ways at any time, you are not good enough. Based on the sins you have committed against this commandment and every other, you are not good enough to be accepted into heaven. And you never will be good enough to be rewarded with eternal life. And neither will I. Because we can’t make up for the sins we’ve committed in the past. We can’t get God to overlook our punishment based on good behavior. We can’t convince him to make an exception. We cannot do anything to inherit eternal life. We simply are not good enough. And not matter how hard that is to hear, that’s the truth.
The rich man didn’t want to hear it either. But he had to finally accept it. Because he knew that he couldn’t do what Jesus asked of him and, more importantly, he hadn’t done what Jesus had asked of him. The rich man was forced to admit that he could do nothing to inherit eternal life. Jesus’ own disciples even understood that concept. After the rich man walked away, Jesus said to them, “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 a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And the disciples were amazed at what Jesus said and they wondered, “Who then can be saved?” They got it! They knew what Jesus was saying. If this rich man who had seemed to do everything correctly could not be saved, then who could? Who could live his life better than this man whom Jesus turned away? And that was the point. That was the point Jesus was trying to make. “With man this is impossible,” Jesus told them, “but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Jesus used this opportunity to show his disciples that what is undoable for man is simple for God. What is unattainable for man is easy for God. What is unfeasible for man is effortless for God. Even as something as big and as complex as salvation for sinners, Jesus has no problem achieving. The Lord wanted his disciples to know that despite the rich man’s failures it was even possible for him to be saved. And despite their failures it was possible for them to be saved. and despite our failures it is possible for us to be saved. How? How could a sinner who had all failed to keep the very 1st Commandment - let alone every other commandment - be saved? The answer to that question is found in a short little sentence right in the middle of our story. Jesus had just reminded the rich man of the 10 Commandments and this man had boldly and self-confidently said to Jesus, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” And the very next thing that Mark writes is the key: “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”
My brothers and my sisters, my fellow sinners, this is your salvation. This little sentence in Mark 10:21 is one of the most beautiful sentences in all of Scripture. Because this sentence is nothing but God’s grace for sinners. “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” This man had just shamelessly told Jesus that he had kept God’s laws perfectly! This man had arrogantly thought that he was actually good enough to earn his way into heaven all by himself as long as he was made aware of everything he was supposed to do! This man was not looking to Jesus as his Savior but as his instructor. And yet Jesus looked at this rich man and loved him anyway. Jesus’ heart went out to him. Jesus wanted this lost soul to be brought to faith. He truly longed for this man to inherit the eternal life he was so desperately seeking. And so out of love Jesus revealed this man’s sinfulness. Because without a knowledge of his sin, this man would never see the need for his Savior. Without being confronted with his failures, this man would never truly understand why Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem that day.
Jesus had been making his way to Jerusalem when this rich man stopped him. And it was going to be Jesus’ final trip to the capital city. Just a few days after this incident Jesus eventually reached Jerusalem and he did so on the back of a donkey on what we now call Palm Sunday. Five days after that this “Good Teacher” was lying dead in a grave with holes in hands and feet, a gouge in his side, gashes in his back, and multiple puncture wounds in his head. He was lying there in a tomb of a rich man to save a rich young man he had met hardly a week earlier. Jesus was motionless on a slab of stone because that rich man couldn’t keep the laws etched on two stone tablets. Jesus was dead because the rich man deserved to be. And Jesus rose back to life because the rich man needed him to be.
We don’t know if the rich man ever came to faith in his Savior, but we do know this: Jesus died and rose for his sins. Because that is what Christ’s love does. It sacrifices - even for sinners. Especially for sinners. Only for sinners. Christ’s love is set aside for sinners like you and for sinners like me. He looks at us and loves us just as he looked at that rich young man and loved him. Because when he looks at us he sees sinners who aren’t good enough on their own and who are in dire need of a Savior. When Jesus looks at us he sees lost souls who need him. And he is more than willing to give himself up for us. And because of that sacrifice we know - we are guaranteed - that we will inherit eternal life. We don’t even have to bother asking the question: “What must we do to inherit eternal life?” because we know that’s the wrong question. No one can “do” anything to “inherit” something else. You can only inherit something if the person who dies leaves it to you. Jesus died once. And he left his inheritance to you. Jesus rose once as well to make sure your inheritance would last forever. You have eternal life right now. There is no doubt. Not because of what you have done and not because of what you can do - you aren’t good enough! You have eternal life right now because of what Christ has done. And that - that is good enough.
Amen.
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father - to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.” - Rev. 1:5-6
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