One Thing You Lack
Text: Mark 10:17-31
Core Idea: Jesus is calling us to surrender all things and follow Him because of His love for us. He is the ultimate treasure for our souls and the only way to eternal life. Then let us endeavor together in making Christ known to others as we learn to joyfully and generously love one another.
INTRODUCTION
We want to warmly welcome our children and youth here today. As you know, we as a church want to be intentional about worshiping together at least once a month to remind ourselves that we are a church – not just the adults, but the children and youth are also a valuable part of us that defines who we are as a community. I actually got to visit our youth retreat that took place in Muskoka this past week. It was so good seeing them together – and I know that they were really well-fed, both physically and spiritually. So, thank you to all the leaders who made this possible – serving so faithfully and sacrificially. But if anyone wants to help them in the future and get to know our wonderful youths, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I have no doubt that you’ll be a blessing to them, but more importantly, they will be a huge blessing to you.
We are back in the Gospel of Mark – exploring the life of Jesus. A few weeks ago, we saw Jesus lovingly warning us of the seriousness of sin knowing how destructive it is to our souls. Now, the message may have felt heavy, but I pray that it didn’t lead to a guilt-driven burden but a life-giving conviction knowing that God never exposes our hearts to discourage us but to demonstrate His love for us. He simply will not allow us to live with hearts that are enslaved. Then I pray that all of us will continue to fight against sin in our lives intentionally and vigorously. Today, we’ll see Jesus still on His way to Jerusalem, where He’ll be crucified for the people He loves. I shared before that from this point onward, Jesus will concentrate on teaching His disciples – preparing them for His death and their own path of suffering. Then here, Mark will invite us to yet another defining moment in the training of the Twelve – and if we have ears to hear, it’ll be a defining moment for us as well. So, with this in mind, let’s turn our Bibles to Mark 10:17-31.
17 As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good – except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21 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.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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.” 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” 28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” 29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – along with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Picture this scene with me. The passage begins with a man who ran up to Jesus and fell on his knees. Interestingly, we don’t really get to know who he is – Mark never tells us his name, what he does, or where he’s from. But Mark did this intentionally to draw our attention to something about him that may be more important than his name or career. Then what does Mark tell us about him? First, through verse 22, we learn that he had great wealth. He was rich. Second, through verse 20, we learn that he obeyed the commandments of God to the best of his ability. In other words, outwardly, he seemed devout, moral, respectful to others, and maybe even attractive in the sense that others wanted to be like him. He was someone who people viewed as being good – someone who was happy and content with his life. Lastly, through verse 17, we learn that he may have been troubled in his heart. Externally, he might have been put together but internally, there was chaos. I say this because, in his culture, someone of that status would never run – slaves and children ran but not someone as influential as him. But he did this because he had this burning question that he wasn’t able to answer for countless years. He had everything but he still felt like something was missing which is why he was so desperate. There was urgency, earnestness, and willingness to do anything and everything to answer the question that left a huge gaping hole in his heart – “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Now, doesn’t this man sound a lot like us? Some of you may not think so, but the truth is that we are rich. If we have clean water, sufficient food and clothes, a roof over our heads, access to medicine, a mode of transportation, opportunity for work, and the ability to read a book, then relative to the billions of people in the world, we are very rich. When most people in the world hear the word “rich,” they picture us. At the same time, many of us work hard to present ourselves to be good – someone who is well put together, which of course is readily seen on social media. We want to be liked, noticed, recognized; we want to be influential – so, we frantically pursue after wealth, health, beauty, and power. But the reality is that most of us, if not all, are deeply troubled in our hearts. We’ve become just so good at hiding it because we’re scared – we just don’t want our weakness, ugliness, and inadequacy to be exposed. Just like the man in the story, we too feel like we’re missing something, which is why we’re asking, “Is this all there’s to life? If there’s more, what must I do?” And many of us are left empty, lonely, and even depressed. Friends, if this describes you today, I invite you to run to Jesus and kneel before Him. But most importantly, have ears to hear what He has to say, not what you want to hear because He will offer you a life-giving answer. I divided the story into three sections:
THE INTERACTION
THE LESSON
THE REWARD
1) THE INTERACTION (V. 18-22)
Let’s turn to verse 18. Here, we see Jesus responding to the man’s question with another question, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good – except God alone.” Now, we need to understand that Jesus wasn’t saying, “Don’t call me good – only God is good.” Instead, He was saying, “Why are you walking up to me (a stranger) and calling me good? You don’t even know who I am. In fact, if you really think that I’m good, you must worship Me, follow Me, obey Me since God alone is good.” Jesus was simply challenging him to choose his words carefully. But more than that, by saying this, Jesus was putting the focus of the issue where it must be – on God. Jesus recognized that the man’s starting point was wrong because it was on him – “what must I do?” Jesus must have known that this man operated from the belief that one’s worth comes from accomplishments, status, and performance. So, by asking this question, Jesus wanted to shatter that belief – showing him that no matter what, he will never be good enough – his work will always come short.
Now, Jesus didn’t wait for the man’s response. He quickly drew the man’s attention to the Ten Commandments in verse 19. He was asking, “If you believe that one’s goodness comes from doing the right things, have you obeyed them?” And as if he was waiting for this, the man immediately responded in verse 20, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Now, is this true? Did he really keep all these commandments? Possibly, according to his own standard – but Jesus wanted to show him, not according to God’s standard. We know what Jesus said about these commandments in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5, He shared that even if you look at a woman lustfully, you’ve committed adultery – and if you were angry with someone, you’ve just committed murder. In other words, God requires perfection – not just in action, but also in mind and heart. And if this is the standard that God expects from us, there’s no way any of us, including this man, could confidently say that we are good. Romans 3:23 reminds us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We may think we’re good but we’re not – not before God. And the truth is that we don’t deserve His love. We don’t deserve His grace. God has every right to leave us in the condemnation and penalty of our sin which is death.
Now, despite his flawed thinking, Jesus didn’t turn to him and said, “Liar. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jesus wasn’t annoyed with him – Jesus didn’t see him as an interruption to His journey. Instead, verse 21, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” This is amazing news for us because in our moments of rebellion, in our moments of self-righteousness, He will look at us and will love us. He is filled with compassion for us. I wonder if some of us need to really hear this today. Brothers and sisters, no matter how sinful you are, no matter how dirty you may feel, no matter how undeserving you think you are, no matter how many times you’ve disappointed God, when you come to Jesus, He will look at you and love you. Why? Because that’s who He is and because He is committed to you.
Jesus deeply cared about this man. So, it was out of love that Jesus said this: “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Now, there are two common errors in understanding this truth. The first error is to generalize the command for everyone – basically saying that all Christians must sell everything they have and give it to the poor. But we know that this is inaccurate even just by looking at some of Jesus’ disciples who still had personal properties like a home or a boat. In fact, if you study the Bible, you’ll clearly see that following Jesus doesn’t mean we can no longer own private property or possessions. There were many godly people who were wealthy. But here’s the second error: to minimize the command. They basically say, “Sure, Jesus may call a few to live this way – but not me. In fact, He knows me – He won’t give me more than I can handle. Actually, He’s not really telling the man to sell everything – He’s just calling him to consider what it would’ve been like to give everything away.” But let me ask you, “How do you know?” Jesus clearly said, “Sell everything” not “imagine selling everything.” This is incredibly dangerous because we can fall into the temptation of molding Jesus’ Word according to our desire and preference – we twist the Word to fit our lives instead of adjusting our lives to fit the Word of God. We must recognize that this wasn’t some advice to be considered, it was a command to be obeyed.
But let’s be honest – this is hard. Can you imagine hearing that right now – all of your assets, all of your money, everything you have, go, sell everything you have, and give to the poor? If this is hard for us, how much more for this man who had great wealth? Then why did Jesus give this kind of command? Because Jesus knew that the problem with this man wasn’t his performance. It wasn’t his behavior. The problem of this man was the worship of his heart. Jesus knew that what captivated this man’s heart wasn’t the Creator but a created thing. Jesus wanted to expose and unearth this man’s idol because this path will only lead him to death. He needed to do this because one cannot serve both God and money (Matt. 6:24). Jesus was calling Him to choose life. Let me read verse 21 once again – listen carefully, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” Jesus wasn’t calling this man away from treasure; He was calling him to treasure. Jesus wasn’t saying, “Stop caring about treasure”; He was saying, “Start caring about the real treasure.” Brothers and sisters, do you truly believe that Jesus is your life? Do you truly believe that He’s worth losing everything for? Then what are you living for today? What’s motivating you every morning to get up – short-term treasures that you cannot keep or long-term treasures that you cannot lose?
Now, this still doesn’t change the fact that it’s hard. It’s not easy to just let go of the things that were once a source of your identity, security, and comfort. But here’s a truth that can help us do this with great joy: verse 21, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Jesus loved him. It’s out of love that He invites us to surrender all things and follow Him. What does this mean? One thing is for sure: It cannot mean that Jesus wants to suck the joy out of us. It cannot mean that He doesn’t care for us. It cannot mean that He just wants to make us miserable. But it can only mean that He wants what’s best for us because He knows that life is found in Him alone. You see, this command won’t make sense to you if you haven’t experienced His love for you – but if you did, obeying this command will be the most liberating thing for your soul.
Then how did the man respond? Verse 22, “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” Now, it will help us to know that the same Greek word for “sad” was used in the Gospel of Matthew to describe Jesus when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. It’s recorded that Jesus was sorrowful and was praying so earnestly that His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Why was Jesus grieving so much? Because He knew that He was about to lose the joy of His life, the core of His identity – He was going to lose God the Father. Now, when Jesus called this man to give up his money, the man started to grieve. Why? Because money was for him what the Father was for Jesus. It was the centre of his identity. To lose his money would have been to lose himself. Actually, this man was a living illustration of the parable of the Sower and the soils. Jesus said in Mk. 4:18-19, “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” The deceitfulness of wealth had their hands around his heart, and they strangled him to death – no wonder this verse has been described as one of the saddest verses in the Bible. Here was a man walking away from heavenly treasure while holding onto his little earthly riches. He walked away, full of sorrow, not realizing that he was turning his back on the only One who can bring him eternal joy.
Friends, Christianity involves total surrender. Then let me ask you, “Do you still see Jesus just as a good teacher or are you beginning to see that He is your Lord, your Master, your King?” Jesus is not an advice giver; He is the one who determines your steps – every single bit of our lives including our finances. This is a radical way to live but this is the only way to eternal life. Then I want to say to every single person here today, whether you call yourself a Christian or not, don’t let verse 22 be you. Don’t walk away. Jesus is calling you to choose Him, commit to Him not because He wants to make your life miserable but because He wants to give you joy and life to the full. If you’ve been living in that emptiness just like this man, surrender your idols to God and give your life to Jesus today. Your burdens will be lifted, and your chains will break. Your life won’t be the same.
2) THE LESSON (V. 23-27)
Let’s turn to verse 23. Jesus said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” Now, let me make some qualifying statements so that hopefully no one here is confused. Jesus wasn’t teaching that it’s sin to be rich. He wasn’t categorically condemning the wealthy. He was really talking about those who trust in riches, not all those who were rich. At the same time, He wasn’t advocating poverty or by implication saying that those who are poor are always good. Having said all that, it doesn’t change the fact that Jesus was warning the disciples about the deceitfulness of wealth.
Then before we move forward, let me quickly address the issue of money here. Pastor Tim Keller wrote, “Often, money isn’t just money to you – it defines your life (the ability to eat out, buy clothes or other items, to have a home of your choice, to continue with your hobby, to support your family, etc.) What if you didn’t have money and everything that you take for granted gets taken away? Will you be satisfied?” We love money because we love the security it gives. We believe that we would be vulnerable without it. We can’t give it away because it has become our god. It’s what dictates us; it’s what affects our mood; it’s what determines our choices. Even as Christians, many of us are ready to give up our time but not money. We’ll pray, read the Bible, and even serve at church but won’t willingly give financially. Yes, it’s true that having money is not sinful but I read somewhere that money in the hands of sinful people can easily become a source of their sin. Friends, we must recognize that money can blind us, and it can keep us from Christ. We must watch our hearts. I pray that our church will never be enslaved by money. Let us be generous in giving for the glory of God.
Now, back to the story – when Jesus said this, the disciples didn’t say, “Yes! I didn’t like the rich anyway.” Rather, they asked in utter shock, verse 26, “Who then can be saved?” “If someone like him can’t enter the Kingdom of God, then who can?” They were perplexed, if not frightened, by the implication of this because they thought if he can’t get in, it would be impossible for them to get in – but it’s about to get worse. Jesus said in verse 25, “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.” Entering the Kingdom of God has gone from difficult to impossible. Now, some people thought that what Jesus said was too harsh – so, over the centuries, they tried to lighten its meaning by coming up with different explanations. Some people said, “Well, it can’t be a literal needle. Back in Jesus’ day, Jerusalem’s walls had gates called the eye of a needle that was narrow – and it was hard to get a camel through, especially if it was carrying a large load. But if you took the load off and the camel held its breath as you pushed, it was hard but not impossible to get through the gate.” Or they said, “It’s not a literal camel; there’s an Aramaic word for a rope that sounds a lot like the Aramaic word for camel. What Jesus is really trying to say is that it’s very difficult to get the rope through the eye of a needle, but it’s not impossible.” But listen to what William Lane, a biblical scholar, said, “The camel was the largest animal found on Palestinian soil. The violent contrast between the largest animal and the smallest opening expresses what humanly speaking, is impossible or absurd.” In essence, Jesus was saying it is impossible for the rich or anyone to enter the Kingdom of God. But thank God – this wasn’t the end of the story.
Verse 27. Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” There was no other way – so, God made a way for us through Jesus Christ. You see, the real focus of this text is this other rich man. It’s clear that the first rich man couldn’t leave his wealth even though he was offered a life of great joy. But this other rich man freely left His infinite, cosmic, heavenly wealth not to get a life of great joy, but a life of great sorrow, suffering, humiliation, and ultimately, this agonizing death. This other rich man went not through the eye of a needle but walked into the mouth of the grave to get us into the Kingdom of God.
Then you have to ask yourself, “Why did He do that? Why did this other rich man, Jesus Christ, so willingly give up His riches?” Because He had in mind a greater treasure. Hebrews 12:2-3 says, “For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” What was the joy set before Him? You and me. To Jesus, we are the treasure that makes all other riches pale in comparison. And when you begin to realize this for yourself, when this reality doesn’t just move you intellectually but begins to go down into the very core of your being, you’ll discover an eternal wealth that nobody can take away. You’ll find that you’re utterly treasured by the God of the universe – that He would joyfully leave behind all the things, walk into our suffering, simply to bring you home to Him so He could call you His beloved again. And when you begin to cultivate this intimate relationship with this rich man, Jesus Christ, you’ll learn to imitate Him by joyfully, generously giving away your resources because you know that your sense of security is unshakable in the Lord – money becomes just money. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” Friends, have you tasted that eternal wealth? Do you know this hope? He’s staring at you in the face today. Don’t miss Him.
3) THE REWARD (V. 28-31)
Let’s turn to verse 28. Peter said, “We have left everything to follow you.” In other words, he was saying, “Wait – then does our sacrifice matter at all? If with man it’s impossible to be saved, what value is there in the sacrifices we’ve made?” Verse 29 – Jesus made it clear that their sacrifice does matter and that they will be rewarded. “Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields.” The promise is that you cannot outgive God. Whatever you give, you’re going to get a hundred times more now. By the way, it appears that the reward for our sacrifice would be a new community – the church of Jesus Christ. Those who have left their family will gain a new family – and what you have given up will be filled by this new family. You’ll be cared for by this family. And I know exactly what this means. It really is true that it takes a village to raise a child. Having our second was a huge blessing to our family but as many of you know, it wasn’t without challenges. And honestly, our family is indebted to this community knowing that we have received so much from you. Sending us food, babysitting our children so that Alicia and I can rest or go for a date, encouraging us, praying for us – in many ways, our family has been regularly experiencing the truth of this passage (we received a hundred times more than what we have given). And I pray that this will be your experience as well. Let us be your new family – supporting you, loving you, walking with you. And let us generously offer ourselves to one another. Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples.” May our love shine through the darkness around us.
Now, that’s not all – Jesus promises eternal life in the age to come. And this will never be taken away. Here’s the answer that the rich man was looking for.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Jesus is calling us to surrender all things and follow Him because of His love for us. He is the ultimate treasure for our souls, and He is the only way to eternal life. Then let us endeavor together in making Christ known to others as we learn to joyfully and generously love one another.
Discussion questions
Jesus identified the idol of the rich man’s heart and asked him to give it all up for the sake of following Him. If you were in the rich man’s shoes, what chief idol might Jesus identify in your heart?
Why is money often a hindrance to our discipleship? In what ways have you seen this play out in your own life? What can we do to guard our hearts from being ruled by the love for wealth and possessions? And what are some practical ways you can use money to invest in spreading the fame of Christ’s name and the advancement of His kingdom?
Jesus shared that the reward for our sacrifice would be a new community. How can you be a blessing to someone in your Community Group this week?