Welcome to Pastor’s Corner on the North Elevation Church blog! Thank you for joining us again in Bible Study and exploration on the topic of Crisis of Mistrust for this particular blog series.
NLT | Mk 10:17-19
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.’
NLT | Mk 10:20-21
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.
The Posture
This man comes humbly and he publicly kneels in front of Jesus. Other translations tell us he was a young man of position and wealth. This was a top-notch dude, as our colloquial language would describe. This is a guy who was truly seeking to know the way to eternal life. He desperately wanted to connect with Jesus. However, the love of Jesus sprang into action. This love was about to bring this young man to a moment of crisis. Jesus is coming from a love so many of us still do not understand. Jesus felt such deep, unconditional love for him.
The Great Disappointment
Jesus is about to bring a young man from a moment in time to the biggest decision of his life. Really, it’s a moment of crisis he never saw coming and no one else who was present saw coming. Remember what comes next is Jesus’ love for this young man.
The Message | Mk 10:20-22
20 He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”
21 Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.”
22 The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.
Lack One Thing
Jesus was exposing in that moment, for this young man, to the people who were standing there listening, and to all the generations to come, “Who is your God?” I have seen two sides to this story in my walk with Jesus. I have seen Him ask people to give all, like He asked this young man.
My brother is a perfect example of this. He had the perfect job, a nice home and cars, an incredible marriage with kids. One day while minding his own business, God said, “Sell and give away all you have and move to the Yucatan jungle where you will live in a hut and sleep in a hammock.”
My brother, Rory, and his family obeyed God and did exactly that 18 years ago. The first time I visited Rory some six months after he left for the jungles of the Yucatan, he was living in one room with his family, suitcases as bedroom furniture and four hammocks. Today, it would take hours to share all that God has done because Rory put God first.
However, I have seen it the other way too. God asks someone to give all and they do. Then God gives more back. I have also seen God ask for all and the person say, “Yes Lord!” Then God turns around and says, “Since you had a pure heart and ready to give all, keep what you have and I will bless you with more so you can be a blessing.”
Grip of Greed
God knows us best and He knows what’s best for us. God knows what will own us and keep us from Him better than we do. People fight the Grip of Greed, whether they have money or nothing at all. The grip has us in different degrees and God’s love is trying to break it to set us free so we can be a blessing.
The Young Man
This young man was not an evil guy, but money and possessions had a strong grip on him. We can, we have, and we might have an emotional tug of war with God over money.
Illustration
“It’s yours God! You know God, all my money and all my possessions. Do what God?! Look, I worked hard for this raise. It’s Mine! You want me to give a portion of it to whom, the poor, the church??”
God’s response, “You said it was mine, has something changed?”
“God, my God! Oh, how I love you God! Everything I have is yours! Geez, God I just finally get some money in the bank and you want me to withdraw how much and do what with it?”
Does this sound familiar in any way, or do we just avoid this altogether and never let God on the inside of what He’s made us stewards of?
A key point that we will cover more of later: It all belongs to God. Everything!
NLT | Jn 12:1-6
1 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead.
2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him.
3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.
4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said,
5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.”
6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.
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