"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
As we come to learn about Jesus we begin to recognize that he is good. It is a fact that is evident across the pages of the Gospels. He draws us to him just as he drew those around him to follow him. He captivates us with his teachings and makes our hearts soar with hope by his miracles and mighty deeds. We sense that Jesus is the one who has the ultimate answers to the deepest questions. This was what the man sensed when he asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. And although we might not phrase the question in the same way we too seek answers and realize that if they are to be found anywhere, they will likely be found in Jesus. But just what is this goodness that draws us to Jesus? We have known good people, and perhaps have had wise and generous teachers, but none of these have ever seemed as though they could answer ultimate and definitive questions about the meaning of life. But Jesus emphatically does seem to have such answers. And when asked, he does not hesitate. He asks what it is about his goodness that draws us to him because he doesn't want us to confuse him with normal human teachers. He doesn't want us to set his answers alongside those of philosophers, theologians, or other wise individuals. He wants us to understand that he and he alone is fully qualified to answer the deepest questions of our hearts.
He replied and said to him,
"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
At a basically level the young man had managed to avoid transgressions that would exclude him from eternal life. Yet he was still lacking in something, one central thing that could give his life meaning and direction. He was in fact still unable to move in the direction of eternal life, not because of evil things in which he indulged, but rather because he give primacy to the lesser goods of wealth and possessions. He was able to attend to the basic duties toward his neighbor as enumerated by the second tablet of the ten commandments. But riches were a genuine liability, not because they were bad in themselves, but because he chose them over and against following God in the person of Jesus Christ. The law was not enough in itself. Or at least any adherence to the law was incomplete without the first tablet pertaining to worship of God finding fulfillment in following Jesus himself. The law was always pointing toward faith and never existed merely as an alternative or substitute. The young man therefore needed an obedient faith in Jesus to enter in the kingdom of God. And he stood on the threshold of that faith as Jesus himself offered the invitation for him, saying "come, follow me". The young man ultimately went away sad because he was too tethered to lesser goods to put the one true good first in his own life. Jesus had tried help free him from this trap by helping him to realize what true goodness was and where true treasure could be found and kept. But the young man chose to prefer the apparent stability of what he already possessed. Even though he experienced his own choice against following Jesus as sadness he still made the choice.
It is difficult for those of us who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God because it is too easy to choose our wealth and possessions against the many invitations we hear from Jesus to follow him in the concrete specifics of our lives. But we need not give up or go away sad. Let's spend a little bit of time meditating on the goodness of God that we experience in Jesus Christ. Let's allow his living and effective word to set us free from hindrances and obstacles to discipleship. We need not go away sad because it isn't finally all about us. For us, for human beings unassisted by grace, it isn't just difficult, but impossible. But not for God.
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