Kingdom of God & Possessions
Mark 10:17-22
Rev. Billy Kristanto
One of the topics addressed in the Gospels is material possessions and wealth. Both here in Sweden and in Berlin, elections are taking place, and in Berlin one party uses the slogan, “Economy good, everything good.” That is like a reduction of life, as though every problem could be solved by a good economy. We know that this is certainly not the case. The Bible also addresses this issue. We find this story not only in the Gospel of Mark, but also in the other Gospels, especially the Gospel of Luke. The Lukan community faced questions concerning wealth and possessions, and the gap between the rich and the poor. This is therefore not a new problem, as we continue to struggle with the same issue in our contemporary setting.
This also has to do with our discipleship, our following of Jesus, which is the center of our Christian life. It cannot be replaced by moral achievement. Following Jesus is the center of our Christian life, and everything else should be subordinated to this command. A person may be generous, but without following Jesus, it is still nothing according to Christian principles. Similarly, if we do not teach our children to follow Jesus and to have the fear of the Lord, even though we teach them to be decent and courteous, it will be merely moral teaching, not Christian teaching. We must therefore be able to distinguish between the two.
This story presents a striking contrast with the previous story about the children. The children came to Jesus, and they were rejected by his disciples. Jesus, however, received them and taught that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these, thereby warning his disciples. What follows, namely this story of the rich young man is almost the opposite. Although this person is commonly called the rich young man, the original language reads more like ‘a certain person’ or simply ‘someone’. In that sense, this can refer to anybody, and that is the strength of this story. That certain person can also represent us. This story can therefore apply to anyone.
The man asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” We who come from evangelical circles may criticize this as the wrong question, because eternal life is not something we earn or deserve by what we do. Yet in this story, Jesus did not criticize his question. We should therefore look more carefully at what the Bible actually says rather than interpreting the question only through the thick lens of a particular theology. From the perspective of systematic theology, it is certainly true that eternal life cannot be earned by our works. But that is not the core message of the passage.
Jesus responded, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Of course, this does not mean that Jesus claimed that he is not good or that he is not God. Rev. Stephen Tong once interpreted Jesus’s answer in this way. The man called Jesus good, but Jesus answered that only God is good. This should have made him reflect on why he called Jesus ‘Good Teacher’, but did not call him Lord or God. In other words, did the man realize whom he was addressing? Another interpretation is that Jesus’s answer not only points to his own goodness, but also exposes the man. The man should then examine himself and reflect whether he was truly good.
It is not a coincidence that Jesus then referred to part of the Ten Commandments and said, “Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.” The rich young man, however, was very confident that he already possessed this goodness. Again, we see the theme of the kingdom of God and possession, not only material, but also the possession of moral virtues. He answered, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” Apparently, the rich young man did not take Jesus’s answer as a warning at all. He was not reflective and he believed that was good enough. He was very confident in his moral integrity and rectitude. Yet Jesus taught him that the real center of true religion is the knowledge of God. It is not about our moral rectitude nor our moral perfection, because Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone.”
Sometimes this rich young man is interpreted rather harshly, as if he was simply hypocritical. But I think this is the wrong interpretation. In verse 21 we read, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” When we read the Bible, especially the New Testament, hypocrisy is never something that moves God to love a person. God hates the sin of hypocrisy. So if we condemn this rich young man as a hypocrite, there is something incoherent. Nowhere in the Gospels do we read that Jesus looks upon a hypocrite with love. He strongly condemns hypocrisy. But here Jesus looked at this man and loved him. So we should be careful not to become too judgmental and condemn this rich young man as simply too arrogant or hypocritical.
There is a certain self-confidence here, and sometimes it overlaps with arrogance. But perhaps this is more like a childish response. The man thought that he had already kept all these commandments perfectly. His response was rather unreflective, revealing a lack of self-knowledge, or somewhat distorted self-knowledge, because he thought that he was morally qualified. But this is not necessarily an intentional sin of arrogance or pride. Perhaps this can also apply to our own lives. Our problem may not be an intentional sin of pride or arrogance, but rather a childish and unreflective response to God. It may reveal that we do not truly know ourselves before God. Perhaps we lower the standard of God’s holiness and therefore think that we are good enough when compared to others. But this is not the case when we place ourselves before the holy God.
Jesus sincerely loved the man and said, “You lack one thing.” Is that not somehow ironic? In the previous story, we read about the children who had no possessions, no wealth, no achievements, and no moral qualifications, yet Jesus said that to such belongs the kingdom of God. Here, we have a rich person who thought that he possessed much, and yet Jesus told him that he still lacked one thing. This points to a problem of humanity: not simply that we lack something, but that we may possess too much, not only material possessions, but also virtues and good moral performance about which we can boast before others. But before God, can we really boast about these achievements? This man was not aware that the one standing before him was God himself.
In reality, this man still lacked one thing, as Jesus said. It sounds as though Jesus were simply asking him to add one more possession to everything he already had. He was already rich, so perhaps one more thing would make him even richer. Yet Jesus meant precisely the opposite. Jesus said, “Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor.” It must have been a shocking command. He was asked to leave his possessions behind. These were precisely the things that hindered him from inheriting eternal life and entering the kingdom of God. The problem was not that he had nothing, but that he claimed to possess so much. He thought that he could carry all these burdens with him and still enter into eternal life. He wanted to inherit eternal life while holding on to many things, but these very things are what hinder him. That is why Jesus told him to sell all that he had and give to the poor.
This is a very radical challenge. How should we apply it in our modern context? Does it mean that we should sell everything we have and then follow Jesus? It may, if our hearts are attached to material idols. Sometimes the best way to heal us is through amputation. Just as Jesus had taught earlier, what is the use of having complete eyes or hands if they lead us away from the kingdom of God? This radical challenge is therefore not new. Yet when we compare the rich man with the little children, the children are more receptive to the kingdom of God. Children are vulnerable, yet they can inherit the kingdom of God, not because they have some achievements of which they can boast, but because they come in spiritual poverty and can only receive the grace of God.
This rich young man asked about eternal life, which may sound primarily like a future or eschatological hope. Yet Jesus challenged him to follow him now. The kingdom of God is not only a future reality, but also a reality that should be experienced here and now. It is not given through complete or perfect obedience to the moral law, because such obedience cannot substitute for following Jesus. Many people, including here in Europe, misunderstand Christianity by reducing it to merely good moral behavior. A Christian may indeed become more honest, generous, or selfless. Yet without following Jesus and truly encountering him, those remain just moral effects of Christianity. The same is true culturally. Christianity may produce beautiful cathedrals, paintings, church music, or even Christian approaches to education and the raising of children, but these are not the heart of Christianity.
The very heart of Christianity is following Jesus, and nothing else can substitute for it. This does not mean that obedience to the moral law is unimportant. But if such obedience is separated from discipleship and following Jesus, it misses the real core of Christianity. We see this in the case of the rich young man. Jesus reminded him of six commandments. When the man answered, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth,” Jesus did not respond by accusing him of dishonesty. He did not dispute whether the man had really kept these commandments. Instead, he said, “You lack one thing.” What, then, is that one thing?
The Ten Commandments begin with God’s command, “You shall have no other gods before me.” In this one matter, concerning the first commandment, the rich young man had already failed miserably because apparently he worshiped his wealth and possessions. He made his financial resources his security and placed his trust in material possessions instead of God. This stands in direct opposition to the first commandment. A person may refrain from murder, adultery, theft, and false witness, yet still fail the first commandment without realizing it. We may boast in our moral achievements, yet idols may still remain in our heart. We fail miserably because we cannot truly worship God while also worshiping these idols.
A true encounter with Jesus helps us to know ourselves. Jesus said to the man, “You will have treasure in heaven.” He showed that material possessions are not real treasure. They can never substitute for God himself. They are false gods that we worship. Jesus offers himself as a greater treasure than everything this man possesses. The question for us is whether Jesus is truly the greater treasure of our hearts. We may say that he is, but at the same time, insist that we must also have financial security. We do not believe that Jesus alone is enough. We say that we depend on God, but in reality we may depend far more on material security. God then becomes merely an accessory in our lives, and only when our possessions reach their limits do we begin to pray for his help. How many people, in the later stages of life, become religious because they realize that money can no longer help and comfort them?
God cannot be treated merely as someone who becomes useful only when all other resources have failed. If this is the case, the real center of our life is not Jesus, but our own needs. Jesus becomes relevant only when we need something and can no longer help ourselves. What a miserable spirituality. Therefore, when God wants us to grow, he sometimes brings us into difficult circumstances where our usual securities are taken away. Such circumstances become an invitation to place our trust truly in Jesus. As one commentary puts it, “As long as the man stands on his own merits, he is self-assured, but the word of Jesus calls him beyond his safe haven, just as Jesus earlier called the disciples to leave the anchor and cast out into the deep where there is no security but Jesus.”
When the rich young man heard Jesus’s invitation, we read, “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” We may lead an exemplary life, enjoy the respect of society, and display relatively good moral conduct. But when we encounter God, perhaps this is what he exposes: we are idolaters. We worship something else, perhaps our own security or our own sense of control, because being in control makes us feel secure. We want to remain the subject of our own lives. We do not want to surrender to God or submit to him because we want to be the ones in control. But is such a life compatible with the gospel? Is this the teaching of Jesus? Is Jesus merely an accessory in our lives while our real foundation is the security that we build for ourselves apart from him?
As a closing, let me quote once again from the commentary: “Jesus does not teach or uphold poverty as an ideal, but he does regard the awareness of need that results from poverty as a blessing.” We should certainly not glorify poverty, sickness, or failure. But if through poverty we become aware of our need, recognizing that we are the ones who need God and not the other way around, then it can become a blessing. What is the use of possessions, riches, or wealth if we are left unaware of our spiritual need before God? Moreover, we may even boast in our material or even moral achievements. It is indeed very difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God because such a person may possess so much that he no longer sees the real need for God. We think that our life is secure and turn to him only when life becomes difficult. We think that we have a life with high agency and that we are the ones in control. But again, this is not the story of Christianity.
The quotation continues, “The greatest enemies of Christian faith and obedience are self-satisfaction and pride, and nothing removes those bulwarks more effectively than poverty.” Perhaps this quotation sounds rather threatening, but it is better to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye, perhaps even through desperate sickness, than to go to hell with complete health. What is the use of good health if it cannot bring us into the kingdom of God? What is the use of financial security if, in the end, we remain outside the kingdom? Neither physical health nor financial security can bring us into the kingdom. It is not about our material or moral possessions. It is about coming to God with nothing, just like the simple children in the previous story.
If we regard the good things in our lives as our own achievements and merits rather than as blessings received from God, then we have not yet truly understood Christianity. When we come to Jesus, when we come before the holy God, we can only come with nothing to boast about. What do we have that we did not receive from him? Everything is a blessing from him, yet we still boast about our achievements. That is actually absurd. In this fallen world, we may boast about our achievements because we compare ourselves with those who are less fortunate. But true religion is about standing before the holy God. Life is not about comparing ourselves with others, but about standing honestly before God. And before the holy God, we can only stand vulnerably, because we are sinful people and we cannot come with our possessions.
At least until verse 22, this story does not have a happy ending because the man went away sorrowful. What a miserable decision. Jesus offered himself as the man’s true treasure, yet the man rejected him. He considered his possessions more valuable. What a miserable evaluation. But this should not be the end of our life story, because we believe that Jesus is a greater treasure than anything we could possess in this world. So may this story renew our hearts and challenge our discipleship. May we recognize ever more deeply the idols in our hearts and stand honestly before God without comparing ourselves with others. And may we continue to grow to have Jesus more in our lives. (T.F.L.)