The Poor Rich Man
I realized something while sitting in class today: why are we always down on the rich man spoken of in Mark chapter 10? I think we’ve got him all wrong, or at least we may not have much cause to condemn him like we often do. In class today everyone criticized this young man, and after reflecting on it some today, I’m not sure why anymore.
17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
Mark 10:17
Sounds like a good start. Please raise your hand if this particular thread of thought has been part of *your* prayers in the last month or two. I think running and kneeling are also two pretty good action words to describe one’s approach to the Savior.
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Matthew 19:17-20
I’ve switched over to Matthew because of the phrase “what lack I yet?” Again, I’m not seeing any wrongdoing here - it seems to me that this man is basically asking the Savior to take him to the next level: a great example for us all, really.
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Matthew 19:21-22
Now here’s where I think we might want to give this young man the benefit of the doubt. The common assumption here is that the young man spurned Jesus’ offer, and went back to devlishly counting gold coins in his lavish vault somewhere. While he may very well have done that, I wonder about the chances of that.
First, this guy ran and knelt at the feet of the Savior and kept the dialogue going until he found something new to work on. I don’t think many of us do that on a regular basis, so props to the young man. Secondly, this man was faithful “from his youth.” Okay, this guy has enough moral courage to stand in front of God and declare that he has kept the commandments from his youth. I hope he really had, and Christ must have been okay with it because he didn’t cross examine. I find it unlikely that this man would throw all that away for his riches.
Again, maybe he did, but just think about it: maybe he didn’t.
Ever have to lose a friend because you didn’t want to follow them in a wrong decision? Ever sat the bench for a month because you missed a Sunday game? Ever taken the slower career path because of your refusal to work longer on Monday nights? Going away sorrowful seems to be a perfectly human response to the sacrifices we are sometimes asked to make.
I hope this young man made the right decision, and taking on that perspective makes the following sermon from the Savior all the more powerful.
This entry was posted on Sunday, May 13th, 2007 at 5:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Excellent point. I hadn’t noticed those action verbs before… that he ran to the Savior.
The perspective you introduce is very much worth thinking about. I think that all too often we’re quick to negatively view others so that we can use them as lessons and models of what not to do. Seems that we could all be a little more merciful…
May 13th @ 10:13 pmI really appreciate your perspective, John. I can visual this young man taking this counsel to heart and heading home sorrowful because of the great sacrifice asked of him. With time, however, his heart may have been softened and his sorrow turned to joy.
Let me add this quote from James E. Talmage’s, Jesus the Christ:
Love of worldly things was this man’s besetting weakness; Jesus diagnosed his case and prescribed a suitable remedy. We are not warranted in saying that the same treatment would be best in all cases of spiritual defection; but where the symptoms indicate the need, it may be employed with confidence as to the cure.
Rather than criticizing this young man, we can sympathize with him and learn to be as willing to run and kneel before the Savior and ask, “What lack I yet?” We may be shown an area in which our spirituality is most deficient. Whatever the deficiency (be it a willingness to give up our worldly possessions to help build the Kingdom or some other thing) it would probably be something we least desire to give up, requiring us to rely on the Lord for strength to do so.
To continue with the passages of scripture in Matthew 19: 24-26 (JST added for 26)
May 15th @ 12:33 pmIt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
But Jesus beheld their thoughts, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but if they will forsake all things for my sake, with God whatsoever things I speak are possible.
My problem with most people’s treatment of these verses is not that they are hard on the rich young man, but that they want to ’spiritualize’ away the plain teachings of Jesus here. Jesus wasn’t giving some allegory or metaphor for other non-riches. Jesus was specifically targeting the possession of riches which could be used to aid the poor. And not just some of it… all of it.
To emphasize this point, Jesus uses a common saying of his time, equating the possibility of a rich man entering heaven with the likelihood of a camel passing through the eye of a needs - impossible. (An just in case - there are no such thing as those mythical camel-gates). To this, the apostles basically replied, “Wait a minute… nobody is going to make it.” The apostles realized the utter difficulty of Jesus’ demand. Who in their right mind would give up all their riches to help out the poor? Jesus answered them with “With God all things are possible.” This wasn’t a claim that with God, the rich could enter heaven. Jesus already noted that it was an impossibility. What God makes possible is the change in our hearts that might enable us to actually perform that difficult task required of each of us - to give up all of our luxuries to lift the oppressed poor. Difficult? Very difficult. Even I, as a poor college student, fail miserably in Jesus’ request.
May 16th @ 4:16 pmWhat do you mean by “spiritualize away”? Could it be not taking literally?
December 18th @ 10:28 amThanks