On the Way to Wonder

Mark 10: 17-19

 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ¹⁸ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.

I always stop and ponder this transition in Mark.  Jesus is again in motion to Jerusalem and the cross when a man stops him with a question.  We have been looking at questions addressed to Jesus on his journey to the cross and this is the next one.  The man wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life.  This question is interesting in and of itself.  “Inheriting eternal life” does not fit out lingo today.  We are prone to talk about being “saved,” or “being born again.”  Inheritance is a word implying gifting perhaps because of family position.  This man must not have been a first son.  Inheritance might come from being a favorite son.  We might even stretch it to mean the man wanted to win a lottery, one of the predetermined positions that will be allotted in the resurrection.  Jesus does not respond to any of these concerns that might be hidden in the man’s heart.  Instead Jesus notes that the man addresses him as “good teacher.”

Jesus goes to the heart of the question.  Only God is good.  Inheritance of eternal life does not depend upon being a good son, a good friend, a good gambler or a good person at all.  Inheritance implies relationship with the father, not merit.  We will follow the discussion tomorrow but today I note that this man feels he has been good, that he has fulfilled the law and been “good,” – like God.

It is so easy to think we are good compared to the people in politics, the people in the news, the other ethnicity, because of this or that action.  The truth that Jesus would have us hear today is that only God is good.  Let me repeat Jesus’ words.  Only God is good.  It is not what we do but who we are related to.  I find the “amen” of agreement sticking in my throat.  Part of the Lenten journey may be asking the Holy Spirit to shine its light on my heart and reveal any areas of pride in my heart.  Perhaps there are things I feel good about and have forgotten to give God the credit for the moment.  Lord, open my eyes to your work and gifts in my life and help me give you the credit.

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