Jesus: The Ideal Boss: He’s in Charge

24th in a series on how men and women in the Bible

deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment

Jesus: The Ideal Boss: He’s in Charge

Reflections on Mark 10:17-31

Justin Sun, the 28-year-old founder of blockchain platform TRON and CEO of peer-to-peer file sharing protocol BitTorrent, won the annual eBay charity auction to have lunch with Warren Buffett at steakhouse Smith & Wollensky in New York City.  And for only $4.6 million.  What would you pay to have lunch with a powerful and influential person?  Not many of us can compete in this realm but we all have dreams of meeting someone famous and having the opportunity to get to know them.

In the New Testament book of Mark a young man boldly walks up to Jesus,  and asked him a question that at one time or another we may want to ask, “Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  The translation could be any one of the following: “How much can I get away with and still be allowed through the pearly gates?”  “How much good is really required?” Or as the Pharisees in the first century used to argue, “Which is the greatest commandment and therefore the most important one to obey?”

Jesus deflected the question entirely and focused on the word ‘good’.  The Jewish understanding of ‘good’ was not the way we see it.  ‘Good’ was equivalent to our ‘Great’.  Therefore, the honor this man was paying to Jesus lifted him to the  highest status.  

This passage is so thick with implications for our lives, but I want to focus on five main points:  

1) Jesus tells us the truth

We live in a world where truth is seen as relative.  But according to Scripture there are absolute truths that can set us free.  Jesus saw through this man’s question and got to the heart of the matter.  He asked him about his obedience to the Ten Commandments and if he had obeyed a few of them.  Interestingly, Jesus only asked him about the ones that deal with our interpersonal relationships.  Outwardly, most of us could agree and say that we too, have obeyed them.  Jesus didn’t argue.  But He dove deeper.  “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.Then come, follow me.”  

The heart of the matter was the man’s idolatry.  It’s the one thing we lack as well.  We place career, money, people, fashion, vanity or possessions ahead of our devotion to God.  Are we willing to accept this truth?

2) He corrects our distorted thinking

The truth is the young man had not kept all the commandments.  And neither have we.  But somehow Jesus knew that arguing with him would not accomplish anything.  Instead he hit the young man where it hurt.  Jesus knew that money and possessions were at the center of his life.  Jesus essentially said, ‘That is no way to live.  You can’t just add me to your already busy and cluttered life.  To really live, I need your whole-hearted devotion.  Are you willing to give it all up and follow me?’  It’s only when we get to this point do we truly understand biblical Christianity.

3) A kingdom of God mindset

“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”  Huh? The disciples got it right when they asked, “Who then can be saved?”  Jesus made it clear that no human path can lead to heaven.  No amount of good works, holy living, church-going, charity, piety, etc. will ever do us any good.  Until we get to the point where we see the impossibility of jumping the chasm from our way of thinking to His, do we have an inkling of hope.

4) Jesus is in charge

Are we ready to concede that we do not have it all under control?  Are we ready to stop making foolish assumptions that we can do anything ‘good’ apart from God?  The most offensive part of this story was that Jesus  defined the rules.  He acted like He was actually in charge of who goes to heaven and who doesn’t.  He even defined the rules of success.  Who gets to do that?  That’s what offended people then so much.  Only God can forgive sins.  And only God has the right to tell us how to live in this world.  C.S. Lewis had it right when he said, “You must make your choice: either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

5) Nobody gets to suck up to God

There’s a difference between humility and patronizing.  The young man was not willing to humble himself before Jesus.  He was merely trying to see what he could get away with.  Many of us have lived upright lives in the eyes of the people around us and yet manmade rules are illusions. We actually live according to the laws of the universe, i.e. God’s rules.  God cannot be bribed or patronized.  Neither will he demand that you pay 4.5 million to have lunch with him.  The gift of eternal life is free but it will cost you everything you have.  For to be in the kingdom of God, Jesus says that “we must deny ourselves, take up cross daily in order to follow him.”

The good news is Jesus’ response in verse 21 “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”  It’s good news because he looks at us in the same way.  C.S. Lewis in his book, The Screwtape Letters has a statement made by the chief demon “For we must never forget the most repellent and inexplicable trait in our Enemy [God]; He really loves the hairless bipeds He has created…”

It’s true…an absolute truth that is demonstrated by the air we breath all the way to Jesus’ death on the cross.  So, can we glean principles that will enable us to live successful lives on this earth and thrive, whether I am gainfully employed or wondering where my next meal will come from?

Principles

1. God loves us.  Therefore, I am able to view the entire universe from this primary fact.  How does this affect how I view the people and circumstances that come into my life?
2. In a world where truth is perceived as relative, the Bible gives us absolute principles that are true for all people, in all places in all times.
3. To be successful on this earth, a kingdom of God mindset is needed in order to interpret the events of my day.  Otherwise, I am subject to the whims of my imagination.
4. If Jesus is in charge I am free to fail, free to take risks, free to pursue His view of life regardless of the consequences.
5. We face life on God’s terms.  Will we willingly submit to Him and agree with Matthew 6:33, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”?