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What shall I do?

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Mark 10:17-31

A man comes to Jesus with a question. What’s more, his eagerness is on display as he runs toward Jesus and kneels before him. He wants to know how to obtain eternal life, but prefaces his inquiry with a flowery salutation: “Good Teacher.”

Jesus addresses this first, before dealing with the more critical matter of eternal life. “Why do you call me good? Only God is good.” Was he testing the man’s knowledge? Did the man realize that by calling Jesus “good” he was equating Jesus with God? Or was it meant to impress and flatter Jesus?

Jesus does not wait for an answer and begins listing certain of the Ten Commandments. The ones he chooses all have to do with visible and outward actions, easily verifiable to an observant witness. The man quickly answers :All these things I have kept from my youth.” What response did the man expect from Jesus? Was it something like “Oh, well done, good and faithful servant! Of course, you already have eternal life!” When our focus is on what we have done and done well, it can be easy to imagine great rewards.

But instead, Jesus points out something the man lacks. This is not a “gotcha” to expose his lack of spiritual understanding, for Mark points out that Jesus felt a love for this man. Jesus’ words are meant to help and build up, not to criticize and rip apart. Did the man approached Jesus with this same love? Was Jesus more dear to him than anything else?

The answer to this is, sadly, no. He was a wealthy man who owned much property. The thought of giving this up startled and grieved him. When Jesus gave his final instruction to “come, follow me,” the man’s eagerness and confidence disappeared. He had not anticipated this. Instead of following, he went away.

We tend to think that people who have had a rough time in life, hitting every bump and stymied by circumstances, would have good reason to distrust and be resentful of God. But this man had every advantage and enjoyed every blessing on this earth. What could he have against God that he would turn away?

Jesus said it is so very hard for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom. But not impossible. For all things are possible with God.

Copyright 2020 David J. Cooley

Mother and brothers

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“…standing outside they sent to him…” Mark 3:31-35

Mark returns to the family of Jesus, whom we last saw a few verses ago trying to restrain him, fearing for his sanity. This time his mother is present and the expectation for him was to follow custom, drop all other things and attend to her. Jesus does not. Instead, he declares those that do the will of God to be his family.

It’s hard to know how those who were physically closest to Jesus regarded him. They have seen him every day for years in the most ordinary and mundane ways. Surely some of them knew something of the purpose he saw for himself, but the way it was working out was an unexpected turn of events. It must have been hard to think of him in anything but human terms. He was just the guy next door, a brother, a friend, a carpenter.

Mary, of course, knew of God’s purpose for her son. She had been in the company of angels and had heard and seen wondrous things concerning him. But how could she imagine what it would actually be like to have God’s Son walking among men?

How easy it is for us to form our own ideas about how God will go about doing what he says he will do. We make up arbitrary rules and schedules that seem good to us – indeed they must be the only possible way he could act. Then we are shocked when he moves in a different way.

Our closeness to him must be more than just being in the neighborhood or being where he happens to be. Knowing things about him or repeating his teaching is not enough. We must take the next step, abandon our own inclinations and follow him. “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley

Wanted: Disciples

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“He appointed twelve…” Mark 3:13-19

It’s a simple story that we’ve all heard. Jesus chose twelve disciples. If we thought real hard we might name most of them. Well, maybe four or five. We laugh at their mistakes (which, of course, we never would have made) and marvel at their accomplishments (which we think we could never come close to).

The books I consulted spent much of their time trying to identify these twelve men in a biographical fashion, of which there is scant information. But I found myself asking, “Why pick these particular ones?” The biggest clue we have is that he spent all the night before in prayer (Luke 6:12).

But Mark tells us a little bit more. Jesus “called to him those whom he desired.” Take a moment to think about that, because he’s still doing it. Jesus isn’t trying to fill up heaven with anyone and everyone he can cram in. He calls you and me because he wants us to be with him.

The next thing Mark says is short but important: “…and they came to him.” We are not forced to come. We want to come. Therein lies a great mystery with some differing theological ideas that try to explain it. But you don’t need the theology to hear his call and respond.

The Twelve had a very specific and unique role to perform. Jesus will teach, train and prepare them for it. We can expect no less. There is something for us to do as well. And if we don’t know how, he will show us.

Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley

My rowdy friends

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“…he was eating with the sinners…” Mark 2:13-17

We have a word today that does a good job of describing Jesus: he was politically and religiously incorrect. He never seemed to be doing the right thing at the right time or to be with the right people.

Jesus went out again to the seashore. Of course, the crowd followed and he began to teach them. While he was out there, he passed a tax office. There were probably no crowds surrounding Levi as he sat at his desk. Tax collectors worked for the Herods and the oppressive Romans. They were widely regarded as greedy traitors or worse. Levi’s position was not the sort to attract the attention of anyone desiring to win friends and influence people. Yet Jesus approached him, saying, “Follow Me.” And Levi did.

Later, Jesus and his disciples were dining with Levi, who is also known as Matthew. In attendance were many tax-gatherers and sinners. Probably not the best optics for Jesus’ growing ministry. But he wasn’t concerned about that. These were people whom Jesus had reached out to and touched in some way. They were following him because they knew he could change their lives and remove their sin, unlike the Pharisees with their rules and categories.

Speaking of Pharisees, some of their scribes crashed the party. They were having trouble dealing with how these people had escaped the pigeon holes they had put them in. Once a sinner, always a sinner, they might have thought. Instead of confronting Jesus directly, they pulled a couple of disciples aside and demanded to know “why is he eating with tax gatherers and sinners?”

Jesus saw what they were up to and answered them: “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, only the sick. I didn’t come for the righteous, but for sinners.” Which let the scribes off the hook. Sort of. Their sense of their own righteousness was duly appropriated by saying and doing the proper thing at just the proper time and in just the right measure. It completely hid their own inadequacy in God’s sight. As long as they considered themselves righteous, they would miss out on the true righteousness that Jesus brings, and with it the key to entering God’s kingdom.

Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley

Empty Boats

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“Follow Me…” Mark 1:16-20

There are a couple of empty boats hauled up on the beach. They are well used, but in good condition and ready to sail, complete with nets in good repair. But where are the fishermen?

Jesus had just walked by and had briefly spoken to two pairs of brothers. “Follow Me” is what he said as he went along. There is no record of the thoughts going through the minds of these four men, nor of the considerations they pondered. All we know is “they immediately left the nets and followed him.” One decision followed by two actions: leave and follow.

A decision to follow Jesus is not just a personal, private or inner matter. There is physical, tangible evidence for the world to see that a life has been abandoned. Or at least there ought to be.

Only Jesus can make this kind of demand on a person’s life. Neither parent, sibling, friend or lover can rightfully demand such a response. It has to come from Jesus and be answered only by yourself. No one can respond for you or go in your place.

This decision is essentially a matter of faith and nothing else. No rational argument can be made to leave family and their means of support to follow someone who just happens to walk by. Some have suggested that these four obviously already knew Jesus well enough to trust him.

Maybe so. But Mark does not concern himself with this. Instead, he cuts directly to the chase: Jesus is calling – what do you do?

For more, see Mark 1:16-20

Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley