Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 10:21

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

21. beholding him ] The same word, which occurs also in Mar 10:27, in the original is applied ( a) to the Baptist, when he “ looked upon Jesus,” and said, “Behold the Lamb of God” (Joh 1:36), ( b) to our Lord’s look at St peter (i) when He named him Cephas (Joh 1:42), and (ii) when He turned and looked upon him just before the cock crew for the second time (Luk 22:61).

loved him ] Literally, esteemed him, or was pleased with him, for His Eye penetrated his inmost being, and saw within him an honest striving after better things, and the noblest form of life. Lightfoot remarks that the Jewish Rabbis were wont to kiss the head of such pupils as answered well. Some gesture at least we may believe that our Lord used to shew that the young man pleased Him, both by his question and by his answer.

One thing thou lackest ] He thus proposed to him one short crucial test of his real condition, and way to clearer self-knowledge. He had fancied himself willing to do whatever could be required: he could now see if he were really so.

take up the cross, and follow me ] See ch. Mar 8:34. But some MSS. omit the words. “Poor, friendless, outlawed, Jesus abated no jot of His awful claims, loftier than human monarch had ever dreamed of making, on all who sought citizenship in His Kingdom.”

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Mar 10:21

Then Jesus beholding him, loved him.

The young ruler, whom Jesus loved

I. Let us inquire into the nature of our Lords regard for the young ruler. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him. There are those who think that ardent love for an unconverted friend is a misplaced affection; that we should only love what God loves. But the love of God must be different from the love of the creature. When God loves He loves the whole man, not for his moral qualities, but in spite of them. The love of man is partial in its object, for we can admire one part of a mans character whilst we dislike another. Our attachments also in their present form must be of limited duration. What is implied in this love?

1. There is a sincere desire for such a persons welfare and an anxious wish to do him good.

2. There is a feeling of mournful pity, that one endowed with such high and hopeful qualities should fall short of heaven at last.

II. What were the qualities which kindled our Lords regard for the young ruler?

1. A real concern on the part of the young man for the safety of his soul.

2. Our Lord would be pleased with the young mans desire for religious knowledge.

3. The excellence of his moral character.

III. Having seen the nature of our Lords regard, and the qualities of the young man which seem most likely to have kindled it, let us conclude with a few practical reflections on the sad compatibility of both with the final loss of heaven.

1. How many amiable qualities are here spoiled at once by the love of this world.

2. What is the precise value of any combination of amiable qualities towards the securing of this rich inheritance? However the world may applaud noble qualities, they will not save in the day of judgment. There must be repentance and faith. (D. Moore, M. A.)

Amiable qualities in the unregenerate

Doctrine 1.

There may be some amiable and good qualities in unregenerate men.

1. All are created with some inclination to good, though not to good spiritual, yet to good, natural and moral. In our decayed condition there are some remainders of right reason, some impressions of equity, some principles of common honesty, still left and preserved in us, though as to spiritual endowments, we are altogether become filthy and abominable (Psa 14:2). As in a rifled palace, though the rich furniture be gone, the plate and the jewels, and though the fashion of it be much spoiled, yet some of the fabric is left still standing to show what a magnificent structure it once was.

2. For the good of mankind. God is the patron of human society, and delights in the welfare and preservation of it. Now there would be no such thing as human society, if there were not sweetness of nature and moral dispositions yet left in us.

3. There are other things besides renewing grace that might cause these amiable qualities.

(1) Bodily temper may incline men to some good.

(2) The increase of one sin may cause others to decrease, as a wen that grows big and monstrous defrauds other parts of their nourishment. Though all sin he kindly to a natural heart, yet some sins are more apt to take the throne, and other lusts are starved to feed that A prodigal man is not covetous, and so more prone to be liberal and free-hearted. Thus as weeds destroy one another, so do many vices; so many vices occasion something that is amiable. Ambition makes men diligent, sober, and vigilant to improve their opportunities.

(3) It may be occasioned partly by discipline and strict education, or else the miseries and calamities of the present life; for these things, though they do not mortify sin, yet they may much weaken and hinder the discovery of it.

(4) By politic government and laws, which keep men within the bounds of their duty, so that they are orderly by constraint, and for fear of penalty, which, if they should follow their pleasure in sinning, they would be exposed to. Austin compares laws to brooms, which, though they cannot make corn of weeds or of chaff, yet they serve to sweep in the corn and keep it within the floor. Laws may make men good subjects, though not good men.

(5) Unregenerate men may be translated from the grammar school of nature to the university of grace; and though they never commence there, and took the degree of true sanctification, yet they may come very near to it by common grace, and may not be far from the kingdom of God.

Use 1. It shows us how inexcusable they are in the sight of God, and how just their condemnation will be, that have nothing lovely in them.

Use 2. If there may be amiable qualities in unregenerate men, then do not rest in these things (St. Mat 5:46). A good nature without grace makes a fair show with the world, but it is of little respect with God as to your salvation. All this may be from temper and awe of men. How may a man mistake a still nature for meekness, firmness and height of spirits for zeal, want of affection to holy things for discretion, stupidity for patience, obstinacy for constancy! But God knows how to distinguish. Will complexion and temper ever pass for grace in Gods account? And usually if a natural man hath one good quality, he hath another bad one to match it. Nay, a good nature once corrupted doth prove the worst of all others, as the sweetest wine makes the tartest vinegar-all their parts and excellences are but like a sword in a curlers shop, as ready for the thief as the true man to purchase.

Doctrine 2. That in some respect Christ loves those that are orderly and civil, and do but outwardly carry themselves according to Gods commands.

1. The thing is good in itself, though the resting in it makes it useless as to the salvation of the person that goes no further (Mic 6:8).

2. Because our Lord Jesus Christ is willing and ready to own the least good in us, that He might draw us on to more (St. Mat 12:20).

3. Because these things tend to the profit of mankind, and Jesus Christs heart is much set upon the good of mankind. Use. Now let us see what use we may make of this.

I. Negatively.

1. We cannot make this use of it as if Christ did love moral virtues as meritorious of grace; they are not such things upon which God hath bound Himself to give the grace of conversion.

2. We must not so take this as that He doth love good qualities so as to make them equal with Christian virtues or the graces of the Spirit. Morality is good, but we must not lift it up beyond its place. There is something better, and that is grace (Heb 6:9). Loose professors dishonour their religion, but the sound grapes in the cluster must not be judged of by the rotten ones, nor is the beauty of a street to be measured by the filthiness of the sink and kennel. Those that are the sink and disgrace of Christianity are unfit to show forth the virtue of it. So that if you compare these things, their morality is but like a field flower to a garden flower, or wild fruits to orchard fruits; it is a wild thing in comparison of grace, and not in any way comes up to the height of it.

3. We must not from hence make this use, that we should think ourselves to be in a good condition because of moral qualifications. Men may be viceless, but yet if they be Christless and graceless, and never brought to brokenness of heart (for certainly that is necessary to prepare men for faith, and for pardon of sins) they may perish for evermore.

II. Positively. What use may we make of this, that Jesus loved this young man?

1. If Christ did love civility, much more will He love true grace in any of His, though mingled with much weakness. Certainly He that delights in the obscure shadow of His image will much more delight in the lively picture and impression of it upon the souls of His people, though we have our weaknesses.

2. We learn by Christs example to honour others for their common gifts.

3. Thus we may learn children, young men, and others, all may know how to get Christs love if they be tractable. By the rule of contraries, if He loves conformity to the law of God in externals, He hates those that walk contrary to His laws.

4. It condemns those that will pretend to the peculiar love of Christ, when they are not moral, but forward, undutiful in their relations, unconscionable in their dealing, and have not learned to be sober, to possess their vessels in sanctification and honour. What I do you talk of being Christians, when you are not as good as heathens?

Object: What love doth Christ show now upon earth to those that are moral?

1. Moral virtues will at least procure a temporal reward.

2. There will be some serenity of mind resulting from the rectitude of your actions.

3. It is some advantage to grace; it is like the priming the post, that maketh it receptive of better colours.

4. As to their eternal state, it will be more tolerable for such than for others. (T. Manton, D. D.)

On discerning good in others

It is only St. Mark who informs us that our Lord, beholding him, loved him. There were many imperfections in this young man, who was far too well satisfied with himself; yet our Lord loved him. Thus when we see much in people to lament and condemn, we should try to discern something in them to love. We are often tempted to dwell on the worst side of our neighbours character. We shall never help him much unless we love him. Let us go on looking till the ungraceful qualities disappear from view, and we discover his better self. There is some such view taken of the departed. Sometimes while a man is alive we are keenly alive to his bad points; when the man dies we find there is another side to his character which we never suspected. We often do not know the value of persons till we have lost them. We should not wait for death to remove men before we appreciate them. Try to think not so much of what the man is as what he was meant to be. Reconstruct in imagination the pattern after which he was created. He was meant to be something better than he has yet become. God meant him simply to be courageous. He is now rash. He is now lavish-he was intended to be generous. His very faults are perhaps perversions of good qualities. What you think insincerity arises from a desire not to wound feelings. What you think abruptness is a distorted form of straightforwardness. Not that we should confound moral distinctions. The man is a drunkard-we need not justify intemperance, but we may yet think God meant him for something better. God drew the plan for each. I will consider what by grace they may yet become. The Saviour loves yon still, beholding you with all your blemishes. (H. W. Burrows.)

One thing thou lackest.–

The defective amiabilities of the young

There may be much exceedingly fair and interesting in youth, and yet one thing of essential importance lacking.

1. Corporeal beauty-comeliness of feature, freshness of complexion, symmetry of form, gracefulness of movement; but how terrible if united with depraved and deformed soul, if no Divine light within, no love of God reigning in the heart.

2. Tender sensibilities, ever apt to awake at sight of distress. And yet in same heart there may be no sense of sin, no repentance toward God, no regard for Christ, no graces of the Spirit.

3. Mental ability-strong memory, ready judgment, shrewd observation, lively fancy; and yet an understanding blind in reference to the things of God, e.g., Balaam, Ahitophel.

4. Docility-readiness to devote energies to this or that pursuit, but neglecting the greatest study of all. He who has been learning all other sciences, but will not learn of Jesus, has left out of his study that very science which alone can enlighten him with the light of the living.

5. Religious assiduity-attention to outward rites. It is possible to know the truth and not love it; to hear the gospel and not believe it.

6. Active benevolence. Kindness may be done from motives of self-interest. They may also proceed merely from natural instinct, and not from love to God.

7. Ardent friendship, without any concern about the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. (John Mitchell, D. D.)

A special precept, given as a test

In the rulers mind there was an ideal goodness; would he act up to its requirements? Riches and poverty in themselves are of little moment; our views of them constitute their most important feature. The point is, Are we trusting in them? If so, they must be given up, for they are a snare to us.

1. This test is much needed; for, although so dangerous, riches are not avoided like a haunted house. Very few fancy that they are rich, therefore the warning passes by them unheeded. But, whether we possess much or little, we may be clinging to what we have, and that is the danger.

2. If there remains one thing wanting, we cannot know satisfaction. No matter what our earthly possessions may be, still we shall be disappointed. The desires of an immortal spirit can be satisfied with nothing less than immortality.

3. Christ alone can satisfy all our wants. If we take up our cross and follow Him, we shall discover treasure laid up for us in heaven. With Christ as our guide and our hope, we shall be able to despise the riches of this world as so much glittering dross. Our course will be forward, our hope consistent, and heavens pure treasures our everlasting portion. (G. C. Tomlinson.)

One thing thou lackest

A barren and a fruitful vine are growing side by side in the garden; and the barren vine says to the fruitful one, Is not my root as good as yours? Yes, replies the vine; it is just as good as mine. And are not my lower leaves as broad and spreading? And is not my stem as large and my bark as shaggy? Yes, says the vine. And are not my leaves as green, and have I not as many bugs creeping up and down? And am I not taller than you? Yes; it is quite true, replies the vine; but I have blossoms. Oh, blossoms are of no use. But I bear fruit. What! those clusters? Those are only a trouble to a vine. Such is the opinion of the fruitless vine; but what thinks the vintner? He passes by the barren vine; but the other, filling the air with its odour in spring, and drooping with purple clusters in autumn, is his pride and joy; and he lingers near it, and prunes it, that it may become yet more luxuriant and fruitful, So the moralist and the Christian. (H. W. Beecher.)

Whole-hearted allegiance necessary

What, then, did this young man lack? Not right desires: he wished to inherit eternal life. Not a good moral character: all the moral law he had kept from his youth up; he had been an honouring son, an honoured citizen, a pure man. Not earnestness: he came running to Christ. Not reverence: he kneeled before Him. Not humility: he made willing and public confession of his desire and his faith before the multitude in the open roadway. Not an orthodox belief: if words are creeds, no creed could be more orthodox than that which he compacted into the two words, Good Master. Not a humane and tender spirit: for Christ looking on him loved him. But he lacked absolute and unquestioning allegiance; entire and implicit consecration; the spirit of the soldier who only asks what the marching orders are; the spirit of the Master Himself, whose prayer was ever, Thy will, not Mine, be done. And, lacking this, he lacked everything, and went away sorrowful. (Lyman Abbot, D. D.)

Importance of the one thing lacking

The lack of one thing may make void the presence of all things else. Lacking its mainspring-which is but one thing-a watch with jewels, wheels, pinions, and beautiful mechanism, the finest watch indeed that ever was made, is of no more use than a stone. A sundial without its gnomon, as it is called, Times iron finger that throws its shadow on the circling hours-but one thing also-is as useless in broad day as in the blackest night. A ship may be built of the strongest oak, with masts of the stoutest pine, and manned by the best officers and crew; but I sail not in her if she lacks one thing-that trembling needle which a child running about the deck might fancy a toy; on that plaything, as it looks, the safety of all on board depends-lacking that, but one thing, the shin shall be their coffin, and the deep sea their grave. It is thus with true piety, with living faith. That one thing wanting, the greatest works, the costliest sacrifices, and the purest life, are of no value in the sight of God. Still further, to impress you with the valuelessness of everything without true piety, and to show how its presence imparts such worth to a believers life and labours as to make his mites weigh more than other mens millions, and his cup of cold water more precious than their cups of gold-let me borrow an illustration from arithmetic. Write down a line of ciphers. You may add thousands, multiplying them till the sheets they fill cover the face of earth and heaven; yet they express nothing, and are worth nothing. Now take the smallest number of the ten, the smallest digit, and place that at their head-magic never wrought such a change! What before amounted to nothing rises instantly by the addition of one figure, one stroke of the pen, into thousands, or millions, as the case may be; and whether they represent pounds or pearls, how great is the sum of them! Such power resides in true faith-in genuine piety. It may be the lowest piety, but one degree above zero; it may be the love of smoking flax, the hope of a bruised reed, the faith of a mustard seed, the hesitating, fluttering confidence of him who cried, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief. Still, so soon as it is inwrought by the Spirit of God, it changes the whole aspect of a mans life, and the whole prospect of his eternity. It is that one thing wanting which, however amiable, moral, and even apparently religious we may be, our Lord addresses us, as He did the young ruler, saying, One thing thou lackest. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

One habitual fault may vitiate the whole life

When a clock is out of order, we take it to pieces, and search where the fault lies, knowing that one wheel amiss may hinder the going of the whole clock. Our hearts are every day out of order; our work must be to take them to pieces by examination, and to see where the great fault is. (G. Swinnock.)

One thing thou lackest

The celebrated preacher, George Whitfield, made it a custom wherever he went to speak to the people in whose houses he stayed concerning their souls. He used to travel throughout the country preaching the gospel, and was brought into communication with vast numbers. At one time he was staying in the house of a kind and amiable man, General E- , who was a great admirer of his preaching. The family was so extremely hospitable and kind that, though he saw no evidence of vital godliness among them, Whitfields lips seemed sealed to all but the genial courtesies of society, and he omitted his ordinary custom on such occasions. But when he went upstairs to bed the Spirit of the Lord said to him, O, man of God, how shalt thou be clear of their blood if thou dost not warn them? His own feelings would have led him to be silent; and the tempter suggested, They are so amiable and good; how can you speak to them about sin? Besides, you have preached the gospel today in their hearing; surely that is enough. There was a struggle in his mind, which he would fain have decided by continuing silent, especially as so much kindness had been received. But God would not let him sleep that night. The voice of conscience said, This very kindness should appeal to your gratitude not to be silent. It is your duty to speak-to warn them. Early in the morning, before going away, Whitfield took his diamond ring from his finger, and wrote on the pane in the window these words: One thing thou lackest. He was no sooner gone than the master of the house said, I will go up and look into the room where this holy man slept, for he had an almost superstitious reverence for him. The first thing that caught his attention when entering the room was the writing on the glass. Its meaning flashed across his mind. He stood and wept. He then went to the door and called his wife. On looking at the writing she burst into tears, and said: I thought he was unhappy. There seemed to be something on his mind. I knew he was in trouble about us, that we were not converted. I had been hoping he would speak to us. The husband said, By Gods grace, then, we will seek that one thing we lack. He called his family together, three daughters and a grown-up son. The text was pointed out. The Spirit of the Lord blessed it to their souls. The whole family knelt in prayer, confessed their sins, and found joy and peace in believing. The narrator of this incident says: I know the story to be a fact, a friend of mine in New York having in his congregation a young woman, the daughter of one of the three daughters who knelt with her family in Whitfields room, and she treasures up the pane of glass as a precious relic. (Christian Globe.)

A good natural character without religion

The dahlia would surely be a very empress among flowers if it had but perfume equal to its beauty, even the rose might need to look to her sovereignty. Florists have tried all their arts to scent this lovely child of autumn, but in vain, no fragrance can be developed or produced; God has denied the boon, and human skill cannot devise it. The reflecting mind will be reminded of those admirable characters which are occasionally met with, in which everything of good repute and comely aspect may be seen, but true religion, that sweet ethereal perfume of grace, is wanting; if they had but love to God, what lovely beings they would be, the best of the saints would not excel them, and yet that fragrant grace they do not seek, and after every effort we make for their conversion, they remain content without the one thing which is needful for their perfection. Oh, that the Lord would impart to them the mystic sweetness of His grace by the Holy Spirit! (C. H. Spurgeon.)

One thing lacking

I. That no outward respect, however exact, or however long, to Gods law, can give us a title to eternal life.

1. It is not enough that there should be wishes after heaven: and even a willingness to do many things, so that we may obtain the crown and the glory which are there laid up.

2. It is not enough either that our hearts should be tender, and our temper amiable. For after all, delightful as is this frame of mind to those among whom we live, and on whom it sends forth a perpetual sunshine, it is the gift of God to us. It is not our own, but His, and, in many cases, we can no more help this sweetness of disposition, than the flowers of the field can help being fragrant and beautiful. It is their nature to be sweet, and ours, perhaps, to be amiable. But is it any excuse for not loving God, that we love everything and everybody else?

3. It is a mere wilful murdering of our own souls, to whisper to ourselves that the greatness of a sacrifice will plead before God in excuse for our not making it. Had the young man in the text prayed to God to help him in his strait, to conquer his carnal weakness, to support his fainting courage, and to gird up his soul with a triumphant faith, he would have prevailed; and so shall we. Faith, faith, faith-here is the want! (J. Garbett.)

Sermon to the young

I. What is there in the scale that is favourable to you?

1. There are many of the qualities of youth which are favourable to religion, and as such Christ regards them. Courage, warm affections, retentive memory. These favourable to piety.

2. There are words in Scripture that are peculiarly favourable to you, and should inspire your hope, They that seek Me early shall find Me.

3. So the works of God-His works of grace-confirm those things that are said, so earnestly, to encourage you. Perhaps not one in forty is convinced after the age of forty.

II. What is there in the scale that is against you? One thing thou lackest, etc.

1. All that is merely amiable and hopeful in nature is not grace, nor is it at all really valuable in Gods sight. It is not holiness.

2. All those things that may appear amiable and lovely, if they are not sanctified by religion, will become hostile. The readiness of mind that receives a report may render your mind the storehouse of all impurity.

3. That if the grace of God prevent not, all the promises of youth may perish in everlasting despair.

Now let me entreat you to take the following counsels.

1. Never think you are too young to be converted, and forgiven, and saved.

2. Never take up with anything short of true religion.

3. Never be satisfied with having religion-seek to abound in it.

4. Let me remind you that for this purpose you should study your own easily besetting sin, especially the sins of your youth.

5. For this purpose form a rule, lay down a plan for life, laying out every day as it ought to be spent, and as you will wish you had spent it when you come to die; for this purpose read daily the Holy Scriptures-consult aged and experienced Christians, and ask them how they would advise you to conduct yourself before God.

6. Lastly, seek to live not for yourselves, but to live usefully as well as safely. (J. Bennett, D. D.)

Christs answer

Now we come to Christs answer, and there take notice. First: Of the admonition of his defect: Jesus said unto him, One thing thou lackest.

1. Because it would have been tedious to convince him of all his defects, Christ would take the more compendious way, and insist but upon one thing, which was enough to show that he was not perfect, as he vainly dreamed. If a man brag that he is able to pay one hundred pounds, you convince him of his penury when you press him to pay one penny, and he cannot.

2. This one thing was sure, and would strike home; for our Lord knew his heart, and therefore was resolved to touch his privy sore, and doth propose such a precept as would cross his darling sin; and therefore he would only come with one thing, which would try him to the purpose.

3. That one thing which he lacked was the main thing, the principal thing of the law, which was loving God above all things; the sum of the law is to love God above all, and our neighbours as ourselves.

4. Because the young man erred out of ignorance, Christ would not deal roughly with him, or by way of sharp reproof; He doth not rate him.

(1) We learn-That proud sinners must not be soothed up in their self-conceit, but convinced of their defects.

(2) That the way to convince them is by representing their principal and chief faults, some one sin; as Christ dealt with this young man: and so He deals with the woman of Samaria, convincing her of her sin.

(3) The more our failings strike deep upon the main articles of our obedience to God, the greater our conviction, and the more sense we should have of our condition before God. Secondly: We come to Christs precept, command, and injunction. First: Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. Not applicable to all, in all circumstances.

But yet still in some cases we are to forsake all.

1. When God by His providence reduceth us to a poor condition.

2. When we cannot obey any particular precept of God without danger of being undone by it. The reasons why we must do so.

(1) God hath an absolute right to all that we have by His own eminency and prerogative.

(2) Because it is impossible we should be Christians, if we come not to Christ with this mind and resolution to forsake all for our duty to Him (Luk 14:33). (T. Manton, D. D.)

One defect fatal

But is it right to make such destinies turn upon a single point? That depends on the point. In other relations one thing may bring ruin. At a crisis in worldly interests, one wrong step may lead to remediless disaster. One error in trade may make you bankrupt; one medicine in sickness may give the turn to your life; for the lack of one anchor a vessel is lost. In religion, how may one thing keep a soul from heaven? If there is a determined, persistent unwillingness to be saved, that would seem sufficient, would it not? Well, that is the one thing referred to by Christ. And, furthermore, it is some one thing which makes the unwillingness. The ruler loved his great possessions more than he loved his soul. But the one thing may take many forms. It may be one appetite, one ambition, one companionship, one pleasure. Every one is called to choose between one set of influences that helps religion, and some other set which hinders. (T. J. Holmes.)

Sell whatsoever thou hast.–

A severe test

It is not raw recruits and beardless boys that hold the front of battle. These are not the stormers they throw into the fiery breach. Where the bullets fly the thickest, and the carnage is the fiercest, the ground is held by veterans, men inured to war, the flash of steel and the roar of cannon; on whose grim faces calm determination sits, with scars and medals on their breasts. The post of danger is assigned to veterans. Heavy burdens are laid on the backs, not of boys, but of grown men. It were little else than murder to bid a youth, who had just left his mothers side, nor ever had his foot before on a deck, climb the shrouds and reef the topsails in a storm, when the mast bends to the breaking, and the ship reels in the trough of the sea. That were not common sense; and what man, who loved his son, and had either sense or consideration, would put a tender youth to so terrible a trial? It is said here, Jesus, beholding him, loved him; and if He loved this young ruler, why did He put him to a trial that, I venture to say would test the faith, not of a young Christian, but of the oldest and most mature Christian here? Why did He, so to speak, send this boy to the very front of the battle, the thickest of the fight? Doing so, I confess that, for myself, I am not much astonished at the result. At first sight, at least, I wonder less at this youth shrinking back, than I wonder at our Lord bidding him go forward. Let the best Christian here put himself for a moment in this youths circumstances. Think how you would feel now, were you called upon today to give up all the earnings of a lifetime, to part with some ancestral property-the dear old house, and the old trees, and the scenes of your boyhood, your possession, fortune, estate, rank-to leave all, to become a beggar, and follow the fortunes of a man so poor Himself that He often had not where to lay His head. I doubt that would be a burden under which the oldest Christian would stagger. I suspect that would try the faith of the best man here. And if any of you are disposed to look with scorn rather than sympathy on this poor young man, I am not of your number; and I would ask you to think how you would have done, and how erect you would have stood, under the same trial. The question occurs, then, Why did our Lord put this youth to such a trial? Was it done to repel him? No; it was done to draw him. It was not done to quench the smoking flax; but to blow it, as it were, by what seemed an adverse wind, into a burning flame. It was done kindly, discreetly, mercifully. By this step Christ intended to make that man know what he was; to make him see that he was not what he seemed to others and to himself. This test was applied to convince him practically of what it was not possible, perhaps, to convince him theoretically-that there was one thing he lacked, and that (so to say) the one thing needful. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

I. Christ-following involves self-abnegation. You cannot have a little of Christ, and a little of self. All or none.

II. Christ-following must be the expression of the souls supreme love. You must not make Christ a mere convenience.

III. Christ-following means self-giving. Christ was the Giver, and men are like Him in proportion as they give. Giving is not yet understood as a test of discipleship. Giving is understood as a patronage, but not as a self-sacrifice. Giving means different things to different people. There are men who give a thousand guineas at once, yet is their gift without value. If certain rich merchants, whose purses are always accessible, would but utter two sentences distinctly in favour of Christ as their personal Saviour, that would be worth more to the Christian cause than all the gold they lavish on it. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Consecration of all to Christ

Commentators stumble over the difficulty of this command. But it came to others, and they stood the test. It came to Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, when Christ bade them leave all to follow Him, to become fishers of men. It came to Paul when Christ bade him crucify his pride, and go into Damascus, and take his instructions from one of the despised and persecuted Christians, who would tell him what he should do. It came to Luther when Christ bade him forsake the church of his fathers and of his childhood; to Coligny, when Christ bade him abandon wife, and home, and peace; to William of Orange; to the Puritans; to John Howard; to David Livingstone. In one form or another it comes to every Christian; for to every would-be Christian the Master says, Give up your property, your home, your life itself, and take them back as Mine, and use them for Me in using them for your fellowmen. He who cannot-does not-do this, is no Christian. He can do nought but go away sorrowful: in this life, if he is keen of conscience; in the life to come, if a false education has lulled his conscience into uneasy slumber, but slumber so deep that only the judgment day can awaken it. (Lyman Abbot, D. D.)

How to treat wealth

When King Henry asked the Duke of Alva if he had observed the eclipses happening that year, he replied, I have so much business upon earth, that I have no leisure to look up to heaven. So it is with those who entangle themselves with the riches and pleasures of this world. There is only one way in which we can make them helps instead of hindrances. As an old writer remarks, If we place a chest of gold or treasures upon our backs, it weighs us down to the earth; but if we stand upon it, we are raised higher. So if our possessions are placed above us, they will surely keep our souls grovelling earthward; but if we place them under our feet, they will lift us nearer to God and heaven. (Anon.)

Apostolic poverty

Once I was staying as a boy in a bishops house, and there was dug up the brass plate from the tomb of one of his predecessors, and I have never forgotten the inscription that was on it. It was this: Stay, passer by! See and smile at the palace of a bishop. The grave is the palace they must all dwell in soon. Some of the best bishops who ever lived have been housed in log huts, and lived in apostolic poverty, and on hard fare. So did St. Augustine, the sainted Bishop of Hippo. Do not give me rich robes, he said to his people; they do not become a humble bishop. When a rich robe is given to me I feel myself obliged to sell it to help the poor. In former centuries the first thing a bishop did, as a rule, was to part with all his earthly possessions; and, while the heathen historian of the fourth century praises them, he speaks with angry scorn of the pompous and worldly prelates of other sees. (Archdeacon Farrar.)

Giving to the poor

The Dry Goods Chronicle says that the late Mr. Nathaniel Ripley Cobb, of Boston, was generous-hearted and conscientious in the highest degree. In November, 1821, he drew up the following document:-By the grace of God, I will never be worth more than 50,000 dollars. By the grace of God, I will give one-fourth of the net profits of my business to charitable and religions uses. If I am even worth 20,000 dollars, I will give one-half my net profits, and if I am ever worth 30,000 dollars, I will give three-fourths, and the whole after my fiftieth thousand. So help me God, or give to a more faithful steward and set me aside. November, 1821. He adhered to this covenant, it is stated, with the strictest fidelity.

Give God thy heart, and He will reward thee with heaven

From the circumstances of the case, then, to which the text particularly refers, it is evident this precept implies that religion requires the renunciation of every object that engrosses the mind to the exclusion of God and duty. Nothing short of a complete sacrifice can fulfil the design of the gospel. This is a sublime view of the spirit and design of religion. It is not enough to submit to some privation and endure some trials in performing its duties; religion is so authoritative and dogmatic, that it must govern the will. The precept of the text requires the avaricious to sacrifice their wealth; but their wealth is to be applied to useful and charitable purposes. The sacrifice is enjoined as an indispensable proof of sincerity. Religion casts contempt on all sublunary things; still it commands its disciples to make the worlds goods subservient to generous uses; it does not mortify one vice to afford scope for another. The wealth which the rich man in the text possessed, was to be distributed among the poor; and nothing can illustrate more strikingly the kind and charitable spirit of the gospel than the importance which is thus given to the claims of the destitute. In thus illustrating the benevolent spirit of the gospel, it is necessary to remark, that the text furnishes no argument for profuse and indiscriminate charity. There is a danger that our charity should not only be indiscriminate, but profuse. In enjoining these arduous and important duties, religion proposes a rich and splendid reward. The figurative language of the text was evidently suggested by the nature of the precept it contains. The individual to whom the text was addressed was commanded to renounce his wealth; and the reward promised to his obedience was a treasure hereafter, infinitely more valuable than all the treasures of the earth. We are accustomed to say of any object on which we set a high value, that it is a treasure. We say of knowledge, that it is a treasure; we say of fame, that it is a treasure; we say of affection, that it is a treasure-a rich, inestimable treasure; and in all these cases, the phrase expresses the importance we attach to the object to which it is applied. In its application to the reward which religion reveals, it is comparatively weak. Nothing that men value on earth can convoy any adequate idea of the splendour and value of that reward; for it includes in it all of dignity, enjoyment, and purity, of which our nature is capable-the greatest honour, the most exquisite happiness, and the most exalted virtue. It is a treasure of knowledge; for there all Divine truth will be revealed to the soul; doubts, errors, and prejudices, will be dispelled. It is a treasure of affection; for there all distrust, jealousy, and fear, will be removed; Gods generous, unchanging love, will enrich and soothe the glorified spirit; a pure and glowing sympathy will unite soul to soul; the sweetest thoughts, and the most confiding tenderness, will be cherished and enjoyed; no suspicions will ever darken or chill the current of love, as it flows deep and warm from the rich fountains of the soul; and in communion with God, in the society of angels, and amidst the bright company of the redeemed, all the delights of lofty devoted affection will yield perpetual ravishment. It is a treasure of joy; for there every hope will be realized, and every promise fulfilled; care, trouble, and grief, will be forever gone; all the meanness, sufferings, and bereavements of life, will have passed away; bright scenes will call up the fairest images, and awaken into life the most animating thoughts; and exercises of lofty meditation, and the purest devotion, will fill the soul with transporting ecstasy. It is a treasure of glory; for there the soul will be raised to its native rank, adorned with unfading righteousness, invested with the honour of a mighty triumph, associated with angels, and welcomed by Christ; then the white robes will be put on, the crown and victorys palm; then the song of praise will smile from the innumerable host; all the glory of God, all the glory of angels, and all the glory of the redeemed, will meet in one resplendent blaze, and fill the vast heaven with its inconceivable brightness. Oh, what a treasure! valuable as the soul, lasting as eternity! Riches will decay and perish; the proud palace will crumble into ruins, and its stately chambers be lonely and silent; the charms of beauty will fade, the trophies of ambition moulder into dust; and all the gaiety, pomp, and splendour of life, will vanish like a dream, and leave not a wrack behind. (A. Bennie.)

Take up the cross.-

The Christian taking up his cross

I. The Christians cross-What is it? It is something painful and humiliating. No death inflicted by the Romans was so agonizing as crucifixion; no death so ignominious. The Christians cross is that portion of pain and humiliation and suffering which the wisdom of God may allot to him in the way to heaven. It comes on us in different forms; the worlds hatred; domestic sickness; in himself. One mans cross is visible-all can see it; another mans may be secret. Our crosses may be changed; my neighbours today may be mine tomorrow.

II. But we are to take up our cross. What is meant by this?

1. There are some things it seems to forbid. We are not to make crosses for ourselves; this is to invade Gods province. He will order our afflictions for us. We are to take those He lays down, not to aggravate or increase them. Not to wish to choose what crosses the Lord shall make for us. We often want other mens crosses just as we want their comforts. We must let the Physician prescribe for our disease. The cross sent is that from which we would most like to be exempt; the man of strong affections is wounded in his affections. The text forbids stepping out of the way to avoid our cross; this is choosing sin rather than affliction. God can meet us with crosses in sinful ways as well as in righteous, heavier than those turned from.

2. We have seen what this taking up of the cross forbids: let us now see what it enjoins. To take our cross as Christ did His. We are to carry it patiently-voluntarily-cheerfully.

III. Look now at the command our Lord gives us to do this. Come, take up the cross, and follow Me. Be careful not to mistake. Suffering cannot expiate sin. Christ has done this completely. What will you say when you lay your cross down at the gate of heaven? (C. Bradley, M. A.)

Following Christ

There are many special reasons why Christ should be propounded to us as our pattern and example whom we should follow and imitate.

1. Because He is a pattern of holiness set up in our nature.

2. Because there are many advantages by this pattern in our nature; as

(1) our pattern is more complete than if God had been our pattern. There are some graces wherein we cannot be said to resemble God, and therefore we must look for a pattern elsewhere, as humility, faith, fear, hope, reverence, obedience; none of these things are in God, for He hath no superior, and these things imply inferiority and subjection.

(2) It is an engaging pattern. We are engaged by the rule of our obedience, but much more by Christs example.

(3) It is an encouraging pattern, partly as there is an efficacy in this pattern; as with the gospel or law of Christ, there goeth along the ministration of the Spirit, so also with the consideration of His example.

Use. To persuade us to follow Christ.

1. Our general profession of being Christians doth oblige us to be like Him; head and members should be all of one piece-oh! what an affront is it to Christ to put His name to the picture and image of the devil.

2. We shall never be like Him in glory unless we be like Him in grace also (Rom 8:29).

But wherein should we follow Christ?

1. In His self-denial (2Co 8:9).

2. In His humility (St. Mat 20:28).

3. In His love to the saints (St. Joh 13:34).

4. In His usefulness and profitableness, and of this the whole Gospel is a narrative and history.

5. In His piety towards God.

6. In His spirituality add heavenly-mindedness.

7. In His obedience to His mean earthly parents.

8. In the sweetness and beauty of His conversation, and yet in a strict and winning way.

9. In the holiness and purity of His life.

10. In His wonderful patience and meekness.

11. In love to His enemies (Rom 5:10). (T. Manton, D. D.)

And went away grieved.–

Christ left sorrowfully

I. He went away from Christ, though good. Alas that the moral should ever be separate from the holy.

II. He thought so highly of Christ and yet went away from Him.

III. He had pure and lofty aspirations and yet he went away. Contentment in good is a sign of a poor aim, rather than a great achievement. His aspiration was weak, though pure. He was only partially prepared to do the good thing. He had imagined performance rather than sacrifice. He looked to receive a lesson, not to enter a school. Like one who would gladly gain health and soundness at any cost, and then shrinks from the medicine and the knife-like one who feels quite strong and vigorous on the couch, and falls when he attempts to walk. Men may be dissatisfied with their spiritual condition. This comes to naught. They want instruction to go on; they receive instructions to begin anew. Instead of being improved, they haw to be detected.

IV. He went away, though Jesus loved him. Jesus always is pleased with justice, goodness, truth; as far as they go, they are like Himself, and give Him joy. Jesus loved him: but He loved something more. Jesus may love you, and yet you may not attain to His righteousness and blessing. There is a point beyond which He cannot go with sinners, beyond which it would not be saving men, but forcing machines.

V. He went away, although he did it sorrowfully. The sadness of loss-of disappointment-of self-conviction. Ah! He is right. The sadness of shame. He has seen through me-I have left Him. But the sorrow did not prevent his going. Jesus may but baptize you for the dead. You may die and yet mourn the loss of heaven. There are special times when we may be said to leave Christ. Such a time is that of deep religious conviction; when we are obliged by outward circumstances to take a stand. In leaving Christ we leave all. Let those who are following Him cleave to Him with full purpose of heart. (A. J. Morris.)

Man good in the lower relationships of life, lacking in the higher relationships

So is it often still. Man is in ruins; but, as you often see in old religious houses, the part devoted to godly deeds has gone to utter decay, while that employed in providing for the lower needs of man is yet in good repair-though the spirit is wholly lost to God, the meaner but worthy offices of life are well discharged; and while the saint cannot be found, the man of the family, the place of business, and the social circle, are all that could be wished. Christ approved this ruler in the lower relations of social morality, while he pronounced him essentially defective in the higher; and he went away from Him in whom all morality might find its supplement and stimulus, its truest end and source. (A. J. Morris.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 21. Then Jesus, beholding him] Looking earnestly, , or affectionately upon him, loved him, because of his youth, his earnestness, and his sincerity.

One thing thou lackest] What was that? A heart disengaged from the world, and a complete renunciation of it and its concerns, that he might become a proper and successful labourer in the Lord’s vineyard. See Mt 19:21. To say that it was something else he lacked, when Christ explains here his own meaning, is to be wise above what is written.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

See Poole on “Mat 19:21-22“. Christ had a humane compassion towards so civil a person, but showeth him, that love was the fulfilling of the law, and that love is seen in a resolution to yield a universal obedience to the will of God. Our Saviour imposes a special precept upon him, conjoined with two general precepts concerning all the disciples of Christ, to which his not yielding obedience showed that he was mistaken in his notion, that he had from his youth kept the commandments, though it might be true according to that law interpretation of them given by the Pharisees.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him,…. Not as God, with that special love, with which he loves his people, who were given him by the Father, are redeemed by his blood, whom he calls by his grace, justifies by his righteousness, forgives their iniquities, and, at last, glorifies: but as man, he had an human affection for him; so far as there was any appearance of moral good in him, it was agreeable to him, who loves righteousness, and hates iniquity; and though the young man betrayed much vanity, pride, and conceit, he did not use him roughly, but kindly, and tenderly; he beheld him, he looked wistly upon him, when he said the above words; which look intimated, that he could not believe he had perfectly, and completely kept all the commandments; however, he did not choose to reproach him with a lie, and charge him with pride and arrogance, but gave him good words, and spoke friendly to him; and, as far as he could, commended him for his diligence in observing the commands: in this sense the word is observed to be used by the Septuagint interpreters, as when it is said of Ahab, 2Ch 18:2, that he “persuaded him” (Jehoshaphat), they render it, , “he loved him to go up to Ramoth Gilead”: he gave him good words, he spake friendly to him, and by fair speeches prevailed upon him: and so when it said of the Israelites, Ps 78:36; “they did flatter him”, (God,) they render it, , “they loved him with their mouth”; spoke very well to him, and of him, praised him, and his works, and in this way expressed affection to him, though it was only with their mouths. Moreover, Christ might not only speak kindly to this young man, but he might make use of some external gesture: which showed an human affection to him, and respect for him. Dr, Lightfoot conjectures it might be by kissing his head, which might be conveniently done, as he was now on his knees; and since this was frequently used by the Jewish doctors, as an expression of respect, of which he gives various instances; and more might be added, especially out of the book of Zohar, where we often read of one Rabbi kissing the head or another, or of his pupil. But the sense of this phrase, which pleases me best of all, is what may be collected from the use of it among the “seventy” interpreters, who often render the Hebrew , which signifies to “have compassion”, or “show pity”, by the word here used: so Pr 28:13, “whoso confesseth and forsaketh, shall have mercy”, they interpret , “shall be loved” and Ho 2:23, “I will have mercy on her that had not obtained mercy”, they render , “l will love her that was not beloved”; once more, Zec 10:6. “I will bring them again to place them, for I have mercy upon them”, they translate , “because I have loved them”; see also Isa 60:10 and then, according to this use of the word, the sense is, that Jesus looked upon him when he expressed himself in such a pert manner, and had a compassionate concern for him; he pitied him for his ignorance of the law, in its spirituality and large extent; for his pride and vanity, his conceit of, and glorying in himself: wherefore, in order to mortify him, and abate these swelling thoughts of himself;

he said unto him, one thing thou lackest; before which last clause the Ethiopic version puts this, “if thou wilt be perfect”, out of

Mt 19:21, see the note there: and the Coptic version, and two of Stephens’s copies read it before the following,

go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me. This young man’s reigning sin seems to have been an overweening affection for the things of this world; his riches were his idol, on which his heart was set, and in which he trusted: wherefore he was so far from keeping all the commandments, that he had not kept the first; “thou shalt have no other gods before me”: there was more than one thing wanting in him, but Christ takes notice of this as the first; and there was no need to mention any other; this touched him sensibly, and fully tried, and sufficiently exposed the vanity of his boasted perfection. That clause, “take up the cross”, is omitted in the Vulgate Latin version, as it is not mentioned by Matthew. The Ethiopic version reads it, “the cross of thy death”, and places it before, “come and follow me”; as do also the Syriac and Persic versions; but the Arabic reads it last of all;

[See comments on Mt 19:21].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Looking upon him loved him ( ). Mark alone mentions this glance of affection, ingressive aorist participle and verb. Jesus fell in love with this charming youth.

One thing thou lackest (H ). Lu 18:22 has it: “One thing thou lackest yet” ( ). Possibly two translations of the same Aramaic phrase. Mt 19:20 represents the youth as asking “What lack I yet?” ( ;). The answer of Jesus meets that inquiry after more than mere outward obedience to laws and regulations. The verb is from the adjective (behind) and means to be too late, to come short, to fail of, to lack. It is used either with the accusative, as here, or with the ablative as in 2Co 11:5, or the dative as in Textus Receptus here, .

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “Then Jesus beholding him loved him,“(hode lesous emblepsas auto egapeses auton) “Then Jesus looking at him, loved him deeply,” with deep affection. He caressed him, and was very plain, as if to say, “I care for you.”

2) ”And said unto him, One thing thou lackest:” (kai eipen auto hen se husterei) “And said directly to him, One thing you are wanting, lacking;” This was said in response to his final question to Jesus, which only Matthew recounts “what lack I yet?” Mat 19:20; Luk 18:22.

3) ”Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast,” (hupage hosa echeis poleson) “Go and sell whatever you possess;” What you have, hold, or control, dispose of it, dispossess yourself of your greed, or covetous hold on it, Exo 20:17; Deu 5:21.

4) “And give to the poor,” (kai dos (tois) ptochois) “And give to (share with) the poor;” dole it out or distribute it unselfishly to the poor, a thing Judas Iscariot feigned that he wanted to do as treasurer of the disciples, Joh 12:4-6.

5) “And thou shalt have treasure in heaven:” (kai ekseis thesauron en ourano) “And you will then have treasure in heaven,” reserved or invested in heaven, Mat 6:19-20; Luk 12:33-34; Luk 18:22; Luk 18:24. Such would have been an evidence of surrender of his all to Jesus, and His will, Php_2:5-9.

6) “And come, take up the cross,” (kai deuo) ”And come of your own accord, take up the cross,” an added interpolation, not in better Gk. manuscripts.

7) “And follow me.” (akolouthei moil “And then follow after me.” The latter two phrases appear to be an added comment by some scribe, not found in the older Gk. manuscripts.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Mar 10:21

. One thing thou wantest. Christ therefore does not mean that the young man wanted one Thing beyond the keeping of the law, but in the very keeping of the law. For though the law nowhere obliges us to sell all, yet as it represses all sinful desires, and teaches us to bear the cross, as it bids us be prepared for hunger and poverty, the young man is very far from keeping it fully, so long as he is attached to his riches, and burns with covetousness. And he says that one thing is wanting, because he does not need to preach to him about fornication and murder, but to point out a particular disease, as if he were laying his finger on the sore.

It ought also to be observed, that he does not only enjoin him to sell, but likewise to give to the poor; for to part with riches would not be in itself a virtue, but rather a vain ambition. Profane historians applaud Crates, a Theban, because he threw into the sea his money and all that he reckoned valuable; for he did not think that he could save himself unless his wealth were lost; as if it would not have been better to bestow on others what he imagined to be more than he needed. Certainly, as charity is the bond of perfection, (Col 3:14,) he who deprives others, along with himself, of the use of money, deserves no praise; and therefore Christ applauds not simply the sellin g but liberality in assisting the poor

The mortification of the flesh is still more strongly urged by Christ, when he says, Follow me. For he enjoins him not only to become his disciple, but to submit his shoulders to bear the cross, as Mark expressly states. And it was necessary that such an excitement should be applied; for, having been accustomed to the ease, and leisure and conveniences, of home, he had never experienced, in the smallest degree, what it was to crucify the old man, and to subdue the desires of the flesh. But it is excessively ridiculous in the monks, under the pretense of this passage, to claim for themselves state of perfection. First, it is easy to infer, that Christ does not command all without exception to sell all that they have; for the husbandman, who had been accustomed to live by his labor, and to support his children, would do wrong in selling his possession, if he were not constrained to it by any necessity. To keep what God has put in our power, provided that, by maintaining ourselves and our family in sober and frugal manner, we bestow some portion on the poor, is a greater virtue than to squander all. But what sort of thing is that famous selling, on which the monks plume themselves? A good part of them, finding no provision at home, plunge themselves into monasteries as well-stocked hog-styes. All take such good care of themselves, that they feed in idleness on the bread of others. A rare exchange truly, when those who are ordered to give to the poor what they justly possess are not satisfied with their own, but seize on the property of others.

Jesus beholding him, loved him. The inference which the Papists draw from this, that works morally good — that is, works which are not performed by the impulse of the Spirit, but go before regeneration — have the merit of congruity, is an excessively childish contrivance. For if merit be alleged to be the consequence of the love of God, we must then say that frogs and fleas have merit, because all the creatures of God, without exception, are the objects of his love. To distinguish the degrees of love is, therefore, a matter of importance. (627) As to the present passage, it may be enough to state briefly, that God embraces in fatherly love none but his children, whom he has regenerated with the Spirit of adoption, and that it is in consequence of this love that they are accepted at his tribunal. In this sense, to be loved by God, and to be justified in his sight, are synonymous terms. (628)

But God is sometimes said to love those whom he does not approve or justify; for, since the preservation of the human race is agreeable to Him — which consists in justice, uprightness, moderation, prudence, fidelity, and temperance — he is said to love the political virtues; not that they are meritorious of salvation or of grace, but that they have reference to an end of which he approves. In this sense, under various points of view, God loved Aristides and Fabricius, and also hated them; for, in so far as he had bestowed on them outward righteousness, and that for the general advantage, he loved his own work in them; but as their heart was impure, the outward semblance of righteousness was of no avail for obtaining righteousness. For we know that by faith alone hearts are purified, and that the Spirit of uprightness is given to the members of Christ alone. Thus the question is answered, How was it possible that Christ should love a man who was proud and a hypocrite, while nothing is more hateful to God than these two vices? For it is not inconsistent, that the good seed, which God has implanted in some natures, shall be loved by Him, and yet that He should reject their persons and works on account of corruption.

(627) “ Parquoy il est besoin de mettre quelque distinction, et recognoistre qu’il y a divers degrez d’amour en Dieu;” — “wherefore it is necessary to state some distinction, and to observe that there are various degrees of love in God.”

(628) “ Signifient du tout une mesme chose;” — “mean entirely the same thing.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(21) Then Jesus beholding him loved him.Better, looking, or gazing on him. The fact is narrated by St. Mark only, and implies that the love showed itself in the stedfast look, perhaps also in the kiss upon the brow with which the Rabbis of the time showed their approval of their more promising disciples.

Come, take up the cross.This also is peculiar to St. Mark. In using such words our Lord taught the questioner, as He had before taught His disciples, with what clear prevision He looked forward to the form and manner of His death.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

‘And Jesus, looking on him, loved him and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me.”

Jesus looked at the eager young man and loved him. He was the kind of young man whom all good men loved. But Jesus loved him too because He saw what this eager young man might yet become. And then Jesus went straight to the root of his sinfulness, a sinfulness of which he himself was as yet unaware. Like an arrow from a bow the words of Jesus went straight to his heart. His particular sin was that of love of money and luxurious ease and riches, the deceitfulness of riches (Mar 4:19) and it included the failure to genuinely dedicate it to the cause of God by using it extensively for those in need. So Jesus commanded him to rid himself of his stumblingblock by selling everything that he possessed and giving it away and then coming and following Him. Jesus knew that in his case he had to be totally freed from it.

Certainly Peter and Andrew had done this (Mar 1:18), and Levi had done it (Mar 2:14). But this young man had even more to lose, and he was not yet ready for it, for his wealth gripped his heart. We should note that his coming to Jesus had shown him what the real truth was. At least now he knew what the stark fact was. He was not, as he thought, approaching a certain higher level of goodness, so that he was almost there. Rather he was sinful, utterly sinful, because his wealth was more important to him than God. His privilege had become his idol.

So Jesus had achieved His aim. The man’s self-righteousness had been broken down, and shown for what it was, and he knew now that by his actions alone he could not hope to achieve eternal life, for he could not face the price that was demanded. He was unwilling to sacrifice all that he had.

‘Go — sell — give it to the poor.’ If the young man was to find life he must get rid of the idol that came between him and God. Without that he could never love God truly. Loving God like that was the one commandment that he had failed to keep, to love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, and if he would find eternal life it was that that had to be remedied. It was true that only God could inspire the necessary love within him to turn away from his idol, but it was for him to first cast out the hindrance to that love.

This demand to sell everything and give it to the poor was contrary to the teaching of the Rabbis who considered that it was wrong for a man to impoverish himself. They forbade the dedicating of more than a fifth of a man’s wealth to God. But Jesus would have argued that under the Kingly Rule of God things were different because such a person was trusting in his Father’s provision (Mat 6:32-34) and wanted to have nothing diverting his attention from total commitment to God. Here was another evidence that the Kingly Rule of God was present.

‘And you will have treasure in heaven.’ Then the treasure that he sought would be his. He would have treasure in heaven. Compare Mat 5:19-20. Not, be it noted, more treasure than others. The widow who gave her mite would equally have treasure in heaven (Mar 12:41-44), for both had given all. But both would have the treasure because by their actions they had revealed by their actions that they both loved God and were loved by God.

Jesus was not just saying, give up your worldly treasure and you will receive eternal life. The giving up had to be in order to follow Jesus fully. That was the crux. For eternal life was found in knowing Jesus Christ and in knowing the One Who had sent Him (Joh 5:24; Joh 17:3).

‘And come and follow Me.’ Jesus was offering the young man a full answer to his question, and it was to be found in Him. As he responded to Jesus with his hindrance left behind him he would soon find the life that was life indeed, the free gift of eternal life in Christ, for God would work faith within his heart. He would be able to come under the Kingly Rule of God. But first his idol must be done away with.

And we should note that. Without the idol gone there could be no salvation. Jesus did not just tell him to believe. He told him that first he must rid himself of his idol. Then he could follow and find.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The decision:

v. 21. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.

v. 22. And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved; for he had great possessions.

In spite of the young man’s foolish answer, Jesus looked upon him earnestly, affectionately, He regarded him lovingly. He loved him, not only on account of his youth, his earnestness, and his evident sincerity, but because He wanted, if possible, to save his soul. The man was so utterly unconscious of his spiritual condition that only strong medicine would arouse him to a realization of his needs. He attacked him on his weakest side. Knowing that the man was rich, He told him that he should sell everything he had and give it to the poor. This giving up of the goods most dear to him, upon which he had set his heart, for the sake of the Lord, would assure him a treasure in heaven. And that would also make him a fit disciple of Jesus, one who would be true to his discipleship. This was the Lord’s test to convince the man how far he still was from perfection, how badly he was yet lacking in the love toward God and toward his neighbor, how completely his heart was still bound up in his mammon. Perfect keeping of the Law is demanded of the whole world. Loving God above all things includes a full yielding to Him. Should He therefore demand, for the sake of the Kingdom, that we give up all our earthly possessions, yea, life itself, for His sake, and serve our neighbor in humility, there must be no hesitation on our part. This young man was not equal to the test. His face became overcast at the word of Jesus. With a sad face and a heavy heart he walked off. His great riches were his undoing, for upon them he had placed his affection. His amazed confusion at Christ’s demand drove him away from the Savior. In a similar way thousands of people that have come into contact with the Gospel and the work of the Church are willing enough to listen, meanwhile priding themselves upon the perfection of their lives. But when a sacrifice is asked for the sake of the Savior, their zeal cools very rapidly. Then they lose interest in the work of the Church, and turn back to the life that offers them more for the present. But this life is not the end.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

DISCOURSE: 1439
THE RICH YOUTH FORSAKING CHRIST

Mar 10:21-22. Then Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

IT is never known what a man is, till he is tried. Those who most dread a conflict, may approve themselves steadfast when once they are actually engaged in it; and those who are most confident of their own prowess, may betray the greatest timidity. The eagerness of Peter to walk upon the waves, and his vehement protestations of fidelity to his Master, might have gained him a reputation for invincible firmness, had he not been left to prove by actual experiment the weakness and inefficacy of his resolutions. The man who engaged to follow Jesus whithersoever he might go, began to waver, as soon as he was informed that Jesus had not a place where to lay his head. Thus the young man in our text might have passed for the most excellent of characters, had he not been brought to the touchstone, and suffered to manifest the real dispositions of his soul. But the command which Jesus gave him, was a trial which he could not stand, and an ordeal which he could not pass.
In elucidating his conduct, we shall consider,

I.

The injunction given him

[We confess that the command was difficult to be obeyed. If we contemplate his youth, his rank (a ruler,) his opulence; if we contemplate the sentiments he must have imbibed, the hopes he must have entertained, the habits he must have formed, the change proposed to him must have been irksome and arduous in the extreme. To exchange wealth for poverty, ease for trouble, homage for contempt, this was hard indeed for flesh and blood; nor could any thing but Almighty grace qualify him for such a work.

Yet, though difficult, the command was not unreasonable. From whom had he received his wealth; or, who but God, had made him to differ? And had not God a right to recall what he had only lent? Had he any cause to complain, if God, who for a time had elevated him above his fellow-creatures, should afterwards reduce him to a level with them? Had not God as much right to disperse his wealth among the poor, as he before had to accumulate it upon one single man? Besides, when the sacrifice, which he was called to make, would contribute so much to the comfort of his fellow-creatures; and when it would ultimately return with a rich and abundant recompence into his own bosom; was it to be deemed unreasonable? Is it not what every merchant in the universe is glad to do, to sacrifice the temporary possession of his treasure, in the hope and prospect of far richer treasures in return?

Nor was it singular. This youth gloried in being a descendant of Abraham, who was called out from his country and kindred, to go, he knew not whither; to subsist, he knew not how. With this fact he was well acquainted; and he knew that Abraham never found reason to repent of his self-denying obedience. Moreover, he had at this moment before his eyes persons who had obeyed a similar call, and who could say, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. And, in fact, though we are not all called to precisely the same act of obedience, we are all called to manifest that spirit, which would ensure the peformance of that act, if in the course of Providence we were called to it. Thus also, in the latter part of the injunction there was nothing unreasonable, or singular. He came to our Lord for instruction; and our Lord bade him to become a stated attendant on his ministry. He would, doubtless, in the execution of this duty, have a cross to bear: but had not all his Disciples the same cross? and had not Jesus a far heavier cross than any, or than all together? yea, had he not come from heaven on purpose to bear it for them? Was it unreasonable then that the disciple should be as the master, and the servant as his lord?

If he was really desirous of obtaining salvation, there was nothing in the injunction given him, which did not deserve a cheerful and unreserved compliance.]
But we shall have still clearer views of this subject, if we consider,

II.

The peculiar reasons for that injunction

Our blessed Lord, in his reply to the young man, designed,

1.

To discover to him the depravity of his own heart

[Because the youth had never been guilty of any notorious breach of the commandments, he was ready to imagine that he had no ground for humiliation and contrition. Our Lord, if he had pleased, might have opened to him the spirituality of the law; and have shewn him that he was mistaken in supposing that he had kept all the commandments from his youth up: but he took a shorter and more convincing method: he gave him a specific charge, to obey which was his indispensable duty: by his reluctance to obey that, our Lord shewed him, that his heart was not so much in unison with the law of God as he imagined; yea, that if duty and interest should stand in competition with each other, he would prove as great a rebel as more flagrant transgressors.

Thus our Lord sought to counteract his pride and self-complacency, by leading him to manifest the worldliness and carnality of his heart.]

2.

To wean him from self-confidence and self-dependence

[By that question which the young man so confidently asked, What lack I yet? we are led to suspect, that, as he saw no defects in his obedience, so he saw no ground to doubt his acceptance with God on account of his obedience. The drift of his original question, What shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life? seems to have been to this effect: Master, I perceive that thou art a teacher sent from God, and that thou requirest of us something different from what I have been accustomed to hear or practise: be so kind therefore as to inform me what it is; for I would not willingly omit any thing, whereby I may secure the salvation of my soul. In this view of his question, he wanted to substantiate more fully, and establish more firmly, his claim to eternal life on the footing of his own obedience. Against this fatal error our Lords injunction was strongly directed: it was an axe laid to the root of his self-righteousness: and it had a most powerful tendency to convince the youth, that all his hopes were built on a foundation of sand.]

3.

To lead him to the salvation provided for him in the Gospel

[Our Lord might have preached the Gospel to him more fully, and informed him, that salvation was to be obtained only by faith in him, as the way, the truth, and the life. But the time was not yet arrived for the full disclosure of Gospel truth. It was at present but sparingly promulgated. Besides, if our Lord had thus plainly declared the way of salvation, there is reason to think, that the young man would either have rejected the truth without further inquiry, or embraced it without a due preparation of soul for it; in either of which cases he would miss the end which he was solicitous to attain. The best way therefore to lead him to salvation, was, to shew him his need of it; that so he might enter upon a profession of it with all the zeal and gratitude that would be necessary for his establishment in the faith.]

But, while we thus vindicate the injunction given him, we cannot but lament,

III.

The effect it produced upon him

Instead of operating in the manner that our Saviour wished,

1.

It filled him with grief

[He was sad at that saying. But what made him sad? Was he grieved and ashamed on account of his backwardness to obey it? That would have been a hopeful sign, and would probably have issued in his conversion to God. But alas! he was grieved at the strictness of the precept. He had great possessions, and could not prevail upon himself to part with them. His riches were his idol; and of more estimation, in his eyes, than any treasure in heaven. Had he been called to sacrifice a part of his property, he would probably have acquiesced in the appointment: but to bereave himself of all, to reduce himself to a state of poverty, this was a requisition which he could not comply with.

Such is the effect of the Gospel upon many at this time: they would gladly embrace it, and would make some sacrifices to obtain its blessings: but to renounce the world, to mortify their lusts, to turn their backs upon all that is pleasing to flesh and blood, and to bring upon themselves nothing but contempt and persecution from their dearest friends and relatives, appears to them too great a sacrifice, and they hope to get to heaven upon easier terms. Thus between a sense of their duty, and an aversion to perform it, the only effect of the Gospel is to render them unhappy.]

2.

It determined him to forsake Christ altogether

[He went away grieved. Much as he revered the Lord Jesus, and wished to partake of his salvation, he could not continue with him on such terms as these. The price was too great for him to pay; and therefore he turned his back upon him.
Unhappy youth! How much better had it been for him, if he had been born in a low estate! What a curse to him were his riches, which stood between him and the Saviour of the world! Who is not ready to weep over him, when he reflects upon the fatal effects of that decision? Who that sees that hopeful character turning his back upon his Divine Instructor, giving up all hopes of heaven, and determinately preferring a present portion, does not tremble, lest he himself should be left to make the same foolish choice?]

Infer
1.

How dangerous is the state of many, who yet think themselves safe!

[If we had seen that youth (regardless of the follies which persons of his age and condition too generally prosecute) coming in so respectful a manner to the despised Nazarene; kneeling before him with profoundest reverence; addressing him in such terms, and such an emphatic way, as to intimate that he thought Jesus to be more than human; if we had seen him declaring confidently, that, to the best of his knowledge, he had persevered in an uniform obedience to all the commandments, and was ready to fulfil any duty that could be pointed out to him; above all, if we had seen Jesus himself struck with his amiable deportment, and loving him for his excellent qualities; who amongst us would not have been disposed to envy that youth his prospects of immortality and glory? Yet, behold, he came short of heaven! There was one thing he lacked; and for that one thing (as far as we are informed) he perished for ever. O that the moral, the sober, the amiable (of both sexes), would consider this, and take warning from his example! The thing he lacked, was, a determination to forsake all for Christ. And is not this lacking in many amongst ourselves? Are there not many, whom, for their amiable qualities, one cannot but love, who yet, if they must part with all, or Christ, would hold fast their present portion? O, beloved, let this matter be duly weighed; and never imagine that you are in the way to heaven, till you can count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.]

2.

How awful is the condition of those who have no concern for their souls!

[Multitudes there are, in this and every other place, whose lives have been far from moral; who, instead of having kept all the commandments from their earliest infancy, have violated them in many flagrant instances; and who never came to Jesus with an unfeigned desire to receive instruction about the way to heaven. What then must be their state? We appeal to themselves, If this amiable youth was not saved, how can you imagine that salvation belongs to you, who have not done half so much for it as this perishing youth? Methinks, this one example speaks more forcibly to you than ten thousand arguments. You must be wilfully blind, if you do not see how deplorable is your condition, and how certain your ruin, if you continue in your present state. Be persuaded, that it is not so easy a matter to get to heaven. You must have a real concern about your souls: the attainment of heaven must be paramount to every other consideration. If you will gain heaven at all, you must take it by the holy violence of prayer and faith.]

3.

How blessed are they whose hearts are right with God!

[They may indeed be exercised with great trials: they may be called to relinquish much of their worldly interests; to suffer much reproach; and to bear many a heavy cross. But the heavenly treasure will richly repay for all: yea, the very prospect of it is a sufficient compensation for all that we can endure. Could we but consult this unhappy youth, and ask him what he now thinks of his past conduct, how would he condemn his conduct, how would he deplore his folly! If, on the contrary, we could ask of Paul what views he now had of his conduct in suffering the loss of all things for Christs sake; would he not confirm his former declarations? would he not affirm more strongly than ever, that all things were dung and dross in comparison of Christ? Let us then take joyfully the loss of mans esteem, and the spoiling of our goods: let the views and prospects of glory cheer us when dejected, and animate us when faint. We have reason to expect, that the more our afflictions abound for Christs sake, the more our consolations also shall abound through Christ: and we are sure, that, if we suffer with Christ, we shall also be glorified together.] [Note: If the Sermon on the three following verses be not preached in connexion with this, the third inference should be, How little to be desired are great riches! This is the reflection which our Lord himself makes upon it; and therefore it would he very improper to omit, it here, except with a view to a fuller and distinct consideration of that subject.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Ver. 21. Loved him ] As a tame man, and fit to live in a civil society. Or he loved him, that is, he pitied him, as a self-deceiver: like as we pity moderate Papists. Common gifts should cause some union: for they are of a middle nature between nature and grace: as the spirits of a man are of a middle nature between his soul and body, and serve to unite both.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

21. ] Notice the graphic details again, of looking on him and loving him .

. is added here.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mar 10:21 . .: on the import of the statement in reference to the man vide on Mt. Jesus loved this man. Grotius remarks: Jesus loved not virtues only, but seeds of virtues (“et semina virtutum”). Field ( Otium Nor. ) renders “caressed”. Bengel takes as a , and renders, amanter aspexit = lovingly regarded him . In Mk. Jesus, not the inquirer, remarks on the lack; in Mt. the reverse is the fact: the man is conscious of his defect, an important point in his spiritual condition. , etc.: from the invitation to join the disciple band Weiss (Meyer) infers that the incident must have happened before the circle of the Twelve was complete. He may have been meant to take the place of the traitor. The last clause in T. R. about the cross is an obvious gloss by a scribe dominated by religious commonplaces.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

beholding = looking upon, as in Mar 10:21. Greek. emblepo. App-133.

loved. Greek. agapao. App-135.

sell, &c. This was the tenth commandment. This command was suitable for the period prior to the rejection of the kingdom (see Mar 10:23), for the King Him- self was present, and what could any of His subjects lack? Compare Psa 145:13-16.

heaven. Singular. See note on Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.

take up the cross. [L] T Tr. WH R omit these words.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

21.] Notice the graphic details again, of looking on him and loving him.

. is added here.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mar 10:21. , looking earnestly on him, loved him) He expressed love with the earnest look, and as it were smiling expression, of His eyes.-A , He lovingly beheld,[14] in order that He might thereby give him a token of His love for the time to come, if he would follow Jesus: and that He might counteract his sadness. The antithetic word is , with saddened look [countenance], Mar 10:22. It is for this reason mention is made in Christs life of tears, rather than of laughter, because He had come to bear our sins. Yet benignity and joy sometimes shone forth from His countenance, as was the case in this passage, with the view of alluring the youth, who now was standing on the threshold of following Christ. Comp. Mar 10:16; Luk 10:20-24; Luk 12:32. A similar use of this verb occurs in Psa 78:36, and 2Ch 18:2, : so also the use of the verb ( [] ), Jud 1:22.-, one thing) In antithesis to , all these, Mar 10:20. [The faithful Master wished to render the business (his obtaining eternal life) more easy and delightful to the man.-V. g.] This one thing is a heart freed from the [idolatry of] creatures: the selling of his goods was intended to be the proof of his freedom. Generally speaking, to men, severally and individually, there is wanting some one thing, this or that; and by the want of that one thing they are kept back from Christ.-, cross) Viz. that of poverty, etc. So the words, with persecutions, Mar 10:30, express the same sentiment.

[14] Comp. with these remarks what D. Ernesti has written against Gerh. de Haas, in der Theol Bibl., T. I., p. 130, etc.-E. B.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

One Thing Thou Lackest

And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.Mar 10:21.

Christ was leaving the Jordan valley, where for some time He had been, as he was wont, teaching the people. Already He was on His way before the ruler could overcome his reluctance to seek His spiritual direction. Then the young man came running, late, but not too late, and kneeling, he asked, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? Jesus looking upon him loved him. This statement, following on the declaration that he had kept from his youth all the commandments which Jesus had been quoting, sheds light on his character. He was real, both in his earnestness and in his stainless life. If, in this assertion of his obedience, there had been either insincerity or self-sufficiency, it would have aroused disgust. Instead, it awakened the Lords profoundest sympathy. This was his burden; he had intended a full piety, and it had not brought him rest of soul. The words of Jesus, though stern, are of tender compassion and deep meaning. The young man felt that the secret of his heart was laid bare. One thing thou lackest: go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. But his countenance fell at the sayinga shadow as of a lowering sky overspread his faceand he went away sorrowful: for he was one that had great possessions.

Three of the Evangelists have preserved the incident. Each one adds something to the completeness of the picture. The wealth of the inquirer is brought into view by all of them; but St. Matthew alone tells us that he was young, and St. Luke alone speaks of him as a ruler, while St. Mark gives several most interesting particulars of the interview itselfthe running and the kneeling, the earnestness and the reverence, the look which Christ gave him, and the love which Christ felt for him; and then again the look which Christ threw upon the disciples as He drew the moral, and the repeated expressions of astonishment with which they received His unexpected words as to the spiritual dangers of worldly wealth. All this variety, so picturesque and so natural, would be ill exchanged, we all feel, for a dry and sterile uniformity of narrative, taking out of it all the life and all the play, and suggesting the idea of an inspiration merely mechanical, out of which the human element would have departed, and with it (rightly understood) also the Divine.

I

Christs Look of Love

Jesus looking upon him loved him.

1. The word looking implies a searching look. It is used twice in the Fourth Gospelonce of the look of John the Baptist upon Jesus (Mar 1:36) and once of the look of Jesus upon Peter when He called him to be a disciple (Mar 1:42).

2. Loved him.There are few words more touching in all Scripture. They mark so decisively the perfect humanity of Jesus Christ. He is not one that cannot sympathiseno, but in all things. He is of like passions with us, only without sin. The holy Saviour had a loved one among His disciples. He did not command, He did not exemplify, a dead level, a dull monotony, even of feeling, even of affection. There was for Him a friend among the friendsone chosen among the electone heart with which His heart beat yet more sensitively than with other hearts all loved.

Many of the older expositors, from Victor of Antioch downward, wondered at this statement. It surprised them that our Saviour should be represented as loving one who was not prepared to give up all on earth for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Hence various attempts were made to find in the expression something less inward than real love. Some supposed that the words loved him meant kissed him. Field1 [Note: Notes on Translation of the New Testament, 34.] says, Perhaps we might translate caressed him ; and refers to John Lightfoot, who quotes examples of Jewish Doctors getting up and kissing their disciples when they were pleased with them.1 [Note: Notes on Translation of the New Testament, 34.]

3. Why did Jesus love him? Because He saw him as he waspure, enthusiastic, unspoiled though unproved. It is a false and forlorn view to take of man, that there is nothing beautiful in him before he becomes saintly. The very attractiveness of an unregenerate soul makes us the more desirous for its regeneration. But often, as a cultured tree knows nothing of the husbandries which beautified the stock from which it sprang, and thus caused its beauty, so youths know nothing of the spiritual husbandries of past days, to which they are indebted for the moral attractiveness they have to others, and the moral strength which they themselves deem sufficient. It is often very evident that the children of Christians have by nature an advantage. Often they are more lovable than others. But they must not trust a nature in themselves that would never have been so lovely but for the grace that was in their parents. There is much in common, and even in perverted, men that has a rude native grace. There is yet more in the sons and daughters of the sincerely pious that has a natural hopeful bloom about it. God loves this, and so may we.

Do you suppose that the Blessed Lord now in heaven looks with equal love upon opposite characters amongst ourselves; say, upon the young man of pure life and clean heart and beautiful feeling, and the young man whose very soul is a cage of unclean birds, whose tongue is profane, unchaste, or cruel, whose conduct towards his own is selfish, unmannerly, hard, ungrateful? Ought He, we ask it with reverence, ought He so to do? Ought Jesus Christ to confound all differences even amongst those who still lack one thing? Such teaching is as unscriptural as it is immoral. It would make us shut the Bible if we read it there. It would be an argument against Christianity which all the Evidences could not parry. It would be the indication of a looseness and a roughness and a coarseness of judgment which could not be attributed without impiety to the Judge of all men. Because we believe that there is a discriminating qualityand the Gospel calls it faithvisible already, in the case of each one, as present or absent, to the eye of God; shall we go on to say that without this or apart from this there is no essential difference between vice and virtue? Let the Judge of all the earth do right, however it may fit in with our ideas or with our theologies. Be not rash in fixing the great gulfwipe not out the Jesus loved in your zeal to hurry towards the one thing thou lackest.1 [Note: C. J. Vaughan.]

It was not in vain that the young ruler kept the Commandments; it was because he kept them that Jesus loved him. It is not in vain that any man has lived bravely outside religion; it is because he has done so well that Jesus desires to have him for a disciple. No faithfulness of service in any province of life, and no ministry of charity, have passed unnoticed by Him who alone understands human nature, and who is our Judge. Our Lord has a welcome for all men who will come to Him, even the thief upon the cross; but of only one seeker in the Gospels is it written that Jesus loved him. He was not a reprobate, nor was he a Pharisee; he was a well living and high minded man. If he had been able to make the last sacrifice, then one dares to think the young ruler would have become a chief apostle, and the rival of St. Paul. When, therefore, one like the young ruler approaches Jesus, the Master sees a man after His own heart. When such a one refuses the cross which alone can raise him to his full manhood the Master is bitterly disappointed. And that man suffers the chief loss of life.

It is a wholesome change in ethics from the modern hymns to the Old Testament Psalms; it is rising from the warm enervating plain of Italy to the cold bracing highlands of the Engadine. Not only have the Psalms an incomparable majesty which no hymn except the Te Deum rivals, and an unaffected tenderness which no hymn, except perhaps Rock of Ages, has ever touched, but the Psalms have also an ethical tone which is wanting in many popular hymns. If the soldier of Christ wishes to brace himself for strenuous living, and the discharge of daily duty, he can hardly find a hymn to make the blood move in his veins. He turns with satisfaction to Psalms 1, where the doctrine and the practice correspond. The man who walketh in the law of the Lord, that man shall stand; the man who does not walk in the law of the Lord, believe what he may or say what he please, will be scattered like chaff before the wind of heaven.1 [Note: J. Watson.]

4. Was there anything in particular in this young man to elicit love? There were at least three things.

(1) He had an eye for goodness in others.He knew real worth when he saw it. He was irresistibly attracted to Jesus. He ran towards Him, and with a gush of admiration exclaimed, Good Master. It was not easy then to see that Jesus was good. It was not easy to say it. For if the Scribes and Pharisees were good, Jesus was far from good. His Good Master was courageous as well as discerning.

(2) He understood the superiority of the ethical over the ritual or ceremonial.In other words, he understood the importance of the commandments of God as compared with the commandments of the Scribes. Notice the word which? in Matthews Gospel. It was the lofty morality, not the low, that attracted him. He had kept the great commandments of the Law. He did not say he had kept the little commandments of the lawyers.

(3) He was dissatisfied with himself.This was a remarkable feature also. He had striven from youth to live an honourable life, but he had not succeeded in realising his own ideal. Self-dissatisfaction is a true sign of moral ability. A self-dissatisfied man all can love. God loves him; Christ loves him; the Holy Spirit loves him; all wise saintly men love him.

There are two classes of discontented people, those who are discontented with what they are, and those who are discontented with what they have. To the latter class very many belong, and of these the rich no less than the poor; for an insatiable desire for more, to mass wealth on wealth, to add land to land, to get more power and more position in the world, often possesses those who have of this worlds goods. The young ruler was not of these but of the former class, who are dissatisfied with what they are.2 [Note: J. B. M. Grimes.]

Love, we go

To the Island of Forgetfulness, for lo!

The Islands of Dancing and of Victories

Are empty of all power.

And which of these

Is the Island of Content?

None know, she said,

And on my bosom laid her weeping head.1 [Note: W. B. Yeats.]

II

One Thing Wanting

One thing thou lackest.

1. One thing.Often have we said, of friend or neighbour, He has but one fault. Perfect in uprightness, in diligence, in devotion, he lacks temper, or he lacks courtesy, or he lacks charity. Perfect in kindness, in consideration, in humility, he lacks strength, or he lacks courage, or he lacks exertion. Sometimes we have to say a more serious thing. So faultless in one aspect, in one half of the manso tender, so generous, so unselfish, so usefulhe cannot quite be trusted when the question is of truth, or of sincerity, or of integrity, or of virtue. He has one fault, and it carries unsoundness into everything. We all know that there are vices which no number of virtues can counterbalance, in the judgment of the world, or in the judgment of the Christian.

I have in my possession a watch, and by competent judges it is pronounced to be one of great excellence. Gold, chains, pivots, stones, are of the first order. Yet if it lacked one thingthe mainspringit would be of no service to me, in the sense in which a watch is expected to serve, namely, recording the time of day. The mainspring is only one thing, but that one thing is all important to the value and usefulness of my watch.

Some time ago the writer was travelling on the London and North-Western Railway from Birmingham to Euston. Among the passengers was a lady. On reaching Willesden tickets were demanded. By some means or other she had mislaid or lost that simple little article. She searched her pockets, satchel, purse, and everywhere she could think of, but it was of no avail. The ticket was lost. She had a number of cards, much larger, and more artistic and beautiful, than the simple little ticket, yet they were of no use. It was the one thing, in accordance with the London and North-Western Railway Companys arrangement, which was required, and no other card could be taken as an equivalent. It was only one thing, but very important.1 [Note: F. Andrews.]

Many years ago an American whale ship was in the South Seas. A monster of the deep getting wounded, ran out the distance of a mile by way of getting a run race, and returning, struck the ship with such tremendous force that she began to fill and to sink. The sea was like glass. The crew were not only far from land, but far from the track of ships, so that there was no probability of rescue until they could regain those latitudes through which the thoroughfare of nations runs. The mandate was given, all went busily to work, and the boats were quickly filled with the necessaries of life. The deck was nearly level with the water when the boats moved away for safety. When about one hundred yards away, two men jumped into the sea, went into the sinking ship, and disappeared down the hatchway. They were after one thing, and, grasping it with a death grip, returned to the boats with it in their hands. They appeared to value it more than life. It was the compass. It was only one thing, but vastly important, because their safety and life depended upon having it in their possession.2 [Note: Ibid.]

2. This one thing is nothing less than the crucifying of the old man (which in the case of this youth existed in the form of attachment to riches), and so is equivalent to all things, inasmuch as in the one thing all things are included. The entrance into this one thing is also the way to perfection (Mat 19:21), for this reason, that it can be effected only in the strength of God; and man can become perfect and good only in this way, that the one perfect and good God make his heart His temple.

A poor drunken man once reeled up to old Bishop Wilberforce in St. Jamess Square, and said, Bishop, how am I to be sure of getting to heaven? The bishop looked at him, and said, Dont you know that? My mother taught me that as I knelt at her knee in my childhood. My poor friendthe poor wretched creature under the power of strong drink was reeling at his sidemy poor friend, said the bishop with that calm, quiet face that we remember so well, turn to the right and go straight on.3 [Note: G. H. Wilkinson.]

3. There are four stages in the development of our natureanimality, intellectuality, morality, spirituality. Most people will allow that morality stands above the first two, but many forget that there is something higher. Moses brought men to the level of morality, Jesus led them to the level where morality passes into religion. It was not His business to enforce the Ten Commandments, it was His to replace them by the principle of love.

Much may be done to the tree by training, much to the man by teaching, but you cannot learn to do what you have not the heart to do. You cannot learn to manage, on any stream, a vessel that draws more water than the depth of the stream supplies.1 [Note: T. T. Lynch.]

4. We are confronted with two opposite schools of doctrine, and hear the one saying, The man is worse than a profligate; and the other, The man is safe, and only wants perfecting. The one says, Better any immorality than the vice of self-righteousness. The other says, Morality is the differentia of human being; give me virtue, and for all else let bigots fight. The one says, No case so hopeless as that which has no need of repentance; which, not having consciously fallen, can dispense with a Saviour; saying I am rich, is deaf to the counsel, Buy of Me without price. The other says, The end of religion is virtuereach virtue any way, and God cannot condemn. Against the former of these views is the Jesus loved him: against the latter is the went away sorrowful. It is better to be moral than to be profligate; yet to be moral is not salvation. We must not sever what the text has joined in one. Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest.

You will admit that the dahlia in gorgeousness of colour falls not a whit behind the choicest productions of the best cultured nursery. But it is minus one important thingscent. If its scent were only equal to its beauty, its aroma to its colour, it might even enter into friendly competition with the rose, the acknowledged sovereign of the garden. Art has done its best to supply this deficiency of Naturebotanists have strained their skill to perfume this magnificent flower, but in vain. No fragrance can be imparted or developed. The dahlia is very beautiful, but not sweet. The perfection of a flower, however, consists in exquisiteness of colour and deliciousness of fragrance.2 [Note: F. Andrews.]

III

Treasure surrendered on Earth is Treasure laid up in Heaven

Go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.

1. There are very few extraordinary openings of any kind in most mens lives; but there are sure to be at least a few very testing hours. And these hours often come just as the youth is turning man. He has professed, and has really felt, much admiration for noble things and noble persons. Education has directed his enthusiasm, and the world has not yet damped it. What lacks he? Courage, perhaps, to become a foremost advocate of an unpopular truth, which truth he has privately seen and honoured: or, perhaps, hardness enough to become soldier for anything. He has a silver tongue, but not a strong hand; he will be trumpeter on gala days, but must not be looked for among the slain, or the surviving, in decisive hours. Many have preached the Kingdom of heaven, saying, It will come, it is at hand, who, when it has come, but with garments rolled in blood, have fled, not tarrying to welcome it. How indeed could they welcome such a coming!

I heard a clergyman tell this story of a Jewish maiden brought to Christ through his instrumentality. She lived with her mother, whose only daughter she was, in Germany. Her mother was a widow, and very well-to-do. At first she kept secret from her mother her acceptance of the Christian faith, from fear of the pain it would cause her. One evening she felt she could keep the secret no longer. She asked her mother to kiss her, which the mother did, wondering at the request. It was the last embrace between mother and daughter. For at midnight the clergyman and his wife were roused by the young girl, driven from her mothers house, penniless. Work was found for her to do; but, unfitted for battle with the hard world, she early succumbed. When her end was very near the clergyman, raising her head to put a glass of water to the parched lips, asked, Are you happy? Unhesitatingly came the answer, So happy!1 [Note: J. B. M. Grimes.]

Riches I hold in light esteem;

And love I laugh to scorn;

And lust of fame was but a dream

That vanished with the morn:

And if I pray, the only prayer

That moves my lips for me

Is Leave the heart that now I bear,

And give me liberty!

Yes, as my swift days near their goal,

Tis all that I implore;

In life and death, a chainless soul

With courage to endure.1 [Note: Emily Bront.]

2. Christ does not challenge the truth of what the young ruler has said; but bases on it an immeasurably higher demand, one to which he was not prepared to respond. What a contrast is here to the method most of us would have pursuedspiritual directors, evangelical pastors, helpers in the inquiry room. Almost certainly we should have challenged his assertion; should have set him judging himself by the law, pointing out its exceeding breadth, especially in the light of its spirituality as interpreted by Christ. We should have said, Were you never disobedient to your parents? never angry with any one without cause, or in excess of the occasion? never lustful, never covetous of anything belonging to another man, never untruthful, evasive, unfair in your judgment of your neighbour? And we should perhaps have wound up with the wordsWhosoever offends in one point is guilty of all. This is what we should have called searching the young mans conscience; and it would have revealed ignorance of the fact that, in Christs world, the conscience is searched, not by the law, but by His Spirit. The self-dissatisfaction of the virtuous cannot be reached by casuistry; their conscience is to be touched by pointing out, not what they have done, but what they are unready to do. Repulsion from the law of Christ, refusal to follow Himuntil this is exposed and repented of, these troubled spirits can have no peace. The Spirit of truth, the Comforter, when He is come, will work in the world conviction concerning sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment. Concerning sin, that they believe not on me; concerning righteousness, that I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; concerning judgment, that the ruler of this world is judged.

The story told of Mary of Bethany is that she went to a shop to buy a box of ointment. The man in charge showed her a box, but she said that she must have something better. He showed her a second box, but even that was not good enough. The third box, costly as it was, did not seem sufficiently worthy. Then the merchant said, I have a box, but its price is so high that I do not dare to show it to you. That is what I want, she said; there is nothing too good for my Lord.1 [Note: J. G. K. MClure.]

3. The sale and distribution of his property were the necessary preparations in this mans case for the complete discipleship which admits to the Divine Kingdom. The words are not a general counsel of perfection, but a test of obedience and faith which the Lord saw to be necessary in this particular case. The demand of the Divine Lover of souls varies with the spiritual condition of the individual; for one equally great see Gen 12:1; Heb 11:8 ff. Whether this precept led to the sacrifices described in Act 2:44 f., Mar 4:34 ff., cannot now be known; the Life of St. Anthony relates its effect on the great Egyptian hermit.

One day the little group of worshippers upon the plain at the foot of the rock-strewn summit of Sang-keh-soa found themselves in a difficulty. It was necessary to replace the lowly room which served them as church by a larger building, and the funds were difficult to find. Time had been spent in making plans and gathering money, but little had come of it, and the brothers of the Jesus Church were losing heart. They met together and prayed about it. Next morning Ah-Chhoang walked a distance of fifteen miles to Chinchew city, to the house of a friend, who might, he thought, help in the matter. They had discussed the matter in every way at Ho-Chhi, he told his friend, but talking was no use. The funds were short; alas! nothing would make them button over. Have you prayed about this matter? Yes; prayer is good. I have prayed, and Here he lifted the edge of his cotton jacket, and, thrusting one hand into his pouch, worn sporranwise, produced a paper package. It proved to be a roll of ten dollars. But, brother Chhoang, you cannot afford to give ten dollars. I sold one of the fields, a field I bought myself, he added deprecatingly, as if to avoid the possible imputation of having alienated any of the ancestral possessions of his family. The eyes of his friend dimmed, and the words came surging to his lipsYoure a better man than I am, Gunga Din. No wonder that churches are built in China, when the love of money lies shivered in humble hearts, and simple people like Ah-Chhoang bring such messages from the hills.1 [Note: G. Campbell Brown, China in Legend and Story, 160.]

4. People secretly wonder at what seems the extravagance of our Saviours demand. Yet it is not thought at all extraordinary that passion should do what this man had not heavenly love enough to do. Natures love and natures hate will alike empower a man to impoverish himself. And that a man should be able to spend his all for a woman, even for one unworthy of him, and yet be quite unable to spend his all for God and goodness, is wonderful, though not at all inexplicable.

Must it not be so, that the more we possess, the less we want to part with it; the more we have got to make us contented here, the less likely we are to be crying, O God, come back in Thy glory; O Father, make me ready for the Kingdom of heaven?

Eyes, which the preacher could not school,

By wayside graves are raised;

And lips say God be pitiful,

Who neer said God be praised.

When we have lost our all, whatever it be, we are driven to God. How difficult for those who have great possessions to enter into the Kingdom of God!2 [Note: Bishop Wilkinson.]

5. There are few, if any, of us that have not known some who have placed this ideal before them, who have tried to live by such a standard. Not one of us but knows one or two human beings who are better, nobler, simpler than we ourselves are, who live, not for this but for the other world; men in whose presence it is hard to think ignoble thoughts, men who seem to come direct from the immediate presence of God. If Christianity is capable of producing even a very few of these men, it has attained a far greater success than if it had made tens of thousands of moderately religious men. For such men tell us that what they are we too may one day be. Such men raise our whole conception of manhood. Such men bring God down very near to us, within reach of us; they show us Him in whose image they are made.

I know how difficult it is, as I look back over my own ministerial life; as I think of those who have come to talk with me, when the voice has spoken; as I think of those servants, feeling that they could not go to Communion and could not get to church in that situation, and therefore must go out from a home of perfect comfort, not knowing whither they were going; when I think of that poor woman who came to me in Windmill Street, with her little shop that brought in nothing all the week, and on Sunday brought in enough to keep her in comfort, and, without a word from myself on the subject, said, I feel I ought to go to church and shut up my shop; when I remember that man in the prime of life, one of the most popular men that ever came to this church, whom everybody liked, his business was prospering, bringing in three or four thousand a year, and increasing every year, and the voice came to him, and he said, I feel there is nothing else to be done but to part with all this at once; leave me three or four hundred a year, and I must go out and work for God where others will not go; I am free, I must do it, and sell all that I have. Oh, when they came to me, I remember how my heart shrank and sank within me! I thought what it would be, what it would cost, what a trialthe poor woman without bread, or almost worse, kept by charitythe poor thing! Yet it was not I who told her, but God. She felt sure the voice was from God, and she said, I must do it, or I shall go back, back, back in my spiritual life. And all that mans friends saw the influence that he would lose in London; how, instead of being looked up to as a man whose opinion would be taken in a moment by all the young fellows in London, they would say, Lost his head; that St. Peters ruined him!1 [Note: Bishop Wilkinson.]

Love is a flame; once set it well alight,

All but the Beloved vanishes from sight.2 [Note: Jalaluddin Rumi, in Claud Fields A Little Book of Eastern Wisdom.]

IV

The Heavenly Treasure is Found in the Following of Jesus

And come, follow me.

1. There is one element in our hearts always to be reckoned with if we are to understand human nature. That element is the necessity of committal to a cause if we are to have sustained interest in it. Men must be anchored to be held. Human nature is like a boat upon the seas, it will stay only where it is fastened. This is true of men so generally that scarce an exception can be found. When bridges are burned behind soldiers, and they then have no chance of retreat, courage and purpose assert themselves. Many a soul that has been weak and vacillating up to the hour of a great surrender of itself to a cause is from that hour strong and steadfast. The greater the amount involved in a self-surrender, the surer the purpose to stand by the surrender. The larger the investment made in an enterprise, the more we desire the enterprise to succeed. If we hold stock in a bank, we often think of that bank and we wish it to prosper. When the people of Ephesus brought their books of magic, the value of which counted up to thousands of dollars, and for Christs sake burned them in the market-place, they took away their chief means of retreat to heathenism. Christ was now their all. Immediately it became easier for them to be devoted to the principles of Christs Kingdom and to the success of His work.

One afternoon in the year 1210, as Pope Innocent iii., surrounded by a sumptuous retinue of prelates, was walking on the terrace of the Lateran, a company of mendicants laid at his feet the articles of a new association. At their head was a young man who, but a few years before, had been foremost in every scene of merriment; he had been a successful merchant, a gallant soldier, and one of the most popular of the sons of Assisi. But, while seeking military service and adventure, he had endured a protracted sickness; and when, upon his recovery and his return, his friends gathered at the gates of Assisi to welcome him, and merrily placed in his hand the sceptre of frolic, to their astonishment he remained grave in the midst of their festivities, as one not of them; and, suddenly breaking loose from his companions, he proceeded to the church, and before its high altar there was witnessed a wedding which has been celebrated by Italys great poet, and is still represented in the same Cathedral by Giottos art; and at the wedding of St. Francis the name of the bride was Poverty. The solemn espousal of poverty by this youth of Assisi was no meaningless ceremony. To him the vow of his soul before that high altar meant emptied coffers, surrender of the comforts of life, patient endurance of evil, and even self-torture, and withal a love of all created things so joyous and overflowing that, as he wandered among the mountains or over the plains of Italy, he would speak of the beasts of the field as his brethren, and the twittering swallows as his little sisters. The vow of self-sacrifice, and his espousal of poverty, meant the unflinching prosecution of a work of moral purification for which Europe for at least two generations was better, and the founding and resolute administration of an order of missionary monks whom, it has been justly said, the violent learned to love and fear, the rich to respect, and the poor to love. The command of Christ, Come, take up the cross, and follow me, was understood by St. Francis of Assisi to mean a life given up as entirely to a noble aim as the bow gives up the swift arrow to the Mark 1 [Note: Newman Smyth.]

2. All is mysterious, all is repulsive, all is terrific to the hearerone word alone lights up the darkness; one word alone blends severity with goodnessFollow me! Be my companion as I tread the way of homelessness and poverty, of reproach and ignominy, at last of torture, murder, martyrdom; share my reviling, desertion, and repudiation by mine own; soothe with thy companionship sorrows which thou canst not partake in; listen day by day to my teaching, drink in my revelation of a life above and beyond this life; print my likeness upon thee, that thou mayest represent and reproduce it when I am unseen. This shall be the present recompense of the self-devotion which I ask of thee. A thousandfold now in this time it shall be to thee for all that thou sacrificestriches and lands, kinsfolk and friends, honours and affections; withyes, I hide it notwith persecutions, and in the world to come, just out of sight, just beyond death, in the world to comepromise above all promiseeternal life.

Now I will give you an impossible illustration of what I mean. One of you elder girls is to take a little brother out for a walk through Kensington Gardens, and see the boats and the flowers and all the rest of it. But when you get there you put him on a chair and you fasten him into the chair with a strap, and then by-and-by you take him home, and when you are asked whether he enjoyed the walk, you say, Oh, no; you see, I had to spend all my time in seeing that he did not tumble into the Round Pond. What an idea! Why, they would say, if you had only taken him to look at the flowers and the birds you need not have troubled about the Round Pond at all.2 [Note: C. Silvester Horne.]

3. In the Divine order sacrifice is the means, and the blessedness of God the end. The Cross of Christ on earth is for the joy of heaven; it was not borne for its own sake, as though God could have pleasure in beholding suffering. Let us then ask the question whether every day our lives are held truly under that law of sacrifice, whether, when that supreme Character may appear before us in some supreme hour, we shall go away grieved to our possessions, or follow Christ to Jerusalem. This is a question not so much of the quantity of our gifts, though that may help to determine it, but of the spirit of our giving. And by giving I do not mean merely giving money. I mean personal giving, often including money, but above all personal giving, like Christs giving of Himself to the world. I mean giving which begins in the heart, and becomes a power of the character, and, working from within as a new birth of the love of God in the soul, sweeps all obstructions of habit and obstacles even of inherited temperament before it, and is the outflow of the life, the influence of the man, filling his whole possible opportunity of good,even like that virtue of which we read, that it went out from Jesus and healed the suppliant who touched the hem of His garment. How much of that inward sacrificial virtue is there in our characters ready to respond to the slightest touch upon us? How much consecrated personal power is there in our churches, flowing out in all possible ways upon the city, and into this world for which Christ, in the glory of God, went up to Jerusalem to die?1 [Note: Newman Smyth.]

In his essay Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature, Bacon says, Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, and follow me. But sell not all thou hast, except thou come and follow Me; that is, except thou have a vocation, wherein thou mayest do as much good with little means as with great; for otherwise in feeding the streams thou driest the fountain.

4. The ruler who came to Jesus was young, and the gospel which Jesus preached to him is peculiarly appropriate to the young. There is a gospel of flattery which is sometimes preached to the young. It dwells on the innocence of youth. It speaks of early life as beautiful in its sinlessness. It encourages the idea of natural grace. And it soon becomes an excuse for indolence and the vague listless waiting for perfection. Christ did not bid the young man do without Him; He invited him to come to Him and follow Him.

Side by side with the gospel of flattery is the gospel of indulgence. Young men are excused their self-will and self-pleasing, sometimes even their gross sins, on the ground that young men will be young men, and that it is better for a man to sow his wild oats in youth. Taught by experience it is supposed that he will grow weary of the world, sick of sin, and become at last steady, moral, and exemplary in his day and generation.

The gospel of Christ is none of these. And yet it is suitable to the young. For

(1) It speaks to their conscience.There is no part of a mans life in which his sensibilities are so keen, his mental pain, his spiritual remorse so bitter. Happy he whose conscience at a late stage, even of a Christian experience, has recovered one-tenth part of the sharp edge it had in childhood.

(2) It speaks to their affections.The longing for love is one of the first and strongest impulses of our nature. This gospel, Come, follow me, says to thirsting hearts, to the young who have none to love them, or not as they would be loved, there is One who loves you, you personally, with as much concentration, as much warmth of affection, as if you were the only being in His universe; who loved you when you loved not Him.

(3) It speaks to their energies.For there is in the young a capacity of activity. It is the Creators gift and the creatures glory. This gospel offers the fullest scope to the energies of mankind. It makes it a solemn duty that a man should work; it looks forward to the great future when every one will be judged by his works.

(4) It speaks to their aspirations.I believe there are moments in the early life of all of us when we long after a perfection which is not ours. We have an ardent desire to be better, to be able to say No to temptation, to be able with more steadfastness to pray to God and to praise Him. Christ says to us then, Come, follow me. His gospel recognises and respects these aspirations. Only in following Him can we meet temptation; only in His presence can we hold steadfast communion with the Father.

The white doves brood low

With innocent flight.

Higher, my soul, higher!

Into the night!

Into black night!

Beyond where the eagle

Soars strong to the sun.

Nought hast thou, if only

Earths stars be won

Earths stars are won.

Beyond, where Gods angels

Stand silent in might,

Higher, my soul, higher!

Into the light!

Straight to Gods light!1 [Note: Maarten Maartens.]

One Thing Thou Lackest

Literature

Andrews (F. R.), Yet, 92.

Arnold (T.), Sermons, v. 246.

Church (R. W.), The Gifts of Civilisation, 39.

Clayton (J. W.), The Genius of God, 90.

Cobern (C. M.), The Stars and the Book, 60.

Horne (C. S.), The Souls Awakening, 71.

Keble (J.), Sermons for the Christian Year; Septuagesima to Ash Wednesday, 293.

Little (J. A. S.), Salt and Peace, 99.

Lynch (T. T.), Sermons for my Curates, 175.

MClure (J. G. K.), Loyalty, 89.

Mackennal (A.), The Eternal Son of God and the Human Sonship, 135.

Martineau (J.), Endeavours after the Christian Life, 265.

Matheson (G.), Messages of Hope, 185.

Oosterzee (J. J. van), The Year of Salvation, ii. 267.

Pulsford (J.), Loyalty to Christ, ii. 238.

Robinson (F.), College and Ordination Addresses, 102.

Smyth (N.), Christian Facts and Forces, 170.

Spurgeon (C. H.), Evening by Evening, 54.

Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, li. No. 2946.

Vaughan (C. J.), Family Prayer and Sermon Book, ii. 218.

Vaughan (C. J.), My Son, Give Me Thine Heart, 129.

Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), xii. No. 905.

Watson (J.), The Inspiration of Our Faith, 98.

Wilkinson (G. H.), The Heavenly Vision, 85, 91, 100.

Christian World Pulpit, xi. 137 (Thring); xxii. 168 (Duckworth); xxxiv. 171 (Pearson); li. 42, 396 (Ross); liv. 359 (Bruce); lxxii. 346 (Grimes); lxxvi. 56 (Herbert).

Homiletic Review, iii. 97 (Cuyler); xlix. 150 (Garvin).

Interpreter, v. 167 (King).

Preachers Magazine, ii. 414 (Wakinshaw).

Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible

loved: Gen 34:19, Isa 63:8-10, Luk 19:41, 2Co 12:15

One thing: Luk 10:42, Luk 18:22, Jam 2:10, Rev 2:4, Rev 2:14, Rev 2:20

sell: Pro 23:23, Mat 13:44-46, Mat 19:21, Luk 12:33, Act 2:45, Act 4:34-37

treasure: Mat 6:19-21, Luk 16:9, 1Ti 6:17-19, Heb 10:34, 1Pe 1:4, 1Pe 1:5

take: Mar 8:34, Mat 16:24, Luk 9:23, Joh 12:26, Joh 16:33, Rom 8:17, Rom 8:18, 2Ti 3:12

Reciprocal: Rth 1:14 – Orpah Isa 48:14 – The Lord Mat 10:38 – General Mat 19:20 – what Luk 5:11 – they forsook Luk 14:27 – doth Luk 18:21 – General Joh 10:27 – and they Joh 19:17 – he Phi 3:6 – touching Jam 1:4 – wanting 2Pe 1:9 – lacketh

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE LOST OPPORTUNITY

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow Me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

Mar 10:21-22

There must have been something singularly beautiful in the character of this young man, something of more than common promise in his youth, if the Searcher of hearts loved him as He looked into his soul. And surely, too, there is a future before one so favoured. But the Master, as always, tested his reality. He was richwas he ready to give up his wealth to follow Christ? We hear of him no more. This young man, with all his promise, passes out of Holy Scripture with the sad and warning epitaph: He went away.

I. Every one of us has the opportunity which he had.In most lives there is some one decisive trial, some choice, some call, upon the issue of which all the future depends. The path divides before us, and we must choose whether we will go to the right or the left. The choice may involve the giving up of much that has made life happy for us. It may change the whole course of our career. All hangs upon it; it is the turning-point; our decision fixes our character and marks out our destiny. We often do not know this at the moment; but we recognise it afterwards, and look back with earnest thankfulness or sorrowful self-reproach to the opportunity which was given to us, and the choice we made.

II. The call from Christ our Lord to each one of us is: Take up the cross and follow Me. Has that call been heard and answered? It has come with a distinct and special meaning to each separate life. How are you answering it now? Upon your answer more may depend than you imagine to-day. The call of Christ, if unheard or neglected, may be uttered never again for us. There comes a time when He Who has vainly pleaded with His sinful creature will plead no more; when the Judges most awful sentence shall go forth: Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. And the worst fate that can befall a man is to be let alone of God.

III. We, too, stand face to face with Jesus Christ.To some of us He says to-day: One thing thou lackest; there is something, perhaps sinful, perhaps in itself harmless, which is keeping us back from God. It must be bravely sacrificed, be it what it may, if we would not miss our opportunity as this man missed his. To all of us He says: Come, take up the cross and follow Me. The Cross must have its place in our lives, if we would be like Him. This is your opportunity. Will you hear, and bow your head, and follow the Master? Or will ye also go away?

Rev. Professor H. C. Shuttleworth.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

1

A p.art of Thayer’s definition of the original for love is “to regard the welfare of.” Knowing the situation with the young man, Jesus considered that his spiritual welfare was at stake. He decided to show him what would be necessary to assure him of that welfare, which was to dispose of his riches.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

[Loved him.] That is, he manifested by some outward gesture that this man pleased him, both in his question and in his answer: when he both seriously inquired concerning attaining eternal life; and seriously professed that he had addicted himself to God’s commandments with all care and circumspection.

Let us compare the customs of the Masters among the Jews: Eliezer Ben Erech obtained leave from Rabban Jochanan Ben Zaccai to discourse of some things before him. He discoursed of Ezekiel’s chariot (Ezekiel_1), or, of mystical divinity. “When he had made an end, Rabban Jochanan arose up, and kissed his head.” “R. Abba Bar Cahna heard R. Levi disputing profoundly. When he had made an end, R. Abba rose up and kissed his head.” There is a story of a certain Nazarite young man that exceedingly pleased Simeon the Just with a certain answer that he gave. Whereupon, said Simeon, “I bowed towards him with my head, and said, O son, let such as you be multiplied in Israel.” The story is found elsewhere, where for I bowed towards him with my head; it is I embraced him and kissed his head. “Miriam, before the birth of Moses, had prophesied, My mother shall bring forth a son who shall deliver Israel. When he was born the whole house was filled with light. His father stood forth, and kissed her upon the head; and said, Thy prophecy is fulfilled. And when they cast him into the river, he struck her upon the head.”

What if our Saviour used this very gesture towards this young man? And that the more conveniently, when he was now upon his knees before him. Some gesture, at least, he used, whereby it appeared, both to the young man and to the standers-by, that the young man did not a little please him, both by his question and by his answer. So I have loved; Psa 116:1; in the LXX, I have loved; one may render well, it pleaseth me well. So Josephus of David’s soldiers, (1Sa 30:22): “Those four hundred who went to the battle would not impart the spoils to the two hundred who were faint and weary; and said, That they should ‘love’ [that is, be well pleased] that they had received their wives safe again.”

In some parity of sense, John is called the disciple, whom Jesus loved; not that Jesus loved him more than the rest with his eternal, infinite, saving love, but he favoured him more with some outward kindness and more intimate friendship and familiarity. And why? Because John had promised that he would take care of Christ’s mother after his death. For those words of our Saviour upon the cross to John, ‘Behold thy mother!’ and to his mother, ‘Behold thy son!’ and that from thence John took her home, do carry a fair probability with them, that that was not the first time that John heard of such a matter, but that long before he had so promised.

I have loved thee; Isa 60:10; is the rendering of I have had pity upon thee; which may here also agree very well, “Jesus had pity upon him.”

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Mar 10:21. And Jesus looking upon him loved him. A touching particular peculiar to Mark. The young man made no immediate response to this love. How then could Jesus have loved him in his self-righteousness and worldliness? The phrase looking upon him, indicates that the love was called forth by the loveliness of the young ruler. Despite all his mistakes, there was in him something lovely. To this loveliness there was a response in the heart of Him who shared our humanity so entirely. It may have been a part of the sorrows of His earthly life, that such affection met no proper spiritual response. This view neither diminishes the power of our Saviours affection, nor assumes, what is nowhere hinted, that the young man was at heart right.

One thing thou lackest. The ruler himself had asked such a question (Matthew).

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, 1. Christ’s compassion towards this young man. He loved him with a love of pity and compassion, with a love of courtesy and respect.

There may be some very amiable and lovely qualities in natural and unregenerate man; and goodness, in what kind or degree soever it is, doth attract and draw forth Christ’s love towards a person. If Christ did love civility, what a respect has he for sincere sanctity!

Observe, 2. Our Lord’s admonition: One thing thou lackest, which was, true self-denial, in renouncing the sin of covetousness, and the inordinate love of worldly wealth.

We ought, upon God’s call to maintain such a readiness of mind, as to be willing to part with all for God’s sake which is dear unto us in this world.

Observe, 3. Our Lord’s injunction: Sell what thou hast, and give to the poor. This was not a common but a special precept, belonging particularly to this young man. It was a commandment of trial given to him, like that given to Abraham, Genesis 22. to convince him of his corrupt confidence in his riches: yet it is thus far of general use to us all, to teach us so to contemn worldly possessions, as to be willing to part with them when they hinder our happiness and salvation.

It follows, And take up thy cross; an allusion to the Roman custom, when the malefactor was to be crucified, he bore his cross upon his shoulder, and carried it to the place of execution. It is not the taking, but the patient bearing, of the cross, which is our duty.

Learn, That all Christ’s followers should prepare their shoulders for Christ’s cross. To bear the cross, implies faithfulness and integrity without shifting, patience and submission without murmuring, joy and cheerfulness without fainting.

Observe, 4. The effect which our Saviour’s admonition had upon this young person: He was sad and grieved at that saying.

Thence note, That carnal men are sad and exceeding sorrowful, when they cannot win heaven in their own way.

2. That such as are wedded to the world, will renounce Christ rather than the world, when the world and Christ stand in competition.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Verse 21

Although the most injurious effects upon society would result from the operation of a general rule which should make it the duty of the wealthy to distribute their property among the poor, still the requisition seems a very appropriate one to tender to a man, who, thinking that he had fully kept the moral law of God, came to a divinely-commissioned teacher, and insisted upon having some way pointed out by which he might attain to some superior and extraordinary moral excellence. There is, however, after all, some difficulty in the case. We should have expected that, instead of putting in honest and sincere inquirer suddenly to so severe a test, the Savior would have at once explained to him the spiritual nature of the law, that he might have seen his sinfulness, and his need of inward purification, and of pardon.

Mark 10:25. Some have maintained that camel should be cable; and others that the Needle’s Eye was a narrow gate leading into Jerusalem. Such attempts to diminish the incongruity of the image are vain, as the very object of the proverb is to present a picture of incongruity and impossibility. The expression occurs in this form in other writings of those times, and is doubtless correct as it stands.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

Only Mark recorded that Jesus loved the rich young ruler when he replied as he did. Evidently the man had sincerely tried to earn eternal life by obeying the law. His superficial understanding of what God required was more his teachers’ fault than his own.

Jesus put His finger on what kept this man from having eternal life. He expressed it in the terms that the man had been using, namely, doing something. He was trusting in his wealth, wealth he probably viewed as evidence that his good works made him acceptable to God. The Old Testament taught that God normally blessed the righteous with physical prosperity (e.g., Job 1:10; Job 42:10; Psa 128:1-2; Isa 3:10). He needed to abandon that essentially self-confident faith, and he needed to trust in and follow Jesus. He had also made wealth his god rather than God. His reluctance to part with it revealed his idolatry. By selling all he had, giving it to the poor, and following Jesus he would confess his repudiation of confidence in self and affirm his trust in Jesus. Then he would have treasure in heaven, something that would last forever.

Today many people consider themselves good because they have lived a moral life and have not committed gross sins. Some believe that all they need to do is a little more good and God will accept them. They fail to see that they are totally bankrupt spiritually and that even their good deeds are as filthy rags in God’s sight. They need to cast themselves on God’s mercy, trust in what He has done for them in Christ rather than in their own goodness, and begin following the One who loved them and gave Himself for them. Such was the case with the rich young ruler.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)