Mark 10:13-22
Have
you ever seen a father throw his child up in the air and then catch him or her on
the way down as they cry out with laughter and joy? It takes a lot of trust in dear
old Dad.
Children
are so much more trusting than adults. They
take things at face value. They
don’t have agendas. Their ego doesn’t get in the way. Whereas adults tend to
try to manipulate things to control them. They are motivated by “what’s in it
for me”. Adults are cynical and suspicious. Take today’s passage for example.
The
children came to Jesus with no expectations; no pride; no “here I am take me”
attitude. On the other hand, the rich young ruler had it all figured out. He
knew there was a formula, and if he could learn what it was, he could have
eternal life. It was simple: one plus one is two.
Which
category do you fall under? The trust of a child or the control of an adult?
As
adults we like to appear as though we have it all together. After all, the
world doesn’t reward those who are childlike and waits for the adult to take
charge. It rewards those who take control. It rewards those who are proactive and
preemptive. It rewards those who make things happen.
There
are some good questions brought up in this passage today. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That’s a good one for all
of us to ask. Another one is,“Why do you
call me good?” Jesus was great at asking a question in response to a
question. He makes us think when we don’t want to.
But
maybe the most important question to ask is one that never gets asked. It is brought
out by the two stories. By comparing and contrasting these two stories we see
two very different styles of approaching Jesus. One as a child. The other as the
rich young ruler.
The
question to ask yourself is: How do I approach Jesus? Like a child or like a
ruler?
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