May 7 Just One More Thing

May 7

Just One More Thing

Mr 10:21 ..One thing thou lackest:…

When I read this passage I was reminded of the TV character Colombo. If you recall he was the TV detective with the frumpy trench coat who smoked a cigar and drove people to exasperation. Just when they thought he was done with the questions he would turn back and say “…Oh, just one more thing…”

He came to mind as I was reading this passage in Mark chapter 10. Here we see Jesus on the east side of the Jordan River just outside of Judea. The Pharisees asked about divorce and Christ reminded them of what Moses required. (vrs 1-9) Later when he went into a house his desciples had more questions. (vrs 10-16). Then when he left the house and started down the road an enthusiastic fellow came running after Jesus and kneeled as he called Christ “Master”

Mr 10:17 ¶ And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 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. 22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

His request was to know what he had to do to inherit eternal life. The answer Christ gave him may be a little confusing unless you understand the context. It seems to contradict what we are told other places in the Bible.

Ac 16:30 …Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

In the Gospel of John we find Christ saying essentially the same thing.

Joh 3:14 … even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,

but have eternal life.

But in Mark Christ answered that question by talking about the law of Moses. Does that passage teach that we need to keep the law for salvation? Of course not. That would be contrary to everything Paul worked so hard to teach in Galatians and Romans and what Christ taught in John Chapter 3 and elsewhere.

Christ also told him he had to sell everything and give it to the poor.  Is that a requirement meant for us? Do we need to become homeless to be faithful servants and merit eternal life?  No, of course not. So what was the reason for Christ telling this guy he had to keep the commandments and give everything away to gain eternal life?

There were at least three reasons. First the way the guy addressed Christ as “Good Master”. He saw Christ as a great teacher, which is why Christ said only God was good. He wanted to direct the fellows thoughts toward God and help him see he was talking with the Messiah, the Christ.

Christ knew what was in this man’s heart and wanted him to reveal himself. So when Christ mentioned the commandments the response was “Oh, I have kept all those commandments since I was a little kid” (from my youth).  He did not see himself as a sinner, but self- righteous. “Nope, I never did anything bad.”

In addition to knowing the man was prideful, self-righteous, and unaware of who Christ was, there was one more thing Christ wanted the man to know about himself. He was covetous.   

Mr 10:21 …One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor,

The man was wealthy and the thought of giving it up made him very sad.

Mr 10:22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

This brief conversation with Christ revealed the man did not recognize Christ as the Messiah, but only a good teacher. He had come with the idea he was a righteous man, and not as a sinner. And lastly he had wealth that he was not willing to part with.  

Evangelists know that before you can “save” anyone they must understand they are lost and without hope except for Christ. This man, in spite of his running to Christ, was not looking for salvation. I think he may have been looking for affirmation that he was a wonderful, law abiding, and successful Jew. Christ could sense that as well, and therefore said things to him that would reveal his defective thinking, self-righteous spirit, and failure to obey the command to not covet. He was anxious to ask his question, but grieved with the answer.   

“What must I do to inherit eternal life.”

“Keep the Commandments”

“Yep, never did anything wrong”  

“Great…….Oh there is just one more thing”

And that thing was the deal breaker for the man.

So I began to wonder what Christ would have told me if I had run up to Him? Convincing me that I was a sinner would have been pretty easy. I would have felt more like Peter after the draught of fishes.

Lu 5:8 ….Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, ...

What might Christ have seen in me that needed changing? What would be the "one thing thou lackest"? I don’t know. But having become sensitized to that idea I will be spending some time thinking about it. Our meditation for today is to try to answer that question for each of us. What would Christ know about each of us that needed to change? Perhaps this devotional does not apply to you at all.

     But before you decide your Christian character is in need of nothing, you may want to be quiet for a moment and listen for a voice that is saying;  

“One thing thou lackest..."

Or it could just be a flashback to an old rerun of Colombo saying “…just one more thing!”

1Co 11:28 But let a man examine himself,