21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Christ Confronts in Love
The above verse is taken from the story of the rich, young ruler who came to Christ asking how he could “inherit” entrant life. He was told by Christ to keep the commandments and then, Jesus lists several of them for him to keep:
Mark 10:18-20 (ESV Strong's)
18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”
To which the young man responds:
20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”
This is where our above verse comes into the story-line. Jesus is gong to tell him that he should go and sell all that he has and give it to the poor. Jesus is NOT telling him that as a “works” based justification. He will not inherit eternal life because he sells all that he has. Jesus is confronting him about his greed. He will end up leaving Jesus, sad, because he owned much possession. The key part to look at in regard to the verse for this devotional, is that Jesus looked on him in “love.” This is one of the few times we have an expression of Jesus’ love directed, specifically, at one person. Jesus is about to rock this guys life with truth, but first looks on him with so much love, the author, Mark, notes it for us. Delivering truth, with love, was Jesus’ nature. This is how we ought to deliver truth to others when we disciple them or encourage them or confront them. Note what Paul stated when talking to the elders in Ephesus about how to deal with false teachers:
Ephesians 4:15 (ESV Strong's)
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
We are to speak truth, in love. It is the nature of Christ.
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