The painting of Christ with the rich young ruler reveals the angst-filled pathos
of not having a clue when it comes to the destiny of our souls. The young man asked the elephant-in-the-room
question everyone else was thinking…uhhh, Jesus, what’s gonna happen to
me in the long run…and what should I do about it?
The men surrounding Jesus are listening intently. You can see skepticism, fascination, and true
holding-your-breath-for-the-answer-honesty in their faces. After all, you don’t throw-off the question
of eternity like you’d discard a candy wrapper.
This was important…even a rich man, with the world at his disposal,
couldn’t resist asking for insight on eternal life.
Jesus pointed the young man to what’s written in Scripture about obeying
God’s commands, honesty, kindness, generosity, and so on. But the young man pressed deeper, and Jesus
obliged him, and went right for the underbelly of the issue; his answer was,
quite pointedly: What’s the most
important thing you wouldn’t want to give up? The answer welling-up in the young man’s soul
made him sad, very sad! How can you let
go of what possesses you?
Peter, (to the left of Jesus in the painting) is standing there with hands
unfolded in a questioning motion. The
artist, I believe, is giving Peter’s voice that hopeful edge, as he’s reminding
Jesus how he and the other disciples left all they had to follow…was that enough? Jesus’ answer isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free
card, a Christian believer’s ID you can present at the pearly gates. It’s more of a reminder that the final
judgment on each of us is in God’s hands.
It is the Father who looks into each person’s heart and judges, repaying
reward or punishment with absolute righteousness.
For You Today
The question the rich
young man asked is not a bad one if you ask it with empty hands and open
heart. But a better question might
be: Lord,
I have decided nothing I have belongs to me…what should I do with it; how can I
follow you today?
There
are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library. To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some
of these:
Unconvinced and More Than Enough
[1] Images: WikimediaCommons - ©2010 Andrey Mironov Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
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