Daily Bread

Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these; what do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

I love this Bible passage! And yes, I think on this occasion we can take it literally — and I'll explain why.

The status of the person (other than he had many possessions) was irrelevant, but the important thing was he asked the question that all of us ask, and that is, what good deed do we need to do to get life in all its fullness in the here and now and forever? And this is where things get interesting...

Jesus replied, "There is only one who is good." Hang on to that phrase because everything that follows hangs off it. Jesus then said, "Sure, there is something you can do. You can keep all the commandments and then give yourself self-sacrificially to following the way of God." It was a genuine offer, despite the fact that no human in the history of humanity has managed it! And indeed, neither could this young man (or ruler - see Luke 18.30) achieve what Jesus suggested.

There was only one who could keep all the commandments and give themselves self-sacrificially to following the way of God and that, of course, was Jesus. Therefore, the only way to life in all its fullness in the here and now and forever, is through Christ. Christ achieved what we are unable to achieve, so that we don't have to achieve it!

If we wish to be perfect, then we need to have faith in Christ because it is through our faith that we become joined with Christ and live, die, and are raised with Christ into new life.

Holy God
I cannot attain perfection in my own strength,
and fall short of the glory of God.
Thank you that your Son, Jesus Christ,
kept all the commandments and
gave himself for all humanity, including me,
that I may find perfection through Christ
and attain life in all its fullness.
Now and forever.