For daily readings, go to http://www.usccb.org/
The young man's discussion with Jesus points out to us precisely the difference between adherence to the law given through Moses and following Jesus. The law that was given to Moses did not have the power to save; it only had the power to enable one to live a good moral life on this earth, and to prepare one to receive a new and better covenant inaugurated by the long-awaited Messiah. It is clear from the discussion that it is quite possible to follow the law exactly, and yet still to love the things of earth more than the things of heaven. Not so with following Jesus. No one can truly follow Jesus and still love the things of earth more than the things of heaven - to be perfect, we must follow Him, and to follow Him into his Paschal mystery, we must be willing to forsake our possessions. This is not to say that the law given to Moses is unnecessary, or of any less value. The young man in question is not far from the kingdom of God - he only lacks one thing. So close is he to the kingdom of God that Jesus asks him a trick question to see if the young man might be ready to profess his understanding of who Jesus really is. He says to the young man - Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. Of course, those of us reading the Gospel with hindsight know that Jesus is the perfect One to ask about the good - He is the One who is good - Jesus' question is meant to elicit faith, but unfortunately, we are left disappointed in this instance. There is no confession of faith, only a sad ending, for the young man had many possessions.
No comments:
Post a Comment