Father Koch: To be disciples we must abandon ourselves
October 6, 2021 at 1:37 p.m.
In today’s Gospel, a rich young man approaches Jesus and asks if he can become a disciple. In itself, this is an unusual request. Ordinarily, Jesus calls disciples and others who, after asking Jesus for a healing, choose to become disciples and even go and tell others about Jesus, but no one else asks just to become a disciple. This young man recognized the “good” in Jesus and seems to be a man whose heart is with the Lord. We get this impression from his response to Jesus about following the Commandments. So far, he seems like an ideal candidate to become a disciple.
Of course, we should observe that Jesus does not have this conversation with any of the other disciples before he calls them to follow him. Each of the 12 seems to be caught off guard when Jesus calls them. As Luke presents the call of the first disciples earlier in the Gospel, we see a completely different scenario unfold. After Jesus instructed Simon (Peter) and his mates to lower their nets and they hauled in a great catch of fish, Simon bows to the ground and says: “Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Here Simon Peter recognizes his own unworthiness to follow Jesus and yet he becomes the doyen of the apostles and their chief spokesman. Likewise, the encounter between Jesus and Levi (Matthew) at the tax collector’s office is an immediate response to the call of Jesus to Levi to drop everything immediately and to follow Jesus. Levi is called to abandon a life of sinful profiteering and to become a disciple.
On the other hand, this rich young man is, perhaps, filled with his own hubris, unable to recognize his own sinfulness and his need to seek mercy and healing from Jesus. Instead, he approaches Jesus almost as an equal and is proud to tell Jesus that he has kept the Commandments from his youth. Jesus is far-less impressed with this young man than that man is with himself.
Knowing his weakness and desire for conversion of mind and heart, Jesus calls him where he is most vulnerable: to give up his wealth as a prerequisite to become a disciple. That is far too much for this man to take, he cannot do that. This man is left disheartened and disappointed. Jesus knew that and he lets this man walk away.
Notice that Jesus does not call after him, nor does he offer this man another path to discipleship. This is an all-or-nothing challenge.
What was this man really looking for? On the surface he wants to be a disciple of Jesus, but at its depths, he is not disposed to living as a disciple. Perhaps he sought what he believed was glory without the Cross, and to be served instead of to serve. The “idea” of being a disciple of this now famous rabbi was far more appealing than the reality of living as one of the disciples.
We know from the subsequent dialogue with Peter that the disciples have “given-up everything” in order to follow Jesus. They are left uneasy with the teaching of Jesus that: “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.” Salvation, we learn, is not our work, but the work of the Father in us.
Each one of us must be open and disposed to God working in and through our lives. We do not follow the Lord on our own terms but rather must abandon whatever it is that holds us back, so that we can follow him most completely. For this young man, and for many others, it is personal wealth. But for others it can be a sense of pride, of accomplishment, of success in another field.
We know that each one of us has that particular part of our lives that is most dear to us, and that we often want to shelter from the Lord. It is precisely that which we hold on to most dearly that the Lord wants us to use, not for our own purposes, but for his.
This is not an easy call. It is scary at times, and certainly jarring. We see that expressed clearly by Peter who realizes in a flashing moment what discipleship has cost him to that point. Yet Jesus offers an even greater gift achieved by first handing the gift back to the Lord. It is then that we are transformed into disciples and receive our portion in the Kingdom of God.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.
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In today’s Gospel, a rich young man approaches Jesus and asks if he can become a disciple. In itself, this is an unusual request. Ordinarily, Jesus calls disciples and others who, after asking Jesus for a healing, choose to become disciples and even go and tell others about Jesus, but no one else asks just to become a disciple. This young man recognized the “good” in Jesus and seems to be a man whose heart is with the Lord. We get this impression from his response to Jesus about following the Commandments. So far, he seems like an ideal candidate to become a disciple.
Of course, we should observe that Jesus does not have this conversation with any of the other disciples before he calls them to follow him. Each of the 12 seems to be caught off guard when Jesus calls them. As Luke presents the call of the first disciples earlier in the Gospel, we see a completely different scenario unfold. After Jesus instructed Simon (Peter) and his mates to lower their nets and they hauled in a great catch of fish, Simon bows to the ground and says: “Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Here Simon Peter recognizes his own unworthiness to follow Jesus and yet he becomes the doyen of the apostles and their chief spokesman. Likewise, the encounter between Jesus and Levi (Matthew) at the tax collector’s office is an immediate response to the call of Jesus to Levi to drop everything immediately and to follow Jesus. Levi is called to abandon a life of sinful profiteering and to become a disciple.
On the other hand, this rich young man is, perhaps, filled with his own hubris, unable to recognize his own sinfulness and his need to seek mercy and healing from Jesus. Instead, he approaches Jesus almost as an equal and is proud to tell Jesus that he has kept the Commandments from his youth. Jesus is far-less impressed with this young man than that man is with himself.
Knowing his weakness and desire for conversion of mind and heart, Jesus calls him where he is most vulnerable: to give up his wealth as a prerequisite to become a disciple. That is far too much for this man to take, he cannot do that. This man is left disheartened and disappointed. Jesus knew that and he lets this man walk away.
Notice that Jesus does not call after him, nor does he offer this man another path to discipleship. This is an all-or-nothing challenge.
What was this man really looking for? On the surface he wants to be a disciple of Jesus, but at its depths, he is not disposed to living as a disciple. Perhaps he sought what he believed was glory without the Cross, and to be served instead of to serve. The “idea” of being a disciple of this now famous rabbi was far more appealing than the reality of living as one of the disciples.
We know from the subsequent dialogue with Peter that the disciples have “given-up everything” in order to follow Jesus. They are left uneasy with the teaching of Jesus that: “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.” Salvation, we learn, is not our work, but the work of the Father in us.
Each one of us must be open and disposed to God working in and through our lives. We do not follow the Lord on our own terms but rather must abandon whatever it is that holds us back, so that we can follow him most completely. For this young man, and for many others, it is personal wealth. But for others it can be a sense of pride, of accomplishment, of success in another field.
We know that each one of us has that particular part of our lives that is most dear to us, and that we often want to shelter from the Lord. It is precisely that which we hold on to most dearly that the Lord wants us to use, not for our own purposes, but for his.
This is not an easy call. It is scary at times, and certainly jarring. We see that expressed clearly by Peter who realizes in a flashing moment what discipleship has cost him to that point. Yet Jesus offers an even greater gift achieved by first handing the gift back to the Lord. It is then that we are transformed into disciples and receive our portion in the Kingdom of God.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.