Submission

Mark 10:17,23-23: "A man ran up to him (Jesus) and fell on his knees before him. 'Good teacher,' he asked, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?' . . . . At (the words of Jesus) the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!'"

In this gospel passage, we find a certain rich man who had watched Jesus and had become quite impressed with Jesus' words of wisdom and his miraculous deeds performed in Judea. In his exuberance, the rich man was willing to make a public profession to bow to the "great teacher" and find out how he may have eternal life. As he knelt before the Savior, the rich man wanted to know what he must do to merit God's favor.



Jesus knowing that the man did not understand Him as the Messiah but merely a "good teacher," first corrected his theology. Jesus wanted the man to understand that no one was good but God alone. Thus, no one is able through his own attainments to justify himself before the Lord. Jesus told the rich man this truth so that the hearers would know that ultimately it is God alone who would provide the atoning sacrifice for our sins (I John 2:2). This is why Jesus would later offer Himself on a cross for the remission of sins of those who would be saved.



Still, Jesus knew that all men must respond to this gift of grace through submission to Him as their Lord and Savior. When Jesus told the man to go and sell his possessions and give them to the poor so that he could have eternal treasures, He was addressing the central spiritual problem within the rich man. Jesus knew that riches per se were not inherently bad; rather, this man had surrendered himself to the privilege associated with his riches. He had made the quest for affluency his lord.

The rich man's true colors were revealed once Jesus addressed the cost of discipleship. Instead of surrendering himself to the Lord, the rich man rose from his humbled position and turned away because the cost was too high. He could not let go of his wealth; he received too many personal benefits to give up his lifestyle.

This story presents a good lesson for us today. Many people attend worship services and even respond during the invitation of a worship service because they are impressed with the words and miracles of Jesus as expressed in His Word. They may even make a public profession of allegiance to Christ. They want the benefits of association with God (e.g. heaven, abundant life, material blessing, etc.), and they are willing to make their "commitment" public.



Yet no matter how demonstrative the act of allegiance is by the person, it is a feigned response because it does not involve the necessary response to God's grace: submission. The true believer in Christ will submit himself to the Lordship of Christ. He is willing for renounce anything (including himself) that has been the lord of his life. God now becomes the master of that person's life, guiding him to obedience.



One cannot merely get the benefits of God without the cost of surrender. Still, we must know that the beauty of such submission is in its fulfillment for the soul (Matthew 11:28-30). No other thing to which we submit our allegiance will ever bring to us the satisfaction and completion that the Lord Himself will provide to us if we surrender to Him.