When I first heard the story of the encounter between Jesus and the rich, young man I imagined a kind of two stage Christianity. What must I do to gain eternal life? Keep the commandments. That would be step one. “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Step two, a superior way of following Jesus. I have come to see that is a misreading of the scene. The problem with the rich, young man was that he was trying to earn his way to eternal life. If I do thus and so, God will reward me. What Jesus wanted him (and us) to understand is that God blesses us because God is good, not because we are good. Giving away his possessions was an invitation to throw himself completely in God’s arms, to trust that what God would give him, would be for him, would be a greater gift than he could imagine.
