Misery and Love

“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him….” (Mark 10:21)

                  Lewis Bayly (1575-1631) wrote The Practice of Piety whereby he sought to encourage good devotional habits in Christians. (It was translated into Welsh, French, Hungarian, Polish, and several other languages, so it must have been encouraging!) The first two items of which he proposes to our souls are the attributes of God and the “miserable state of those not reconciled to God in Christ.” We are largely ignorant of both, but which one the more? That question arises in our discussion of the rich, young ruler.

                  First, the young man asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Note the emphasis - what must I do? If you don’t see the problem, Luke helps us. Luke contrasts this man with a tax collector and blind man who ask for mercy (cf. Luke 18). This young man sees nothing but the vigor of youth, ignorant of the misery of his soul. When Jesus challenges him with the Ten Commandments, the young man boldly claims perfect obedience. But here is the problem – “the mind set on the flesh does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” (Rom. 8:7) Jesus exposes this with a simple command – go and sell. That young man could not because he had many possessions, many idols, but little obedience. In all his commandment keeping, he fails keep the first commandment. This young man had a man-made holiness. As Thomas Boston notes, man-made holiness is like when one waters their garden, giving some plants more water than others. Gospel holiness is like when the rain falls, giving equal amounts of water and growth to all.

                  Many look at a few fair flowers in their garden and assume that we are good, but none is good, except God alone. In fact, “None are good, no, not one.” (Rom. 3:10). If we would but hold our souls up to the mirror of God’s law and His perfect righteousness, we would cry out for mercy. Instead of asking what we can do, we would plead, “If you will, make me clean.”

                  Second, along with our miserable condition, look at the great love of Christ towards sinners. As I mentioned Sunday, Jesus moved toward sinners. In this instance, Jesus moving towards this man involved speaking hard truths to him. Jesus exposed his weakness, his sinfulness, and his miserable condition; not because Jesus wanted to rub his nose in it, but because Jesus loved him. Droves of us, even among the readers of this paper, will attest on the last day that Jesus loved us, boldly proclaiming the gospel day after day, in and out of weeks, and over years. He moved towards us in love, but we moved away sorrowful because we had many possessions.

                  This great love comes not from your earnings; instead, it comes to your misery. Oh, let us be frank with our sin, let us own it that we may own His vast, immeasurable love!