WHEN JESUS LOOKED AT HIM AND LOVED HIM
There is a gaze from Christ that searches deeper than words. It is not hurried. It is not careless. It sees the whole man—the virtue that impresses others and the vacancy that only heaven can detect. In Mark 10:21, we are told that Jesus, looking at the rich young ruler, loved him.
Before the command.
Before the sorrow.
Before the turning away.
He loved him.
The young man came running—earnest, respectful, morally disciplined. He knelt. He addressed Jesus as Good Teacher. He spoke of commandments kept from his youth. By all visible measures, he was a model of religious devotion. Yet Christ saw beyond the polished exterior into the throne room of the heart.
And He loved him.
Divine love is never sentimental indulgence; it is holy intention. When Christ loves, He aims to liberate. When He looks, He intends to transform. The love of Jesus does not flatter our strengths; it exposes our idols.
“One thing you lack.”
How piercing those words must have been. Not ten things. Not a catalogue of failures. One thing. Yet that one thing was everything. The man possessed great wealth—but the wealth possessed him. And Christ, in love, placed His finger upon the chain.
Sell what you have. Give to the poor. Come, take up the cross, and follow Me.
The truest love will not leave a man undisturbed in his ruin. A physician who smiles while ignoring disease is no friend. And the Savior who demands surrender is not cruel—He is kind. For what He asks us to release is never equal to what He offers in return.
But the tragedy of the passage is not Christ’s demand; it is the man’s departure. He went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. He preferred full barns to an open heaven. He chose security over surrender.
And still, the text says: Jesus loved him.
How mysterious—that love can be offered and yet resisted. That grace can be extended and yet declined. Christ does not coerce the will; He confronts it. He reveals the rival and calls for allegiance.
What is the one thing in us?
It may not be wealth. It may be reputation. It may be comfort. It may be control. Whatever we cling to more tightly than Christ will eventually grieve us. For the soul was not made to balance multiple masters.
When Jesus looks at a man and loves him, He will not merely affirm him. He will summon him. He will press upon the hidden loyalty and say, “Follow Me.”
Blessed are those who rise, leave all, and go. For though they part with much, they gain Him—and in gaining Him, they lose nothing of eternal worth.
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Lord Jesus, Reveal the one thing that competes for Your throne in our hearts. Give us courage to surrender what we cannot keep in order to receive what we cannot lose. Save us from walking away sorrowful. Draw us to follow You with undivided affection, until You are our treasure and our joy. Amen.
BDD
