“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’” (Mk. 10:21, ESV).
In comparison with the same story in Matthew 19:16-30 and Luke 18:18-30, we can only find the phrase “Jesus, looking at him, loved him” in Mark’s gospel. This is Mark’s unique portrait of Jesus. Before commanding the rich young man to go, sell, give, come, and follow, Jesus looks at him and loves him. This is the gospel: grace precedes laws.
The rich young man doesn’t have to first go, sell, give, come, and follow. Jesus will then love him. Rather, the love of Jesus is there before he makes any change. We don’t have to change first to make Jesus love us. Rather, He first loves us just as who we are and where we are at. And because of His love, we change accordingly. The love of Jesus always comes before the demands of Jesus. We can’t do this and that to make Him love us more. “God shows his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8, ESV). The cross of Christ is equal to the love of Jesus. There is no further love beyond the cross.
The word for look at can mean “to look at intently,” “to examine,” or “to scrutinize.”[1] Jesus scrutinizes this man’s heart and knows his condition. He still loves him. The dark side of this man does not block the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus is on the side of sinner. But His love does not give us a permit to continue to do whatever we want. Rather, His love entails laws, instructions, and demands: go and sell, come and follow.
The look of Jesus indicates pastoral observation. The love of Jesus embraces the whole person with empathy and compassion. The demands of Jesus provide pastoral counseling and instructions for the man to fix the problem.
[1] See James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark. The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Leicester: Apollos, 2002), pp. 311-312.
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