Today's Gospel in Art - Give everything you own to the poor, and follow me

George V silver-mounted Japanese Ivory-Handled Magnifying Glass, Asprey & Co Ltd, London © Olympia Auctions, London

Source: Christian Art,

Gospel of 10th October 2021 - Mark 10:17-30

Jesus was setting out on a journey when a man ran up, knelt before him and put this question to him, 'Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You must not kill; You must not commit adultery; You must not steal; You must not bring false witness; You must not defraud; Honour your father and mother.' And he said to him, 'Master, I have kept all these from my earliest days.' Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him, and he said, 'There is one thing you lack. Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' But his face fell at these words and he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

Jesus looked round and said to his disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!' The disciples were astounded by these words, but Jesus insisted, 'My children,' he said to them 'how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' They were more astonished than ever. 'In that case' they said to one another 'who can be saved?' Jesus gazed at them. 'For men' he said 'it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God.'

Peter took this up. 'What about us?' he asked him. 'We have left everything and followed you.' Jesus said, 'I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, father, children or land for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not be repaid a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land - not without persecutions - now in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life.'

Reflection on the Magnifying Glass

'Give everything you own to the poor, and follow me' Jesus tells the rich young man in today's reading. Jesus didn't make this a duty for all His followers. He simply addressed these words to the young man. It was a special calling and instruction given to him. That said, we have to understand that whatever we have been given in terms of talents, education and even riches, is God's. So when we 'give' something to help build God's kingdom, we only 'give back' something that first belonged to God anyway.

Jesus wants us to have a healthy attitude towards the riches we have been given. Wealth isn't wrong, but our attitude to this wealth can be either right or wrong. We can own money, but we shouldn't let money own us. Our riches should in the end help magnify Christ in our world. Like a magnifying glass, we should try to make Christ large in our lives and in the lives of those around us. When we see something at a distance, it seems small. The object appears to get larger as we get closer and closer. Of course the object doesn't actually get any bigger, but our view of it changes. That is what happens when we get closer and closer to the Lord and draw near Him: His love feels bigger and gets magnified in us.

Just as prayer helps us to magnify Christ's presence in our lives, so do magnifying glasses make objects appear larger because of their convex lenses. Our object is a George V ivory mounted looking glass by Asprey, London, 1914. The carved lion detailing and eagle support the circular magnifying glass… But probably the greatest magnifying glasses we have are our own eyes… to look into the hearts of other people and see Christ in them.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/955
Christian Art - www.christian.art/