In the Gospel of Matthew (19:16-22) and the Gospel of Mark (10:17-31) that we read this Sunday, we witness an interesting encounter: the young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” In answer, Jesus clearly states that keeping the commandments is the gate to eternal life and enumerates them to the man: “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother;” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Although the young man states that he had observed these rules from his childhood, nevertheless he felt that he was still lacking something. So, 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.”
The story is not only an historical record of Jesus’ many encounters with people, it also provides us with some information about who we are and who God is. Being Christian relies on observing the Ten Commandments and is perceived as the religion of the Ten Commandments. Christians are called to obey them and, in this way, fulfill the will of God. Jesus indicated on many occasions that our eternal life depends on how we live now, here on earth. Reaching the promised paradise became the main task of the life of faithful Christians, and rightly so. As a result of this, many Christians have developed a philosophy of living, sometimes subconsciously, that could be summarized in this way: “just catch the flight.” It means that their main motive is just obeying God’s commandments in order to qualify for heaven, to be counted among those who are saved. To be sure, the “just catch the flight” philosophy is nothing bad. In fact, it seems to be a very good one. Does not the Lord Himself expect us to obey His rules?
Although a “just catch the flight” philosophy seems to be good, it is missing one important, even crucial element. What is that? In order to answer this, let’s return to our plane metaphor. In our earthly flights, we do not especially care about the pilot, who he is, what he looks like, what is his name, age, etc. He is usually anonymous. All that we expect from him is to deliver us safely and without delay to the airport. A flight to our eternal destination is different. In this case, the pilot is God Himself. He is both navigator and the final destination. So, knowing His name, interacting with Him, speaking with Him, and even more, befriending Him during the journey is absolutely necessary. Our goal is not to reach any airport but to reach the airport that is the pilot’s home itself, and that is the pilot himself.
In the light of this, the Ten Commandments are only instruments to help us in our journey. They place us close to the holiness of God. But the real goal is not to reach some kind of heaven, but to reach the heaven that is God himself. Eternal life consists in seeing Him, being with Him, and participating in His goodness together with our brothers and sisters who are blessed. St. Paul, the Apostle, stresses this when he says that we will “possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thes 2:14). The “just catch the flight” philosophy is then good, but it is good only in the beginning of a person’s faith journey. Sooner or later, one must discover the Pilot and the need to befriend Him.
To make this point clearer, let’s return to Jesus’ conversation with the young man. He said to Jesus, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” He received from Jesus the following answer, “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.” Is it not puzzling that the young man was not satisfied with Jesus asking him to fulfill the Ten Commandments as a condition to “gain eternal life”? He felt that there was something else that he was lacking. It is also interesting that Jesus did not stop the conversation with this young man just after he declared obeying God’s commandments from his childhood. Instead, Jesus invited him for something greater: “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.” Jesus’ call for the young man to be perfect must be coupled with Jesus’ statement on other occasions: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48). In light of this, the call to be perfect is connected not with some abstract perfection which could be pursued for secular or even egoistic reasons — like that of yoga masters — but with perfection of God Himself. The young man and all of us are called for something that could open us more and more to the very person of God and to His beauty. By imitating God, a person comes nearer to God who is the ultimate goal and destination of his or her earthly journey.
God continuously encourages us to change the way we should perceive our religious life. Instead of practicing the “just catch the flight” philosophy, He invites us to the attitude of “befriending the Pilot” in the here and now, not later.
Fr. Mark Jurzyk