Episode 99: Year B – 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time
In this episode, we focus solely on the Gospel reading for this upcoming 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, which, at least the long version, is Mark 10:17-30. There’s no major detail that requires an in-depth study. However, there are several details that have some relation to apologetics, even if only in a cursory way. The related topics are the divinity of Jesus, God as the source of our goodness, the causal role good works play for our final salvation, the gratuitous nature of the gift of salvation, and the radical teaching of Jesus concerning wealth and getting to heaven.
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Hey everyone,
Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith.
I’m Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast.
In this episode, we’re going to focus solely on the Gospel reading for this upcoming 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, which, at least the long version, is Mark 10:17-30. There’s no major detail that requires an in-depth study. However, there are several details that have some relation to apologetics, even if only in a cursory way. The related topics are the divinity of Jesus, God as the source of our goodness, the causal role good works play for our final salvation, the gratuitous nature of the gift of salvation, and the radical teaching of Jesus concerning wealth and getting to heaven.
Let’s start with the Gospel reading itself, which, again, is Mark 10:17-30. Mark records,
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother.”
He replied and said to him,
“Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.”
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
“You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
“How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
“Children, 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 one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
“Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God.”
Peter began to say to him,
“We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”
The first detail I want to focus on is Jesus’ statement, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” There are a few things to say about this statement.
First, Jesus seems to be implicitly hinting at his divinity. Notice Jesus doesn’t say the rich man was wrong in calling him good. He simply says, “God alone is good.” Jesus seems to be saying, “by calling me good, you’re calling me God.” In other words, Jesus is equating his own goodness with God’s goodness, thereby implicitly claiming to be divine.
A second thing to note about this statement is the way in which God is good, compared to the way in which we are good. Jesus’ statement, “God alone is good,” gives rise to the question, “Does that mean we can’t be good?” The answer is no.
What Jesus means is that God has goodness of himself, simply because he is goodness itself. And Jesus, given what we said previously, seems to be claiming to identical to that same goodness, and therefore divine. Our good, by contrast, is not had in virtue of ourselves. Rather, it is received from God, who is the source of goodness. Our goodness is participated. God’s goodness is essential to who he is. This is why Jesus can say, “God alone is good.” Only he is goodness essentially.
The second detail that has apologetical significance is Jesus’ answer to the rich man’s question as to what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answers by listing all the commandments that involve love of neighbor. Once the rich man says he’s kept those commandments, Jesus then says, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
There are several apologetical nuggets that we can draw out from this exchange.
First, love of neighbor, and the external actions that manifest such love, is necessary for receiving our final salvation—eternal life itself. As we’ve mentioned before, the Catholic Church teaches that such works of love don’t have a causal role to play in initially receiving the gift of salvation, when God first transfers us from a state of unrighteousness to righteousness. But, according to Jesus, such works of love do play a role in receiving eternal life at the end of our lives.
A second apologetical nugget is Jesus’ implicit hint, yet again, to his divinity. Notice Jesus’ response to the rich man lists only the commandments that pertain to love of neighbor. The absence of the first three, which pertain to the love of God, is quite arresting.
Jesus then tells the rich man, “You are lacking one thing . . . come follow me.” Jesus seems to put “following him” in the place of the commandments that pertain to love of God, the implication being that by following him the rich man would fulfill the commandments to love God. Why would following Jesus fulfill the commandment to love God? Because he is God.
The next detail is the connection Jesus makes between giving to the poor, or the giving of alms, with inheriting eternal life. He does this with both the rich man and Peter. He tells Peter, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”
Like the previous detail about the commandments that pertain to love of neighbor, this shows that our good works, in this case giving to the poor, plays a causal role in us attaining “eternal life in the age to come,” to quote Jesus.
This phrase, “eternal life in the age to come,” brings up yet another apologetical topic: Purgatory. In Matthew 12:32, Jesus says that the sin against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this age nor in the age to come. The implication seems to be that at least some sins can be forgiven in the “age to come,” even if the sin against the Holy Spirit cannot.
But what is this age to come? Well, it’s the afterlife. And here’s where the Gospel detail comes into play. Notice that in our Gospel reading, Jesus says “eternal life” is given in the “age to come.” Jesus is speaking not about this life, but the afterlife. And he’s specifying the particular experience of the afterlife, namely, “eternal life,” which is heaven.
In Matthew 12:32, Jesus speaks of the “age to come,” but we know it’s not “eternal life” because the implication is that some sins are forgiven. But that “age to come” where sins are forgiven can’t be hell, either, since no sins are forgiven in hell. So what is it? It’s purgatory. Matthew 12:32, therefore, provides us biblical evidence for Jesus’ teaching on purgatory, or at least one aspect of purgatory—namely, the purification of the guilt of venial sin.
The next detail is Jesus’ response to the apostles when they said, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus responds, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”
Notice that it’s impossible for human beings to save themselves. And this applies not only to the initial gift of salvation, but also to inheriting eternal life in our final salvation.
Concerning our initial salvation, the Church teaches that neither our faith nor our good works play a causal role. The initial gift of salvation is entirely from God, not from us in anyway.
Concerning our final salvation, the reward of eternal life, or entrance into heaven, is an effect of our good works. However, our good supernatural works are themselves works of God, since it’s God who causes them. This is why we believe eternal life can be a proportionate reward for our good works. As Paul writes in Philippians 2:13, “for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
This understanding of the relation between our good works and God’s work in us can go a long way in discussions with Protestants who reject the causal role of our good works in attaining eternal life. For many, they reject the relation such works have with our salvation because they think this works are being performed solely in virtue of ourselves, as if God is entirely out the picture. But the picture that I’ve painted here, no worry is needed.
There’s one last detail that I think is worth mentioning. It doesn’t really have any direct apologetical significance. But it does have relevance to what Jesus is trying to teach us concerning the difficulty for a wealthy person to enter heaven.
Notice Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:24).”
Many have suggested that the “eye of a needle” is not an actual needle but a supposed small gate, called the “Eye of a Needle,” that a camel would have been unable to pass through, given the load on his back. And in order for the camel to pass through, the rider would have to take the load off for the camel to struggle through the gate.
But, as apologist Steve Ray argues, there is no historical, written, or archaeological evidence that such a gate ever existed. He concludes, along with other scholars, that it’s a myth.
That the “eye of a needle” is intended to be a literal needle is further supported by Jesus contrasting a gnat with a camel in Matthew 23:24, yet another small and big comparison. For more details on this topic, check out Ray’s article “6 Biblical Myths Debunked.”
Conclusion
Well, my friends, that brings us to the end of this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. The readings for this upcoming 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, provides us with several details that relate in some way to apologetical topics, even if only in a cursory way. Such topics include:
- The divinity of Jesus,
- The causal role our good works play in our final salvation,
- The way in which God is goodness itself and how our goodness is that which is received, thereby highlighting the distinction between creature and Creator,
- The gratuitous nature of the gift of salvation, whether we’re talking about the gift initially given at the beginning of the Christian life, or at the end, and
- Finally, the true meaning of the “eye of a needle.” Wealth, definitely, can serve as a distraction from getting to heaven. Something we can all reflect on.
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I hope you have a blessed 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. Until next time, God Bless!