Why Him and Not Others?

March 3, 2025 - Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Mark 10:17-27

"As he went forth into the way" (Mark 10:17). The word “way” holds special significance in Mark’s Gospel. It refers not just to a physical journey but to Jesus’ path to Jerusalem—the place of the Cross and resurrection. When Jesus calls the rich man to “follow me” (Mark 10:21), He is inviting him to join this journey.

This unnamed rich man stands in stark contrast to Bartimaeus, the blind beggar we will meet later. Bartimaeus, after being healed, follows Jesus, praising God (Mark 10:52; Luke 18:43). The rich man, despite his apparent devotion, walks away grieving (Mark 10:22). Two men, two encounters with Jesus—one leaves everything behind, the other cannot.

What was he really seeking? He asks Jesus about eternal life, a term that in Greek implies not just an endless existence but the life of the age to come. This is not about floating in heaven but about the new creation—a restored heaven and earth, as Revelation describes: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Rev 21:1). And this is what the rich man longed to inherit.

If he had asked this question to the Pharisees, they would have told him: Follow the Law of Moses. The Sadducees might have dismissed his concern, saying: Enjoy this life, for who knows what comes after? But Jesus gives an unexpected answer: Sell everything, give to the poor, and follow me. This was not the response the man anticipated—perhaps not the response we expect either.

Here lies the real challenge: Why him and not others? Couldn’t he remain wealthy and still follow Jesus? After all, Luke tells us that certain women supported Jesus financially, and Zacchaeus, a rich tax collector, was not required to give up everything—only half. Yet for this man, Jesus demands everything. Why?

St. Thomas Aquinas saw in this passage a distinction between two ways of life. Most Christians, he suggested, follow God’s commandments faithfully, like the rich man before his encounter with Jesus. But a chosen few are called to a radical renunciation of wealth—a call that many interpret as religious life. Others argue that this passage echoes Paul’s teaching that the Law cannot save; only Christ can.

Still, neither interpretation fully answers our question: Why him?

Perhaps the answer lies in what Jesus saw within him. My father used to say, “You need a strong head for two things: alcohol and money.” Every recovered alcoholic knows that the only way to overcome addiction is total abstinence. Money can be just as addictive, and if it takes hold of a person’s heart, it can ruin them. Maybe that’s what Jesus saw in this man—a heart bound by possessions, in need of a drastic remedy.

But that is just maybe.