The Loving Lordship of Jesus

Jesus’ call to follow Him is a call to entrust every part of life to His loving lordship.

Mark 10:17–31

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building up a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. - C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis once pictured the Christian life as a house under renovation. At first, he says, God seems to be doing small repairs—fixing the drains and stopping the leaks in the roof. But then He begins knocking the house about in ways that seem painful and confusing. Why? Because He is not merely making us into decent little cottages. He is building a palace in which He intends to dwell.

This image helps us understand what Jesus is doing in the Christian life. Repentance is part of that process. It is one way God begins repairing what is broken in us. But it is not the end of His work. Christ intends something far greater: to transform us into a place where He Himself lives and reigns.

For that to happen, Jesus must be given control of the building plans.

Only when Jesus is Lord of our lives can He lead us into a deep relationship with Himself and into the new life of His kingdom. Only when we yield to His loving authority can He make us into the beautiful “palaces” we were created to be, rather than the broken-down cottages we too often settle for.

This is why the story of the rich young ruler matters so much. At first glance, it may seem like a troubling story—one of demand, loss, and disappointment. For a long time, I found it difficult for that reason. I struggled to understand why Jesus presses this man so hard and allows him to walk away grieving.

But everything changes when we notice one small detail Mark includes.

Jesus Looked at Him and Loved Him

The rich young man comes to Jesus with urgency and sincerity, asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Mark tells us he is a man of great wealth and a serious religious observer. And yet something is still missing. For all he possesses and all he has accomplished, he senses an emptiness he cannot resolve.

Jesus responds in a surprising way: “Why do you call me good?” At first the question can seem almost puzzling, but it presses to the heart of everything that follows. Is Jesus merely one wise teacher among many? One good option among others? Or is this man standing before the good God Himself?

Everything depends on how he answers. If Jesus is only one good option among many, then what follows will seem excessive and unreasonable. But if Jesus is who He claims to be, then His words carry the authority of the One who alone knows the way to life.

Then comes the moment at the heart of the story. Mark tells us, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Before Jesus exposes the man’s bondage, He loves him. Before He asks for surrender, He loves him. Before He tells him what he lacks, He loves him.

Everything that follows flows from that love.

Jesus then names the unspoken problem: there is something the man lacks. I imagine the man anticipates one more thing to do or one more rule to follow. Instead, Jesus points him to an entirely new way of life: “Go, sell what you have… and come, follow me.” It is easy to focus only on what the man must leave behind, but that is not the heart of Jesus’ invitation. The heart of the invitation is to come and follow Him.

Jesus is not giving the man a cruel test. He desires to be with him. He wants to know him, be known by him, lead him, and transform him. The one thing the man lacks is not greater effort, but Jesus. Eternal life—life marked by meaning, wholeness, and joy—is found in being with Christ and following Him.

Because Jesus loves him, He names the very thing that keeps him from responding freely, so that he might leave it behind and come to Him.

Competing Lords

Mark tells us that the man went away sad because he had great wealth. His response reveals how he answered Jesus’ first question. Jesus may be good, but He is not worth leaving everything else behind for. The man still sees Jesus and His teachings as one good option among many. He does not realize that he is standing before the Lord of the universe, the One who alone has the authority, wisdom, and goodness to direct his life and care for him.

Jesus’ words reveal the heart of the problem: God is only one part of his life. Jesus does not have the final word. His possessions and present way of life still compete for authority. So when Jesus calls, obedience is weighed against everything else he values. On that day, his possessions mattered more to him than the invitation of Christ.

Jesus is not content in being one influence among many. He desires — and deserves — the central place in our lives. His call to follow Him is a call to give Him the rightful authority to direct every part of life.

This is not because Jesus is harsh or controlling, but because He alone is the way to eternal life. He loves us too much to allow us to be ruined by the lordship of anything that is not God. Only when He has the central place in our lives can everything else begin to find its proper place. His lordship is not meant to diminish our lives, but to rescue them from lesser masters.

I began to see this in my own life when I went to university. I had already been a Christian for some time. Yet Jesus was not always at the center of my life. Too often, my studies took that place. I believed that if I got good grades and worked hard during those years, I would be guaranteed a good job and a happy, secure life.

I would never have said that studies were my god, but I often lived as though they were. I chose to miss opportunities to grow in my faith — conferences, Bible studies, quiet times — for the chance to study just a little more.

Studies, like money and possessions, are a good thing, but they make a terrible lord. Studying engineering never made me a more loving person, nor did it give me peace or eternal life. Only Jesus can do that.

Then came the night our small group studied this passage about Jesus and the rich man. The leader asked us, “Imagine you were this man. What do you think Jesus would say to you? ‘You lack one thing. Go, ____, and come follow me.’” I knew immediately that Jesus would bring up my studies.

I took great comfort in the fact that Jesus looked at me and loved me. He wanted me to experience eternal life and true security in Him. I did not want to walk away sad and disappointed like the rich man, so I decided to make a change. From then on, I sought to put Jesus first and to organize my other priorities, including my studies, around my commitment to Him. I still struggled with this at times, but through that process I learned that following Jesus leads to real life, joy, and peace.

The Freedom of His Lordship

Jesus’ lordship is an expression of His love. He does not claim authority over our lives in order to diminish us, but to lead us into true freedom, purpose, and joy. Only under His lordship can we fully enjoy life—including our time, money, work, recreation, relationships, image, and health—as God intended. Then, and only then, will we truly know the way of eternal life.

Following Jesus is a lifelong journey. Along the way, we need to regularly examine our beliefs, actions, and priorities. It is good to ask whether we are truly following Christ and allowing Him to direct every area of life. We do this because we are often skilled at deceiving ourselves; we can say that we are following Jesus while still holding back parts of our lives from His lordship.

The good news is that Jesus looks at us with love. When we stray, He graciously calls us back. When He shows us what we lack, it is not to shame us, but to invite us to leave behind whatever keeps us from following Him. And when we return to Him and surrender our whole lives to His care, He can and will transform us into the “palace He intends to come and live in Himself.”

Jesus’ lordship is not a burden that diminishes life, but the loving authority of the One who alone can lead us into the life we were made for.

See the full chapter here.