…is often the Word we try to avoid.

“Oh, it cuts like a knife! But, it feels so right!” – Bryan Adams

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12

“Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” – Mark 10:21-22

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” – Mark 10:27

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16

Good words can cut like a knife.

I have a couple cuts that just plain hurt. Super annoying little ones at the tips of my fingers because I stopped paying attention to what was in the sink while washing the dishes.

PSA: A sharp knife soaking in the suds is a dangerous and vicious enemy when forgotten.

But a good word brings a cut that is needed.

A word that is for our help and a cut to bring healing.

Even still, when a word of love stabs at the passions of our life we will inevitably feel pain. It’s hard to hear the truth about what has come to possess us. The things we’re convinced we can’t live without. The stuff that keeps our blood pumping.

It can hurt to deal with the reality that we are vice gripped by the things that we can’t release.

Like the rich young man in Mark 10, we often pull away from piercing words.

Jesus gave him an opportunity to let go of the stuff that kept him from real life. Instead of receiving the Word that brings fullness, the rich man cowers away empty.

At first glance, we miss the play in the cutting words of Christ.

Did you notice how Jesus gives the man one more thing to do? Telling him to sell his stuff and give the money to the poor? If we aren’t careful we assume Jesus is tasking him with another rule. But that can’t be the case. What we have here is God speaking the man’s language.

Jesus isn’t giving him another “law” to follow, but offering an upside down way to live. As the rich man shuffles away, the Poor Man is left standing with His disciples.

At the moment of his departure, Eternal Life looks lovingly at the rich man who is not yet willing to let go of what holds him.

We know this predicament. It’s hard to hear truth in the open. But, we must remember why it is good that Jesus’ word is sharper than a double edged sword.

Though our insides become divided when the Creator speaks, the Word will not violate us. He does not bring harm. The truth may hurt but the piercing brings healing. The goal in the (pardon my words) “slicing and dicing” is to bring about wholeness. Newness. Something way better than what was before.

This is why we can approach His throne of grace with boldness and not with fear. Mercy and grace are ready for the needy and God’s posture is to satisfy those in need.

It’s also why the rich man is doubly pressed.

Not only is he unable to receive the piercing words of Jesus to make him well but he does not yet recognize that he’s in need of healing.

Maybe he realizes this as he walks away. Maybe that’s the point. If he would have immediately followed Jesus next “law” it would have been another thing checked off his list. But the words of Jesus are more intentional than that.

Jesus doesn’t speak truth to be helpful. He speaks to heal and makes us whole.

The rich man would not be made whole by obeying another law. Wholeness will come when the wounded man boldly welcomes the double edged sword of God’s surgical words.

Now we know why Jesus says it is hard for someone like the rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. There’s a hardness in hearing another way. A hardness in the obedience of letting go. Healing requires hurt and life requires death.

That alone sounds painful.

Later, Jesus emphasizes that statement by adding that it’s actually impossible for any man to enter life on his own power, clinging to the passions that possess him. There is no “doing” solution. The only answer is the Word Himself.

His Word is power and with God all things are possible.

We should only walk away from these double edged words with our head down if we are coming to grips with our need to let go. But the shuffling away should not lead us to shame but shift us toward repentance.

We can hear rightly because there is always help waiting behind us. The loving look of the Lord who stands behind the rich man is ready to help us when we turn back to Him in our time of need.

In our newfound emptiness He fills.

In our blessed poverty He provides.

In our welcoming of weakness He is our strength.

In our dying to ourself He shows us the way of Life.

This is how the Poor Man ushers in the kingdom of heaven. When we come to trust in the Word who carefully wounds us for our good, we inherit the Eternal Life that the rich man was looking for all along.