It’s been said of Jesus that whenever he met a person, it was as if that person were an island around which Jesus sailed until he found where the real problem was, and there he landed.

He did that with the woman at the well and landed on the questions of marriage. He said to her, “Go call your husband.” In a luncheon conversation He landed on the question of integrity with Zaccheus and before lunch was over Zaccheus said, “If I have stolen anything from anybody, I will repay it four-fold.” Here in the gospel lesson for today, Jesus sails around the life of the rich young ruler until he comes to the issue of money and there is where we want to land today.

In Verse 17 we read, As Jesus started on his way, a man came running, falling on his knees, asking a critical question. “Good teacher, …