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Let’s start with a story: Once upon a not-too-distant time, in a not-too-distant place, lived a married couple of several years.

I’m looking out the window on a rainy afternoon, watching water rush from a little pond into a stream. I’m pondering how it is that I so easily drift away from my Treasure and toward destruction. Drifting always seems so peaceful, so quiet, so easy and then I’m in danger, wondering how I got there so quickly.

Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote in 1750 – “Money buys everything, except happiness.” From this was drawn the idiom, “Money can’t buy happiness.”

Have you ever asked this question when reading Jesus’ teachings? Do you enthusiastically embrace some of His teachings while deploring other parts, particularly those that are difficult to swallow given our modern sensibilities? Have you ever rejected, dismissed, or ignored some of His more challenging statements as harsh rhetoric or hyperbole?

Have you ever read this amazing passage as Jesus tenderly instructs His disciples following the last supper and wondered, “Wait a minute, what’s new about this command?” Certainly, the command to love each other is not new. Leviticus 19:18 said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” So, what was new? What did Jesus mean?