Mark 10:13 - 10:31

(prayer)


 

intro: deferred pleasure

weight loss. credit cards. difficult stuff for humans.

 

the prologue: who is important?
jesus blesses the children (mark 10:13-16)

13. And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.
14. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15. "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."
16. And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.
ahh...our theme is introduced.

who can enter the kingdom of heaven

kids get a nod, rich people get a kick in the teeth.
this has echoes of 9:33-37, when jesus uses a child to illustrate servanthood (whoever receives one child like this...)

what does it mean to "receive the kingdom of god like a child"?

first off, when we say "like a child", we mean "in the way a child receives it"

could also be "as though you were receiving a child", but that doesn't match a parallel phrase in matthew 18:3.

first - "receive the kingdom of god"?

kingdom of god is basically heaven/salvation.
so we're looking at how do we receive heaven/salvation here.

so...how do children receive the kingdom of god?

with picture bibles? silly songs?
not a ton of clues here.
 
personally, i think that the idea here is 'humility'.
- mark 9:33-37, kids were used to rebuke the 12 for their "who will be the greatest" mindset.
- immediately after this, we're going to contrast with the wealthy...

so - i feel pretty confident that we're looking at jesus saying we must receive salvation with childlike humility.
we aren't going to talk a ton about this today, so i'm going to ask you to make a mental note to think about a few things:
- do i think of myself in humility before god?
- do i think that i offer more to god than other people?
- do i think that god owes me certain things?
ok - on to the person that you'd think would have something to offer.

the rich young ruler, in 3 Ps (mark 10:17-31)
part 1: the point

17. As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
18. And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
19. "You know the commandments, `DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.' "
20. And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."
21. Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
22. But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

the point is that to receive god, you need to want god more than anything else.

A. no human is good enough (v17,18)

out of the gate, jesus drives the point - who is good enough? no one but god.
17. As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
18. And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
also note the push here - is jesus god, as he claims to be?
calling jesus 'good teacher' could be both respectful (if you mean it as an aspect) and insulting (demoting the eternal creator to human teacher)...
 
also, note that the question of salvation begins with a the question of who is christ.

B. salvation consists of following what god has revealed as the way to salvation...which the guy says he's met. (v19,20)

19. "You know the commandments, `DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.' "
20. And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."

question: - did the guy really keep all the commandments?

our answer becomes no...
but how like me...i'll notice my observance to the easier rules but not the ones that determine my heart and values (and that give life to the easy ones).

C. finally, jesus strikes at das heart (v21,22)

21. Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
22. But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
this is the real point, yes? jesus looks at the guys heart and sees that he loves stuff more than god.
the point here is that money can't come before god.
stated in old testament terms, it's that "you shall love the lord your god with all your heart soul mind." (deut 6:4,5, we'll see it in mark 12:30)
 

which brings us to the point: to receive god, you need to want god more than anything else.

this isn't new - it's the same through the old testament.
the system of law and sacrifice was a way of dealing with the guilt of our imperfect want.
but the love of god was and is the heart of god's people.

part 2: the problem

23. And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"
24. The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and *said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
25. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26. They were even more astonished and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?"
27. Looking at them, Jesus *said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

the problem is that we prefer our immediate pleasure to god (v23-27)

A. money as access to pleasure

money is the ability to satisfy want; money lets you fulfill your desires.
- do you like food? money buys it.
- do you like not having to work hard? money buys vacation.
- do you want to look sexy? money buys gym access, makeup, and clothing.
- want more time with your family? sure would be nice not to have to work so much...
 
money is the easiest method we have of getting what you want.

B. money makes wanting god most difficult

money == fulfilled desires
if you have lots of money, you are almost certainly more used to getting what you want.
this makes christs commands to desire god more than pleasure that much more difficult.
the cycle of money buying what you want turns out to be somewhat defeating, as you can never win that way - you just get sucked more and more in.
 
see v23,25
23. And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!" 25. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

no, the bible doesn't say everyone has to sell everything.
christ tells this person that. it's never commanded everywhere.
in fact, it seems that the disciples didn't actually sell all their possessions if you want to be technical.
and paul is pretty specific in his commands to the wealthy, but he doesn't say to get rid of everything.
 
money isn't biblically wrong, it's just biblically dangerous.

however, if this is the sort of thing you worry about, then perhaps it ought to apply to you.
a quote from gundry:
that jesus did not command all his followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort only to the kind of people to whom he would issue that command.

C. god saves rich people as well as poor

- no class snobbery please....we're all here by grace
class snobbery...
"i was so rich" bragging quickly becomes "i was so poor"

the church should not prefer rich to poor, or vice versa.
- we're all here because god choose to save us.
he does this for rich people as well as poor.
we should be as eager to share the gospel in westlake as we are in east austin, as god calls people from all areas.
there may be more obstacles for the rich than the poor, but god chooses people from all levels.
 
see v27
27. Looking at them, Jesus *said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

part 3: the promise (v23-27)

28. Peter began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You."
29. Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake,
30. but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
31. "But many who are first will be last, and the last, first."

the promise is that god will provide more reward than money can ever buy

peter manages another awesome comment...

peter, who's likely narrating this stuff to mark as he writes, remembers another of his choice comments.
and rather than getting a bit of a smack down where jesus says 'o rly', jesus offers encouragement.

and jesus says something encouraging: no matter what the gospel costs you, god will pay back more.

29. Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake,
30. but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
what you are buying is better than what you are paying.
 

the cost of salvation is high

house? family? income?
all realistic costs
- we all know people who's families have turned on them for following christ first.
- we know people who have given up the search for money and pleasure to share the gospel and to build the church .

becoming a christian is not something you do in addition to other things.
it has to be what you are, period.

the gain of salvation is immeasurable

this isn't scary - you're getting infinitely more than you paid.
- an end to guilt
when we sell everything and embrace the gospel, our sin and guilt is removed.
that starts with freedom from hell.
 
if we stopped there, this deal would be worth it.

- purpose
is life worth living when it has no purpose or sense?
we all assume that we have value, that the people we love have value, but until we reconcile ourselves to the value that god has given us, that's not really possible.
the bible says this, but its useful to look at it from the other side - check some camus, then feel grateful.

- joy that doesn't end
if you consider the difference between money now and the presence of god for eternity, just based on time alone that's an easy call.

- joy that surpasses
no matter how rich you are, you can not buy anything as good as the friendship and pleasure of god.

remember your reward and be conscious of the cost

to live as christians, we should be aware of both our reward and our cost.
 

it's a bit easy to focus on the immediate cost instead of the future reward...
you have to remind yourself.

i'd love to tell you all this is easy, but it takes me some active effort.
1 john 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

jesus tells a pretty good story about this in matthew 13...
44. "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46. and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.