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MARK: WORKING MESSIAHFIFTH DIVISION: WHEN WILL THE MESSIAH ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM? 10:1-13:37FIRST SECTION: CREATION AND THE LIFE TO COME, “FROM … UNTIL …” 10:1-31.
(Corresponding PowerPoint® presentation: Mark 5th Division 1st Section CREATION & LIFE TO COME or click here on Mark Fifth Division Since Creation ... Until Life to Come PP or on the file of this name on the Mark studies home page.)
Four Groups In The Crowd___________________________________________________________________________ The Outline:
I. The Multitude 10:1
II. The Pharisees 10:2-12
III. The Children 10:13-16
IV. The Rich Man 10:17-22
V. The Disciples 10:23-31
Questions To Aid In The Study Of This Section, Mark 10:1-3
Jesus Beyond Jordan Jesus leaves Galilee and goes south to the area in Judea beyond the Jordan River. The crowds gathered to him and he began to teach them yet again. That was his custom. In this first section of the fifth division he meets and deals with 4 very different groups of people.
The Four Groups In The Crowd These groups were the Pharisees, the children, a rich young man and the disciples.
The Five Stories In The Chart Of The Fifth Division Because this is the first section of five stories they fit into the first column of the chart or table of contents of the fifth division. The title on the slides, “Since … now … until”, refer to the past, the present and the future in keeping with the theme of “time” in the title of the division, “When Will The Messiah Establish his Kingdom?” Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Since the creation…” He also said to his disciples, “Now in this age…” Finally the word until refers to the “world to come.”
So let’s look at the five stories we have here.
I. The Multitude 10:1
Jesus Taught The People Jesus went to Judea, to the other side of the Jordan and as he always did, he taught the people, because they came to Him. Although the Gospel writer will select four groups from the crowd in order to emphasize certain priorities we notice that Jesus taught all people without distinction or prejudice. This also reminds us that God took the form of a man, to speak to humanity. He did not speak as he did in the desert at Mt. Sinai, when he brought his people up from Egypt. There he spoke from a cloud that crashed with sounds of thunder and flashed with lightning. Ah, yes, we think of John the Baptist, who less than 3 short years earlier in the same spot, preached the word of God to the multitudes. Truly God had spoken to his people through these men!
Time And Times Now, in this division of the gospel we will look at an important element, that of time and times. The question that we are going to deal with is, “When will the Messiah do his work?” At the end of this division are the words pronounced by Jesus about the signs of the end and its coming in chapter 13. Those words conclude a whole division of this gospel that has to do with the theme of time and times, and the fulfillment of all that the Lord will accomplish.
But how do we know that the emphasis in this part is on time, the “when” of things? We know by the content. For example, when Jesus answers the Pharisees at the beginning of chapter 10 he takes them with his answer to the beginning of time, to the creation of the world. But we are going too fast! We have gotten ahead of ourselves. Let's take it in parts.
Four Groups Amongst that multitude that he was teaching on the other side of the Jordan were various groups, and they come to ask him questions. Out of the many groups and questions, John Mark chose four groups or individuals and writes an account, of what they said to Jesus, and of how the Teacher answered them.
II. The Pharisees 10:2-12
Divorce First the author presents the Pharisees who came to Jesus with a difficult question. That is not surprising. The Pharisees and the Herodians had joined forces to try to kill him. (3:6) On this occasion they came to ask about divorce. They will approach him again later about taxes. He was not dealing with a sympathetic audience. They were his enemies.
God’s Ideal and God’s Permission 2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. AV/KJV
Here Jesus faced a threatening audience. But Jesus knew how to deal with them. He in turn asked them a question.
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? AV/KJV
They boasted of knowing the law. And they had an answer, the orthodox answer.
4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. AV/KJV
Now he said to them very clearly, without beating around the bush, that Moses permitted them to divorce because of the hardness of their hearts, and not because it was God's ideal. What God permits and what he commands can be two different things. What are you looking for? God's ideal or what God permits? Help me, oh Lord, to seek your ideal and not just what you might permit! Oh, that this would be the prayer of each one of us.
God’s Ideal Then Jesus takes them still further back to the very creation of the world, and specifically to that of man and woman. He did not want to leave them thinking that his ideal was what Moses “permitted”, far from it! He took them to what was God's ideal, to what God commanded man when he created him. God created them male and female. Therefore the man was to leave his father and mother and be joined with his wife and they would become one. Therefore what God united no one was to separate.
An Earlier 'Divorce' But one has to stop and realize that the separation of the man from his wife was preceded by another separation, the one between God and man. Divorce and the separation of a man from his wife would not have occurred, if there had not been a terrible rupture of the relation between man and his Creator. At the root of all broken relationships is the broken relationship between man and God. And the attitude of the Pharisees was evidence of the problem that exists between the Lord and man.
III. The Children 10:13-16
Separating People From Their Maker When people brought children to the Lord for him to bless them, what happened then was sad. The disciples tried to shoo them away from the Master! The disciples began to show the same attitude as that of the Pharisees, of separating people from their Maker.
What Different Attitudes! What a contrast between the attitude of the Pharisees and the attitude of the children! In fact the Lord said that the children represented the attitude of those that were going to enter the kingdom of God. Surprising! Right? One would have thought that the attitude of the Pharisees, being religious people, would have been the model that the Lord would use to show us who would enter his kingdom. But this was not the case at all, and in fact it was the opposite; the children were commended, not the Pharisees!
10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein (AV/KJV).
Pharisees Last, Children First? Jesus put his hands upon the little ones and blessed them. In reality what the Lord did, if we can accept it, was to put the children first and the Pharisees last. He said that if we don't enter the kingdom of God as a child we would not enter it at all! That is to say to receive to the kingdom of God as a child is not an option, amongst others, but is the only way of receiving it. Jesus condemned the Pharisees telling them that it was because of their hard hearts that Moses had to write them what he wrote about divorce. The gospel writer makes it very clear in verse 2 of chapter 10 that they were testing him with this question.
Few Prejudices It's obvious that children are not perfect. On more than one occasion we have seen them complaining, crying, or arguing with another child. But the curious thing is that children have so few prejudices! At the same time that quality can be a great danger to them. A stranger can deceive them and kidnap them. But in the case of the Savior, this characteristic of the children helped them accept Jesus, without the prejudices of the Pharisees. Children don't concentrate on your accent, nor whether you are handsome or ugly, nor your height, nor your education, nor your background, nor how rich or poor you are, nor whether you are dressed in the latest fashion. They are attracted by your person, if you accept them or not, if you smile at them or not, if you take them in your arms or not, if you speak to them or not, if you spoil them or not, and if you treat them with love or not.
Children As Well As Mature Now Paul makes it clear that children can be deceived and speaks of the need to mature in the faith when he wrote in Ephesians 4:14 and 15, 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ…(AV/KJV).
In other words to enter the kingdom of God we are to be like children, without the prejudices against the Master that some people have. But as believers we should not be like children easily deceived, but rather we ought to mature in the faith, in order to be able to resist falsehood.
A Frame Of Mind Speaking of prejudices, on one occasion a group from the States joined us on the Christmas campaign of OM Mexico, with rather suspicious motives. We realized almost immediately that they had some negative attitudes. Then we were informed that they had come to the campaign for the sole purpose of trying to find mistakes and failures in the campaign! We knew we had our mistakes and failures but were very disappointed with this attitude. This was the frame of mind of the Pharisees when they came planning to put Jesus to the test.
In Arms There is something more that we should note about the children. The text says that they brought them for Jesus to touch them, and it says that he took them in his arms and put his hands on them. It is interesting that in the case of the children he was expected to touch them and hug them, provided that it was not with the intention of doing them harm or abusing them. Aside from what may be acceptable in each culture, much physical contact between adults is not expected in normal social dealings. But in the case of the children, when a visitor pays attention to the children, and takes them in arms, and plays with them; it is a sign that the visitor wants to make the host feel happy having paid attention to their child. I'm not sure I am carrying the imagery too far, but God who is our heavenly Father also takes us in his arms spiritually, to console us and to bless us.
When We Are Children, When We Become Like Children There is still something more. We have noted that this section of the gospel gives the answer to the question: When will the Messiah do his work? The simple answer is that he does his work in us when we are children. But he not only does his work in the children but also in those who become like children. Jesus took the Pharisees back to the beginning of everything, and spoke of what God did then, and in the time of Moses. Then he took the disciples back to that time when they were children. God is the God of beginnings, both of the world as well as of our own life.
Now the author investigates two other very different cases, the one quite different from the other.
IV. The Rich Man 10:17-22
Success? This first case is a man who is very wealthy because he had many possessions. Mark 10:17 says, And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life (AV/KJV)?
It seems that in the case of this man the Lord is going to have some success, because the man approaches Jesus with a positive attitude. He kneels before the Lord and asks a very important question. To our surprise the Lord does not answer him as expected. Again as with the Pharisees he answers with a question. Why do you call me good? There is no one good but God alone.
Flattery? The Pharisees attacked him with difficult questions and this man flatters him. He calls Jesus "good Master." What would have been your answer to this man? I have to admit that I would have fallen into the trap of believing that this man would have been a good disciple. Why look at how he respects the Master! He did not come with those ugly attitudes that the Pharisees have. This rich man is so positive! Why, with those attitudes and his money, the Teacher will accomplish a lot through him. Here we have potential for the kingdom! We need to take him seriously; let's give him a prominent position. Brilliant! At last we have a wealthy person who can support the work of God.
A Test But Jesus puts the rich man to the test. First he tells him he should comply with all the commandments, and the rich man answers that has he has kept them from his childhood. This is a serious guy! Besides, the text says that Jesus looking at him loved him. It sounds like it's all going very well. But Jesus was not finished speaking. The Lord saw that this man spoke in all seriousness and really loved him. Jesus saw that in order to inherit eternal life the man had made tremendous efforts to fulfill the commandments of God.
Up Market Garage Sale Jesus added something more. There still remained something else, sell all you have; give it to the poor and come follow me. Can you imagine the impact of such an event in Israel! We have to remember that this man was a very rich man, with many possessions. The time it would take him to sell everything that he had! Quite a "garage sale"! The economic impact on the people! Even more! The spiritual and moral impact!
Something Deeper Here But there is something deeper here. The man came explaining what he had done to inherit eternal life. And I believe that Jesus is telling him, "If you believe that eternal life is earned keeping the commandments, then earn eternal life, identifying with me and with the poor, since you called me good, and sell everything that you have and follow me." Now this man who wanted to inherit eternal life by keeping God's law, realizes he is not able to separate himself from his material goods and goes away sad. There is a huge difference between this man and Zacchaeus, the tax man. Zacchaeus repented and offered to repair the damages of his greed (Luke 19:1-10). Zacchaeus understood that salvation was based on mercy, not on works. Stop and think about this. How many of us could have done what Jesus told this rich man to do? I don’t think I could have done it. But how many of us might do what Zacchaeus did? I think there are those who would.
After all an inheritance is an inheritance. You do not fulfill, comply or do things for an inheritance. When the benefactor of the inheritance dies you, the beneficiary, simply receive it, as a gift! God's salvation, like an inheritance, is a gift. You don't earn it.
V. The Disciples 10:23-31
Very Difficult! Jesus expressed to the disciples that it is very difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples were amazed at this! I have understood that the people of their day believed that wealth was a sign of the blessing of God. Hadn't God said that he would bless his people if they followed him faithfully? They supposed that the rich had completely obeyed God? But Jesus continues to tell them with emphasis that it is very, very difficult for a rich man to be saved.
Who Can Be Saved? The disciples are still more amazed. And they exclaimed, “Who then can be saved?” In other words, if the rich are barely saved, how do the rest of us get save? For them the rich had the advantage, being so blessed by God, and if they were blessed so obviously by God and were not saved, it would be still more improbable that others be saved. Jesus fixed his gaze on them, and told them that what was impossible for men was possible for God. All things were possible with God. Eternal salvation was of God. It was not possible for man to save himself. In other words, no one, not even the rich, could save themselves. This was God's province exclusively! All of us have gone astray and nobody is able to save himself by his own merits. When the text says that Jesus looked at his disciples and spoke, it means that he gave them his full attention; that he spoke with all seriousness.
A Hundred Times Over In verse 28 Peter began to talk to Jesus about their case as his disciples. Peter told him, "…we have left everything and followed you." NASB-u In his answer to Peter the Lord made them understand that God had done that “miracle” in Peter and in the other disciples, the “miracle” of helping them understand his words. If they did not understand everything at that moment, they would come to understand it all later. And if they did not yet understand, or that some one of them never finally understood, as for example in the case of Judas, he assured them that understanding would come to them with time, and to the extent that they understood the height, width and depth of the gospel. Jesus then added that those who had given up all for the Lord, whether houses, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands; would receive a hundred times more now, of the same, houses, brothers, mothers, and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life.
How Does God Give Us 100 Times Over? But how do we receive all these things, and up to even a hundred times over? By the simple reason that when we become a part of the family of God on earth, we share in that family and the good things that accompany that relationship. This is not to say that legally we are owners of what belongs to another but jointly as a family we enjoy and we share the use of these goods and our family relationship. At the moment that I write these words I have been in the ministry 35 years, and it would be surprising to count the number of homes in which we have been shown hospitality, where they have fed us and where we have slept. Other believers have shared with us many things: houses, food, vehicles, computers, money, swimming pools, and an almost endless flood of material things, aside from the family ties we have as members of the family of God. And we must say something else. Many of those who shared with us were people in many countries that have less than we do materially.
God Gives, The World 'Gives' Jesus added another thing that did not escape anyone's notice. He said we would receive all these things with persecutions. Good things, yes, there are in the kingdom of God, and many. But at the same time that God shares with us his blessing, the world will react by rejecting us. We are a spiritual society rejected by another society that in scriptural terms is called "the world". How many of us have been converted and found that our own relatives reject us, but then find comfort in the new relationship we have in the church? This has occurred; we don't know how many times.
Now comes something that the Lord Jesus said had to do with these 4 groups: the Pharisees, the children, the rich and the disciples. He said that the first would be last and the last, first.
The First? The Pharisees and the religious in general were the first in Israel. The children occupied the lowest rank of all. We have seen how the Pharisees came tempting and testing Jesus without the disciples saying anything, but when the people brought the children the disciples opposed them. For the adults children were not so important. Jesus, on the other hand, told them that they had to become like children to enter the kingdom of God. In other words the children would enter the kingdom first, and the religious last.
The Last? We also observed how the rich man came to Jesus thinking that he could be saved by his many merits. Jesus, however, made it very clear that eternal salvation is impossible for man and still more difficult for the man that trusts in himself. The rich together with the religious were the first in Israel, and people such as the disciples, who were not rich, were the last, together with the children. But in the case of the disciples who learned to put their confidence and faith in the Master, were saved, becoming the first. In fact they even attained the positions of being the apostles of the Lamb of God. The rich, despite all their wealth, barely entered the kingdom, if at all.
But we will go still further with what the Lord said, when he said: "The first will be last and the last, first." I believe that this saying will take us beyond these five scenes to the following stories, on the road to Jerusalem. And although Jesus did not say this in the context of what follows in the following five stories, the evangelist uses the saying to introduce some ideas, represented by certain people, opposing ideas, but representing two sides of the same coin. We will see how servants will be great in the kingdom, and how he who is servant of all, will be first! (Mark 10:43 and 44)
Let's notice something about the time. If we agree that this part of the gospel has to do with time and the question, "When will the Messiah accomplish his work?", in the first two cases of this portion of Mark, 10:1-31 that covers four cases, we see that in the first two cases, the Pharisees and the children, that the Master carried them back in the history, to the beginning, the beginning of the world and the beginning of each life.
The Beginning And The End Now the Lord gets them to think about the future, the life to come. The rich man comes asking Jesus about inheriting eternal life. Later Jesus tells the disciples that those that have left all for him and for the gospel will be saved in the life to come.
In this way, the author of the gospel guided by the Spirit of God, places limits or parameters on his presentation in this fifth division of the gospel. They are the beginning and the end. When will the Messiah do his work? Well, actually, he has been doing his work since the beginning, when he created the world, and continues to do it until the end, in the life to come.
Questions To Aid In The Study Of This Section, Mark 10:1-31 1. Where did Jesus go in this section? What four groups did he deal with there? 2. In what ways did these groups differ from each other? 3. What did Jesus emphasize with each group? 4. With which group do you identify with the most? The least? 5. Will you be first or last and what does that mean?
©Copyright 2006-2046 John (Jack) W Rendel. All rights reserved. |
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