By: Dale Weckbacher
Text: Mark
10:13-31
Mark 10:24-26
And the
disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them
again, “Children, how difficult it is[a] 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 person to enter the kingdom of
God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and
said to him,[b] “Then who can be
saved?”
(ESV)
If there is a thesis statement providing the overall theme
of the Bible, it would be John
3:16. This is because it begins with
the statement that God loves, not just a certain elect few individuals, but the
world. This includes everyone reading
this no matter what your background is. It
also tells us of a giving God that gave the world his most precious thing, His
only Son, Jesus. It also tells us that by
believing in Jesus as our Savior, we can experience eternal life. This single verse is not only the most
recognized and memorized verse in the Bible but also summarizes the message of
the Gospel and the heart of God.
While we could leave this posting and move on with just
focusing on the message of John
3:16, the text of Mark
10:13-31 provides depth about both the kingdom of God and eternal
life. The text accomplishes this by
illustrating two interactions during Jesus’ ministry, His interaction with the
disciples regarding people bringing their children to Him and a rich young
man. Let us begin by looking at the interactions
with the disciples.
As was customary wherever Jesus went, a crowd has
gathered. However, this crowd is not
seeking Jesus for healing or teaching and instead, bringing their children to
Jesus so He might touch them. The fact
that they want Jesus to touch their children implies they may have required
healing or the casting out of demons which were usually why people sought to
have Jesus touch them (Mark
10:13). However, the reaction of
rebuke by the disciples may indicate that the people were bringing their
children to Jesus just to meet Him (Mark
10:14). The disciples might have
viewed this as the people wasting Jesus’ time, time he could have used to heal
or cast out demons. Jesus’ indignation
indicates His desire to meet these children for they need Jesus just as much as
the adults (Mark
10:14; Romans 3:23). However, Jesus uses
this occasion to teach that we all must approach Him like these children (Mark
10:15-16). These children are
totally dependent on the adults in their lives and blessed to have adults in
their life who understand their need to meet Jesus. We must all be thankful for those in our
lives, whether they were our parents or someone else, that introduced us to
Jesus. Jesus’ illustration to the
disciples is a lesson that we all must approach Jesus like these children did
who would have viewed Jesus as another adult in their life they could depend
on. However, Jesus is not just any adult
but an adult these children may have seen perform miracles of healing and
casting out of demons.
Mark
10:17-31 records the account of Jesus’ interaction with a wealthy man. The man approaches Jesus by calling Him a
“good teacher” and asking what he must do to inherit eternal life (Mark
10:17). Jesus could have told this
man the same thing he told Nicodemus (John
3:16). However, Jesus knew this man
had an idol in his life that stood between him and intimacy with God, his
attachment to his wealth. I must pause
at this point to remind us to take this passage in context and not use it as
Jesus condemning one having wealth for it was not this man’s wealth that separated
him from eternal life and entrance into the kingdom of God but his attachment
to it (1
Timothy 6:10).
Jesus’ interaction with this young man was offering Him an
opportunity to detach from his wealth and enter into a relationship with God
that would result in his inheriting eternal life and becoming part of the
kingdom of God. In this interaction, we
see Jesus first asking the man if he has obeyed six of the Ten Commandments (Mark
10:19). These six commandments are
the commandments about how we are to interact with others. The man responds by acknowledging he has been
obedient to these commands, possibly believing he had already done what is necessary
to inherit eternal life and entrance into the kingdom of God. However, Jesus looks upon the man lovingly
and tells him he lacks one thing. By
asking the man to share his wealth with others, Jesus is testing the man's
obedience to the other four Commandments of having no other gods, loving his
neighbor, not having any idols, and honoring God (Mark
10:21). Sadly, the fact that the man
became disheartened and walked away illustrates he was not prepared to detach
from the idol of wealth in his life.
In Jesus’ discourse with the disciples after His interaction
with the young man, he uses the illustration of a camel passing through the eye
of a needle (Mark
10:23-25). Jesus’ use of something physically impossible
causes the disciples to interpret Jesus saying no one can be saved (Mark
10:26). However, Jesus was not saying
it is impossible to be saved but instead that it is possible with God,
something He would accomplish on the cross (Mark
10:27). Peter responds with telling
Jesus He and his fellow disciples have left everything to follow Jesus to which
Jesus responds with reminding them they will receive a reward both in this life
and eternal life as part of the kingdom of God (Mark
10:28-31).
Finding the kingdom of God and inheriting eternal life
begins with receiving God’s justification and not His judgment (John
3:16-17). To accomplish this one
must take the first step of coming to Jesus with the attitude of a child
knowing he or she has sinned, facing death, and in need of a savior (Romans
3:23; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8). If you
are reading this and have not taken this first step, I invite you to pray with
me now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
I encourage everyone reading this to not be like the young
man and run from God when he asks us to rid our lives of some idol and instead
to respond as a child out of obedience and dependence to do what God wants you
to do. I am saying this as one who also
has idols in his life that God is convicting me to abandon so I can have closer
intimacy with God as part of the transformative process of Romans
12:2. May God bless everyone reading
this.
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