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All right, welcome back to The Listener's Commentary on the Gospel of Mark.
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The Listener's Commentary is a listener-supported Bible teaching project that aims to provide down-to-earth Bible teaching to people all around the world.
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And all donations are received in partnership with World Family Mission and provide some financial oversight to this ministry.
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All right, in this recording, we're going to be looking at Mark chapter 10 verses 13 through 31.
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And to set that section in context, let's just recall some of the things we said in our last recording on Mark 10, one through 12, where we noted that there are just several snapshots here in the first little bit of Mark chapter 10 that really carry forward two important themes of Mark's gospel.
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The first is the demands of discipleship to Jesus.
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In Mark 10, one through 12, it was about marriage.
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Here in this recording, it's going to be looking at children and status and money.
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And then the idea of the continuing teaching of the 12, where Jesus will frequently pull the 12 aside and Mark will show us him teaching them and preparing them for what lies ahead and for the mission to follow after Jesus is gone.
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And so in this recording here, we're going to look at Jesus' important words about children and about discipleship and about entering the kingdom in relationship to children.
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That's Mark 10, 13 through 16.
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And then also about money and status in 10, 17 through 31.
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And in some regard, these two stories go together.
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Both discuss receiving or entering the kingdom of God.
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And they seem to present a powerful contrast.
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You have a rich and a powerful man in the rich young ruler.
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And then you have the weak and the powerless in the kids.
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One is commended, the weak and the powerless, and one is called to divest himself of his wealth and his status, the rich young ruler.
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And so these two stories go together in helping us think through what does it mean to, what's entailed in entering into the kingdom of God.
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Let's pick up in Mark 10 verse 13, and it says this, they were bringing children to him, that is to Jesus, so that he would touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
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Now that phrase, so that he would touch them, that just sounds a little weird and awkward, but what it refers to is laying his hands on them to bless them, bless the children, as we'll see at the very end of this snapshot.
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And no age is specified here in the text, but the word that Mark uses could refer to babies, or it could refer to maybe elementary-aged children.
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The parallel in Luke specifies babies, and that's likely what is meant here, particularly in view of the fact that Jesus, when he does bless them, will pick them up in his arms.
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And so we should picture small children here.
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And why would the disciples rebuke people for bringing their children to Jesus?
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Well, although Jews loved their own children, children had no social status, and they had no social power.
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They could contribute nothing to Jesus' kingdom and mission.
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At least that's how the disciples would have seen it.
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And that's why they rebuke him.
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And so he doesn't have time for that.
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He's the Messiah after all, right?
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That's the idea.
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But verse 14, when Jesus saw this, that is when he saw his disciples rebuke people trying to bring their kids to him, he was indignant.
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Notice the strong word there.
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He was indignant.
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Jesus was angry with his disciples because they're fundamentally misunderstanding the priorities of his kingdom and the importance of children.
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And so Jesus is actually going to go on and help them and us and anyone who reads this account see how important children are and that they actually teach an important lesson about what it means to be a part of Jesus' kingdom.
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And so, he was indignant and said to them, allow the children to come to me.
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Don't forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
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Notice that, that Jesus says, no, you gotta stop that.
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You gotta allow the kids to come to me.
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The kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
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Disciples need to learn that Jesus' kingdom is different.
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Its values are different.
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So it belongs, the kingdom of God belongs to people like these little tiny children.
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The idea seems to be that their helplessness and their lowliness is the character traits that are important in entering into the kingdom of God.
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Those qualities are crucial to the kingdom.
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So Jesus says in verse 15, truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God, like a child, will not enter it at all.
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And notice what he says, receive the kingdom like a child.
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Receiving the kingdom is essentially equivalent to entering into it, and that will connect this scene with the scene that follows, where it talks about entering into the kingdom.
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But receiving it, the reason that word is used here, receiving the kingdom, fits with the emphasis on childlikeness here.
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And it depicts the person who welcomes or enters into the kingdom as someone who simply receives what's given to him.
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That's the nature of that word.
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This is what children have to do, especially tiny children.
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They receive, they don't take, they can't make anything happen.
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They can only receive what's given to them because they are powerless and helpless to do otherwise.
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And so this is how we enter into and experience the kingdom of God.
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We must simply open our hands and receive it.
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That's the point.
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And Jesus is doubly emphatic about this.
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Notice verse 15 begins with, truly I say to you, that's to emphasize what he's about to say.
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And then he says at the end, they will not enter it at all.
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Like he's doubly emphatic about this, that the only way to enter into the kingdom of God is to receive it like a child with open hands.
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And then verse 16, Jesus took the little children in his arms and he began blessing them, laying his hands on them.
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And so he rebukes the disciples for trying to stop this from happening, teaches a powerful lesson that kids, little tiny kids can teach us about entering into the kingdom of God.
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And then he actually fulfills the parents wishes and blesses the children, lays his hands on them.
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So that's the snapshot about children.
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Now, the next snapshot contrasts sharply with this one.
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And instead of a weak, helpless, and socially powerless child, the next little snapshot, we have a rich and powerful man.
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And so verse 17 says, he was setting out on a journey and a man ran up to him and knelt before him and asked him, good teacher, what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?
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Now, notice Jesus set out on a journey.
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That is, he left wherever he's at and he's heading somewhere.
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And we know in the flow of Mark's Gospel here in chapter 10, where Jesus ultimately is heading.
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Chapter 10 verse one, told us that he had headed down to Judea.
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Verse 32 is gonna tell us that they're going to Jerusalem.
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And so this is Jesus' trip to Jerusalem, ultimately for the final Passover and Jesus' death.
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And so they're leaving wherever they're at and they're heading somewhere.
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And this wealthy man runs up to Jesus and kneels before him.
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And for a man of his wealth and status to kneel before Jesus is a sign of incredible respect.
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And it would suggest then that his motives really are pure.
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There's no hint of testing Jesus here.
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He actually kneels before him to honor Jesus.
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He even calls him a good teacher.
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And what he wants to know is how he can inherit eternal life.
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And in a Jewish context, that means how can he participate in the life of the age to come?
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In the discussion that follows, it's described as entering into the kingdom of God.
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It's described as being saved.
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We just have to be sure to hear those phrases the way the Jews of the day used them.
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Not merely going to heaven when you die, but inheriting the life of the coming time when God restores all things.
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That's what it means to enter into the kingdom of God.
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More on that in a second.
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Also, I've heard people say that here's the man's problem.
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This man thinks he can do something to earn eternal life, but that's really, that misunderstands what he's asking here.
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That's not the issue.
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In fact, Jesus actually responds to him by telling him to do something.
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So that's not really the problem here.
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What is the problem?
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Well, the problem is what he depends on.
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And that is he depends on his wealth and his status, and that becomes clear in how Jesus instructs him.
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So let's keep walking down through the story.
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Jesus is first going to challenge him to think more deeply about the way he addressed Jesus himself.
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So verse 18.
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But Jesus said to him, so this man runs up, kneels before Jesus, good teacher.
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But Jesus said to him, why do you call me good?
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No one is good except God alone.
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Jesus is challenging this man to think more clearly and deeply about human goodness.
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Human goodness is relative, and compared to God's goodness, no human is really good.
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The way the statement literally reads is, no one is good except one, God.
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He is the ultimate standard of goodness.
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He is the ultimate source of goodness.
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So I tend to think that Jesus is actually inviting this man to consider if he really believes what he just said about Jesus.
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If you're going to call me good in almost an absolute sense, do you actually know what you're saying and do you believe it?
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I tend to think that's what Jesus is doing by saying, do you know what it means?
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No one is good except God alone.
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Then Jesus goes on to answer the man's question.
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The man's question is, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life?
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And Jesus answers his question by listing off several of the Ten Commandments.
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Ones that it would have been obvious whether someone was keeping them or not.
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So Jesus lists them off in verse 19.
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You know the commandments.
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Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't give false testimony, don't defraud, honor your father and mother.
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These are five of the Ten Commandments, five that would have been obvious if someone was actually doing them or not.
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One stands out as unique, and that is do not defraud.
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It's technically not one of the Ten Commandments.
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It probably, in the case of the list here, seems to stand in the place of do not covet.
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And perhaps it's sort of like a specific application of it.
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Coveting is hard to see, right?
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That's an internal desire.
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But defrauding others is a common way rich and powerful people demonstrate their coveting, their greed.
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And that may be where the do not defraud comes from here in this list.
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The main thing is that Jesus points the man back to the commandments, commandments that were at the heart of the Old Testament law in walking with God and that Old Testament law, the law of Moses, promised life for keeping its commands.
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And so this all makes perfect sense in the Jewish thought world.
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And here's how this man responds to Jesus, verse 20.
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He said to him, Teacher, I've kept all these things from my youth.
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In fact, most observant Jews of Jesus' day would say the same thing, especially in terms of concrete outward conformity to these commands.
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Jesus, of course, in his well-known Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, emphasizes the surpassing righteousness that goes beyond external conformity and gets to the heart of the matter.
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But there was a kind of righteousness that came from the law.
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Even the Apostle Paul acknowledged that about himself in Philippians chapter 3, that as to the law, the righteousness that's in the law, found blameless in Philippians chapter 3, right?
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That's what this man is saying.
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The man's reply here is to affirm that he's been a faithful, obedient, observant Jew, and yet he still senses something is lacking.
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And that's why he's here talking to Jesus.
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So Jesus then points out what's lacking.
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What's the one thing that he really needs?
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Verse 21, Looking at him, Jesus showed love to 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.
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Notice the opening phrase, Jesus showed love to him.
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That phrase literally is just Jesus loved him.
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I don't know why they translated it, showed love.
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Maybe they're trying to get at the sense that there was some sort of tangible action.
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But that's not really the point.
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The point is, Jesus sees this man, sees his sincerity, sees his earnestness, and he felt a love for him.
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He loved him.
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And he recognized that this man was sincere about all this.
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And so he's moved to compassion for him.
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And Jesus doesn't typically require people to sell everything in order to follow him.
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So why does he require that of this man?
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Well, because for this man, this is what denying yourself and taking up your cross looks like.
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Like if this man is going to deny himself and follow Jesus, this is what it's going to require of him.
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In Mark chapter 8, right, the general call to following Jesus is to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus.
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But the specifics are going to look different for each person.
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And for this particular man, denying himself looks like selling everything and giving to the poor.
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And this is because Jesus knew what he was really depending on, what he was really looking to for life, what he really valued, what he had, all he had.
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Well, that's what he actually lacked.
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Having so much led to lacking the key thing.
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And so if he is going to have treasure in heaven, he's going to have to give up his treasure on earth.
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That's what Jesus says.
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Now, it's important for us to clarify that when we talk about treasure in heaven, right?
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Jesus says to this man, sell everything you possess, and you'll have treasure in heaven.
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That in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus clarifies that treasure in heaven has to do with what you value.
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That is what you treasure.
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Things on earth versus things in heaven.
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So it's not merely that you'll get more treasure when you get to heaven.
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That's not the point of treasure in heaven.
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It's what do you value in life?
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Where are your highest priorities and your deepest values?
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So what's standing in the way of this man having treasure in heaven is that he's got such a huge treasure on earth.
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If he's gonna get rid of that, then he could actually have more treasure in heaven.
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He'll value things there more.
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Now, verse 22 tells us how the man responded.
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He was deeply dismayed by these words, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
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Notice that, that this man's response to Jesus' words is, Oh man, he went away grieving and dismayed.
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And this indicates the problem.
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This is why Jesus challenged him to sell everything.
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It's because his heart, his identity, his life, was caught up with how much he owned.
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He owned much property.
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And this was something that he wasn't quite prepared for when he asked Jesus his question.
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Jesus now then turns to his disciples, keeping with this theme of privately teaching his disciples, and he turns this into a lesson on discipleship for them.
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He's training them, preparing them for what lies ahead, right?
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Focusing more and more on his teaching of the Twelve.
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Well, here's another important lesson about the Kingdom of God that changes what they expected.
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So look at verse 23.
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Jesus, looking around, said to his disciples, how hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God.
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Recall what the Kingdom of God means.
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It means God's reign or God's kingship.
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And entering into that kingdom happens now.
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In the case of this man, this wealthy man, it would have happened right away.
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He would have entered into the Kingdom of God had he done what Jesus had said, sold everything he had and come and follow Jesus.
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Why?
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Well, because Jesus, as Mark has shown and Jesus said, Jesus bringing the Kingdom into the world beginning then.
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Granted, the Kingdom of God will come in complete fullness when Jesus returns.
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That's why we pray, your Kingdom come, your will be done.
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But the Kingdom starts now.
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And so we enter into God's Kingdom by attaching ourselves to Jesus, the King.
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And this particular man was being invited into that by what Jesus had to say.
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So Jesus tells the disciples now, it's going to be really hard for those who are wealthy to enter into the Kingdom of God.
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And in saying that, Jesus challenges their preconceived notions and cultural assumptions.
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The wealthy were viewed as being particularly blessed by God.
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That's why they're wealthy.
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Often, the wealthy were more educated, including in the law, and they had more time to study the law because of their wealth allowed them that leisure and that freedom.
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So surely they were the most likely to enter the Kingdom of God, right?
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Like they had the opportunity to spend more time studying God's law.
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They were the most likely to enter and inherit his kingdom.
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And so, verse 24, the disciples were amazed at Jesus' words.
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Like, wow, like it's hard for the wealthy to enter into that.
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But Jesus responded again and said to them, children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God.
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And then Jesus paints a word picture to emphasize how hard it is.
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How hard is it?
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Well, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of God.
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Wealth creates a barrier to entering the Kingdom of God, is what Jesus is saying.
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So much of a barrier that it's like a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle.
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Now, perhaps you've heard the idea that there was a gate in Jerusalem called the Needles Eye, and that's what Jesus is referring to.
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That sounds nice, right?
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It's just that we have no evidence of that, at least no evidence until medieval times.
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And so that's not the point.
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Jesus is simply using a dramatic word picture, hyperbole, to make a point.
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It's impossible.
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You can't get a camel through the eye of a needle, and it's impossible for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of God while trusting in their riches.
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And that's this man's problem, and that's the lesson for disciples then and disciples today.
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Well, verse 26, They were even more astonished and said to him, Wow, if it's that impossible, if there's no way you can do it, then who can be saved?
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And looking at them, Jesus said, With people it's impossible, but not with God.
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For all things are possible with God.
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Salvation, being saved, entering into the kingdom of God, it's only possible if God does it with divine intervention.
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Being saved is only possible for someone by looking to God and trusting God because only God can save.
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Well, Peter, hearing this whole discussion, participating in this discussion, he looks at them and he looks at Jesus and he looks at his friends, right, the twelve, and here's how he responds, verse 28.
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Peter began to say to him, Behold, we've left everything and have followed you, right?
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Like, you asked this man to do that?
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We sort of did that.
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Like, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, they all had a fishing business together, and thus they had some measure of wealth, right?
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Maybe not super wealthy, but enough wealth to have a fishing venture that was at least providing for their families, and they left their boats and their nets and thus their business behind to follow Jesus.
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Matthew, Matthew had been a tax collector and was wealthy, and so as a person of means, he gave all that up to follow Jesus, right?
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We don't necessarily know about the others, per se, but at least some of the twelve had given up significant livelihoods in order to follow Jesus.
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So Jesus affirms them that their path is right.
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Verse 29, Jesus said to them, 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, but 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.
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The idea here is renouncing the specifics of our life for the sake of Jesus and the gospel.
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That's what it means to deny yourself, right?
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Like, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me, Jesus had said in Mark chapter 8.
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Well, what does it mean?
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Well, it means we have to renounce the specifics of our life for the sake of Jesus and the gospel.
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That's the point.
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And what one gains when one does that is a hundred times as much more what they give up.
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What one gains for following Jesus eclipses what one forsakes.
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And notice Jesus lists off people, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, farms.
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What he seems to be getting at is that you're going to give maybe all those things up for the sake of following Jesus, but you're going to get like a new family, the new family of Jesus.
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And thus, you're going to have more brothers and sisters, mothers and children.
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You're going to have more people around you, is what Jesus seems to be saying.
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But you're also going to get persecutions with that.
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You're going to get persecutions along with all that.
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It's not always going to be easy, right?
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And then Jesus ends with sort of a proverbial statement in verse 31.
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But many who are first will be last and the last first.
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That is, those who by the world's values and the world's standards are at the front of the line, they're actually at the back of the line in Jesus' kingdom.
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The rich young ruler, the wealthy man in this story, to all appearances, was well off.
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He was a first, but he left sad.
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And many others who look small, little, least, right?
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By the world's standards, they don't hold much, like a little child.
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They might be little and small and seemingly unimportant, but they're actually first.
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And that's really, I think, the heart of these two stories when they stand side by side like this, that receiving the kingdom, entering the kingdom, really means we need to come small, like a child, like an infant.
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Right here you have a little child, and then you have a rich and powerful man.
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Well, we need to come, renounce those things that are roadblocks to receiving the kingdom, divest ourselves of them, open our hands, and simply receive it like a child.
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That's how we enter into the Kingdom of God.
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God bless.
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All right, welcome back to The Listener's Commentary on the Gospel of Mark.
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The Listener's Commentary is a listener-supported Bible teaching project that aims to provide down-to-earth Bible teaching to people all around the world.
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And so if you want to help support this ministry, you can do so by going to listenerscommentary.com, listenerscommentary.com, clicking the give button and setting up a one-time or a recurring monthly donation.
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And all donations are received in partnership with World Family Mission and provide some financial oversight to this ministry.
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All right, in this recording, we're going to be looking at Mark chapter 10 verses 13 through 31.
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And to set that section in context, let's just recall some of the things we said in our last recording on Mark 10, one through 12, where we noted that there are just several snapshots here in the first little bit of Mark chapter 10 that really carry forward two important themes of Mark's gospel.
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The first is the demands of discipleship to Jesus.
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In Mark 10, one through 12, it was about marriage.
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Here in this recording, it's going to be looking at children and status and money.
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And then the idea of the continuing teaching of the 12, where Jesus will frequently pull the 12 aside and Mark will show us him teaching them and preparing them for what lies ahead and for the mission to follow after Jesus is gone.
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And so in this recording here, we're going to look at Jesus' important words about children and about discipleship and about entering the kingdom in relationship to children.
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That's Mark 10, 13 through 16.
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And then also about money and status in 10, 17 through 31.
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And in some regard, these two stories go together.
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Both discuss receiving or entering the kingdom of God.
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And they seem to present a powerful contrast.
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You have a rich and a powerful man in the rich young ruler.
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And then you have the weak and the powerless in the kids.
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One is commended, the weak and the powerless, and one is called to divest himself of his wealth and his status, the rich young ruler.
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And so these two stories go together in helping us think through what does it mean to, what's entailed in entering into the kingdom of God.
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Let's pick up in Mark 10 verse 13, and it says this, they were bringing children to him, that is to Jesus, so that he would touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
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Now that phrase, so that he would touch them, that just sounds a little weird and awkward, but what it refers to is laying his hands on them to bless them, bless the children, as we'll see at the very end of this snapshot.
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And no age is specified here in the text, but the word that Mark uses could refer to babies, or it could refer to maybe elementary-aged children.
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The parallel in Luke specifies babies, and that's likely what is meant here, particularly in view of the fact that Jesus, when he does bless them, will pick them up in his arms.
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And so we should picture small children here.
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And why would the disciples rebuke people for bringing their children to Jesus?
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Well, although Jews loved their own children, children had no social status, and they had no social power.
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They could contribute nothing to Jesus' kingdom and mission.
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At least that's how the disciples would have seen it.
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And that's why they rebuke him.
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And so he doesn't have time for that.
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He's the Messiah after all, right?
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That's the idea.
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But verse 14, when Jesus saw this, that is when he saw his disciples rebuke people trying to bring their kids to him, he was indignant.
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Notice the strong word there.
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He was indignant.
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Jesus was angry with his disciples because they're fundamentally misunderstanding the priorities of his kingdom and the importance of children.
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And so Jesus is actually going to go on and help them and us and anyone who reads this account see how important children are and that they actually teach an important lesson about what it means to be a part of Jesus' kingdom.
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And so, he was indignant and said to them, allow the children to come to me.
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Don't forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
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Notice that, that Jesus says, no, you gotta stop that.
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You gotta allow the kids to come to me.
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The kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
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Disciples need to learn that Jesus' kingdom is different.
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Its values are different.
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So it belongs, the kingdom of God belongs to people like these little tiny children.
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The idea seems to be that their helplessness and their lowliness is the character traits that are important in entering into the kingdom of God.
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Those qualities are crucial to the kingdom.
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So Jesus says in verse 15, truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God, like a child, will not enter it at all.
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And notice what he says, receive the kingdom like a child.
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Receiving the kingdom is essentially equivalent to entering into it, and that will connect this scene with the scene that follows, where it talks about entering into the kingdom.
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But receiving it, the reason that word is used here, receiving the kingdom, fits with the emphasis on childlikeness here.
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And it depicts the person who welcomes or enters into the kingdom as someone who simply receives what's given to him.
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That's the nature of that word.
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This is what children have to do, especially tiny children.
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They receive, they don't take, they can't make anything happen.
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They can only receive what's given to them because they are powerless and helpless to do otherwise.
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And so this is how we enter into and experience the kingdom of God.
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We must simply open our hands and receive it.
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That's the point.
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And Jesus is doubly emphatic about this.
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Notice verse 15 begins with, truly I say to you, that's to emphasize what he's about to say.
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And then he says at the end, they will not enter it at all.
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Like he's doubly emphatic about this, that the only way to enter into the kingdom of God is to receive it like a child with open hands.
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And then verse 16, Jesus took the little children in his arms and he began blessing them, laying his hands on them.
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And so he rebukes the disciples for trying to stop this from happening, teaches a powerful lesson that kids, little tiny kids can teach us about entering into the kingdom of God.
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And then he actually fulfills the parents wishes and blesses the children, lays his hands on them.
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So that's the snapshot about children.
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Now, the next snapshot contrasts sharply with this one.
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And instead of a weak, helpless, and socially powerless child, the next little snapshot, we have a rich and powerful man.
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And so verse 17 says, he was setting out on a journey and a man ran up to him and knelt before him and asked him, good teacher, what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?
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Now, notice Jesus set out on a journey.
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That is, he left wherever he's at and he's heading somewhere.
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And we know in the flow of Mark's Gospel here in chapter 10, where Jesus ultimately is heading.
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Chapter 10 verse one, told us that he had headed down to Judea.
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Verse 32 is gonna tell us that they're going to Jerusalem.
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And so this is Jesus' trip to Jerusalem, ultimately for the final Passover and Jesus' death.
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And so they're leaving wherever they're at and they're heading somewhere.
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And this wealthy man runs up to Jesus and kneels before him.
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And for a man of his wealth and status to kneel before Jesus is a sign of incredible respect.
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And it would suggest then that his motives really are pure.
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There's no hint of testing Jesus here.
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He actually kneels before him to honor Jesus.
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He even calls him a good teacher.
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And what he wants to know is how he can inherit eternal life.
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And in a Jewish context, that means how can he participate in the life of the age to come?
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In the discussion that follows, it's described as entering into the kingdom of God.
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It's described as being saved.
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We just have to be sure to hear those phrases the way the Jews of the day used them.
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Not merely going to heaven when you die, but inheriting the life of the coming time when God restores all things.
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That's what it means to enter into the kingdom of God.
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More on that in a second.
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Also, I've heard people say that here's the man's problem.
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This man thinks he can do something to earn eternal life, but that's really, that misunderstands what he's asking here.
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That's not the issue.
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In fact, Jesus actually responds to him by telling him to do something.
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So that's not really the problem here.
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What is the problem?
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Well, the problem is what he depends on.
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And that is he depends on his wealth and his status, and that becomes clear in how Jesus instructs him.
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So let's keep walking down through the story.
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Jesus is first going to challenge him to think more deeply about the way he addressed Jesus himself.
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So verse 18.
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But Jesus said to him, so this man runs up, kneels before Jesus, good teacher.
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But Jesus said to him, why do you call me good?
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No one is good except God alone.
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Jesus is challenging this man to think more clearly and deeply about human goodness.
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Human goodness is relative, and compared to God's goodness, no human is really good.
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The way the statement literally reads is, no one is good except one, God.
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He is the ultimate standard of goodness.
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He is the ultimate source of goodness.
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So I tend to think that Jesus is actually inviting this man to consider if he really believes what he just said about Jesus.
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If you're going to call me good in almost an absolute sense, do you actually know what you're saying and do you believe it?
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I tend to think that's what Jesus is doing by saying, do you know what it means?
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No one is good except God alone.
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Then Jesus goes on to answer the man's question.
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The man's question is, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life?
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And Jesus answers his question by listing off several of the Ten Commandments.
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Ones that it would have been obvious whether someone was keeping them or not.
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So Jesus lists them off in verse 19.
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You know the commandments.
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Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't give false testimony, don't defraud, honor your father and mother.
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These are five of the Ten Commandments, five that would have been obvious if someone was actually doing them or not.
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One stands out as unique, and that is do not defraud.
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It's technically not one of the Ten Commandments.
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It probably, in the case of the list here, seems to stand in the place of do not covet.
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And perhaps it's sort of like a specific application of it.
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Coveting is hard to see, right?
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That's an internal desire.
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But defrauding others is a common way rich and powerful people demonstrate their coveting, their greed.
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And that may be where the do not defraud comes from here in this list.
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The main thing is that Jesus points the man back to the commandments, commandments that were at the heart of the Old Testament law in walking with God and that Old Testament law, the law of Moses, promised life for keeping its commands.
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And so this all makes perfect sense in the Jewish thought world.
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And here's how this man responds to Jesus, verse 20.
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He said to him, Teacher, I've kept all these things from my youth.
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In fact, most observant Jews of Jesus' day would say the same thing, especially in terms of concrete outward conformity to these commands.
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Jesus, of course, in his well-known Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, emphasizes the surpassing righteousness that goes beyond external conformity and gets to the heart of the matter.
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But there was a kind of righteousness that came from the law.
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Even the Apostle Paul acknowledged that about himself in Philippians chapter 3, that as to the law, the righteousness that's in the law, found blameless in Philippians chapter 3, right?
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That's what this man is saying.
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The man's reply here is to affirm that he's been a faithful, obedient, observant Jew, and yet he still senses something is lacking.
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And that's why he's here talking to Jesus.
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So Jesus then points out what's lacking.
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What's the one thing that he really needs?
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Verse 21, Looking at him, Jesus showed love to 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.
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Notice the opening phrase, Jesus showed love to him.
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That phrase literally is just Jesus loved him.
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I don't know why they translated it, showed love.
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Maybe they're trying to get at the sense that there was some sort of tangible action.
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But that's not really the point.
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The point is, Jesus sees this man, sees his sincerity, sees his earnestness, and he felt a love for him.
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He loved him.
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And he recognized that this man was sincere about all this.
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And so he's moved to compassion for him.
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And Jesus doesn't typically require people to sell everything in order to follow him.
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So why does he require that of this man?
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Well, because for this man, this is what denying yourself and taking up your cross looks like.
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Like if this man is going to deny himself and follow Jesus, this is what it's going to require of him.
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In Mark chapter 8, right, the general call to following Jesus is to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus.
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But the specifics are going to look different for each person.
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And for this particular man, denying himself looks like selling everything and giving to the poor.
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And this is because Jesus knew what he was really depending on, what he was really looking to for life, what he really valued, what he had, all he had.
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Well, that's what he actually lacked.
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Having so much led to lacking the key thing.
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And so if he is going to have treasure in heaven, he's going to have to give up his treasure on earth.
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That's what Jesus says.
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Now, it's important for us to clarify that when we talk about treasure in heaven, right?
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Jesus says to this man, sell everything you possess, and you'll have treasure in heaven.
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That in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus clarifies that treasure in heaven has to do with what you value.
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That is what you treasure.
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Things on earth versus things in heaven.
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So it's not merely that you'll get more treasure when you get to heaven.
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That's not the point of treasure in heaven.
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It's what do you value in life?
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Where are your highest priorities and your deepest values?
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So what's standing in the way of this man having treasure in heaven is that he's got such a huge treasure on earth.
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If he's gonna get rid of that, then he could actually have more treasure in heaven.
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He'll value things there more.
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Now, verse 22 tells us how the man responded.
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He was deeply dismayed by these words, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
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Notice that, that this man's response to Jesus' words is, Oh man, he went away grieving and dismayed.
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And this indicates the problem.
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This is why Jesus challenged him to sell everything.
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It's because his heart, his identity, his life, was caught up with how much he owned.
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He owned much property.
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And this was something that he wasn't quite prepared for when he asked Jesus his question.
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Jesus now then turns to his disciples, keeping with this theme of privately teaching his disciples, and he turns this into a lesson on discipleship for them.
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He's training them, preparing them for what lies ahead, right?
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Focusing more and more on his teaching of the Twelve.
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Well, here's another important lesson about the Kingdom of God that changes what they expected.
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So look at verse 23.
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Jesus, looking around, said to his disciples, how hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God.
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Recall what the Kingdom of God means.
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It means God's reign or God's kingship.
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And entering into that kingdom happens now.
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In the case of this man, this wealthy man, it would have happened right away.
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He would have entered into the Kingdom of God had he done what Jesus had said, sold everything he had and come and follow Jesus.
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Why?
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Well, because Jesus, as Mark has shown and Jesus said, Jesus bringing the Kingdom into the world beginning then.
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Granted, the Kingdom of God will come in complete fullness when Jesus returns.
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That's why we pray, your Kingdom come, your will be done.
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But the Kingdom starts now.
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And so we enter into God's Kingdom by attaching ourselves to Jesus, the King.
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And this particular man was being invited into that by what Jesus had to say.
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So Jesus tells the disciples now, it's going to be really hard for those who are wealthy to enter into the Kingdom of God.
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And in saying that, Jesus challenges their preconceived notions and cultural assumptions.
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The wealthy were viewed as being particularly blessed by God.
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That's why they're wealthy.
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Often, the wealthy were more educated, including in the law, and they had more time to study the law because of their wealth allowed them that leisure and that freedom.
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So surely they were the most likely to enter the Kingdom of God, right?
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Like they had the opportunity to spend more time studying God's law.
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They were the most likely to enter and inherit his kingdom.
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And so, verse 24, the disciples were amazed at Jesus' words.
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Like, wow, like it's hard for the wealthy to enter into that.
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But Jesus responded again and said to them, children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God.
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And then Jesus paints a word picture to emphasize how hard it is.
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How hard is it?
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Well, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of God.
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Wealth creates a barrier to entering the Kingdom of God, is what Jesus is saying.
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So much of a barrier that it's like a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle.
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Now, perhaps you've heard the idea that there was a gate in Jerusalem called the Needles Eye, and that's what Jesus is referring to.
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That sounds nice, right?
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It's just that we have no evidence of that, at least no evidence until medieval times.
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And so that's not the point.
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Jesus is simply using a dramatic word picture, hyperbole, to make a point.
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It's impossible.
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You can't get a camel through the eye of a needle, and it's impossible for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of God while trusting in their riches.
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And that's this man's problem, and that's the lesson for disciples then and disciples today.
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Well, verse 26, They were even more astonished and said to him, Wow, if it's that impossible, if there's no way you can do it, then who can be saved?
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And looking at them, Jesus said, With people it's impossible, but not with God.
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For all things are possible with God.
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Salvation, being saved, entering into the kingdom of God, it's only possible if God does it with divine intervention.
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Being saved is only possible for someone by looking to God and trusting God because only God can save.
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Well, Peter, hearing this whole discussion, participating in this discussion, he looks at them and he looks at Jesus and he looks at his friends, right, the twelve, and here's how he responds, verse 28.
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Peter began to say to him, Behold, we've left everything and have followed you, right?
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Like, you asked this man to do that?
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We sort of did that.
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Like, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, they all had a fishing business together, and thus they had some measure of wealth, right?
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Maybe not super wealthy, but enough wealth to have a fishing venture that was at least providing for their families, and they left their boats and their nets and thus their business behind to follow Jesus.
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Matthew, Matthew had been a tax collector and was wealthy, and so as a person of means, he gave all that up to follow Jesus, right?
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We don't necessarily know about the others, per se, but at least some of the twelve had given up significant livelihoods in order to follow Jesus.
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So Jesus affirms them that their path is right.
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Verse 29, Jesus said to them, 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, but 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.
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The idea here is renouncing the specifics of our life for the sake of Jesus and the gospel.
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That's what it means to deny yourself, right?
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Like, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me, Jesus had said in Mark chapter 8.
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Well, what does it mean?
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Well, it means we have to renounce the specifics of our life for the sake of Jesus and the gospel.
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That's the point.
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And what one gains when one does that is a hundred times as much more what they give up.
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What one gains for following Jesus eclipses what one forsakes.
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And notice Jesus lists off people, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, farms.
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What he seems to be getting at is that you're going to give maybe all those things up for the sake of following Jesus, but you're going to get like a new family, the new family of Jesus.
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And thus, you're going to have more brothers and sisters, mothers and children.
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You're going to have more people around you, is what Jesus seems to be saying.
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But you're also going to get persecutions with that.
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You're going to get persecutions along with all that.
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It's not always going to be easy, right?
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And then Jesus ends with sort of a proverbial statement in verse 31.
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But many who are first will be last and the last first.
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That is, those who by the world's values and the world's standards are at the front of the line, they're actually at the back of the line in Jesus' kingdom.
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The rich young ruler, the wealthy man in this story, to all appearances, was well off.
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He was a first, but he left sad.
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And many others who look small, little, least, right?
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By the world's standards, they don't hold much, like a little child.
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They might be little and small and seemingly unimportant, but they're actually first.
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And that's really, I think, the heart of these two stories when they stand side by side like this, that receiving the kingdom, entering the kingdom, really means we need to come small, like a child, like an infant.
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Right here you have a little child, and then you have a rich and powerful man.
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Well, we need to come, renounce those things that are roadblocks to receiving the kingdom, divest ourselves of them, open our hands, and simply receive it like a child.
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That's how we enter into the Kingdom of God.
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God bless.
