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SERIES: THE GOSPEL OF MARK
INTRODUCTION

In our last study in Mark’s gospel, we examined a number of things about how to do great things and also attain great heights in the kingdom of God. We also saw the need for us to be ready to deal ruthlessly, if need be, with anything that may want to take away from us our place in God’s kingdom or anything that may lead us to destroy the faith of others. Now we are moving into the tenth chapter of this gospel. And here we are confronted again with matters that have been treated before in the gospel and those that have not been treated before as well. Among the matters treated in the gospel earlier are the prophecy of Jesus about His death, burial and resurrection and the way to attaining greatness in God’s kingdom. Then we have fresh matters too, which include God’s rule about divorce, the place of children in God’s kingdom and the kind of opposition wealth could pose to those who have it in abundance, as far as being a part of the kingdom of God is concerned. And I pray that as we look at these things together, God will open our eyes to see all that He wants us to see and our ears to hear all that He wants us to hear. Amen.

WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE
To begin with, having come to the region of Judah and across the Jordan, Jesus began to teach the crowds of people that had come to Him, as was His custom. And it was at this time that some Pharisees came to test with a question on divorce. In other words, they did not come to learn from Him; rather, they came to see how much He knew about the will of God. Sadly, there are still people in different churches of God today that are like these Pharisees. They too do not go to their church meetings to learn but to test the knowledge of their preachers. And if they are not careful, even when it has become clear to them that their spiritual leaders are sound enough to feed them with the word of God, pride may keep them unteachable and rob them of the blessings of the ministries of these leaders.

Well, here is what Mark has to say to us about how Jesus responded to them:

“Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” “What did Moses command you?” he replied. They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”” (Mark 10:2-12NIV)

What do we observe from the way the Lord answered the question of these Pharisees? We observe that He took back to the word of God. In other words, He did not base His answer on anybody’s experience or on the culture of any land. Instead, He based His answer to their question on what is written in the Scriptures, their Scriptures. And that is to show us that He held the word of God as the final authority on every subject. Do we also hold God’s word as the final authority on every subject?

As for our Lord Jesus, God has already spoken about marriage matters. So, whatever anyone does must be in line with what He has said. And what has He said? He has said that both the man and his wife are one flesh, not two. So, it is on them to run their home on the basis of this principle; it is on them to see to it that everything they will be doing will promote the oneness that God has already bestowed on them. And where this is the case, no one will be talking about divorce.

But if it is just one of any two married people that will not function on the basis of this principle, there is every tendency that their being together in that home will not advantageous to either of them and even the people around them. And if care is not taken, at some point, divorce may be the only way to keep them from destroying themselves. But has the Lord not said that they cannot divorce themselves at all? No, the Lord has not said that. What the Lord has said is that they cannot freely remarry someone else, having divorced themselves in this manner. Otherwise, they will be committing adultery.

Isn’t that, then, a terrible burden to place on married people? Why should my life stop because I divorce someone that is dangerous to my life? Well, to say the fact, it is not a terrible burden the Lord is placing on us. Rather, it is a burden of caution. In other words, first, the Lord does not want us to marry carelessly, without duly considering what marrying whoever we choose may do to our lives and souls. Second, the Lord does not want us to see divorce as the only solution to any problem or challenge we face in our homes.

But then, we must understand that what the Lord says here cannot be taken in isolation. In other words, we must also consider what is said in other parts of the Scripture about divorce before drawing conclusions. And what do we have about divorce in other parts of the Scriptures? First, we are told that God hates it (Malachi 2:16). So, it does not matter what necessitates it, God hates it.

Why, then, did God permit it for the Jews under the old covenant? According to the Lord in that text, it was because of the hardness of their hearts. In other words, it was because of their stubbornness that He permitted it. He did not want situations in which people would be killing their wives or husbands in order to escape a life of misery with them. So, He said, “If you cannot work things out between yourselves, just go your separate ways peacefully.” That, however, does not alter the fact that He hates divorce and will always hate it. (Cf. Deut 24:1-4)

Then, another thing we are shown in Scriptures, is that divorce is equally permissible in a marriage between an unbeliever and a believer. And that is when the unbeliever is unwilling to live in peace with the believer because of their faith in the Lord. But that is not something a believer can do in isolation; other people of God must be involved as well. In other words, it must be common knowledge among the people of God in the life of the believer involved that their spouse does not want to live with them because of their faith. And where that is the case, such a believer is free to go and start their life afresh. But where that is not the case, anyone who divorces their believing spouse simply because they will not settle down to work things out between them must remain unmarried. That, of course, is in agreement with what our Lord shares in our text in Mark. And the underlying point in all this is that we must not choose our love partners carelessly. (Cf. 1Cor 7:10-16)

Moving away from that, Mark introduces something else about how Lord Jesus viewed children and their place in the kingdom. Look at the way he puts this:

“People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mark 10:13-16NIV)

Why did the Lord’s disciples rebuke those bringing little children to Him? It was because they saw children as a nuisance. As far as they were concerned, there was no way Jesus would want to minister to children, when He had not even gotten enough time to minister to adults. But He had once told them that anyone who welcomes a little child in His name welcomes Him as well. And that should have given them some insight into what He thought about little children. But it did not. It did not because their minds were dull.

Well, when Jesus found out His disciples were standing in the way of those bringing little children coming to Him, He was angry with them. And He went on to rebuke and warn them not to hinder those children from coming to Him. Why? The kingdom of God belongs to children as well! Think about that. The kingdom of God belongs to all our babies as well. So, we should not shy away from bringing them to church meetings or exclude them from believers’ programmes because we think they cannot cope or understand what we are doing. We just need to present them to receive the blessings of God. And someday, those prayers, those words of blessings, those sermons that we think are not getting to them will begin to find expression in their lives and causing them to take their respective places in God’s kingdom.

Mind you, what the Lord says to His disciples about getting out of the way of little children can be applied to other similar circumstances as well. We just need to learn to get out of the way of those coming to the Lord. They may not be like us. They may not look like us. They may not be as educated as we are and know how to conduct themselves appropriately. But the kingdom of God belongs to them as well. Otherwise, God will not be drawing them to Himself by His Spirit. So, we should not hinder them from coming. We should not tell them that they cannot come unless they become like us. That will be a disservice to the kingdom, something that we will have to answer to God for. And some of us, especially those of us who like to talk about the number of souls we are wining into God’s kingdom, really need to begin to pay attention to our lives and to remove from them whatever we are doing to hinder others from coming to the Lord Jesus.

Now, right after this, as Mark shares with us in this gospel, a rich man came to the Lord Jesus Christ about his salvation. And his story is a very touching one. It is touching in the sense that it shows us how we ourselves can hinder ourselves from taking the places meant for us in God’s kingdom through our attachment to the things of this world. Here is Mark’s account of the incident:

“As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”” (Mark 10:17-31NIV)

How does Mark describe this man that came to the Lord Jesus? He describes him as having great wealth. Now both Matthew and Luke supply us with further information about him. They tell us that he was not just wealthy but was also young and in a position of leadership (Matt 19:16-30; Luke 18:18-30). So, we are looking at a very rich and powerful man. Yet this rich man was concerned about his salvation, about his eternity. In other words, he would not allow his riches, which he would definitely leave in the world someday, to blind him to the truth about his eternity.

Unfortunately, we have many rich and even poor today who are not concerned at all about where they would spend their eternity. They are concerned about the future of their children, businesses and enterprises. But they are not concerned about their own future after leaving this world. That, of course, shows that something is faulty about their reasoning.

Well, when this very rich man came to the Lord, he addressed Him with utmost respect, calling Him ‘Good teacher’. And the Lord’s response to that was, “Why would you call me ‘Good teacher’? Only God is good!” Many, sadly, have mistaken what the Lord said here to mean that He was denying His goodness. So, they use this as their excuse for not giving themselves to living upright lives. But the Lord was not denying that He was a good teacher. He was simply probing the man to see if he understood what he meant by referring to Him as good.

Why did the Lord take that route? It was because He wanted the man and others listening to know that only God is good. Thus, by referring to Him as good, the man was acknowledging that He was God. But did the man Himself know that? Did he know that he was speaking to God? If he knew that he was speaking to God, then, he would obey whatever instruction He gave to him, even if it was not convenient. Unfortunately, the man did not fully comprehend that. And because he did not, when the Lord told him what he needed to do, he was unwilling to do it.

Yes, as the man pointed out to the Lord, he had been an upright person in keeping the Laws of Moses. So, we are not looking at a cruel or wicked rich person; rather, we are looking at one who had a lot of respect for God and His word. And we see that the Lord did not say that he was lying, when he said that he had given himself to keeping the law since he was but a boy. Instead, as Mark reports, the Lord looked at him and loved him. Why? He was a sincere rich young man.

Nevertheless, something was lacking in his life, as the Lord showed him. And what was it? It was generosity, a kind that would make him have treasure in heaven. The man was indeed upright and God-fearing. But he was in love with his possessions. And in order for him to have treasure in heaven, the Lord told him to go and sell all his possessions, give to the poor and then come and follow Him.

Now observe that the Lord did not tell him to sell his possessions and give to the poor in order to be saved. His money could not save him. No one’s money or wealth could save him. Only faith in God saves. However, in order to have treasure in heaven, in order not to realise that we have lived an empty life when we get to heaven, we need to be committed to giving to others and helping them live meaningful lives. And that was what the Lord was drawing that young man’s attention to. But his heart could not take it because he had great wealth.

Until that time, it did not become clear to that man that he was in love with his wealth. No, until that time, it did not become clear to him that if he had to choose between God and his wealth, it was his wealth that he would choose. But it became clear to him that day that though he loved God, he loved his wealth more. Unfortunately, no one can love God and money at the same time. He will have to choose the one and leave the other. And that day, that young rich man, chose his wealth instead of God. Of course, he may have retraced his steps later and come back to the Lord Jesus, as some bible scholars would have us believe. But on that day and in that hour, it was his wealth that he chose.

Now it is easy to condemn that rich young man. But if I were to be in a similar situation, who would I choose? And who would you choose? It may not be about our wealth. We may not have issues with choosing God over our wealth. But don’t we have issues with choosing God over our parents, siblings or some ungodly friends? This calls for a careful and thorough examination of our hearts.

Well, after the young man had left, Jesus announced to His disciples that it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. He even went on to say that it is easier for the camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. That, of course, shocked His disciples, who said, “Who, then, can be saved?” And in responding to that, He made a very powerful declaration to them, one that is worthy of our attention and acceptance, which was, “With God all things are possible!”

What does mean? It means what it means, which is that what is impossible with man is possible with God. How, then, do we apply it? We can apply it in various ways. But of first importance, we must apply it to the subject of our salvation. Our salvation is impossible with us. Our salvation is impossible with our efforts or righteousness. But it is possible with God. In other words, the only one able to save us is God and we can trust Him to save us. So, we don’t have to worry about how we are going to make it to heaven. We just need to trust God to save us and act on whatever He tells us. And He will see to it that we are saved.

Is there, then, a place for giving up things or people for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God? Yes, there is. The disciples, as we see in the account, had just witnessed a man throw away his place or reward in the kingdom of God because of his earthly wealth. But leaving what they had, their possessions and families, wasn’t a hard thing for them. And that was probably because they did not have too much.

In any case, whether what they left in order to follow the Lord Jesus was much or little, the Lord made it clear to them that they would have their rewards, not just in heaven but also here on earth. The thing, however, is that those who think they are going to be ahead in receiving praise from God may not just be ahead but behind. Why? Well, we will be finding out why that is so, when the secrets and motives of every heart is laid bare before us on that glorious day of the Lord.

Now, as Mark goes on to show us in this chapter, the Lord, after this incident, began for the third time to talk to His twelve apostles about His death, burial and resurrection. In fact, Mark tells us that He actually pull them aside to say these things to them. But He assured them that He would rise again on the third day. And He did this to make it absolutely clear to them that the only way to accomplish His mission here on earth was to go by the way of death on the cross. He also did this to let it settle in their hearts that His kingdom is not of this world that is passing away but of the eternal age to come. (Cf. Mark 10:32-34)

Did His apostles, then, like to hear these things? No! Why? It was most likely because they did not initially think that everything would end in that manner. However, two of His apostles, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, saw in all that the Lord was saying an opportunity to secure special positions for themselves in His coming kingdom. Look at the way Mark captures what they did in this gospel:

“Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” (Mark 10:35-45NIV)

Can you relate to what is happening here? James and John appeared to be first among these apostles to grasp the essence of what Jesus had been telling them about His eternal kingdom. They all had initially thought that it would soon be time for Jesus to save the Jews from their enemies and establish His earthly kingdom with them. But as the Lord began to talk more and more about His sacrificial death, burial and resurrection and the glory that would follow, these two brothers caught the message. They saw that there was nothing for them here on earth, as far as occupying important positions in the Lord’s kingdom is concerned. And since they had had the rear privilege of witnessing something of His glory on the mountain where He was transfigured, they proposed something to Him. They requested that He would let each of them sit with Him, one at His right and one at His left, in His glory.

Now one would have expected their request to anger the Lord? But it did not at all. Yes, the other apostles were really angry when they heard what they had done. And they were angry because they saw them as selfish and overambitious, wanting to be ahead of them.

But as I said already, Jesus was not angry with James and John for their request. And that is to show us that the Lord is not against our being ambitious. However, He is concerned about what steps we take in realising our ambitions. And the steps we take in realising our ambitions will, of course, be a reflection of the understanding we have about how to attain great positions in life.

As the Lord pointed out to James and John, both of them had no understanding of how to attain the positions they desired. What was it that they did not understand about it? First, it was that the only one who sets people in the positions meant for them, whether in this world or in the age to come, is God Himself. So, as the Lord further points out, even if we give our lives for Him in this world, it still does not mean that we will have the most important positions in God’s eternal kingdom. We can only occupy the positions God has prepared for us, which, of course, are the positions that are in agreement with His good and eternal purpose for our lives. Our focus, then, should be on living our lives in line with His will, so that we will not lose those positions prepared for us to some other people (Acts 1:15-26).

The second thing James and John and, of course, the other apostles as well did not understand was the way to attain greatness in God’s kingdom. In other words, there is actually a way to attain greatness in God’s kingdom. Yes, there is a way to occupy the most important of all positions in God’s eternal kingdom. And it is the way of service. In the world, as the Lord showed these men while He was admonishing them on these matters, those who are seen and known as great lord things over their subjects. That means what is taken as greatness in the world is occupying a position where you enslave others and run their lives for them.

But in God’s kingdom, that is not how things work. In fact, the Lord clearly points out to these men that the leadership that is employed in the world must not be employed among them at all. Instead, anyone that wants to be great among them, anyone that wants to be the first among them must be ready to serve others. That does not mean the person is to be the slave that everyone sends on errands. Rather, it means that person must humble himself to do whatever God requires him to do for the people in his life and around him to be what He wants them to be.

Now the Lord uses Himself to illustrate His point. He says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Did you see that? He came to serve all of us, so that we may inherit eternal life. And because He willingly gave Himself to do this, the bible says, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11NIV) How did Jesus attain the highest and most important place in God’s kingdom? Through service born out of humility! And we are told to have the same attitude as He did. That way, we too will be able to attain the very positions meant for us in God’s scheme of things.

In closing this chapter, we are given an account of a man blind man that was healed by the Lord Jesus when they came to Jericho and on their way to Jerusalem. The man’s name was Bartimaeus, which means ‘Son of Timaeus’. But why does Mark include his healing case in his gospel? Evidently, he was not the first or only blind person Jesus opened his eyes. There had been several other blind persons whose eyes were opened by Him before this man. So, what was special about his case that made Mark include it in his gospel? (Cf. Mark. 10:46-52)

Well, one special thing about the restoration of Bartimaeus’ sight was the seriousness that accompanied his faith in order to be healed. This man surely must have heard about Jesus before this time things that built up his faith to receive the restoration of his eyes from the Lord. Remember that faith comes by hearing the message about Christ (Rom 10:17). And as God would have it, Jesus came passing by where he was one day. He, of course, did not initially know who it was that was passing by. But he could hear and feel the commotion going on. So, he asked what was happening and was told that it was Jesus that was passing by.

Now when Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus that was passing by, he knew immediately that his moment had come. But he was blind and could not tell which way to go to meet and speak to Him. To make matters worse, there was a huge crowd with Jesus as usual. So, even he could see clearly, being able to go through that crowd to get His attention was not going to be an easy task. Considering these hurdles alone was enough to make Bartimaeus postpone the receiving of his healing. And if he had done that, he may never have been healed personally by the Lord. That was because the Lord went right from that place to Jerusalem and then to His death.

But Bartimaeus refused on that day to recognise the obstacles before him. He refused to allow his healing pass over him that day. And what did he do? He began to shout on top of his voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He kept on shouting like that until many of the people going with Jesus felt irritated and started abusing him, telling him to keep quiet. But did he listen to them? No! Instead, he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” In other words, he overcame the obstacle of people’s insults as well. And that is seriousness.

See, as the bible tells us, anyone who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who earnestly (seriously) seek Him. So, we must employ seriousness in our relationship with God, if we truly have faith in Him. Otherwise, our faith may just be as good as no faith at all.

Well, because Bartimaeus was serious and earnest in receiving the restoration of his sight that day, he kept crying out for Jesus’ help until the he got His attention. So, the Lord called him to Himself and asked him what he wanted. And when he was asked what he wanted, he did not mess up the opportunity. No, this man did not start telling the Lord useless stories about how he found himself in that condition. Instead, he simply said, “I want to see.” And the Lord said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” Immediately, he received his sight and began to follow Him. Wow!

You can see, then, that faith is the result of an action or a series of action. Faith is not wishful thinking. Faith is not merely a desiring of things. Faith is an expression of the desire of our hearts, the desire of our hearts to receive from God. Bartimaeus expressed his desire to receive from God by refusing to let his handicap and all the obstacles before him keep from meeting Jesus to be healed. And that is faith. If we too want to receive anything from God, we must go beyond desiring to receive from Him to taking the necessary steps in expressing that desire. That is what will show that we truly have faith to receive.

CONCLUSION
Walking with our Lord Jesus makes one truly alive to God and to those things that truly matter in life. Yes, sometimes, His words and actions may be confusing, shocking or disappointing. But as long as we maintain our faith in Him and humbly give ourselves to living on the basis of His word, He will make what seems impossible possible and fulfil His good and eternal purpose concerning us.

QUESTIONS
– What can you say about your own every day walk with the Lord Jesus?
– What is the most important lesson for you in this study?

By Johnson O. Lawal

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