Gospel of Mark Study #32

“Camels, Needles, & The Donald”

Mark 10:23-31

Study #32 in Mark Series 

INTRODUCTION:

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946), before becoming President of the United States in 2016, was a successful American business tycoon, socialite, author, and television personality. He was the Chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, a US-based real-estate development company. He was also the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which operates many casinos and hotels across the world. Trump’s extravagant lifestyle and outspoken manner made him a celebrity for years, a status amplified by the success of his long-running NBC reality show, “The Apprentice,” for which he served as host and executive producer. He was especially known for his catchphrase, “You’re fired!” made popular by that television series. Trump is also known for his distinctive hairstyle, which he has maintained throughout his career. 

Donald was the fourth of five children of Fred Trump, a wealthy real estate developer based in New York City. Donald was strongly influenced by his father in his eventual goals to make his fortune in real estate development, and upon his graduation from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 Donald Trump joined his father’s company, The Trump Organization.

Starting out with the renovation of the Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt, his greed and self-importance led him to expand too far and too fast into too many venues. This expansion, both personal and business, led to mounting debt, which eventually forced him to declare bankruptcy and virtually start over. Much of the news about him in the early 1990s involved his much-publicized financial problems, creditor-led bailout, extramarital affair with Marla Maples, and the resulting divorce from his first wife, Ivana Trump, a native of the Czech Republic. Today, Trump is popularly known as “The Donald,” a nickname given to him by the media after his ex-wife, Ivana, referred to him as such in an interview.

In the late 1990s Trump saw a turnaround in his financial situation and fame. He remains a major figure in the field of real estate in the United States and before being elected President in 2016 was a popular celebrity. In its 2019 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth at $3.1 billion and still lists him as one of the wealthiest billionaires in the world. 

And yet even today, with all his money, power, and celebrity, he seems like a man who is still searching for meaning in life. When I look at him, I feel sorry for him in many ways. There are few people he can really trust. He has few close friends. People constantly make fun of him behind his back. Millions of people in the world hate him and see him as a mere caricature of a human being and a threat to world peace. His name is slandered at every turn. He is proof positive, in my opinion, that in this life money, fame, and power are just not that important. Wealth, political power, and possessions cannot fill the void in the human heart. Only God can fill that space. 

TRANSITION:

In our last study we looked at Mark 10:13-22. In verses 17-22 of that text Jesus had a conversation with a rich, young man who came to Him with a question. The young man asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” You will remember that Jesus worked the conversation around to point this wealthy young man to the fact that only a personal relationship with Him, the Savior, can get a person to Heaven. No amount of good works, no number of charitable contributions, no amount of religious sincerity can get a person even one step closer to Heaven. The simple answer to the man’s question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” would be the concise answer the apostle Paul gave to the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” You see it is all about Jesus.

However, the young man was not ready to set everything else aside to follow Christ. He was still clinging to his money and his possessions. Those things were “god” in his life and there was no room for Jesus. Verse 22 ends this way: “At this [comment] from Jesus the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth.” In other words, his money kept him from coming to Christ. He chose earthly possessions over eternal wealth. So, what happened after that? Let’s look at verse 23… 

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 23: Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!”

·         As He so often did, Jesus used this rich young ruler as an object lesson. The disciples of Jesus had heard every word of the conversation between Jesus and the young man, and they had seen the guy walk away. Now Jesus used him as an example of, “How hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” Notice that He did not say “impossible.” He said “difficult, hard.” That young man could have trusted in Christ as his Savior. He could have laid aside his spiritual baggage and believed in Jesus, but he allowed his wealth to keep him away. He made a choice, and it was the wrong one.

·         The “Kingdom of God” here refers to the present, spiritual kingdom, composed of the regenerated people of God. Jesus used the same term when He spoke with Nicodemus in John 3:3-5, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.” ⁴ “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” ⁵ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”

·         I never want to end up being an object lesson for God to use to teach people how not to be. I want to live my life for Christ in such a way that I can serve as a positive example of faith, godliness, integrity, and love. By his choice, this rich young man has forever been cast as a tragic example of someone who let riches choke out his opportunity to gain eternal life. 

Verses 24-25: The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”

·         The disciples were “amazed.” Why? Probably because they, like the Pharisees and other Jews regarded wealth as a token of God’s special favor. Now Jesus is dropping this bomb on them that wealth is actually an impediment to a person coming to know God.

·         Note that Jesus saw their growing perplexity and addressed it. And He did it gently. He called them, “Children,” a term of endearment.

·         Some have tried to say that Jesus was here referring to a small gate in a city wall through which a camel could enter only on his knees. However, although this makes a great story it is without warrant or support because the word Jesus uses for “needle” is the usual word for a sewing or darning needle. On top of that, Jesus was not talking about what man would consider possible, although difficult, but rather about what is truly an impossibility without God’s intervention. Physically a camel cannot crawl through the eye of a sewing needle. It is impossible. That is the point.

Verse 26: The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

·         They were “amazed” in verse 24. Now they are “even more amazed.” Jesus’ word picture made it sound like a total impossibility for a rich person to ever get saved. But that is exactly His point. Salvation is not merely difficult, it is impossible! Without God’s intervention no one, rich or poor, can ever be saved. That is exactly what Jesus was saying.

Verse 27: Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

·         “With man this is impossible.” What is impossible? For a man to get saved by any efforts on his part. Salvation by means of good deeds is an absolute impossibility! But God is in the saving business. He can take the worst vile sinner and turn him into a saint. God can take sins that be red like crimson and wash them white as snow. Jesus can transform the worse of men and make him into a man of God, a man of faith, a man of holiness. With man that would be an impossible task, but with God, all things are possible.

 

Verse 28: Peter said to Him, “We have left everything to follow You!”

·         All this talk about what a person must do to inherit eternal life has gotten Peter to thinking. In verse 21 Jesus told the rich young ruler: “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

·         So, now Peter pipes up, “We have left everything to follow You!” I think there was a bit of a question in his voice when he said that, meaning, “Is that enough? Have we done enough to inherit eternal life?”

·         The parallel passage found in Matthew 19:27 includes Peter’s statement with a question attached: “We have left everything to follow You! What then will there be for us?” Even though they had indeed left everything to follow Christ, in that moment I hear a little bit of selfishness in Peter’s voice. “What are we going to get out of this? What’s the payoff for us?”

·         Yet in that moment Jesus did not reprimand Peter for asking. He did not chide him for having a selfish moment, although He certainly could have. He just moved on to explain that serving God is always a good deal, always a good investment, both in the “here-and-now” and in “the age to come,” meaning eternity. 

Verses 29-31: “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 ³⁰ 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. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

·         These verses are a little bit confusing so let’s unpack them piece by piece. First, Jesus’ phrase, “I tell you the truth [“Verily” in the KJV]” is a solemn assurance from the Lord himself so we know that we can take this to the bank.

·         Jesus says that any of His followers who give up the things of this world to follow Him will not be disappointed nor cheated out of their reward. They will gain blessings in this life, and in the life to come. In other words, you cannot out-give God.

·         Notice however, in verse 30, at the end of His list of things the servant of the Lord can expect to receive in this life He inserts these words: “…and with them, persecutions.” It is a package deal. Yes, the one who steps out to serve the Lord can expect to be rewarded in many ways, but he can also expect persecutions, trials, tribulations, and raw hatred from some people. Being a Christ-follower is not the path to popularity with men.

·         But anything you give up in this life to follow and serve Christ, will be more than repaid. Sometimes that payment comes in another form, however. For example, British missionary C.T. Studd gave away his inherited fortune and dedicated his life to serve as a missionary, first in China, then in India, and lastly in Africa. Yet God more than made up for the things he gave up in spiritual blessings, friendships, and joys that money could never buy. Another example… Adoniram Judson left the comforts of his New England hearth and home to carry the Gospel to the people of Rangoon, Burma. While there he and his dear wife, Ann, suffered untold danger, illness, imprisonment, torture, pain, and misery, including the deaths of their two little children and later, the death of Ann herself. Yet at the end of their lives, they testified that what they gained in their service for Christ was worth much more than what they had given up. Such has been the testimony of countless servants of God. Even in this present life it pays to serve God.

·         However, what awaits the servant of God in Heaven, “in the age to come,” is marvelous beyond our ability to comprehend or even dream. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 

CONCLUSION:

One of my all-time favorite quotes is by Jim Elliott, a missionary who along with four of his colleagues gave his life as a martyr in Ecuador for the sake of the Gospel. In his diary just a few days before his death Jim Elliott wrote these words: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

God has called us, as His people, to reflect the values of Heaven in our lifestyle. Money and possessions have their place, but we must never allow them to usurp the place of God in our lives. Money and wealth are just tools entrusted to us to build the Kingdom of God and to spread the Gospel.

Gospel of Mark Study #31

“Come Like a Child”

Mark 10:13-22

Study #31 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

In July 1955 Walt Disney opened his famous theme park, Disneyland, in Anaheim, CA. Since then, several other Disney parks have been opened around the world but all of them are called “The Magic Kingdom.” Disney’s dream was to create a make-believe world where children and adults could come together to enjoy the fantasy world that he had created. He believed that the world would be a better place if we could just see it through the eyes of a child. He created a “kingdom” with castles, characters, and attractions where for a wheelbarrow full of dollars people can lose themselves for a few hours in a magic wonderland of make-believe. 

TRANSITION:

It has been said that children come into this world as a “tabula rasa,” which means, “a blank slate.” That is not completely true, however, because, according to the Scriptures, children have a sin nature, but in many ways, they are a story waiting to be told.

Children look at the world differently from adults. They see things from a different perspective. Jesus said that to enter the Kingdom of God, we must come as little children; but what does that mean? Hopefully, our text for today will shed some light on that question. We’ll be in Mark 10 starting at verse 13.

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 13: People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.  

• This scene is in such sharp contrast to what we see today. Nowadays, young mothers do not want any man touching their children, especially a stranger. We have become so paranoid about child sex offenders we figure that any man who likes children very much must be some sort of pervert. It was not so in Jesus’ day. The times were different. The culture was different. But also, Jesus was different. The parents sensed it. The children sensed it too. They mobbed Him wherever He went. The mothers had reverence for Jesus and wanted Him to touch their children. He held the babies and hugged the children. He held them on His lap. He put His hands on their heads and prayed over them, blessing them.
• So, let’s recap… Jesus was OK with what was going on. Moreover, the children were thrilled, and the parents thought it was wonderful too. So, who was against it? The disciples of Jesus, that’s who. They got angry and peeved and told the parents to take their children away and leave Jesus alone. They probably thought the Lord’s time was far too valuable to be wasted on kids. But where did they get such nerve? And why did they act so bossy?
• Personally, I think that they did not like for Jesus to show so much attention to other people. They were jealous of His affections and attention. They thought that they had a special relationship with Him and did not want to share Him with anyone, even with a bunch of kids. They still had a lot to learn. They still did not understand that they had been chosen by Jesus specifically to share Him and the Good News about Him with the whole world. They were going to have to get over their self-important, selfish attitude if they were ever to function as His witnesses and representatives. 

Verse 14: 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.”  

• Just a moment before it was the disciples who were indignant against the mothers and children. However, now Jesus is indignant against them! The tables have been turned. There are only a few times in Scripture when we see Jesus angry. He got terribly angry at the moneychangers in the Temple and chased them out with a whip. Another time when Jesus showed anger was in the synagogue of Capernaum. When the Pharisees refused to answer Jesus’ questions, Mark 3:5 says, “He looked around at them in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.” I believe He was also angry when He rebuked Peter saying, “Get thee behind Me, Satan.” But here in Mark 10:14 His anger was directed at all 12 of His boys.
• His response to them was, “Let the little children come to Me, and stop hindering them!” That is the force of the verb: “STOP IT!” The reason He gave them is interesting: “…for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” That must have burned the disciples’ bacon because they thought that the Kingdom of God belonged to them. After all, Jesus Himself had told them that they would reign with Him, and that one day their names would be engraved on the foundation stones of the Heavenly City (cf. Revelation 21:14). He had said that they would be seated next to Him on thrones in the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Matthew 19:28). Now He was saying that the Kingdom belongs to a bunch of snotty-nosed little kids! That was totally unacceptable to them! 

Verse 15: “I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  

• So how does a little child receive the Kingdom of God? The same way a child learns to obey its parents—simply and uncomplainingly. Here Jesus uses the little child with his trusting, simple, loving obedience as the model for adults in coming into the Kingdom of God. However, this does not mean that children are automatically in the Kingdom.

Verse 16: And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them.  

• The age of these children is suggested by the fact that Jesus gathered them into His arms. This was a direct and visible rebuke to the selfish and over-zealous disciples. It was also a reminder of what He did back in 9:36 when He taught them the lesson about servanthood and who will be considered greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
• The construction of this sentence in Greek means that He in turn blessed each child. Imagine the joy of the parents, and the stories they must have told their children for years to come about the day that Jesus held them, loved them, and prayed over them.

Verse 17: 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?”  

• This is a fascinating story and Mark gives us some details that both Matthew and Luke leave out (cf. Matt. 19, Luke 18). This rich young ruler was a man of power, substance, and influence. People like that do not run, ever, to get anywhere. They might run on the treadmill at the gym, or while playing sports, but never to catch up with a shaggy, back-woods, redneck rabbi from Galilee. Secondly, a man like him would never throw himself at the feet of another man. How unseemly! How degrading! Yet this young man ran to catch up with Jesus and then knelt at Jesus’ feet to ask Him a life-and-death question: namely, “How do I get saved? How can I go to Heaven? How can I inherit eternal life?”  
• Apparently, the man had not found the answer in power, fame, influence, inherited wealth, education, athletic prowess, sexual fulfilment, or the praise of men. He had searched for the answer with no luck. But somewhere along the line he had heard about Jesus. Peter said it this way in John 6: “You alone have the words of eternal life.” So, the young man ran to Jesus to find the answer to the question that was gnawing at his heart and keeping him up at night.
• From his question, however, it is obvious that he conceived of eternal life as something to be earned by doing good works. He said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” How many people today are operating under the same misconception? 

Verses 18-19: “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus answered.  “No one is good—except God alone.  ¹⁹ 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.’”  

• This must have seemed to the rich young ruler like a very strange answer. Jesus responded to his question with another enigmatic question related not to the man’s core question but to the greeting he had used to address Jesus: “Good Teacher.” But you see Jesus’ question was aimed at leading the young man to consider His true identity. Jesus was trying to bring the man around to understand that it was all about Him, and what the young man thought of Him. Our inheritance of eternal life is not based on what we do or how many good deeds we perform, but rather on who we believe Jesus is. That is the thing that will take you to Heaven or lock you out—Who do you believe He is, and what have you done about that belief?
• The young man was hoping that Jesus would give him a prescription— “Take two aspirin, do 10 Hail Mary’s, work 3 nights in the kitchen at the Rescue Mission, go on two short-term mission trips, give $1,000 to the Haitian Relief Fund, sponsor 5 World Vision children, and go to church every Sunday. If you do those things, you will inherit eternal life.” Not easy to do, but still doable! Most of us like having a list where we can just tick the boxes until we get to the bottom of the list.
• Instead, Jesus said, “Why do you call Me, ‘Good’? No one is truly ‘Good’ except God alone.”  This seems confusing to us, but it helps if you understand the word the young man used for “good.” In Greek there are two main words meaning “good.” One is kalos (καλός), which means good or beautiful in an external, physical sense. The other word is agathos (αγαθός), which means good in character, in constitution, and in essence in an internal, moral sense. The young man chose this second word when he addressed Jesus as “GOOD Teacher.” So, Jesus played off the fact that only God is truly good in the purest sense. Jesus was forcing the young man toward a conclusion about who He really was. We know, in fact, that Jesus was God in the flesh, and therefore truly good (i.e., agathos) in every sense.
• But then Jesus seems to tell the man that the way to obtain eternal life is to keep the commandments. Is that really what He is saying? No, of course not. He is simply reminding the young man of something he already knows from experience—that man is incapable of keeping the Law perfectly. Man is occasionally kalos, but he is never truly agathos. For all his trying, man cannot get to that level of goodness. We are fundamentally flawed on the inside and all the good works in the world cannot fix what is broken in us.

Verse 20: “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”  

• I can hear the frustration in the young man’s voice. He had been trying so hard, for so long, to be so good. But he had failed to live up to the standard of perfection that the Law demands and he was desperate to find another solution that would get him to Heaven. His righteousness was merely an external obedience like that of the scribes and Pharisees and that is not enough to get anyone to Heaven. However, the good news is that he had come to the right place for help. The bad news was that he was not yet ready to throw himself completely on the grace of God and to believe in Jesus as his perfect sin-bearer.

Verse 21: 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, and follow Me.”  

• This is a precious verse to me. This wealthy young man had a problem. Jesus could see it right off. He could see into the guy’s heart, and He knew his whole life-story. He knew that the young man’s priorities were all messed up. And yet, Jesus loved him anyway. “He looked at him and loved him.” This is an observation that only Mark includes. He uses what is called an ingressive aorist participle and verb construction, which translated literally would be, “Looking upon him He began loving him.” Jesus fell in love with this charming young man. I am so glad that Jesus loves us despite us being a mess.
• But Jesus also knew the real issue in this man’s life, the thing that was holding him back from believing in Jesus—his love of money, his devotion to his wealth rather than to God. So, Jesus very gently put His finger on that tender sore place. The Lord said, “Here is what you do. Go out and sell everything you have and then give all the proceeds to poor people. Then come back and follow Me.” But notice, Jesus says, “then you will have treasure in Heaven.” He does not say, “you will inherit eternal life” by giving your stuff away. He was not promoting a doctrine of salvation by good works. Jesus could see into that young fellow’s soul, and He knew that his possessions were the roadblock to him coming to faith in Jesus. The Lord was trying to get him to see that anything that keeps you away from the Savior must be jettisoned ASAP.

Verse 22: At this [comment from Jesus] the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth.  

• I love stories with happy endings. I love movies with happy endings. I hate stories where the hero dies. The movie “Braveheart” comes immediately to my mind. However, in this story here in Mark 10 we do not have a happy ending. Upon hearing the Lord’s request, the young man grew sad, turned, and slowly walked away. I imagine that his countenance dropped, and the furrowed brow returned. When he came running up to Jesus and fell at the Master’s feet his voice was filled with hope that he would hear from Jesus exactly how he could find peace with God and the assurance of a home in Heaven.
• What is so sad is that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the Way to Heaven. But to come to Him we must leave our baggage at the door. This young man was not yet ready to do that. He wanted to come while still holding onto the possessions of his old life.

CONCLUSION:

All of us struggle with certain things in our lives that hold us back from following Christ with our whole heart. Our flesh and the devil use these things to keep us weak and useless to the Kingdom of God. It might be a besetting sin that you have been unwilling to give up. It might be a load of unforgiveness that you have held onto for years. It could be a habit or a vice that has robbed you of joy and been like an albatross tied around your neck. Perhaps it is fear. Or, it might be the love of money and possessions, as in the life of the young man in our text today.

The answer for all these things is found in Hebrew 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The Lord still calls His disciples to lay aside every encumbrance and every entangling sin so that we can serve Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and bring others to know Him.

Gospel of Mark Study #30

“The Master’s Marriage Manual”

Mark 10:1-12

Study #30 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

When you want to get an Oregon driver’s license you must study the Oregon Driver’s Manual prepared by the Department of Motor Vehicles so that you can pass their written test. It is the same thing for getting a CDL to drive the big rigs. And if you want to work as an engineer in a commercial radio station you must study the FCC Manual to pass the GROL exam to get your General Radiotelephone Operator’s License. In fact, for many kinds of jobs there are manuals you must study to prepare you for the required examination, because it is so important that you do the work correctly. You must study the book to pass the test to prove that you are qualified for the job. And you cannot get hired without it.

However, when it comes to marriage people can jump into the job with a bare minimum of study and preparation, and no test whatsoever. This stupid system results in a 50% failure rate because people have little or no idea of what they are getting into, or how to make the marriage work.

The sad part of all this is that God, the Architect of Marriage, the One who invented the idea in the first place, has given us a detailed Marriage Manual, which if studied and followed, will guarantee marital success. That Manual is called the Bible, God’s Holy Word. It lays out in detail what a Christian marriage should be like, the obligations and privileges of both the husband and wife, not to mention the warnings of what not to do if you want to have a happy home and a blessed marriage. The tragedy is that many people, including many Christians, ignore the Marriage Manual that God has provided for us.   

TRANSITION:

In our passage for today Jesus is questioned by a group of Pharisees who just want to trip Him up and find a reason to accuse Him of heresy or blasphemy. Their questions are centered on the issue of marriage and divorce. Jesus uses the opportunity to teach them, and the other people gathered around concerning God’s original intentions for mankind with respect to marriage. Today we are in Mark chapter 10.

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 1: Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds [multitudes] gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.  

• The NASV has a funny way of putting it because it is such a literal translation. It sounds like maybe Jesus jumped up out of bed and took off running for Judea. That is not how it was. You will remember that in our last study Jesus was in Capernaum, perhaps in the house of Peter. This just means that it was from there that He and His disciples set out headed south toward Jerusalem. They chose the route that ended them up on the east side of the Jordan across from the ruins of ancient Jericho.
• “He began to teach them.” The Greek verb here is in the imperfect tense signifying a continuing occurrence, rather than a one-shot-deal. He taught them along the way—kind of a walking classroom. 

Verses 2-3: Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.  ³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”

• “Testing Him.” The Greek word used here can mean either to tempt (KJV) or to test. Obviously, the Pharisees had an evil ulterior motive here for their question and were hoping to trip Jesus up in some way. This question posed by the Pharisees was a hot-button issue of that day and was being debated all over Israel by the scribes and other teachers of the Law. The scribes and Pharisees, who followed the teachings of Rabbi Hillel concluded that a man could divorce his wife for almost any cause. On this subject they were the liberals of that period. On the other hand, those who followed Rabbi Shammai were more conservative and insisted that divorce was lawful only in the case of adultery. In either case, the Pharisees who posed the question to Jesus were not interested in His position. They were just trying to trap Him into saying something that they could use to discredit Him and make Him look stupid in front of the crowd.
• Matthew chapter 19 is the parallel passage in Matthew’s account and there he adds some words to their question that Mark leaves out of verse 2— “for any cause at all?”  

Verse 4: They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

• The Pharisees were referring here to Deuteronomy 24:1-3.
• However, the Pharisees themselves skirted Jesus’ rebound question by not stating the condition under which Moses permitted divorce. There was only one—sexual indecency. They knew that and so did Jesus.

Verses 5-8: But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he [i.e., Moses] wrote you this commandment.  ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE.  ⁷ FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, ⁸ AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so, they are no longer two, but one flesh.”

• “Because of your hardness of heart.” This phrase is interesting. Hold on to your hat because I am going to give you a brief lesson in NT Koiné Greek. In telling them why Moses granted this concession Jesus used a long medical word, sklerocardía. You have undoubtedly heard the terms arteriosclerosis, meaning hardening of the arteries in the heart, “multiple sclerosis,” and “sclerosis of the liver” meaning hardening of the liver, etc. The Greek word for heart is cardía (καρδία) and sklerós (σκληρός) means, “hard, tough, or dried up.” When you put these two words together you get sklerocardía, “hardening of the heart, or hardheartedness,” which is the word Jesus used here. Even back in Moses’ day, because of sin men’s hearts had become dry and hard and as tough as old saddle leather or moose jerky. Moses’ stipulation in Deut. 24:1 was not a command, but rather a concession, because of men’s unsatisfactory spiritual condition. It was his attempt to regulate and control divorce rather than to encourage it.
• “But from the beginning of creation.” Here Jesus goes back beyond Moses’ concession in Deut. 24:1 to quote Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 as His supporting arguments against the position of the Pharisees, who supported Rabbi Hillel’s popular liberal view of divorce for almost any cause. By doing this He was aligning Himself with those who followed Rabbi Shammai’s teaching on this subject, which further ticked off the Pharisees. But rather than make this just a theoretical rabbinic debate Jesus points them to God’s ideal, laid out in His original design. He reminds them that God intended for marriage to be an “until death do us part” union, with no exceptions.

Verse 9: “What therefore God has joined together let no man separate.”

• Here we can hear the cold steel in Jesus’ voice. There is a threat implicit in His words. Man is so proud, and so full of himself, but the Bible makes it clear that marriage is God’s doing, not man’s invention. It was God who performed the first wedding, back in the Garden of Eden. He made Eve and then presented her to Adam. God is the Architect of Marriage and the Home. Yet man has trampled this sacred relationship and taken it upon himself to decide when it starts, and when it is over. People break the covenant for the stupidest and most selfish reasons. Now we have even written it into our legal codes— “dissolution of marriage due to irreconcilable differences.” What does that mean for crying out loud? There are no irreconcilable differences if both parties are willing to work at repairing the marriage. The final rift only happens if one or both of the parties decides that they want out at all costs and are unwilling to work at repairing the damage. However, if both the husband and wife are committed first to God, as well as to their marriage and their vows, then there is nothing that can tear them apart—not financial problems, not infidelity, not differences over child-rearing, nothing at all! But if one gives up and decides to walk, then all the superglue in the world will not be able to hold that marriage together.

Verses 10-11: In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again.  ¹¹ And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.”

• First Jesus takes up the case of a man wanting to rid himself of his wife. He is talking about a man divorcing his wife without cause, that is, without her having committed adultery. That is bad enough by itself. However, if he divorces his wife and then goes on and takes another woman to wife, then according to Jesus he has inextricably shattered the marriage covenant and is an adulterer in the eyes of God. Jesus explains that the man, in this case, commits adultery against his wife, not because of the divorce itself, but because of the remarriage to someone else. Even though he may have gone through all the manmade civil/legal divorce procedures in the world, in God’s eyes he is still married to his first wife and not free to remarry.
• Matthew’s Gospel adds a couple of enlightening words in Matt. 19:9: “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” The word translated “immorality” is interesting. It is the Greek noun, porneía, (πορνεία), from which we get the words pornography and pornographic. It is a general term that means illicit sexual intercourse, and in fact, sexual immorality of all kinds. It is sometimes translated as “fornication” or “harlotry” other times as “adultery,” although there is also another Greek word specifically meaning adultery, which is moichós. This word porneía always carries the idea of filthiness, impurity, and shamefulness. I can think of quite a few common 21^st century practices that I think fit into that category, although Jesus does not spell it out for us here in our text.
• Related: fem. noun pórnei (πόρνη), meaning harlot, whore, or prostitute
• Related: masc. noun pórnos (πόρνος), meaning whoremonger, fornicator, “john”
• Related: verb porneúo (πορνεύω), meaning to commit fornication, adultery, sexual perversion
• I think it is important to point out here that porneía is the one exception that Jesus gives to the divorce/remarriage rule. Porneía breaks the marriage covenant and opens the door for divorce to occur, with eventual remarriage of the non-adulterous, innocent partner. In other words, if there are biblically justifiable grounds for the divorce then for the innocent party there is biblical justification for remarriage as well. This is a very important concept to grasp. There are Christians today who claim that remarriage is never allowed after a divorce. However, Jesus does allow remarriage of the innocent party, but not of the guilty one. Do not let anyone tell you differently. 

Verse 12: “And if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man she is committing adultery.”

• In this verse Jesus speaks of a woman who divorces her husband and bails out of her marriage. Again, that is bad enough. However, if she then goes out and takes the next step of getting remarried while her former husband remains single, then it is she who has finally shattered the marriage covenant and sinned against God and her marriage vows.
• You see, while neither one of them involved themselves with another person there was always the chance of repairing the marriage and reconciling their differences. However, the moment one of them remarries someone else, all hope for reconciliation is gone.
• Another supporting passage showing Jesus’ view of marriage, divorce, and remarriage is Matthew 5:31-32. It says, “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; ³² but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity [i.e., porneía], makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” As I stated before, in cases of marital infidelity (adultery) even Jesus allowed remarriage of the innocent party, but not of the guilty one. He left the door open for divorce in cases of marital infidelity, although that step is never encouraged in the Scriptures. Divorce is always a tragedy, under any, and all circumstances.

CONCLUSION:

In the United States today, with our “no-fault divorce” laws, the most common reason given for marital breakups is “irreconcilable differences.” I do not know who came up with that gem of a justification, but they were not very bright, and certainly not aware of the truth of Scripture. There is no such thing as an “irreconcilable difference” if both partners in the marriage are willing to hang in there and work at fixing what is broken and willing to allow God to have His rightful place in their marriage as the third partner. Even when adultery or some other form of marital infidelity or porneía has occurred, the marriage can be repaired and healed if both partners are willing to invest the time, effort, and forgiveness needed to plug the holes and shore up the foundations of the marriage.

My goal is not to make anyone feel guilty. The purpose of the Gospel is not merely to inform, but to transform. Many of us have been down the marriage failure trail and we can understand very well why God says in Malachi 2:16, “I hate divorce!” Notice however that He does not say that He hates divorced people. There is a big difference between those two things. He hates divorce because He knows the devastation that it brings to the people that He loves. So, He follows up those words with these: “So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.”

 The wonderful thing about God is that He is always ready to forgive and to let us start over again. Just because we have failed in the past does not mean that we are locked into being a failure for all time. The Word says that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We can begin today to make our marriages divorce-proof by following the Marriage Manual that God has provided. We can decide to put aside all forms of porneía so that they cannot work like an acid to erode our marriages. God is committed to good marriages. He will be the third partner of our marriage if we let Him in, the glue that holds us together through anything that comes along. 

Gospel of Mark Study #29

“Spiritual Bigotry”

Mark 9:38-50

Study #29 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

The long running TV program, “All in the Family” was a favorite for many for many years. The name Archie Bunker brings up a mental picture of a guy who was always grouchy, and mean, and intolerant of anyone who was not just like him. He had a low view of women, including his own wife and daughter. He did not like African Americans. He had no use for Asians, especially the Japanese. He called all Germans, “Nazis.” He did not trust Jews. He said that Englishmen were all “sissies.” He had no appreciation whatsoever for people of Polish descent, starting with his son-in-law, and he did not think that Italians were worth much either. He was an equal opportunity bigot—he could say rotten things about anyone who came through his door and could do it with the most offensive pejoratives and racial slurs you can imagine. Of course, “All in the Family” was one of the most popular TV programs in history because of all that. Archie’s bigotry and intolerance were so over-the-top that his comments made us laugh out loud. However, in real life, bigotry is not so funny. Anyone who has been on the receiving end knows how badly it can hurt, and how deep are the scars it leaves.

But racial bigotry is certainly nothing new. There are countless examples in history of one people-group detesting another group and practicing genocide to try and totally wipe their enemy off the face of the earth. The dictionary defines “bigot” as: (1) A person who holds blindly and intolerantly to a particular creed, opinion, etc.; (2) A narrow-minded, prejudiced person. The related noun form, “bigotry,” is similar: “the behavior, attitude, or beliefs of a bigot; intolerance; prejudice.”

TRANSITION:

The New Testament is filled with examples of bigotry. The Romans despised the Jews and looked at them as vermin to be exterminated. The Jews hated the Romans and considered them “dirty” because of their food and their immorality. Moreover, the Jews looked down on anyone who was non-Jewish (cf. Gentiles, “Goyim,” “heathens,” “dogs,” “the nations”). Then, of course, there were the famous Pharisees. They did not like anybody very much and believed that they were religiously superior to everyone else on the planet, including the Sadducees and the Essenes, the other two major religious parties within Judaism at the time.

However, the Pharisees reserved their most distilled, white-hot disdain for that heretical blasphemer, Jesus of Nazareth, and His so-called “disciples.” They considered Jesus to be a lowbred, uneducated, unwashed upstart who should not be taken seriously because he had neither come from a good family nor attended an approved rabbinic seminary. Moreover, he did not dress or behave like a rabbi. And even more disturbing, he refused to submit himself to them, their religious customs, and their Pharisaic view of the Holy Scriptures.

All of that we know, and we can mutter to ourselves about how horrible it was that they treated people like that. However, our text for today, Mark 9:38-50, shows that the Pharisees were not the only bigots on the block. Some of Jesus’ own followers were just as guilty. And even more disturbing is the fact that some of us are guilty of the same intolerant attitudes toward people who are not just like us, who worship a little differently, or who do not dot all our theological “I’s” or cross all our ecclesiological “T’s.” 

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 38: John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.”  

• You will remember that immediately preceding this passage Jesus was giving to His disciples a lesson about the true nature of being a servant and of having the godly attitude of seeking to serve, rather than to be served by others. He also used a little child as an object lesson to teach them that truly loving God means also loving the Son of God; and that, in turn, means loving the people that Jesus loves. So, right on the heels of those powerful lessons about servanthood and humility and genuine love, John pipes up with this zinger comment!
• We do not know what caused John to want to change the subject so abruptly. Maybe he was feeling convicted by Jesus’ words. Or maybe it was in response to Jesus’ comment in verse 37 about receiving the little child “in His name.” Nevertheless, John took the conversation in another direction by bringing up this guy who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name but was not part of their little group.
• John’s comment fairly bristles with hostility, intolerance, and self-righteousness. He was thinking, “How dare people do stuff in Jesus’ name but not submit themselves to us, the real followers of Jesus?” This sounds like a Pharisee talking.

Verses 39-40: But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.  ⁴⁰ For he who is not against us is for us.”  

• What is Jesus saying here? The first part is clear: “Leave him alone. Do not hinder him. Quit trying to stop him.” Then He explains the reason: People doing miracles in His name and by His power and by His authority obviously believe in Jesus. They are only going to have good things to say about Jesus, not bad things.
• “For he who is not against us is for us.” John would have turned that around: “By George, whoever is not exactly like us and hangs out with us and does everything the way we do it is obviously not part of our group and should be stopped at all costs!” That is what the disciples believed. What a contrast to Jesus’ way of looking at it.
• I suspect that we often more closely resemble John and his buddies in some of our attitudes toward fellow believers, than we do Jesus. Among Christians there is a great deal of “brand loyalty” to denominations, creeds, traditions, worship styles, and hobby-horse doctrines. Although people seldom verbalize this attitude, if they did it would sound like this: “We are from the First Church of the Heavenly Handshake and we have the most accurate theology, the most biblical way of conducting worship services, the most powerful praying, and the most authentic New Testament way of doing church in general. That puts us at the top of the hill and everybody else somewhere down below us. Jesus must be extremely proud of us. So, if you want a good church, forget about all those others and come see us!”
• Certainly, there is nothing wrong with being connected to a denomination. In fact, it is a good thing in my opinion, for a variety of reasons. Moreover, there is nothing wrong with having a well-reasoned doctrinal statement and definite positions on biblical issues. We should know what we believe and be able to explain the “why” of it. Likewise, there is nothing wrong with practicing a style of worship with which we feel comfortable and that aids us in connecting with God. The Bible leaves the door wide open regarding worship styles, and we have a lot of wiggle room there.
• The problem arises when we take our denomination, our worship style, our doctrinal slant, and our modus operandi and make them the norm for every other Christian or Christian group to follow, under threat of disapproval or excommunication if they fail to live up to our homemade theological litmus test. That is Pharisaism at its worst! And sadly, I have observed that it is common among Christians, and I have even occasionally been guilty of it myself, which really troubles me. 

Verse 41: “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”  

• Jesus speaks here of someone who does something nice for a Christian, simply because he is a Christian. Jesus says that person will one day be rewarded for his kindness, because by extension, his kindness to us is really a kindness toward Christ himself.
• No service for Christ will ever be too small to go unnoticed by Him. Even giving someone a cup of cold water, if done with righteous motives, will be considered an act of Christian service that is pleasing to God. The second phrase of this verse emphasizes this point. Literally Jesus said, “Truly (Amen!) I tell you that by no means (= Greek double negative, the strongest negative possible) will he lose his reward.”   

Verse 42: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.”  

• “One of these little ones who believe.” Over the years there has been much discussion about what Jesus meant by this. Was He (1) referring to the child who was sitting on His lap a moment before, being used as an object lesson? Or was Jesus talking about (2) the man that John and the boys had rebuked and forbidden to perform exorcisms in Jesus’ name because he did not live up to their lofty self-appointed standard? Or was He referring in general (3) to believers who were new to the faith and thus very impressionable and easily offended, possibly including that man?
• One thing we can say for sure, Jesus was not just saying this for effect. He was not being melodramatic. He was not trying to do an Italian godfather impersonation, although I can envision Al Pacino saying something like this. No, Jesus was giving a very real warning. And I believe that in the context He was referring to the disciples’ disturbing attitude of religious bigotry evidenced in their treatment of that man who was from a different denomination, let’s say.
• “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble…” (The KJV says, “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me.”) Jesus always chose His words carefully. Here He used the Greek verb, skandalídzo, which means to place a snare or trap in a person’s way, causing him to stumble. From this word come the English words “scandal” and “to scandalize.” It means to be a stumbling block to someone. Jesus warns us to be sure not to do that, or be that, to anyone, whether a child or another Christian, especially one that is new in the faith. [Note: Could this verse have ramifications for child molesters and abortion doctors? I am just thinking out loud.]

Verses 43-44: “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into Hell, into the unquenchable fire, ⁴⁴ where ‘THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.’”  

• This is the first of three warnings that are all very much alike. All three follow the same pattern. All three are followed up by the same quoted verse from the OT. There is a pattern here, a parallel structure, with just the details changed. All three warnings teach the same truth. Not only is it possible for our attitudes and actions to constitute a stumbling block for others, but we can even be a stumbling block to ourselves. That is what Jesus is warning us about in vs. 43-48.
• In this first of the three warnings the focus is on the hand and its ability to get us into trouble. What kinds of evil things do hands accomplish? Hands steal, hit wives and children, pull triggers, light fires, hold crack pipes, sell drugs, etc. The list goes on and on. In this verse, “hands” represent all the things that we do that are evil.
• Jesus says that we would be better off to go through life without hands than to miss out on Heaven. He is warning us to take whatever steps are necessary to clean up our actions. Undoubtedly the command to cut off the offending hand is figurative and hyperbolic. He means that anything that causes a person to fall into sin should be removed immediately. That could be a lot of things—different things to different people.
• Jesus follows up the exhortation by loosely quoting Isaiah 66:24 from the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. Moreover, He does it not once, but three times—in verse 44, 46, and 48.

Verses 45-46: “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into Hell, ⁴⁶ where ‘THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.’”  

• What do feet do? Feet trespass, take us to places we should not go, help us to run from responsibility, kick people when they are down, tread on the weak, stumble at imagined affronts. Feet carry us into trouble and into sin.
• Jesus is saying that we need to jettison anything that carries us into sin, anything that makes it easy to go “there.” Better to be without feet and be pushed up to Heaven’s gate in a wheelchair, than to walk into Hell on our own two good feet.

Verses 47-48: “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into Hell, ⁴⁸ where ‘THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.’”  

• What do our eyes do that is so evil? Our eyes cause us to lust for things we should not desire, they see faults in others, they look down on people who are not like us, they seek out filthy images in movies, magazines, and monitors. Eyes are the gateway that leads directly to the heart, mind, and soul. Jesus says that it would be better to be blind and be led to the door of Heaven with our hand on an angel’s shoulder than to be able to see our way clearly to walk into Hell on our own.
• Once again, these three warnings are not intended to be taken literally. Jesus is not encouraging us to become weirdo ascetics. We know that the seat of sin is the heart of man, the soul, not the hand, foot, and eye, nor any other organ of the body.

Verse 49: “For everyone will be salted with fire.”  

• This is a preview of coming attractions, like they say on the theater marquees. The day is coming when judgment will be carried out. Everyone’s life will be examined. No one will be exempt, or escape being assessed and evaluated.
• At this point it is important to note that the Bible clearly teaches that there will be two different kinds of judgments at the end—one for believers, and the other for unbelievers. The outcomes will be totally different too. Unbelievers will be sentenced and cast into Hell. Believers will be evaluated, rewarded, and ushered into Heaven. Big difference! But both groups can expect to stand before God.
• Fire in Scripture represents judgment of one kind or another. That is because fire does two things: (1) It refines and purifies gold and other precious metals; and (2) It burns away wood, hay, stubble, and other worthless stuff until nothing is left but ashes. (cf. Malachi 3:2; 1 Cor. 3:13)
• For Christians, every hint of sectarianism, of denominational pride, of theological elitism, and of religious hypocrisy will be burned away. Those kinds of things will never be allowed to enter Heaven. God will burn away our pride, our brand-loyalty, our holier-than-thou attitudes, and our intolerance of the way other Christians worship God. In God’s sight all those things are toxic and must be burned away.

Verse 50: “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”  

• Salt is one of the most amazing minerals on earth. Nothing else comes close to having as many beneficial properties as salt. Salt has had a profound impact on human civilization throughout recorded history. Wars have been fought over salt. Salt has been used as currency. The Romans even partly paid their soldiers’ wages in salt (N.B. In Latin, sal is the word for salt; salarium is the word for salary). For centuries salt was used as medicine. The list goes on and on. The now defunct Salt Institute famously compiled a list of over 14,000 documented practical uses for salt.
• Jesus passed judgment on salt when He said: “Salt is good!” However, His very next word was “BUT.” Then He posed a philosophical question: namely, “What do you do with salt that has become unsalty?” In reality salt cannot become unsalty. It can become adulterated, wear away, be diluted down to nothing, be burned up, or be absorbed, but remember that this was just a rhetorical question, a teaching question. Jesus was not giving a chemistry lesson about the properties of salt.
• Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” We all know that salt heals, preserves, protects, and enhances many aspects of life. But if salt gets adulterated with other substances, other chemicals, it can be made unpalatable. People would look at it and say, “The label says that it is pure salt, but it sure tastes weird! I think I will pass. There is something wrong with that stuff.” Salt can also get dirty. Impurities can get mixed in with it—dirt, twigs, dust, hair, etc. In that case, you might as well throw it out onto the path where at least it will help keep the weeds down.

CONCLUSION:

For me there are two big lessons that come out of this text. First, I need to be incredibly careful of my attitude toward Christians who are not just like me. It is so easy to become judgmental and intolerant of others who love Jesus just as much as I do, yet do not agree with all my theological conclusions, nor worship the way I prefer to do it. That is OK. I need to love and accept them anyway, and not judge them. God will sort out all that stuff someday and set us all straight. In the meantime, I need to be careful not to be a Pharisee.

Secondly, I do not want to be one of those Christians who have lost their saltiness. I do not want the Lord to look at me and wonder what on earth I am good for. I do not want to live out my life having no eternal effect on people around me. I do not want to have to stand before God someday and have Him say, “Mike, I gave you everything you needed to serve Me faithfully, but you did nothing with it. You left no footprint in the world to show that you had ever even been there.” I do not want to look back at a life that never pointed others to the Savior. I do not want people to remember me as a nice guy who never ruffled anybody’s feathers, including Satan’s.