Mark 10:17-31

I think I’m pretty good at analyzing situations. I tend to have a ‘big picture’ kind of mind. And when I look at our culture, I get frustrated. We Americans so long for significance and importance, but are so loath to do more in life than be entertained. We love to watch sports, and get emotionally caught up in how the Yankees or the Dodgers are doing, while missing opportunities to live a life that really matters. Maybe you know people whose whole world is the Yankees. Rabid fans, but no one on the Yankees knows them at all. They love what cannot love them back. They have attached themselves to a sports team in order to derive some meaning and identity in life. I think sports can be a fun diversion, but when it replaces actual life, then we need to reprioritize. Of course, that is not the only example of how life can get out of balance. So many things would love to have us replace God with it; gardening, sailing, running, so many distractions away from real life.

Here’s a quote I ran across in some of my reading. “Modern man is a bleak business”, says Tom Howard. “To our chagrin we discover that the declaration of autonomy has issued not in a race of free, masterly men, but rather in a race that can be described by its poets and dramatists only as bored, vexed, frantic, embittered and sniffling.”

Money is one of those ways we strive for significance, and then find that there is nothing there. Significance in life, purpose in life is not determined by the amount of money we have, but rather in our position of servanthood before Jesus. I don’t want to live a life dominated by the trivial and the common; I desire to live a life of significance, a life of grace marked by my Savior, Jesus Christ. But so many things tempt me, tempt us away from such a life. One of those things can be selfishness in marriage, like we looked at last week, but another thing is money. Mark 10 verse 17ff. Please stand.

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.”

Let’s pray.

We are going through a section of teaching in Mark just prior to Jesus entering Jerusalem for the last week of His life. Jesus has been teaching, healing and generally traveling around Israel for the majority of His time of ministry on earth. But since the transfiguration in chapter 9 of Mark, last chapter, Jesus seems to have set His eyes on Jerusalem and is heading there toward the cross. So we are in a chapter or two of teaching just before Jesus gets to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, and more importantly, to become the new Passover lamb that allows God’s wrath to pass over all those who are in Christ, who will have Jesus as their Lord and Savior and who trust that His sacrifice on the cross was enough. Jesus has been teaching about the seriousness of sin, the seriousness of choosing to live apart from God.

And into that moment comes a wealthy man. Other gospels call the man a wealthy, young man. Undoubtedly this is a good person. But being good has nothing to do with gaining eternal life. Eternal life is the free gift of God through Jesus, not through what good we do or the bad that we avoid. Jesus is going to use this enthusiastic seeker of the kingdom as a way to illustrate what is really important in seeking God. There was an old obedience, to the 10 Commandments, but then Jesus has a new obedience. It is to be obedient to Himself, to come and follow me, as Jesus will say.

Having said all that, the whole scenario is laid out by Mark in the form of a chiasm.

Eternal life

Old Obedience

New Obedience commanded

Reaction to New obedience

Enter the Kingdom

New Obedience reaction

New obedience obeyed

New Obedience fulfilled

Eternal life received

So with that as our outline, let’s dive into the text.

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?”

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

This is a good Jewish boy. He knows the Commandments of Moses and has strived to keep them in his daily life. Then he hears there is a new teacher, with a new teaching. He must hear this new teaching, he must know if he is pleasing God with his life. So he tracks Jesus down, and when he finds Jesus, runs up, hits his knees and asks, how do I get to heaven? What is this new teaching I keep hearing about? Is there something more I need to do? Just point me in the right direction and I’ll be fine. But I need to know…what do I need to do in order to be assured of eternal life?

Jesus takes this kid seriously. The essence of Jesus message wasn’t an abolition of the 10 commandments and the other laws of Moses, but it was to personify the Old Testament and to move people beyond an outward adherence to rules to a personal relationship with God. So Jesus asks the young man, have you kept the 6 commandments that don’t involve your relationship with God? The ones Jesus left out are (1) you shall have not other gods before me, (2) no graven images of God, (3) taking the Lord’s name in vain and (4) remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy. Jesus asks about all the other commandments as a warm up, almost. And yup, the kid has done well. Hasn’t stolen, hasn’t murdered anyone. As far as the kid knows, he’s looking good. But there is something more. He has asked about eternal life, and has fulfilled all the old commandments. Now there is a new obedience. Now there is Jesus, and obedience to Him is more important than the old rules. Not that the old rules have passed away, but following the rules is the natural outcome of following Jesus. There is not point in following the commandments without Christ. But with Christ, we want to please God, we want to live the way He would have us live. So the good kid is going to have his worldview shifted.

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.

Here’s the kicker. The rules are no longer the best way to follow God, to please Him. Because Jesus is God, the best way to eternal life, the only way to eternal life, is through following Him. Jesus says if you want to be sure about eternal life, follow me. Follow God. Throw away all that stuff that doesn’t matter, get rid of the money that you love so much because it draws you away from a personal relationship with God and toward an academic following of the exact rules. God wants to know you, God is less concerned with the rules without following Him. The young man wanted to follow the rules, not God. He wanted a faith that he could control by His actions, the young man wanted a faith that he could do. But Christianity is about a obedient relationship to God that remains largely undefined. There are certain overall actions that all Christians follow, including the 10 commandments. But not every Christian is called to be a pastor or a missionary, although clearly some are. Not every Christian is called to work with youth, but clearly some are. The young man struggled with money; the love of it, the prestige it brought from the community, the things he could do, the people who would pander to him because of his wealth. The love of money was a hindrance to his belief. So it has to go.

How sad, that we might let something in this temporary world effect our life in eternity. And yet, we see it all the time. In India there is a festival where people promise their souls for material goods. They make the object they want out of paper mache, and as a group, throw all the cars, boats, houses and stuff into the Ganges river. Whatever floats, they person who threw that object in will get what they want from the goddess they have promised their souls to. Seems a little short sighted, but it happens in our culture too, just more subtlety. We trade our souls for a career, for money, for honor and prestige in our community. We trade our souls for time in front of the television, for the freedom to have sexual relations as often as possible, for drugs and alcohol, even for the love of pets. Don’t get me wrong, some of these things are not bad. It is not bad to have a career. It is not bad to watch a little television, but if it gets in the way of our relationship, our friendship with Jesus, then it needs to be dropped.

I wonder if this young man thought about what Jesus said, and later became a Christian. I hope so, because Jesus loved him. It seems like it would be hard to walk away from that kind of love. Don’t walk away from God’s love, and don’t let anything get between you and God. It doesn’t belong there.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

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

The disciples lived in a world where the rich people were the folks who were (1) obviously blessed by God, because of their wealth. If a blessed person couldn’t get into heaven, what chance did a regular person have? That is why the disciples were stunned. According to their worldview, Jesus just said there would be no one in Heaven. There was no one good enough for eternal life, there was no one blessed by God enough. Not only are they stunned, but Jesus says it again more forcefully. It is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. We cannot, the disciples could not earn their way into heaven. There is no way for us to be good enough. The standard of perfection is what God demands, and there is no earthly way to meet that standard. On our own we are without hope. That is what shocked the disciples. They figured there was a shot; that if they could get their act enough together God might accept them. If they tried hard enough to follow the 10 commandments, if they followed every rule, even the ones only the wealthy could follow, maybe there would be a chance that they would be acceptable to God.

And Jesus says no. You have no shot. Not a snowball’s chance in you know where. And that’ the beginning of our life before God. We have no chance with Him. The same chance as a camel getting through the eye of a needle, that is to say, zippo. So their question, having watched the young man walk away, the nice Jewish boy, and listening to Jesus tell them that they themselves, of all people, weren’t even close either, is exactly right. Who then, can be saved? Right. Who then?

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!”

Peter is taken aback. Everything that they thought they were accomplishing, including their own salvation, suddenly seemed to be taken away. The disciples must have been completely floored. Peter answers back, hey, listen, we’ve left everything, jobs, families, friends and homes, our children, to follow you! Has that all been for nothing? Are we all lost nonetheless? What are we doing here? Why are we going through all these struggles and trials? What is going on here?

Jesus answers back, its ok, you are fine. If people will follow me, because I’m God, all things are possible. The unrighteous become righteous. The sinners become saints. The lost become found, all because of God’s power and love, not our own. You have left everything, and you will receive a reward—not because you earned it, but because I earned it.

This is the essence of Christianity. What we could not do; be good enough to know God and enter His presence on our own power, authority and goodness, has been done by God. In God’s power, our sins are washed clean in Christ’s sacrifice. In God’s power, we repent and come to God. In God’s power, we will find ourselves someday in God’s presence accepted and at home. This is what is possible for us through Jesus Christ, and not at all possible with us on our own deeds and goodness. If we are in Jesus, if we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. I want to give you an opportunity to do that. Please close your eyes, and if you’d like to receive Christ, if you want this eternal life, and aren’t sure that you and His and He is yours, pray this prayer with me…sinner’s prayer.

Let’s pray.