Chapter 10

Way Beyond The Jordan

Mark 10:1-16

MARK 10:1-16

1 Getting up, He *went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them. 2 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?” 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he 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. 9 “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

10 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; 12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

MARK 10:1

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

Way Beyond the Jordan

Never underestimate Jesus.  It may seem like the two stories in this reading are entirely unrelated, but nothing could be further from the truth.  For they bind together to give us a picture of both the family of God and the inclusive nature of God. It also gives us a picture of a religion that — although founded upon these premises — had totally lost its roots.  Though this story goes back two millennia, it is as pertinent today as it was in the days when our Lord physically walked this earth.

In two short illustrations from Jesus’ life, Mark shows us our Lord giving new dignity to both women and children.  Jesus is way “beyond the Jordan” here and not just geographically.  He is outside the boundaries of the practiced religion and cultural boundaries of his era.

Jesus is on his last march. He is headed directly towards his prophesied sacrifice.  He is in Perea, perhaps paying his final respect to John as he heads towards his own death. This area was the region east of the Jordan River where the Baptist had preached.  Yet, despite his march towards Jerusalem, our Lord is never too busy to pause for the forgotten classes of Israel.  We might even consider these days to be among Christ’s finest hours.  For, while on his way to his determined destiny, he shows the priorities of his mission, giving dignity to those trampled by self-centric leaders in both politics and religion.  Jesus actually gives women equal status and children premier status.  He challenges his Country’s legalism and instead, sets compassion as the highest attribute of those who would honor God.

This Jesus was truly “way beyond the Jordan.”

Where is “way beyond the Jordan” in our communities?  Who has a beggar’s access to human dignity? Who has less say “at the table” in our time?  Whose voice is the least heard because it comes with the least power and who has no voting block at all?  That’s where you would find Jesus; granting those people their inherent right to dignity, taking them into his arms and castigating any who would try and prevent the littlest one’s direct access to his embrace.

Let’s pray that Christ’s return finds us doing similar work “way beyond the Jordan.”

According to His custom

The word custom [G1486 Etho] pertains to what a people have a “custom of doing.”  Yet, it is also the root word of ethics, a word that means to operate with integrity of character.  We can teach ethics in our universities but that does not instill character into a person’s “accustomed behavior.”

To be among the people, always healing, always teaching, that was the “ethos” of Jesus, it was “his custom” to love with abandonment.  We know that Jesus was as comfortable with the masses as he was with personal solitude.  However, it is also interesting to note that he never sought solitude as an end in itself.  The solitude of Jesus led to his preaching, teaching, healing and sacrifice.  He had a mission and his end goal was not personal nirvana but communal salvation.  It was not only his practice to remain accessible and invitational; it was his ethos, his character.

MARK 10:2

Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.

Testing Him, and began to question Him

It is good to ask questions of our leaders so that we can to learn more about them and make informed opinions about their beliefs.  However, there are also those who ask questions solely to deepen their existing pre-judgments.  It was for these reasons that the Pharisees were obviously tracking Jesus down way out into Perea (an area that these religious leaders would find uncomfortable and even "unclean").  Day trips “beyond the Jordan” were not their style; these were not the Holy Lands.  We often talk about the wrong side of the tracks; this was the wrong side of the river (the Jordan).  Yet, they were intent on undermining or arresting Jesus and Jesus was always on the move.  This was a fact-finding mission cloaked in leading questions to debunk the appeal of Jesus to his growing followers.

The term that is used for “testing Jesus” [G3985 Peirazo], is also the term Matthew used for the temptations of Jesus by Satan [Matthew 4:1] and it is even a term that Matthew used as one of the names of Satan [4:3].

The person who follows Jesus faithfully should expect this kind of questioning, even if (as with Jesus) it comes from the religious authorities.  In our last reading, from Mark 9:38-40, we saw how the disciples acted in a similar inexcusable manner towards a man who used the power of Jesus to cleanse out demons.  The key thread here is that — Pharisees or disciples alike — they hated it when other people were doing what they should have been doing all along.  However, we must acknowledge that if we truly do what God tells us to do we will make enemies and we will be tempted.

Matthew 10:22

“And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

In our last three studies, we have also seen the titles of Satan revealed in three different ways:

1.        Satan;

In Mark 8:33, Jesus calls Peter, “Satan” [G4567 Sata], the Aramaic equivalent of the devil.  Its primary translation is “the Accuser.”  We need to understand that Satan is our final accuser.  He knows that the wages of sin is death and his final accusation will not be; “Were you mostly good or were you mostly bad?”  It will be; “Have you sinned?”

There is no middle ground here.  We have either sinned or not and since all of us have sinned, Satan can rightly demand all of our lives (Romans 6:23a, “for the wages of sin is death”). Yet, praise God, there is one who died who in our stead (Romans 6:23b, “but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord”).  The one who did not sin gave his life for all of us who have sinned.  The perfect life became the perfect sacrifice and those who accept his gift receive his glory.

2.        Demon

Demons [G1140 Daimonion], as described in Mark 9:38, comes from a word that means to “manipulate destinies.”  It has been Satan’s obsession to manipulate the destinies of all people since he cannot rule over God.  In his evil passion, he seeks to take all lives into his fall with him and to cause as much sorrow for God as he is able.  Yet, our lives are of no consequence to this most malevolent entity. His only purpose in using us is to cause pain to God. We’re merely tools of manipulation in his quest. Evil then, can best be described as manipulating others for your own compulsive or addictive need for pleasure, acceptance or power (the three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness).

3.        Tempter

Finally, we can see Satan’s character through the Pharisees and their testing [G3985 Peirazo] of Jesus. It was not their intent to learn more about Jesus, but to undermine the work of God whenever it encroached upon their temporal authority.

These examples offer us some critical insights into the Ethos of Jesus versus the Ethos of Satan.  Jesus was increasingly available, accessible, and open.  While Satan shouts out accusations from the crowd, he slashes at our heels from behind and uses manipulation as his primary modus operandi.

We will know that we are drawing nearer to Jesus if we find ourselves increasingly moving from hidden desires and motives to integration, transparency and consistency.  Let us pray that our lives continually lead us toward that path, that ethos of a transparent, integrated, character.

MARK 10:3-5

3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.”

“What did Moses command you?”

Satan could never trap Jesus through the Pharisees with his usual ploys; Jesus was neither on the high road of self-righteousness or the low road of manipulation.  What becomes evident in this reading is that the Pharisees see the whole realm of religion from a personal and litigious context while Jesus sees religion in the realm of compassion and communal restoration. The restoration of all God’s people and not just the favored few.  We see here how the Pharisees try to trap Jesus into a legal debate on divorce.  They know if Jesus sides with Mosaic Law (according to their traditions), they can then switch their position and call him lenient on sin.  If he denies their interpretation he opens the floodgates to situational ethics (where culture, politics, or bias interprets moral principles).

Here was the Pharisee’s stance:

Deuteronomy 24:1-4

1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

Did you notice that the entire perspective of this reading is written for the male’s expediency?  The woman had no choice in the matter. Women were just chattel, little more than beasts of burden.  Mosaic Law protected the female to some degree by demanding two witnesses and a writ of divorce (a legal document).  The only right a woman had in those situations was to reclaim her dowry. Sadly, even that would then be put into the care of a brother or scribe (if she had no remaining family) and they would dole it out to her as they saw fit. Women could not manage property or money, thus they were at the mercy of a male-dominated society.

So woman had no say in these matters. The continuation of the covenant was viewed as the man’s prerogative. The women simply had no right to an opinion.  Marriage, arranged by the father and continued at the whim of the husband, was a grotesquely lopsided legal proposition.  It had a “presumption of subservience” built into it. 

It is not difficult to imagine where such a presumption would lead.  For example, one recent example of religious legalism allows a husband to call his wife on a cell phone in the presence of two witnesses and simply say; “I divorce you,” three times.  At that point, she must leave the house at once.  In like manner, to a Pharisee, this would not qualify as an issue of social justice; it was an issue of legal interpretation. 

Legalism will always be the least (and worst) common denominator for evaluating the treatment of humans. Slave traders used it to denigrate Africans as sub-human. The Nazis used legalism to treat the Jews inhumanely. The Bush Administration used the same tactics to exert war powers and circumspect the Geneva Convention in the treatment of suspected terrorists and terrorists. This all results from trying to legally treat certain people as “less than human” and to take away their inalienable rights.

This type of legalism was the starting point of every accusation the Pharisees would level at the compassion of Jesus, whether he was healing a palsied arm, protecting a woman caught in adultery (notice that the man was never hauled naked before the crowd) or feeding his hungry disciples in a harvested field. The Pharisees used legalism to condemn others and excuse themselves.  We say that negligence of the law is no excuse, but legalism is its abuse.

In addition, that viewpoint must lead us to a caveat about these important readings of Jesus’ confrontations with the Pharisees and Scribes.  Jesus was not being asked how one could live out such a strict adherence of the marriage covenant (though he answered that issue as well).  Jesus is being asked to justify or rationalize the sinful nature of man.  He was being asked to give a legalistic interpretation of how far a man could go in sinning without losing his salvation.

We must see Jesus’ response not in the context set by the Pharisee’s.  This is not a lesson on fundamentalism.  Our Lord’s response is set on a higher ground.  Sin is sin; it is never justifiable. There is no scriptural evidence of greater or lesser sin (mortal or venial).  “We sin, we die,” that’s the strict definition.

Yet, the whole time that Jesus was being harassed by the Pharisee’s he was in the middle of acts of compassion.  Jesus did not come to condemn sinners; he came to restore God’s children to right relationship with him.

John 3:17

“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.”

Hardness of heart

Arteriosclerosis is a hardening of the arteries but Jesus condemns the Pharisees of sklerokardia [G4641], a hardness of heart.  It was not a physical condition but a spiritual one.  They had lost the ability to see beyond their legal blinders and into the impact that their interpretations would have on the lives of women, children, and the stability of family.

How often have we seen similar injustices inflicted upon people in the name of legalism? 

·      Health care and legal systems that favor the wealthy and restrict their access by the poor

·      Environmental policies that deprive future generations of their resources in exchange for own greed and comfort today

·      Economic policies that borrow against the resources of future generations for short-term political or corporate gain

·      Immigration laws that exploit the cheap labor of millions while closing the door to basic human rights.

This Pharisaical attitude of legalism has not changed in two thousand years.  It is just simply an example of what happens when a few people have the political, financial and legal capacity to manipulate a whole class of human beings (whether it be women, children or the poor).  This is sklerokardia — hardening of the heart — or perhaps even “sklerosystema” the hardening of a system against human rights.

MARK 10:6-9 

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

From the beginning of creation

Jesus pulls the rug out from under the Pharisees.  They use the words of Moses, so he does likewise.  However, Jesus will predate the religious leaders by recalling the way God designed marriage and not the allowances that were made to accommodate human sinfulness.

“From the beginning [G746 Arche] of creation [G2937 Ktisis],” states Jesus.  It means not just the earliest legal briefing but the archetype principle, or truly, “the way that God designed it to be.”

What is “the way that God designed it to be?”  How is the marriage covenant supposed to operate?  Jesus takes his stance not from the law but from creation (of which he was a personal witness);

Genesis 2:24

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

While the Pharisees saw marriage as a legal issue, Jesus saw it as a spiritual one.

The two shall be joined [H1692 Dabaq] and become one [H259 Echad].  The words are dramatic, like grafting a new shoot into an old vine.  Their sap mixes and becomes one. You cannot cut one vine without scarring the other and one part of the plant cannot become diseased without affecting the other.  This is not a legal or contractual arrangement; it is transplanting one’s heart into another’s body.  No longer is it viable to say; “What about me?”  Because “me” does not exist anymore, only “us.” This unbreakable covenant of marriage was supposed to model the unbreakable covenant that God had with his people.

This is “the archetype,” the way that marriage was designed.  The Pharisees were not holding to “the standard,” they were succumbing to the convenient.  “They are no longer two, but one flesh;” declares Jesus.  “What therefore God has joined together let no man separate.”

What does that mean?  It was a reminder to the Pharisees of their smallness of mind and hardness of heart.  They might be able to come up with piles of papyrus rationalizing their reasoning but they still could not change what God had designed.  Everything else was a concession, an allowance for man’s sinfulness.  In doing so, Jesus is challenging the very premise of the Pharisee’s existence.  It is like telling an attorney; “Stop rationalizing the law and help people abide by it.”  In other words, “Get a real job.”  He is telling these men that, not only is their premise wrong, but also that the complete focus of their lives is in error.

In like manner, Jesus would attack many pastors, theologians and churches today.  “I’m sick of lengthy diatribes that focus on helping people justify their exorbitant lifestyles while poverty and classism grow all around you.  Get out of your church and practice love on your streets!”

The Greek word for church [G1577 Ekklesia] meant a "riot in the streets. Would the neighborhood even know our church existed except the extra load of cars tearing up and down the raid on Sunday?

If we look at the true model of Christian ministry (Jesus Christ himself) how much “office time” did he spend a week? If you wanted to find Jesus, you didn’t set up an appointment with his secretary. You sought him out in the middle of a crowd of the least accepted and the most rejected.

Mark 9:10-11 

10 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; 12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Commits adultery against her

Jesus makes two statements here that would rock the Pharisees foundations:

1.        “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.”

2.        “If she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Rather than rationalize the behavior of men looking for an “out” to their commitments and responsibilities, he tells them; “All right, you can divorce; but not to marry someone else.  If you leave your wife, don’t be looking for another wife.  You are already cleaved to someone and you always will be.”

This statement shocked even the disciples.  Matthew shares their private response with us:

Matthew 19:10-11

10 The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.”

Marriage is a holy and permanent union.  This is God’s design.  “Not all men can accept this statement,” It is a premise that every married person must remember to begin their day and end their night; “Whatever I do today that will further or lessen this partnership will further or lessen my eternity.”

The Pharisees were wasting energy, indeed, grievously sinning by focusing on how to end marriages legally. They should have been pouring every ounce of energy into preserving it.  Is that what our churches do?  Is that what our legal and economic systems focus on?  How do we help marriages?  How do we focus our resources on helping families?

Are the teachings, resources and efforts of your church spent advocating for the frail family structure?  Does your budget and time commitment reflect an obligation to the family’s growth and development in your outreaches?

If she herself divorces her husband

Next Jesus steps up his radical assertions.  He states; “If she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Why is this radical?  Doesn’t it make sense that if a man divorces his wife and marries another woman he is committing adultery, then wouldn’t the same be applicable to the woman?

Of course!  But we would be missing the point.  Women just went from zero to equal rights in one fell swoop!  Jesus is talking about a woman putting a man out on the street!  A woman contemplating whether she wants to stick around with the man!  A woman having a right to say; “I am sick of your behavior, bud.  You’re out of here!”

The Pharisees lined up to bat a home run but instead, their fast pitch turns into a line drive back into their face.  Suddenly, the issue shifts from how far men can abuse a woman according to the law to how all people are equal in God’s eyes.  For the Pharisees, this argument was not going well. Suddenly, they see that Jesus’ whole interpretation is not to define the rules for a “right divorce,” but to establish equality for everyone on the playing field. That was definitely NOT in the Pharisees game plan that day.

Jesus still offers a similar stance towards legalism. We ask “when is it right to torture prisoners?” He states, “When you sign up to be the first one tortured.” We ask, “When is it right to withhold basic human rights?” He asks, “When you are the first to give up your personal rights.”

That’s not the Jesus most of us want to engage in argument.

MARK 10:13-16 

13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

And they were bringing children to Him

It seems like this statement comes out of the blue, but if we trust Mark’s chronological order we will see that Jesus is continuing to deepen his point about the sanctity of all life!

The Pharisees attack is timed to humiliate Jesus in front of a crowd. Their primary goal is public embarrassment.  Yet, nothing could have made them look more stupid than their attacks.  They are arguing for divorce while Jesus is in the very act of blessing children, the most vulnerable victims of the breakdown of the family.  Nothing could look more ridiculous!

As the Pharisees turned up the heat, the disciples began to panic.  What’s on their minds? “The Pharisees are questioning us and Jesus is blessing children, just who is more important here?  Here are the doctorates of the Law, the interpreters of the Jewish legalities, they are presenting important matters, and Jesus won’t even look up at them."

My friends, what greater statement could Jesus make about, “getting your priorities straight,” than to ignore the Pharisees while blessing every child?  Could any speech or legal briefing compare to his actions?

Jesus was doing what was most important to God and the disciple’s “didn’t get it.” Blessing the sanctity of family by loving these children was the very purpose of Jesus. Arguing theology with the sanctimonious meant nothing compared to embracing each child that was presented to our Lord.

Nothing could show how screwed up the priorities of the Pharisees or the disciples were than their attempts to distract Jesus from these young ones.  Where does your church focus its priorities?  If a church focuses on loving; compassion will be its theology.  If a church focuses on doctrine; legalism will be its undoing.

“Permit the children to come to Me.”

Here is one of the most poetic words in scripture, permit [G863 Aphiemi], “permit the children to come to Me.”  The term for permit is also the term for “to yield.”  Could there be any greater peace than to yield those whom we love to Jesus?

Yet, this is also the word for “forgive,” or more accurately, to “pay the ransom” for a hostage.  It is used in the Lord’s own prayer; “Forgive us our debts as we forgive the debts of others.  Quite literally it means; “I am a hostage to sin, Lord.  Pay my ransom and I will pay the ransom of others.”

Our Lord paid the ultimate ransom for these least, little ones.  We must never hinder them by thinking there could possibly be anything greater on Christ's agenda than their closeness to God.

For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these

It is too small an emphasis to say, “The kingdom belongs [G1510 Eimi] to such as these.”  The phrase means “exists because of” or “amounts to such as these.”  We might literally say that that the kingdom is the property of the vulnerable, that God has given it to them!

Jesus embraces this belief to such an extent that in Matthew 10 and 18 he says that there are four paths to heaven:

The path of the prophet who goes out to rescue the littlest one (the word is interchangeable with smallest, youngest, most vulnerable or most remote;

Matthew 10:6-8

6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”

The path of those who receive (provides physically, emotionally, and spiritually)  a prophet; Matthew 10:41 “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.”

The path of the one who gives exorbitant care to the least, little one [G3398 Mikros] whom the prophet brings home;

Matthew 10:42

“And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

And, the path of those who themselves become like a child again [G3398 Mikros];

Matthew 18:3-4

3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

We cannot get around this issue, to be a part of the Kingdom is to be a part of the lives of those who are most forgotten and more rejected.  They own the heavenly property that we hope to settle into someday, the kingdom belongs to such as these [Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16].  If we are not comfortable with these people now than heaven will not be comfortable for us as our hearts only begin to harden over the years [G4641 Sklerokardia].

Began blessing them

Here’s the kicker, while unraveling the confounding legalism of the Pharisee, pressed upon by crowds, and harassed by the disciples, Jesus still pauses to bless each child.  Could you imagine how your heart would soar to see Jesus lay his hands upon your little one?

When Jesus blessed each child [G2721a Kateulogeo], he “claimed their eulogy.”  Normally, we think of a eulogy as summarizing an older person’s past.  Instead, Jesus was claiming these children’s future.  He was “pro-claiming” them; forward-claiming them in his name.  Not only that, he was “laying hands” on them [G5087 Tithemi].  This is the same term from which we get “tithe.”  It means to assign, designate, or predestine someone or something toward a specific purpose.

What an incredible concept!  What a life-changing image!  Yet, also, what a call to us as the living body of Christ!

What greater goal could a church have than to “forward claim” or “declare the destiny” of children?  To the Christ, that was more important than debating subtle legalities or “making room for the elite.” Shouldn’t that also be what is most important to church, the living body of Jesus?  Our time, our expenditures, our vision must reflect this mission.  If it doesn’t, then we too will find ourselves like the Pharisees arguing over dead points of law or the disciples trying to please the influential.

James 2:1-5

1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with {an attitude of} personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? 5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world {to be} rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

“Lord, let our passion be your compassion and our mission be self-abandoning love.  Keep us from the demon of legalism and the tyranny of the elite.  Let us be among those who make room for the forgotten and seek the neglected and let us, like you, boldly claim the destinies of the least, little ones.”

My friends, the Old Testament closes and the New Testament opens with a phrase found both in Malachi 4:5-6 and it’s companion verse in the call of John the Baptist [Luke 1:17]:

“Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.”

There is our ministry. While the Pharisee’s were sinking into legalism, Jesus was lifting the poor out of their exclusion. He was, “turning the heart’s of the parents back to the children and the hearts of the children back to their parents.”

Does our ministry find us spending more time in ritual or legalism or on the street with the children? Do people have to “look for us out there,” or can they easily find me holed up behind closed doors writing windy sermons for comfortable professionals and crafting new policies with self-affirming committees? WWJB: Where Would Jesus Be?

Mark 10:17-31

“One Thing You Lack”

Mark 10:17-31

MARK 10:17-31

17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 “You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’ “ 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

23 And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and *said to them, “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.” 26 They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

28 Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

MARK 10:17-18

17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”

As He was setting out on a journey

This is a story about an impulsive, emotional response to the offer of eternal salvation.  It is the story of a wealthy young man (some would say a prince) who perhaps heard Jesus preach when his elite caravan (journeying towards the Passover festivities in Jerusalem) wound up in the same city as the Lord for a night.  The young man put off making a decision about approaching Jesus until the last instant, until Jesus was “setting out on a journey.”  Then, as Jesus is about to leave town, the youth throws all his pride aside and; “Ran up to Him (Jesus) and knelt before Him.”

The young man’s statement is blurted out, not thought out.  His passion is near panic and he responds out of fear that he will miss this opportunity. His response is not one of reason or contemplation.  At first, the boy is lost in the moment, but then he loses the moment.  In that eternal instant his hopes and his fears collide.  His love for Jesus and his love for the ways of this life implode and it is perhaps one of the saddest stories in the whole bible. He embraces the eternal on an impulse and then rejects it when he realizes the temporal cost.

However, we will never know the rest of this story (which is always an important consideration given the depth by which we are understood by Jesus).  We cannot know if the unwavering words of Jesus forced the impulsiveness out of a spoiled child only to eventually turn into the persistent faith of a wise, young, man.  We also cannot know if perhaps this was the haunted grandchild of Herod the Great or a rich pilgrim on the way to Jerusalem.  We just don’t know what became of this young person was or resulted from this famed encounter.  However, this we do know, our God is a God of second chances even seven times seventy chances.

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?”

Muslims in the Middle East are fond of saying; “Only Allah is perfect.”

A number of subtleties occur in the interchange between Jesus and this young man.  The Rich Young Man doesn’t call Jesus by the title, Rabbi, which is how most Jewish followers addressed him.  Instead he calls him good [G18 Agathos] teacher [G1320 Didaskalos].  In Middle Eastern fashion, Jesus questions the young man’s statement; “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Jesus was pushing the young man to clarify himself; “Are you saying that I merely teach well or are you suggesting that I am God?”

The whole interchange pushes this young man to stop acting impulsively as those prone to a life of ease often act.  Instead, Jesus is pushing him to take responsibility for his emotions, thoughts and actions. He is pushing the young man to grow up and make a commitment.  He is pushing him to take a stand and even to burn his bridges behind him.

It is as though Jesus sees in this young man the lost confusion of every generation that has grown up with everything… except a cause.  Jesus wants us to stop toying with our destiny and take responsibility for it.  He is telling every generation; “You will never know joy without commitment.  Find something worth giving everything for and commit to it.”

MARK 10:19-20

19 “You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’ “ 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

“You know the commandments.”

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

This young man was sincerely looking for eternal security.  He seemed listless with life, bored with his predicament, and perhaps this journey to Jerusalem was a pilgrimage for direction. Life was becoming shallow to him; but that didn’t make him deep.  Boredom with life doesn’t make us prophetic; it usually just makes us cynical. Prophets see the vanity and shallowness of this world and grab onto a cause with all their might. This young man wanted little more than a self-help formula to quell his angst with life.

It is important to note that his question has to do with tasks, “What must I do?” not relationships.  In response, Jesus names the six commandments that deal with human relationships.  “DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.”

The young man’s response is interesting.  He still doesn’t call Jesus by his proper title, but he does stop calling Jesus “good.”  Now, he just calls Jesus, “teacher.”  It seems apparent that the young is disappointed in Christ’s typically religious response.  It is as though the young man is saying; “Listen, I’ve already bought what you’re selling and I am no less bored than I ever was.”  Literally, he says; “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

“Been there, done that.”

The young man is pleading for something new, not a list, not a rite, not a new program, or self-help manual.  He is pleading for something that his previous “teachers” and their tired rituals have been unable to provide him.  What Jesus begins by offering the young man sounds like the same “tired, old stuff that hasn’t worked in his life or those he’s seen preaching before.”

Jesus’ challenge to this young man is to quit waiting for a teacher to change his life with a new concept and to, instead, begin taking personal responsibility for his boring life. Jesus moves him from inaction to action and from ritual to relationship. God is not something we do, he is someone to whom we must ultimately give ourselves.

MARK 10:21-22

21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

Jesus felt a love for him and said to him

Jesus doesn’t respond to the boy’s insolence (his “been there, done that” attitude) with disdain.  Instead, the heart of our Lord breaks for this boy’s weary search. The boy possesses a sincere heart but has experienced nothing but emptiness on his journey.

Jesus felt love [G25 Agapao] for this young man.  Of the four words that the Greeks used for love, only agapé (agapao is the verb) can be used to accurately describe the love Jesus had for us.  It was totally unselfish, radically extravagant and completely sacrificial.  It is a love that would not hesitate to forego life for the well-being of another.  The fiber of Jesus tears open for the desiring, but lost, heart.

“One thing you lack”

Very often love cuts to the chase, not with the easy answer, but instead, the “truth that will set us free [John 8:32]” answer.  Jesus tells the young man the hard stuff.  Maybe the youth was looking for Jesus just to affirm him.  Maybe he was hoping Jesus would say; “Well, don’t sweat it then.  You don’t have anything to worry about, just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Instead, Jesus says something the young man seems sure to reject. “One thing you lack [G5302 Hustereo];” begins Jesus.  It means “there is one area where you are destitute,” or, “in one endeavor you are coming up behind.”  In the process, Jesus pushes the youth in two ways:

First, he shows the youth that he must take responsibility for change. All too often I will hear young people who are incarcerated tell me that the cause of their behavior was boredom.  I reject this unequivocally.  I tell them how damaging it is for them to make that statement and will often say; “You’re not bored, you’re boring.  It is not life’s responsibility to either entertain or involve you.”

Good spiritual leaders recognize that they are more like physical therapists than surgeons.  They can’t cut out erroneous lifestyles with a scalpel.  They can give a stroke victim the best set of exercises to recover from their injuries; but the therapist cannot do one of those exercises for the patient.  If the patient wants to recover, the patient must do the work.  Spiritual leaders can motivate, invite and direct but not perform a “soul-otomy.”  Jesus placed the onus of change squarely on this young man’s shoulders.

Jesus shows the young man that the peace he seeks cannot be obtained by working smarter or harder, but by loving more

Jesus doesn’t raise the bar by giving the youth a better or longer to-do list.  Instead, Jesus gets right to the point.  If Jesus were into legalism, he could have just said; “The law demands that you give ten percent of what you own to your favorite rabbi, as a matter of fact, Judas can accept your donations in paper, plastic, shekels or sheep.”

Instead, Jesus asks for what no one else would ask; “You lack passion because you lack compassion not because you lack things or titles.”

Jesus is telling him that he will never experience such great joy as when he gives all that he has to those have nothing.  Jesus further reveals his own Godly character by implying; “Then, when you are completely broke (notice that Jesus didn’t request any share of the young man’s fortune), at that point you will really know who loves you.  That’s when I will be here for you.”

Do we fully understand this characteristic about Jesus?  He loves us most when we are totally worthless to others.  There can be no greater understanding or acceptance in this world, no deeper understanding of heaven than to be loved when we are completely helpless or useless to others. Have you ever been there? I have… Loved by someone when others rejected me? That’s the deepest love that can be offered, that’s agapé love, the love of Jesus.

This is the acceptance and joy that Jesus was offering this young man — and through him — Jesus reveals what he will offer us as well.

In this story, our response to Jesus is similarly revealed.  We can only experience complete joy by complete abandonment.  No, it is not a legal requirement, but that is not what the young man was seeking.  He knew the law but the law, his relationships and his riches, were not bringing him any closer to true joy.  Jesus shows us that only total abandonment brings complete joy.

Secondly, besides seeing how Jesus wants us to come to him, we see how the body of Christ must throw open its arms to love those that our society deems as worthless.  In a state of temporal worthlessness, that was exactly how Jesus was asking the young man to follow him, without possessions or titles.  Ultimately this is how we will come before Jesus.  Yet, the radical thing is that Jesus is saying: “The sooner you do this, the greater your joy will be!”

In the process, Jesus teaches us the difference between the joy of simplicity and the sorrow of poverty. In simplicity, we give everything away to be among the poor. In poverty, everything including our dignity and hope are taken from us. Let us make it our passion to hear the call of Jesus and to simplify our lives, to give our pride and our pretense away, to trade it all for joy.  Let us pry loose each finger of every last presumption until we are finally free to only hold on to Jesus.

He went away grieving

“He was saddened and went away grieving.”

Could there be any more tragic words in the whole of scripture?  This young man actually knows he is missing something elemental to life, he goes to the only source that can fill his void but he stops short when he finds there is a serious commitment involved.  He wants joy without cost, the same way that he received his current title and inheritance.  Contrary to popular psychology, there is a cost to joy.  It is not measured in legal percentages (as in a tithe), but on a scale of, “getting what you give.”

Luke 6:38

“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Mark 4:24

And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides.”

So the young man walks away saddened and grieving.  What painful words come from Mark’s pen:

·      Saddened [G4768 Stugnazo], this word comes from stugnos [G4767] to have a gloomy appearance or even to be hateful!

·      Grieving [G3076 Lupeo], to feel physically in pain from sorrow.  I know how this face looks.  I’ve see it too many times on people who know what the right thing is but still walked the other way.  People who leave their families for addictions, alcohol or compulsions.  People who could not resist pleasure even when it cost them a lifetime of joy.

I would appeal to any person who reads this story to seek out other people who will help you reaffirm your commitments for joy over pleasure.  Seek accountability groups where the goal is to care deeply about each other’s souls.  Without promoting any denomination here, seek out other folks with whom you can share the Wesleyan question; “How is it with your soul?”  Not, how is it with your “football team” or your “stock portfolio.”  Seek out men who will “commit and confess” with you.  Who will lovingly ask you the tough questions about the consistency of your inner life and hold you accountable in your relationships.

Jesus made the hard calls, he did not tiptoe around the truth.  He told this young man that he would only “find himself” in the commitments that he kept, not in what he possessed or the titles he was given. Seek out others who model this attitude of Christ and make a commitment to group accountability.

MARK 10:23-27

23 And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and *said to them, “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.” 26 They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

“Then who can be saved?”

Why is it so hard to understand, or even more, to change our lives to fit these statements by Jesus?  Why were the disciples so incredulous, even shocked, by what Jesus said?  Part of it was that the Jews of Christ’s time (like many Christians in our time) equated prosperity with being blessed by God for righteous living and poverty or illness with God’s curse for somehow having offended Him (see Job 1:10; 42:10; Psalm 128:18; and Isaiah 3:10).

Jesus was unraveling this whole premise of a prosperity gospel (as we’ve come to identify it).  Jesus was so contrary to what was being preached at the time (and what is still often preached today) that the disciples basically responded to him by stating; “Well, what’s in it for us then?”

Yet, the entire concept of biblical wealth was never personal. In fact that concept was condemned by scripture and the prophets!  Wealth was not measured by how much one person owned, it was measured by communal well-being. Wealth was measured by the absence of poverty in a tribe.  Wealth was measured by compassion towards widows and orphans.  Every time the people of God forgot that basic tenet of faith, the hand of God came crashing down to break up the hardness of his people’s hearts.

How do we measure wealth today?  Is it measured personally, by who gets ahead instead of communally, by who gets left behind?  We can be sure that no one will enter the kingdom based upon what they have amassed, so what makes us think that God would honor or bless that type of lifestyle on earth?  Wouldn’t that be antithetical to what Jesus tells this rich young man?  Why is it so hard to take Jesus at his word?  At least this young man made no pretense of trying to live hypocritically.

What Jesus doesn’t say is as important as what he does say.  When the young man walks away, even though he is grieved and even though Jesus deeply loves him, Jesus doesn’t change his parameters to accommodate the youth. 

Jesus tells us; “You cannot serve two masters [Luke 16:13].”  That is the way it is, it is not the way we wish it was or the way we would like to rationalize it should be.  If we could wish this principle away or make compromises about how much is too much, wouldn’t Jesus have done that on the spot for this young man that he loved?

I believe that we are losing so many of our youth today, not because we ask too much of them, but because we demand too little of them.  Jesus never failed at offering the greatest challenge, the grandest adventure and the most inspiring cause to his followers.  Many young people are ready to give their lives to a cause but do we ask more of them than to read the text at a token Youth Sunday once a year?

Let us reclaim the passion of the prophet Joel. Let us live with heated passion and a reawakened fire for compassion in our guts:

Joel 2:28

“It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

“For all things are possible with God”

The disciples felt defeated.  We must remember that the closer they came to Jerusalem, the harder it was for the apostles to understand the statements that Jesus was making.  We must understand their confusion over Jesus’ announcement on the Galilean seashore that they must eat his body and drink his blood. It would be so hard for them to hear his words in the wilderness that he must suffer, face a cross and that they would too.  All these things troubled and frightened those who were following Jesus into what seemed a cloud of unknowing.

Suddenly, with a new twist, Jesus closes the door on someone who the disciples must have felt would make an ideal “member” in their congregation.  He was young, he kept the commandments, he had titles and… he had money!

“What was Jesus thinking?”

Were the disciples thinking about the boy’s connections, a rich daddy with a potential army at his disposal?  Were they already spending the young man’s tithes on a retreat house next to Herod’s palace overlooking the Jordan River?

“What was Jesus thinking?”

Was it dawning on the disciples that by not compromising his values for the rich young man’s money Jesus was throwing away their hidden desires for title and position as well?

Being in mission is a tough life.  There are many times that my family literally prays for our daily bread.  I often think to myself; “I have an MBA, why am I doing this?”

Then, I find myself studying scripture with one inmate through a Plexiglas barrier and I hear Jesus say; “Jerry, what if this is as good as it gets?  Will you still give yourself to my purposes?”

The young inmate asks me; “Do you think God could forgive even me?”

And, I reply; “Brother, Jesus died especially for you!”

Matthew 18:12-14

12 “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? 13 “If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14 “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

The Lord wants me to give up my titles and toys too.  He asks me if I am faithful enough to be simple among the poor and still rejoice?  That is the essence of this reading; that is why it is so hard to respond, “Yes Lord!”

“Yes Lord, if this is as good as it gets, then please heal my faithlessness.”

The disciples bore a load too heavy for a human to bear.  Jesus was leaving them and they could sense it.  Despite his clear statements, they did not want to admit it.  Now they felt that he was not only withdrawing from them, but that he was taking their secret dreams of grandeur as well.  So, they blurted out, “Then who can be saved?”

Can you hear the pathos in that cry?  Jesus did.

·      “It’s impossible [G102 Adunatos] for a man,” he replies.  The term means, “You are powerless, you don’t have the capability.”

·      “But not with God; for all things are possible [G1415 Dunatos] with God.”

While adunatos is the absence of power, dunatos is explosive (as in dynamite) power.  It is mighty power, influential, and capable.  It is the power of the river that won’t be denied the ocean. It is the power of gravity that must be acknowledged in every physical science equation. It is the power of creation that is but a sign of its Creator.  Stop the changing tide? Hold back the rushing water? Try and manufacture life out of nothing? God’s creation will not be held in check.  “For all things are possible with God.”

Here is the hope Christ offers humanity; we will neither be saved by what we do or what we have, nor will we be condemned for what we are unable to do or will never possessed.  We will be loved as we loved others with a power that will not be held in check.

MARK 10:28-31

28 Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

“He will receive a hundred times as much now”

This could prove to be one of the most confusing statements that Jesus ever made, even if we understand the Greek language and the Hebrew culture.  To “leave, behind” aphiemi [G863]; can be a very harsh word meaning to abandon, to divorce or to neglect.  Does that sound like what Jesus calls us to do (especially after the first part of Mark 10 and Jesus’ absolute committal to the eternal bonds of marriage)?  Is Jesus truly asking his followers to neglect their families and divorce their spouses for him?  Before we answer, “Yes,” to this question, there are three points that need to be raised here:

Jesus sent away his own earthly family when they tried to impede his ministry.  In that instance, he declared that his family were those who “listened and obeyed” him [Mark 3:35].  In this reading, Jesus was willing to watch this young man walk away rather than compromise on the Gospel.

Jesus would not compromise God’s preeminent place over our life.  To have eternal life we must love God without equal [Matthew 22:37].  To let anything or anyone come between God and our complete love of him will eventually degrade our capacity to love others.

However, we must look even closer to see the true depth of Jesus’ apparently austere statement to his followers.  We must learn to read scripture through the lens of the character (name) of  Christ.  The term we interpret here as to “reject or abandon” family [G863 Aphiemi] is also used frequently as “to forgive,” to “let go,” or even to “give yourself to.”  For example;

Matthew 6:12

“And forgive [G863 Aphiemi] us our debts, as we also have forgiven [G863 Aphiemi] our debtors.”

The ultimate issue is; “Does the character of Christ teach us to abandon others or to abandon ourselves to others?”

Matthew 5:43-44

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ 44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

It is consistent throughout the statements of Christ that the more we abandon ourselves to others, the more we let go of judgments and forgive others. That is when we “just begin” to know Jesus.  True joy, in Christ, is not found in abandoning our commitments but abandoning ourselves in committed love to others.

This story of the truly rich life is a story of personal abandonment for communal restoration. Jesus wants us to experience the richness, the absolute joy of abandoning ourselves to him and his children. Like the rich, young prince, if we want the richness of Christ, we have to let go of the titles and toys of the temporal world.