The gospel’s path to greatness, Mark 10:32-52

Last week we looked at the most important question in the world, which is what must I do to inherit eternal life?  The rich young ruler was considered a good person.  But he found that he wasn’t good enough to enter the kingdom of heaven. The question before us today in the passage we’re looking at, is how do you become great in the kingdom of God?  A desire for greatness is a worthy goal, if it is achieved within the realm of the kingdom of heaven.  But I would be willing to guess that many people who may desire greatness, consider it only within the temporal, earthly realm, and aren’t very concerned about being great in the kingdom of God.

We typically think of greatness in the realm of sports figures.  Hank Aaron was a great baseball player. Maybe the best there ever was. Muhammed Ali considered himself the greatest boxer. That’s open for debate. Tom Brady could be considered perhaps the greatest quarterback in football.  That is unless you’re an old Colts fan like my wife.  Then you would probably say Johnny Unitas was the greatest quarterback.   My sport of choice is surfing.  But I’m not a great surfer by any stretch of the imagination.  But there are a few icons in the sport that have achieved greatness to some degree or another.  One such guy is a man named Laird Hamilton.  And even if you aren’t a surfer, you might have heard of Laird.  

Surfer Magazine once labeled Laird as “the sport’s most complete surfer, displaying almost unnerving expertise in a multitude of disciplines, and flat out surfing’s biggest, boldest, bravest, and the best big wave surfer in the world today, bar none.” I guess that qualifies Laird as being one of the greatest surfers ever. 

Usually along with such physical feats of greatness come also a lot of arrogance and pride.  And perhaps Laird was prone to that sort of thing at  certain times in his life. But I understand that a near death experience may have tempered that arrogance to a certain degree. In fact, according to a YouTube video I saw,  it would appear that he turned to the Lord in that situation.  I can’t say that he is saved, but it certainly seemed like that near death experience may have humbled him to some degree.  

So a while back I watched an interview with Laird in which they talked about all sorts of things that were going in his life, and the interviewer finished the talk with a last question which was “How do you define greatness?”  You would half expect an answer like, “well if you look up greatness in the dictionary you will see my picture.”  But the answer that Laird gave was really kind of out of character for him.  He said greatness required compassion, being courageous, humility and love.  There could be other aspects as well, he said, but those were in his opinion the top four.  Not exactly the stereotypical answer you would expect from a great sports figure, is it?  

The topic we are looking at in today’s passage is that of greatness, and I’ve titled the message “the gospel’s path to greatness.”  This has really been a sort of a theme in this chapter and even in the previous chapter.  There is a recurring theme about what it means to be considered great in the kingdom of God.  And in regards to Laird’s answer to the question of what constitutes greatness, I was quite surprised to find a correlation here in this passage of those same four points, compassion, courageousness, humility and love.  I think we are going to see Jesus illustrate each of those characteristics in the following passage, though not necessarily in that order.  

Before we get into this passage though, let’s look back at the last verse of the previous passage which I think gives us spiritual insight into God’s perspective on greatness.  Jesus said in vs.31, “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”  That statement sets the stage by letting us know that God doesn’t look at greatness the way man looks at greatness.  Let’s look now at the opening scene, in which we see the courageousness of Christ which is one of the essential characteristics of greatness.  

In vs32 we see Jesus leading His disciples on the road to Jerusalem.  Notice that He is taking the lead.  He is purposely, resolutely heading to His destiny with the cross.  The disciples aren’t fully aware of where He is leading them, but He knows very well the pain and suffering that awaits Him.  So Mark says He took the disciples aside to explain to them more fully what lies ahead.  Marks says the disciples are amazed and fearful.  Yet Christ is courageous.  He resolutely marches toward what most people would run from. Jesus knows the full ramifications of all that is inculcated in the cross.  Far beyond what we can even understand from the benefit of having the scripture accounts, He knew completely in advance.  And yet He faces towards Jerusalem, heading resolutely towards the cross.

Notice also what Jesus has to say about His destiny.  This is the third time in Mark that we see Jesus foretelling that He will suffer death.  He first did so in chapter 8 vs 3, after Peter had affirmed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Then He gave a more detailed version of this prophecy in chapter 9 vs 31.  And now in chapter 10 vs 33,34 He gives the most detailed version yet.  This is a great illustration of what I have often referred to as “progressive revelation.” That as you walk in obedience to the light God gives you today, He will give you more light for the next step.  It is important, not that we have full knowledge, but that we have full faith in what knowledge we have received and walk in it in obedience.  And when we do that, then God will give us more knowledge that we might walk in it.  

In this third prophecy of vs 33 and 34, we see seven distinct prophecies that Jesus reveals.  That’s pretty definitive prophecy isn’t it?  Jesus is not just giving an indistinct allusion to something that may or may not happen, but very specific things regarding His Passion.  Notice these seven points; 1, the Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests and scribes, 2, they shall condemn Him to death, 3, they will hand Him over to the Gentiles, 4, they will mock Him and spit on Him, 5, they will scourge Him, 6, they will kill Him, and 7, three days later He will rise again.  That is incredibly detailed prophecy concerning Himself, and as we all know, all those things were fulfilled to the letter. 

You know, I’m sure a lot of us we wish we could know the future.  But to know the way you will die, especially the time and the manner, which in Jesus’ case was through torture, is not a knowledge that any of us would want to have.  But to have this foreknowledge to this degree, and then to resolutely head towards it rather than run from it is to show courage at it’s greatest level.  It is one thing to go on a dangerous adventure, perhaps to surf the biggest waves you can find, but you do so with the expectation that you will survive.  Jesus went to Calvary knowing that He would be tortured and killed and yet willingly offers Himself up for our sakes.

And that courage illustrates another characteristic of greatness, which is love.  Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lays down His life for His friends.” Jesus loved us with a sacrificial love.  The greatest love that one can exhibit is to lay down your life for another.   John 13:1 says, “having loved His own, He loved them to the uttermost.”

There is another essential element of greatness, which is humility.  Yet first  we see that the disciples illustrate the negative contrast to Biblical principle of humility, through their selfish ambition. Their selfish ambition is a sharp contrast to Christ’s humility.  We see this starting in vs35.  

The gospel of Matthew adds further detail to this situation - Matthew says the mother of James and John accompanies them, and in some way or another adds her request to theirs.  They start by approaching Jesus and asking Him to do them a favor.  It would seem they understood at least that Jesus was going to be established on His throne as the ruler of the Kingdom of God.  So they have that going for them.  They have faith in Christ the King and the gospel of the kingdom.  But that’s where the good implications of their question ends.  What they were asking for, and even recruited their mother to help them get, was to be seated on the right hand and the left hand of Christ when He sat on His throne.  They were asking for the chief seats of honor in the kingdom.  They were asking to be recognized as the greatest in the kingdom of God, second only to Christ.

Now this is nothing short of naked, unbridled, selfish ambition.  It is a desire to be given preference over the other disciples.  It is a desire to be recognized as greater than the other disciples.  But as we will see, it was not a good desire, but a sinful desire born of of selfishness and pride.  

Notice the sharp contrast between Jesus and the two disciples; Jesus is predicting His humiliation, while they are asking for their exaltation.  But before exaltation must come humility. Humility is an essential characteristic of greatness.  Jesus was a perfect example of humility, having left His glory in heaven to become a servant.  The apostle Paul says we are to emulate this example of Christ’s humility in Phil. 2:3-8, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Notice that Paul said we are to have the same attitude as Christ did in regards to humility, putting the needs of others before yourself.

That’s the exact opposite of the attitude of the world, isn’t it?  The doctrine of the world is go for it, grab all you can get, protect and proclaim your rights.  I’ve often said in regards to surfing that it is one of the most selfish sports there is.  There are no referees out there, no rules saying who’s turn it is.  And so it’s every man for himself.  And consequently it turns out to be a very selfish endeavor with everyone trying to get as many waves as they can.  The better you are, the more waves you get.  And that’s a good illustration of what is wrong with the world’s view of greatness.  Climb over, walk over anyone in pursuit of your goals. All’s fair in love and war. Do whatever you have to do to advance yourself. But that’s not God’s path to greatness.  

Notice what Jesus says in regards to this request of James and John. “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

James and John seem a little overconfident in their answer that they would be able to drink the cup that Jesus drinks, and be baptized in His baptism.  Whether or not they fully realize it, Jesus is talking about the agony that He will suffer at the cross.  To “drink the cup” was a Hebrew idiom which they should have realized meant to fully undergo the same experience.  And to be baptized they should have been understood meant to be engulfed, or overwhelmed.  Their answer showed they obviously did not understand what He had just said about being scourged and delivered up to be killed.  They probably thought that was just hyperbole.  Just like we think that it is hyperbole when Jesus said in the previous passage that it was impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  We have a tendency to disregard those truths which don’t fit our template.  

But Jesus out of His compassion for these two disciples does not rebuke them, in fact He acknowledges that they will in fact endure a similar baptism of fire and drink the bitter cup.  Little did these aggressive, ambitious young men who, by the way were known as the Sons of Thunder, little did they know then that one of them, James,  would become the first martyr of the church, and the other brother John would be imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos.  But it should be noted that while Jesus’s suffering and death was vicarious, their suffering could never be, but nevertheless it is related in the sense they would suffer for Christ’s sake. 

However, it needs to be pointed out that they were overconfident in their assertion that they could endure what Christ would endure.  In fact we know that on the night of His arrest, they initially  ran away as did all the disciples.  But at this moment, they are full of bravado.  And that is an important distinction in the pursuit of greatness.  One must not mistake bravado for courageousness. There is an old adage I like a lot which was spoken by a king of Israel, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’  Jesus is courageous in the truest sense of the word.  The disciples are full of bravado.  They have not yet had their faith put to the test.  After the resurrection, they will exhibit some of that courage that Christ had.  But up to this point they are full of their own self importance.

Well, lest we think too little of James and John and too much of the other disciples, note that in vs 41 that when the other disciples hear this they become indignant towards the two brothers.  They are indignant because the greed of the two is exposed, but their indignation exposes their greed as well.  This desire for greatness is a long standing issue with the disciples.  Remember back in chapter 9 vs 34 they are discussing among themselves which one of them would be the greatest.  So if anything, they are just jealous that James and John spoke up to claim those thrones before they did.  All of them are guilty of the same selfish interests.  

But before we move on, let’s be honest about ourselves.  It is human nature to think of yourself first.  It’s human nature to look out for number one.  But though it may be human, it is indicative of our sin nature.  That is why Jesus said the second most important commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.  The first commandment is to love God above everything and everyone.  The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. 

So Jesus needs to correct this attitude among the disciples, so He stops and calls them together for a lesson.  And He tells them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

First, Jesus uses an analogy of the world’s great men as compared to those who would be great in the kingdom.  In the world’s system of greatness, the rulers exercise authority over the others.  To exercise authority is to lord one’s superiority over people, to oppress people, to govern people.  They make laws and ordinances to restrict or control.  And in so doing they make the people serve them.

But that is not the way God would have greatness expressed. In the kingdom of God, the great serve the weak.  The ruler becomes the servant.  As illustrated by the Lord Himself, He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. 

Jesus is saying that in the kingdom of God in which He is Ruler, it is the exact opposite of what is practiced in the world. Greatness consists in serving, in the outpouring of self in service to others.  It is to practice sacrificial love, and that not just to those who can reciprocate by advancing you, but even to those who cannot repay or to those who are undeserving.  This reveals yet another characteristic of greatness, that of humility, and no one is more humble than a servant.  Remember the text we looked at earlier in Phil. 2:7,8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

The service which Jesus came to give was to give His life as a ransom for many.  This ransom paid in Jesus’s blood is what is known in theological terms as substitutionary atonement.  Isaiah 53:11 in speaking prophetically of the Messiah says, “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.” 

Now finally, Mark gives us an illustration of greatness in the account of the healing of a blind man named Bartimaeus. As Jesus and the disciples are walking out of Jericho, Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is passing by.  And so this poor blind man, a beggar, begins to call out in desperation for Jesus to have mercy on Him.  Bartimaeus is a perfect picture of a man who is lost.  He is the perfect picture of a man who needs to be saved.  First he is blind. The image of blindness is a common metaphor presented in the gospel for those outside the kingdom of God.  Paul says in 2Cor. 4:4 “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 

Secondly, he is a beggar. In the eyes of the world there is certainly nothing great about him. In regards to salvation it is necessary to see yourself as a beggar.  Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To be poor in spirit is to recognize that you are spiritually bankrupt. To be a beggar means you recognize that you have no means by which to be saved.  To be rich is to think yourself as self sufficient, when in fact that very attitude prevents you from receiving the grace of God unto salvation.  So the fact that this blind man is a beggar makes him an excellent candidate for salvation.

And thirdly, notice his desperation.  His urgency.  He cries out repeatedly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”  People around him told him to be quiet.  But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Listen, that is how you are saved.  That is how you enter the kingdom, as a beggar, as one who realizes that he is blind, hopeless and helpless to affect anything on his own.  And then a desperate appeal to God for mercy.  A blind person in those days had no other recourse than to beg.  There were no state resources available to such a person.  There were no cures, no doctors that could offer help.  There were no jobs to be had for blind people.  You had to beg.  It was a hopeless situation. 

And so is our natural condition.  God wants us to recognize the reality of our sinful condition.  He wants us to realize our hopelessness, so that our hope is in Christ, our faith is in Him alone.  So Jesus says, “call him to come here.”  So they said, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.”  Notice that characteristic of courage again, but now it’s on the part of the blind man. And here we see the proper application of courage.  Courage is acting in faith to what God has promised.  If the Lord calls us to it, we may be courageous because we know that it is according to HIs will.  

So Jesus asks him “What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asks this not because He doesn’t already know the answer but because He wants Bartimaeus to confess what he desires of the Lord.  The Lord knows what we need, but He wants us to ask for it.  He wants us to confess it. And so Bartimaeus says, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!”  It’s interesting that he said, “regain my sight.”  That would indicate that at one time he had his eyesight, but for some reason or another had become blind.    

The linguists tell us that Rabboni is equivalent to calling Jesus Master.  First he called Jesus “Son of David.”  That’s a Messianic title.  Now he calls Him “Master.”  That is a recognition of Jesus’ superiority. He recognizes that Jesus has control over His creation.

And in response, Jesus praises him for his faith. Vs 52 “And Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.”  The word there that Mark uses which has been translated as “made you well” is actually in the Greek “souzo”.  Souzo may also be translated as your faith has saved you.  I think that’s more accurate. He asked for physical sight, but Jesus gave him spiritual sight and physical sight.

But notice Jesus says, your faith has made you well.  Faith in what, you might ask?  Faith in the power of healing?  Faith that he could be healed? Not at all.  But rather faith in Christ, in who He is, in His authority and power as Lord and Christ.   And immediately he received his sight.  And when the procession started up again for Jerusalem, Bartimaeus followed them.  

Listen, this healing of the blind man is not only an illustration of the greatness of Jesus, as illustrated by His compassion, His love and humility in serving a beggar, but also the greatness of Bartimaeus.   This man went from being the least in the eyes of the world to great in the kingdom of God. Jesus said in Matthew 11:11, that he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, who was the greatest among men.  To see Jesus in the light of His truth, to have faith in Him and to forsake all and follow Him, is to begin a journey on the path to greatness according to the gospel.  There can be nothing greater than to inherit eternal life, to become a citizen of the kingdom of God, and to become a child of God.  That is greatness that far surpasses all the world’s concept of greatness.

The question for you then is,  have you begun that journey to greatness?  According to the standards of man you may think you have already accomplished much in that regard.  But in the kingdom of God, it begins with a new birth, becoming like a child, realizing like Bartimaeaus that you are helpless and hopelessly blind, unable to do anything of your own power, and calling upon the mercy of God to save you. And then in the light of God’s truth, to follow Him in faith.  That is the path to greatness.  

As I was talking about this concept to someone the other day, I said that before you can become great, you must first become good.  Before you can become a great surfer or great football player, you must first become good.  But becoming good spiritually is not something we can achieve through our own efforts.  We become good through faith in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, believing in who He is and what He has accomplished on our behalf.  And through faith in Him, our iniquity is transferred to Him, and His righteousness is transferred to us, so that we are made good, made righteous in Christ before God.  Then, and only then, we may be able to do even greater works than these, as Jesus Himself promised.  

Becoming like a child, Mark 10:13-16

Today’s passage is one of the best known stories of the gospels.  It’s very simple truth, presented in a simple, straightforward way.  So much so, that the full significance of this passage might be easily overlooked.  I believe it contains some of the richest theology in regards to salvation that we might find anywhere in the scriptures, and so I want to focus on just these four verses this morning.

Let’s read it in it’s entirety first of all, and then I will try to comment on it.  Vs 13, “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.  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. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it [at all.]" And He took them in His arms and [began] blessing them, laying His hands on them.”

This account is repeated in all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with very little variation. Another interesting thing to note is that the familiar story of the rich young ruler follows directly after the account of the children coming to Jesus, which serves as a stark contrast.  If the subject of entering into eternal life is the point of that contrast, as evidenced by the rich young ruler’s question in vs 17, then the significance of this event with the children must be taken as instructive as to how one may enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Jesus says here that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these children. And that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. Compare that to the rich young ruler who after asking how he could inherit eternal life went away sorrowing, even though he had kept the law, because he was not willing to forsake everything and follow Christ. And of course, the phrase “enter into the kingdom of God" is the equivalent to the phrase “inherit eternal life.”  They are both speaking of the same thing; the kingdom of God is eternal life.  Eternal life is not just a long, long, long life.  It’s the abundant life that Jesus said He gives.  “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” 

The prosperity gospel preachers have bastardized the abundant life concept as something that you get when God blesses you with health, wealth and happiness.  But Jesus wasn’t talking about that, or promising a heaven on earth type of existence for believers.  But rather, Jesus was talking about a new life through Jesus Christ. He was talking about being born again of the Spirit into new life.  And that life is everlasting life in the kingdom of God, as we live under the reign of Jesus Christ the Lord.

The passage begins by saying that they were bringing children to Jesus so that He might touch them. The idea was that He would bless them, laying hands on them and praying for them such as was the tradition passed down from the patriarchs.  You can find examples of  Isaac and Jacob doing the same for their children.  Today we have somewhat of a tradition of bringing your baby to the church for dedication, which may have come from this sort of thing.  But it would seem not to be out of place in Jewish society of that time to bring your baby to receive a blessing from the priest or rabbi.

So I think it was a sincere desire on the part of the parents to see the child grow up unto the Lord, to have a godly upbringing, to call upon God to protect and nurture the child, and to bless the child as he grew up.  There was nothing wrong with such a thing, in fact, the parents are to be commended for their desire to raise their child up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

I would encourage you that are parents today to realize that you have a stewardship of the gift of children that should not be taken lightly.  Your responsibility in raising a child is not merely to keep a roof over their head and feed and clothe them. Your responsibility is not just to save up money so that they can go to college. Your responsibility is to teach your children the fear of the Lord. To raise your children up in the church.  To teach them the word of God.

When God gave the commandments to Moses He gave specific instructions to the parents saying in Deut. 6:6-9  "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Being raised by Christian parents to believe the Bible and follow the Lord should not be an option.  I’ve heard parents say, “Well I am leaving it up to junior if he wants to come to church or not.  I don’t want to push anything on him, you know.” I wonder if such parents leave it up to junior whether or not he wants to brush his teeth.  Or whether or not he wants to go to school.  I would suggest that their spiritual state is of greater importance than their grade point average or how many cavities they have.  So I encourage you as parents, and as grandparents, to make the spiritual development of your child the highest priority.

These parents wanted the best spiritual advantage for their children and so they brought them to Jesus.  Commentators tell us that Luke makes it clear in his account that the little children were actually infants. I would think it included infants up to the age of toddlers, because we see later in vs 16 that Jesus took them in His arms.  So I doubt that they were much older than toddlers.

The disciples though rebuked the parents for what they perceived as  bothering Jesus with their children.  This is another example of the disciples exercising certain behavior that we can as arm chair quarterbacks easily criticize them for.  Many preachers seem to love to point out the faults of the disciples, as if to show their own surpassing spiritual maturity. But in the disciples defense, there are multiple instances recorded in Mark when Jesus Himself attempted to get away from the crowds.They were constantly being hounded by people seeking to see some spectacular miracle, or people seeking healing, or all kinds of things that people wanted from Jesus.  And so they were probably just trying to prevent what they thought were just another type of interruption.  They certainly didn’t understand the full significance of what these parents were trying to do.  I’m sure in their minds, blessing babies didn’t compare with the pressing business of healing blindness or casting out demons.

But when the disciples rebuke the parents, Jesus rebukes the disciples. Actually it says He became indignant towards them.  I think a better translation might be annoyed.  I think Jesus thought the disciples were missing the point. Jesus came to give life, everlasting life.  That was His purpose.  His goal wasn’t to heal everyone of every disease in Israel. And as evidenced by Jesus’s statement, these children were the perfect recipients of the grace of God.

Jesus says to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  Previously, in chapter 9, Jesus had said that whoever puts a stumbling block in front of one of these little ones, (referencing a child that was among them) it would be better for him if  a milestone was tied about his neck and he was thrown into the middle of the ocean. So when Jesus says don’t hinder the children from coming to Me, I suppose He is annoyed that they so quickly have forgotten that admonition.

The point is Jesus wants the children to come to Him. Listen, there is no better time to come to Jesus than when you are young.  I read some statistics once that I can’t find now, but they spoke about the odds of coming to Christ at various ages.  The percentage of the possibility  of coming to Christ when you were below the age of 18 was quite high, but with every decade that passed the likelihood of coming to salvation dropped considerably.  By the time someone had reached the age of 60 or more, and had not come to salvation, the likelihood dropped to the low single digits.  So for you parents, you’re not doing your child any favors by waiting until they get older to make a decision about the Lord. The best opportunity to become a believer is while they are young.

Jesus says, “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  John MacArthur preached a sermon on this text and the whole premise of the sermon was to say that children who die before the age of accountability are saved by the grace of God.  I think he also wrote a book on that subject.  And I think that has long been the traditional view of many conservative Bible teachers and scholars.  John Calvin, for instance, seems to hold to that view. And they use this text and a number of other supplemental passages to support the idea that God bestows His grace upon those children that die before they have an understanding of right and wrong, and consequently are innocent of presumptuous sin. They have inherited the sin nature from their parents, but they haven’t had the cognizance to act upon it, and God grants those who die in that state grace. I would tend to agree with that view, but I don’t feel we can be dogmatic about it on the basis of this statement alone.

But Jesus does seem to make an unequivocal statement here; the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  He doesn’t qualify it by saying the kingdom of God belongs to such as these who are born of believing parents.  He doesn’t say that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these who are baptized. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.  And these little children have nothing to offer God in exchange.  They can’t even offer God faith.  But God grants them grace.

But while the salvation of babies may be implied in what Jesus says, I don’t think that is the primary point of what Jesus is saying.  He further explains His point by saying, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”  So He isn’t saying that only babies will enter the kingdom of God, but that unless you become like a child you will not enter it. Unless you become LIKE a child.

Well, what does that mean? How do you become like a child? It means to accept the gospel with genuine trust, with child like humility, knowing that you have nothing to offer in exchange.  It’s complete trust in what Christ has done for us, and not trusting in your own righteousness, or your own accomplishments, or your own inherent goodness. To be like a child means simple, child like trust in Christ.

I heard the story of a wealthy shop owner that piled up gold coins on the window sill of his storefront. There was a sign in the window above it which said “Take one.” All day long people walked by the window and saw the coins and read the note, but inwardly they were thinking, “You can’t fool me.” And so they passed on by.  When evening came, just before the shop owner was going to remove the coins, a child came by, read the sign, and reached out and took a coin.  That’s child like faith.

How many people, I wonder, have refused to trust in Jesus as their Savior because they think that they are too smart for all this Christian stuff.  I shudder to think of who might be here today who doubt in the validity of the gospel, who want to think about it, who want to believe that it can’t be that simple, that there must be more to entering into the kingdom of God.  But Jesus said in Matt. 7:13-14  "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

But there is yet another application that we could make from this statement of Jesus.  To become like a child is to be born again.  To be born again in spirit. Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3: 3  "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

So to be born again is to become a child again, but not in the flesh, but in the spirit. That is how you must become like a child in order to enter the kingdom of God.  Being born again is to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, the Holy Son of God, who came to die in your place, to pay the penalty for your sins, that whosoever believes in Him might be saved. 

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  Through the cross of Jesus Christ, my sins are transferred to Jesus, and His righteousness is transferred to my account. And by faith in that sacrifice on His part, I am given new life, I am born again. I have become like a child born into the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is the rule of Christ in your heart and life, together with all the blessings that result from His rule.  Entering the kingdom means receiving new life, that is, everlasting life. John 17:3 says,  "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  Once you come to know and believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you enter into eternal life and all the blessings that come from being a child of the King.

Then after stating how you must become like a child to enter the kingdom of God, Jesus took the children in His arms and blessed them.  Vs.16,  “And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.” 

John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”  The Bible tells us in several places that salvation is of the Lord.  God is the author and the finisher of our salvation.  Do we have a part, a responsibility in salvation? Yes, our responsibility is to believe.  To come to Jesus.  And He will do the rest.  As many as receive Him, He will give you the power to become the sons and daughters of God, even to them that believe on His name.

You are born again by believing in Jesus Christ, believing in who He is, and what He accomplished for us, and you are born again not of flesh, nor by the will of man, but you are born of God.  You become like a child, born for the second time, born of the Spirit, and as a child of God, you are granted an inheritance in the kingdom of God, even everlasting life.

Today the ruler of the world has left a coin of the greatest value on the window ledge of the kingdom of heaven. He has put a sign there which says, Take one. What is your response? I urge you - in child like faith to receive His gift of eternal life, the greatest treasure.

Adultery and marriage, Mark 10:1-12

As you know, our tradition at the Beach Fellowship is that we study the scriptures verse by verse.  That tends to keep us from over emphasizing some things, or under emphasizing other things, depending on what we think people want to hear.  Last week I said that the subject matter of Jesus’ teaching on hell at the end of chapter 9 was very unpopular, and if I were a smarter, more popularity conscious preacher, I would have skipped over it.  

Well, I suppose that today’s passage of scripture is even more unpopular than the subject of hell.  Today Jesus speaks against divorce, and for the sanctity of marriage.  And so in all likelihood, I will be offending at least half of you here today.  According to the  American Psychological Association, approximately 40-50% of first marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate for second marriages is even higher, with approximately 60-67% of second marriages ending in divorce.  I have also heard that the statistic for divorce is about the same in the church as it is in the world.  So I’m sure that in our representative congregation here this morning, about half of you have been divorced.

That being said, I have already resigned myself to the fact that I will never win any popularity contest.  And I believe that it’s far more important that I try to please God rather than men, so I will simply tell you what Jesus had to say on the subject and you can take it up with Him if you find it unsettling.

Let’s look at our text beginning in Mark chapter 10, vs 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. [Some] Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and [began] to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.”

Jesus is deliberately and slowly moving closer to HIs destination which is Jerusalem and to His destiny which is the cross.   He now leaves Galilee and enters Judea and once again the crowds flock to Him. And as was His custom, He began to teach them.  The subject of His teaching is the gospel of the Kingdom of God.  The only means by which people can enter the Kingdom of God is through Jesus Christ, through faith in Him as the Son of God, the Messiah, and what He will accomplish for them on the cross.

One of the main points of His teaching is to help people come to the realization that they are lost.  That is why in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus spends a great deal of His message expounding the law.  The purpose of the law was to make man understand that he is a sinner in need of salvation.  I think it was Billy Graham who said, that the difficulty is not in getting people saved, the difficulty is in first getting people to understand that they are lost.  Most people tend to think that they actually are not such a bad person.  And so they make excuses for themselves while condemning others. But in reality all men are sinners and hopelessly lost, outside of the kingdom of God.

The Pharisees were a religious order of the Jews that prided themselves on their self righteousness.  They believed that they kept the law as they had determined it.  They had lawyers and scribes and rabbis who had studied the law and wrote a commentary upon it called the Mishna which they held in higher regard than the scriptures.  So believing that they had kept the law according to their interpretations, they were not exactly fond of Jesus’ teaching which suggested that they were actually guilty of breaking the law.  

And so the Pharisees routinely showed up whenever Jesus was teaching to try to catch Him with a trick question, or to catch Him or His disciples in some infraction according to their understanding of the law, with the ultimate goal of discrediting Jesus in the eyes of the people.  

Their question then was a trick question, one that was designed to get Him in trouble with half the people, regardless of how He answered it. The question was whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife for any reason. According to one school of rabbinic teaching, Moses, whom they considered the author of the law, permitted a man to divorce his wife for unchastity, or adultery.  The other school interpreted that Moses wrote that a man could divorce for any thing that he found distasteful.  For instance, he could divorce her for burning his toast.  And the majority of Jews favored that interpretation, and possibly that was also the accepted view of the disciples.

So if Jesus answered in such a way as to take the stricter position, He would undoubtedly offend the majority of people that favored the more lax view. But if He sided with the more liberal view then they could accuse Him of accommodating sinners and being morally lax.

Either way He answered, the Pharisees weren’t interested in keeping the commandment as He understood it, but only in trying to embarrass Him and discredit Him before the people. 

But in response to their trick question,  Jesus turns them to the scriptures, not to the rabbinic traditions.  He says in vs3 “And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?”  The scripture, though written by human hands, in this case Moses, is the inspired word of God.  So the scripture is authoritative, because it is the word of God.  The rabbinic traditions were the word of man as he interpreted scripture.  But Jesus turns their attention to the word of God. It’s the authority, not the rabbinic traditions.

By the way, that’s why we preach through the scripture, verse by verse.  There is no other authority.  Science is not an authority.  Philosophy or psychiatry is not authoritative.  All of the sciences are evolving, ever changing. But God’s word never changes.  It is forever settled in heaven. 2Tim 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;  so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”  And Peter says in 2 Peter 1:20-21 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of one's own interpretation,  for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

The Pharisees answer Jesus  in vs  4 They said, "Moses permitted [a man] TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND [her] AWAY.”  What they give is an abbreviated synopsis of what Moses said, and in so shortening it, turn the intention of the law into something that indicates permissiveness.  They say Moses permitted a man to write  a certificate of divorce.  That is not actually what Moses says.

The original commandment can be found in Deut. 24:1-4  which says 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,  and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's [wife,]  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,  [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.”

Moses, while recognizing that the common practice was to write a certificate of divorce and send her away, does not condone that practice, but is merely addressing the additional responsibility of possible sin after a man has divorced his wife. Moses is saying that if you divorce your wife, and she becomes the wife of another man, then the former husband is not allowed to take her back again to be his wife.  That’s a sin, an abomination before God. But Moses does not encourage or condone divorce.  They had misinterpreted the law to accommodate their sinful desire.

So Jesus answers them in vs 5,  But Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.”  See, Jesus says that Moses didn’t permit divorce, but he is writing a commandment in response to the hardness of their heart in carrying out their sinful desire to divorce their wife.  In Malachi 2:16 God says, I hate divorce.  God said, “the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”

So God didn’t condone or give permission for divorce.  Sometime before, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke to this same issue saying, Matt. 5:31-32  "It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE';  but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for [the] reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”  So Jesus had taken a position on divorce and according to Him, who is the Word made incarnate, the only reason for divorce would be unchastity. But even then, I think that the will of God is that there would not be divorce. He does allow for it in the case of unchastity, but He does not order it.  

And that principle finds it’s in the sanctity of marriage as given by God. If marriage is a holy union between  a man and a woman and in the sight of God they become one flesh, then what God has joined together let not man separate.  So Jesus expounds the principle of divorce by stating the ordinance of marriage. He says in vs 6 "But from the beginning of creation, [God] MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE.  "FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER,  AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

So in answer to this question of divorce Jesus goes back to the original ordinance of God in regards to marriage, and once again, Jesus uses scripture as His authority.  The first scripture reference is taken partially  from Genesis 1:27 which says in full, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  The world has a whole bunch of problems with that verse, don’t they?  First of all, the world doesn’t believe in creation. It doesn’t believe in intelligent design. The world believes in evolution, which is that man evolved over billions of years from some microorganism and random chance.  

But if you believe that God designed and created man in His own image, and created them male and female, then that sets the parameters for everything that comes after.  God didn’t make three or four or ten genders, He made two genders, male and female. But if you take God out of the equation, then I guess anything goes.  If evolution were actually possible, then it’s conceivable that man could evolve into many different genders or variations of genders.  But I don’t believe evolution is even possible, and if it were to happen that gender evolved then it would mean the end of our species. But I believe the Bible, and that God created man male and female and He said it was good.  And that settles a lot of questions for me right there.  

But that raises the question, do you believe in God, or more to the point,  do you believe God? A lot of people claim to believe in God. However, they don’t believe in the God of the Bible.  But the Bible says that Abraham believed God, not believed in God, and He credited it to him as righteousness.   Abraham believed what God said.  And like Abraham we gain righteousness by believing in the God of the Bible and believing what He said and what He promised and what He accomplished.

So having established that God made man male and female, Jesus goes on to show that God established marriage. Vs 7 "FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER,  AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”  Again, Jesus quotes scripture.  This time He quotes from Genesis 2:24 which says, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” 

The whole context of that scripture should be considered though.  God had said that it was not good for man to be alone.  And then “the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.  The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.  The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” God designed marriage as part of creation to complete man and accomplish God’s purposes in creation.

So the indissolubility of marriage is stated by Jesus in very forceful terms.  Jesus is summarizing the divine ordinance concerning the marriage bond. In God’s eyes, they form a partnership, one completing the other, each complementing the other, so that they individually are better together through their union. For a man to separate what God has joined together, means to arrogantly defy the work of God.  And I would add to that, that when a couple make their vows to come together in marriage, that they make such vows to God and not just to each other.  It is a three party covenant.  So when you break that vow to your wife or husband, you are also breaking a vow to God. And that is a fearful thing, to break a vow to God.

Well, after Jesus said these things, they go into a nearby house, whose house we are not told, and the disciples take the opportunity to question Him further about this teaching.  Vs.10 “In the house the disciples [began] questioning Him about this again.  And He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;  and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

What Jesus is saying here is that a husband who divorces his wife, thereby separating what God has joined together, is committing a grievous sin, and that he adds to that grievous sin a further condemnation by marrying another woman.  Such a man is sinning not just against God but against his wife, for he is involving himself in adultery against her, or if she remarries, causes her to commit adultery.

So in very simple terms, using scripture as the authority, Jesus denounces divorce, refutes the rabbinical misinterpretation of the law, reaffirms the laws true meaning, condemns the guilty party, defends the innocent, and throughout it all reaffirms the sacredness and inviolability of marriage as ordained by God between a man and a woman.  

So we are to understand that Jesus regards the break up of a marriage to be an abomination before God.  Yet on the other hand, that same uncompromising Lord Jesus Christ is the merciful Savior, who says to the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.”  For most people listening here today that have had a divorce, it’s too late to undo it.  In fact, you can add to the injury by divorcing once again to try to rectify the old divorce.  But we can go and sin no more. if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  

The law exposes the fact that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  But if we turn in repentance to the Savior, and believe that He died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins, then as Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, so we by faith believe in what God has done and we receive the righteousness of Christ applied by grace to our account that we might gain eternal life and escape the condemnation that we deserve.  

If you’re here this morning and you have been considering divorce  I pray that God’s word has convinced you that God’s plan does not accommodate divorce and you will keep your vows to God.  But if you’re here today and you are considering marriage, I hope that you realize that marriage is a covenant between you and God and your future spouse. It’s not something to be entered into lightly, or with a cavalier attitude.  And if you are here this morning and you recognize that you have sinned against your spouse and against God by divorcing your spouse, then I hope you recognize that if you confess your sins,  God is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins, and cleanse you from all unrighteousness, and by faith in His work on the cross, God can make all things new in your life.