Mark 10 - Jesus Teaches on Divorce, Heals a Blind Man, and One Again Uplifts Children as a Model of Faith!

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Divorce

Divorce was just as much of an issue in Jesus' day, as it is in ours. The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by asking him about it. On the one hand if he said it was okay, they would accuse him of going against God's Word in Genesis, "What God has joined let man not separate". But if he said it was wrong they would cite Moses' exception for divorce in the Mosaic Law. 

So rather than walking into the trap Jesus exposes the real problem. The key thing the Pharisees asked was, "Is it lawful to divorce a woman for any reason." When Moses gave provisions for divorce, the men in Jesus' day abused the privilege and found all kinds of reasons to divorce their wives. Like any legalistic interpretation of God's law human nature will try to exploit the loopholes. 

Instead Jesus focuses on the heart. Jesus focuses on God's intention for marriage and the sacramental nature of God joining a man and woman together. We don't quite understand everything that means but obviously it is lived out both physically, emotionally and most importantly spiritually. Often couples live out the physical aspect through sexual intimacy but forget the spiritual bond, which comes from God's making them one flesh. Also, there is emotional intimacy, which is very important as well. Much adultery happens because a couple loses emotional and spritual connected in Christ. 

If you married, are you living out God's design for your relationship emotionally, physically, and spiritually? 

The Little Children and Jesus

Once again Jesus lifts up little children, as those who are worthy of entering God's kingdom. The disciples thought Jesus was wasting his time, but Jesus said the kingdom belonged to such as these. This is a very bold statement with vast implications. As Lutherans we baptize children, and this is one of the reasons why. Jesus did not equate living in the power in the kingdom with intellectual knowledge, but a willingness to trust Him and follow Him. Sometimes children are able to do this more than the most educated person in the bible. Knowledge can puff up, says the apostle Paul to the Corinthians, but "love builds up". A child's love is pure and unconditional. Jesus saw this and so should we.

What is the view of children in your church? Do you put the same time and energy into discipling them as you would an adult? Are children allowed to play a part in the worship service, or does your children's program serve more or less as "babysitting"? 

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

Jesus hasn't talked much about the hold riches or material possessions can have on a person. Money on its surface value isn't morally wrong. It is the love of and use of money that shows a person's heart. Money has been used for many kingdom advancing ministries, and without it much of what happens in a church could not happen. In today's reading a rich young man comes up to Jesus asking him what he must do to inherit eternal life. He first mistake is assuming that eternal life is something one can earn. Jesus begins to help him understand the error in his thinking by telling him the only way you can earn your way into eternal life is to perfectly keep the law.

The man naively thought he had kept the commandments, because he was only looking at the external part of the commandments. After all, he probably hadn't killed anyone, or maybe not ever stolen anything. But when Jesus asks him to sell all of his possessions, he went away sad. Why? Because his true god was money. He depended on it and could not give it up. 

The disciples ask Jesus to explain his statement probably wondering if they are worthy of eternal life. Jesus then gave the famous analogy, "It is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Jesus is using "hyperbole" here. He is stating an extreme to make a point. He is not saying that no one who is rich cannot enter His kingdom. He is saying that if riches are your god, you can never enter the kingdom. It is impossible to put your full trust in money and enter God's kingdom. If you don't give up your life to follow Jesus you will not be able to live in the power and authority of the kingdom. The man went away sad because he couldn't do it. And, many people today walk away sad, when they realize following Jesus is a "whole life proposition". 

Some have said it this way. It might be easy to say "Jesus is my Savior" for the assurance of going to heaven. But can one say, "Jesus is my Lord"? Meaning have I given up everything to follow him. I am not advocating "works righteousness", but too often we have equated merely making a verbal commitment to Christ the lithmus test for salvation, without actually asking people to lay down their lives and follow Jesus. The former Jesus did not preach, the latter he did. 

Does money have a hold on you? If Jesus asks you to give up some or all of it, would you walk away sad? Have you realized your treasure in heaven is greater than any treasure here?

The Request of James and John

Following the same argument as above, James and John are not getting what it is to follow Jesus either. They are worried about their places in the kingdom of heaven. They want to be at the places of honor next to Jesus on the right and left of him. Once again Jesus realizes they are missing the point of what it means to follow him as his disciple. Instead he says these words in verses 43-45. I would urge you to memorize these words this week. They are a short statement by Jesus of what it means to be a Christ follower. 

"43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

How do you view following Jesus? What is your definition of greatness? How can you follow Jesus' definition today as you go about your day? 

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

We have yet another instance of healing today. As we have been doing, we are going to look at the details, which as we have said vary from story to story but have similar themes. In this case once again a seemingly marginalized person named Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus. His name shows he is Jewish. The disciples see him as a nuisance and try to quiet him down. But instead he called out louder to Jesus with the words,  "Son of David have mercy on me." These words show he knew something about the identity of Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus heard and called the man to him. I love when Jesus says, "What do you want me to do for you?" The man tells him he wants to see and Jesus heals him importantly saying, "Your faith has made you well!" 

Here again we see not only Jesus' compassion on a blind man discarded by society, but also his recognition of true faith, which is more important to him than anybody's social status. 

If Jesus asked you, "What do you want me to do for you?", what would you ask him? Would you have the same boldness as Bartimaeus to ask him?