Mark 10 - Want v. Need

Let go of what you want to gain what you need.

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Mark 10 (ESV)

1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan,

and crowds gathered to him again.
And again,
as was his custom,
he taught them.
2 And Pharisees came up
and in order to test him
asked,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 He answered them,
“What did Moses command you?”
4 They said,
“Moses allowed a man
to write a certificate of divorce
and to send her away.”
5 And 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 ‘Therefore a man
shall leave his father and mother
and hold fast to his wife,
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 not man separate.”
10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter.
11 And he said to them,
“Whoever
divorces his wife
and marries another
commits adultery against her,
12 and if
she divorces her husband and marries another,
she commits adultery.”

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.

14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them,
“Let the children
come to me;
do not hinder them,
for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not
receive the kingdom of God
like a child
shall not enter it.”
16 And he
took them in his arms
and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must 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, all these I have kept
from my youth.”
21 And Jesus, looking at him,
loved him,
and said to him, “You lack one thing:
go,
sell all that you have
and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven;
and come, follow me.”
22 Disheartened by the saying,
he went away sorrowful,
for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
“How difficult it will be
for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 And the disciples were amazed at his words.
But Jesus said to them again,
“Children, how difficult 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 And they
were exceedingly astonished,
and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said,
“With man it is impossible,
but not with God.
For all things are possible with God.”
28 Peter began to say to him,
“See, 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 lands,
for my sake and for the gospel,
30 who will not receive
a hundredfold now in this time,
houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions,
and in the age to come eternal life.
31 But
many who are first will be last,
and the last first.”

32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them.

And
they were amazed,
and those who followed were afraid.
And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying,
“See, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be delivered over
to the chief priests and the scribes,
and they will
condemn him to death
and deliver him over to the Gentiles.
34 And they will
mock him and spit on him,
and flog him and kill him.
And after three days he will rise.”
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you
to do for us
whatever we ask of you.” 3
6 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 And they said to him,
“Grant us to sit,
one at your right hand
and one at your left,
in your glory.”
38 Jesus said to them,
“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?”
39 And they said to him, “We are able.”
And Jesus said to them,
“The cup that I drink you will drink,
and with the baptism
with which I am baptized,
you will be baptized,
40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left
is not mine to grant,
but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.

42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them,
“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones exercise authority over them.
43 But it shall not be so among you.
But
whoever
would be great among you
must be your servant,
44 and whoever
would be first among you
must be slave of all.
45 For even the Son of Man
came not to be served
but
to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

46 And they came to Jericho.

And as he was leaving Jericho
with his disciples
and a great crowd,
Bartimaeus,
a blind beggar,
the son of Timaeus,
was sitting by the roadside.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus,
Son of David,
have mercy on me!”
48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he cried out all the more,
“Son of David,
have mercy on me!”
49 And Jesus stopped and said,
“Call him.”
And they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take heart. Get up;
he is calling you.”
50 And throwing off his cloak,
he sprang up and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus said to him,
“What do you want me to do for you?”
And the blind man said to him,
“Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”
52 And Jesus said to him,
“Go your way;
your faith has made you well.”
And immediately
he recovered his sight
and followed him on the way.

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Mark 10 Summary

v1-12 - The establishment tries once again to trap Jesus, this time asking Him about the hot button issue (both then and now) of divorce. For a more in depth look at Jesus' response, read the other DIG DEEPER posts on Mark 10.
v13-16 - Jesus famously instructs His followers to receive the Kingdom of God with childlike faith and trust.
v17-31 - In stark contrast to what Jesus had just said about receiving the kingdom with open arms, like a child, the rich man can't stop clinging to his worldly wealth.
v32-40 - Jesus tells His followers for the third time that when they get to where they're going, He will be killed.
At the same time, again for the third time, Jesus also tells them that after three days He will rise. Which of the two statements do the followers seem to dwell on?
James & John (earlier nicknamed by Jesus the sons of Thunder) miss the point completely as they unsuccessfully try to jockey for the top spots in heaven.
v41-45 - Jesus puts the Sons of Thunder, now very unpopular with the other 10 disciples, in their place with His famous explanation that He came to sacrifice Himself.
v46-52 - The blind man is given sight in Jesus' last recorded healing miracle.

Dig Deeper

Any marketing or PR professional would have loved to be in Jesus' shoes at this point. They could capitalize on the crowds he had attracted and quickly create an organic movement throughout the entire known world to spread Jesus' message of goodwill.

Except that's not what Jesus came to do. Jesus explains why he came in v45: to offer His life as a sacrifice for your sin so that you can have peace with God.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

AAA Prayer:

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God is the only one who is good - He's the overflowing fountain of all goodness (v18)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will be able to let go of the things of this world and fully trust in and follow Jesus
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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