We have said this over and over throughout this series, our walk through the book of Mark: Mark is walking us into a process of knowing Jesus. And as we’re moving in that direction, it’s important to remember the things we know about knowing someone: knowing can not be done to you or for you. Knowing does not happen by accident or instantaneously. And knowing is not ever complete.
Think about first impressions for a moment. In Mark 10 there are moments (repeatedly) where people prove they just don’t know Jesus–they just don’t get it. Their impressions of God, of Jesus, of the kingdom of God, of what it is to be pleasing to God or to have relationship with God–they were wrong.
We are at the point in Mark right before the last days of His life. In the next chapter, He enters Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) and the people cheer the coming king! HOSANNA!!! And because of this timing, it would be easy to presume that people had a pretty good impression of Jesus and what it is to be a follower of Him.
Maybe not.
Impressions can be complicated or wrong or misplaced or distorted. Think about other people’s first impressions of you. What are some things people tend to get right about you? What are some things people tend to get wrong about you?
Why do you think people get the right or the wrong impression(s) of you?
What are some of the costs (internal to you or external in relationship) of people having a wrong impression of you?
Relationship can be complicated. Relationship is complicated. And while the complications can be avoided at all cost or while the absence of complications can be celebrated as success, the truth is that in the complication, there is real opportunity for growth–real opportunity for a growing relationship.
An idea that is not challenged may not be a good idea. A lesson that people say they understand may not actually be understood. A plan that people are willing to follow may not be a good plan. Challenge, misunderstanding, or pushback may not actually be a bad thing.
And a perspective that is presumed may not actually be yours. An assumption that is had about you may not represent who you actually are. An impression that has been built may not be correct.
As we dive into Mark 10 today, there is a pile of challenge, misunderstanding, pushback, not following, not hearing, not listening, not getting it, close but not quite. And that is not a bad thing–it is an opportunity!
How we respond to challenges can have a significant impact on our personal growth, relationships, and well-being. Some responses can be healthy and constructive, allowing us to learn from others, grow in our understanding, and deepen our relationships. Other responses, however, can be unhealthy, defensive, or even harmful, leading to conflict, division, and emotional distress.
Think about this, for things you hold tightly to. How does it feel if you are called out and questioned? I don’t agree. I don’t think you are right. No. Why do you think that? Why would you do that? I don’t understand…
How do you tend to respond when your perspectives are challenged?
And on the flip side:
What are some of the potential costs of never being challenged?
Jesus, in Mark 10, is repeatedly challenged and questioned. And as we process this, we have to “remember forward” a little. In the next chapter–in the next moments–we will look at Jesus walking into the Temple and flipping tables. Not because He didn’t like the layout, but because the religious system had built fences to keep out the poor, the marginalized, the sick, and the outsider.
“Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Mark 11:17, quoting Jeremiah 7:11)
We will get there. But before we go to the text, I want us to have a prequel question:
What are some of the costs to believing that power, affluence, and health are directly correlated to God’s approval, and that the absence of them is directly correlated to God’s disapproval?
Jesus was in a culture where external realities were seen as a window into God’s favor or relationship with a person. Being poor, marginalized, sick, and/or an outsider was a clear sign of being outside of good relationship with God. This scene from John 9 is a good example:
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:1-3)
The math was–sin equals sickness, therefore sickness is from sin. Ouch.
Here’s another one, from when Jesus was passing through Samaria and interacted with the Samaritan woman:
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:21-24)
The math was–insiders can connect with God where God is, and you are not allowed to come where God is because you are an outsider. Ouch.
Jesus in Luke 18 shares a parable that illustrates what is happening:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
In Mark 10, our text for today, Jesus stands in contrast to a world that sees power, authority, blessing, health, affluence as a sign of connection to God. He stands up for womenthat are being abandoned by their husbands. He honors children who were seen as a nuisance. He challenges the connection with God that is presumed with affluence. He calls His disciples to be servants, not masters and authorities. And He gives dignity to blind Bartimaeus by asking him what he wants.
First, Jesus stands up for the women that are being abandoned by their husbands and calls for a higher standard of commitment:
Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” “What did Moses command you?” he replied. They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.” (Mark 10:1-12)
Then Jesus has time for the children, though others see them as just a nuisance, and honors their simple faith and enthusiasm by calling us all to be like them:
People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16)
Jesus then challenges the connection with God that is presumed with affluence:
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:17-31)
Jesus calls His disciples to be servants, not masters and authorities:
They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 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.” (Mark 10:32-45)
And finally, Jesus gives dignity to blind Bartimaeus by asking him what he wants:
Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10:46-52)
How does Jesus’ passion for the marginalized, the powerless, the servant, and the hurting stand in contrast to what people believed about what God cared about?
How do these stories serve as reminders for what God cares about today?
Today we have talked about the impact of incorrect perceptions and about the weight of perceptions being challenged and not being challenged. We put on the table Jesus’ challenges to the perceptions that the marginalized, the powerless, the servant and the hurting are not close to God.
This part of scripture isn’t meant to be a “pat ourselves on the back” moment. It’s not written so that we can see how far we’ve come in understanding who Jesus really is and what He cares about. Jesus is about movement and deepening our understanding. I truly believe that if Jesus was alive today, He would be perceived as just as offensive and extreme as both his followers and the religious authorities viewed Him.
We can find hope in the realization that just like His 12 disciples, we too are very much in process. I pray and hope that Jesus’ care and compassion and calling to betterment never ceases to be offensive to me.
To know Christ is to become more like Christ.
It wasn’t about the legality of divorce; it was about something more. It wasn’t about the disciples shooing away the kids; it was about something more. It wasn't about having it all; it was about something more. It wasn’t about being the greatest or seeking personal honor and authority; it was about something more. It wasn’t about looking the part, having everything figured out, gaining achievement or personal accolades; it was always about being called into something more. With Jesus there is always something more.
How do Jesus' life and teachings challenge your perspectives and actions?
What deeper spiritual growth and experiences might Jesus be inviting you to embrace?
Take It Deeper Questions
- Read Mark 10:13-31.
- How did you end up working where you are currently working? Did it choose you or did you choose it?
- In what ways are you like the children in the story?
- In what ways are you like the rich young ruler in the story?
- Why is it so easy to feel like we have to earn connection to God?
- What is the cost of feeling like a relationship with God is something that is earned?
- What do you feel Jesus is asking you to let go of?
- How are you challenged, encouraged, and/or confused by this text?
Bible Reading Plan
- Mark 10
- Matthew 19
- Matthew 20
- Matthew 10
- Luke 18
- John 10
- John 11