Read Mark 10
Divorce
1 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.
2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,”Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this.11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
The Little Children and Jesus
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 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. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
17 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?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 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.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 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.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “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 someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “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 30 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. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
32 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. 33 “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, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
The Request of James and John
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “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?”
39 “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, 40 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.”
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 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. 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.”
Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight
46 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. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Go Deeper
In today’s reading, we see how Jesus responds to different types of people, and it reveals a lot about who He is. At first, Jesus’s disciples attempt to keep a group of young, rowdy kids away from Him, but Jesus harshly rebukes them and says that “the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Then, a man of great status and wealth approaches Jesus wanting to know how to be saved, but leaves empty-handed when Jesus tells him something he doesn’t want to hear. Next, two of Jesus’s disciples fight over a position of status and importance only for Jesus to tell them that in the Kingdom of God, being great means being a servant. And finally, Jesus heals a blind beggar, Bartimaeus, because of his great faith. We see two instances of people who should’ve known better due to their status and their proximity to Jesus, the rich man and the disciples, being rebuked by Jesus because they actually didn’t quite understand what the Kingdom of God was about. And then we see two groups of people who weren’t expected to get the mission of Jesus, young children and a blind beggar, being celebrated and touched and healed by Him because they got it.
This reminds us that in God’s Kingdom, it’s not about what you know, but rather, who you know. The children may not have known much, or even been highly valued in society, but they knew that Jesus loved them. Bartimaeus may have just been a blind beggar with no money or status, but he called out after Jesus in faith because he knew who Jesus was. The next time we’re tempted to rely on ourselves, our skills, our bank accounts, our popularity, position, or our power in life, we need to remember that no one is actually capable of saving themselves. All we need to do is run to Jesus like a needy child, or call after Him like a poor, blind beggar. All we need to know is that we can’t save ourselves. All we need is to be dependent on Christ alone. Salvation is impossible for us on our own, but thankfully, with God all things are possible.
Questions
What was the first thing that stood out to you about the character of Jesus in today’s reading?
What does it mean to receive the Kingdom of God like a child? In what ways do you struggle to do so?
What is the “one thing” that is hardest for you to surrender before the Lord? How is that unwillingness to surrender keeping you from Jesus?
In this pandemic, we’ve all been stripped away of any sense of control over our own lives. How might God be using this time to teach you dependency on Him rather than on yourself? How are you doing learning that lesson?
Did You Know?
The word ransom here means a payment made towards a slave or captive. When the disciples heard Jesus say that He came to give His life as a ransom for many, their assumption was that He was talking about freeing the Jews who were living under Roman rule. Jesus was actually referring to everyone who was a slave or captive to sin.
1 thought on “Mark 10”
Little children ask questions about the world around them (lots of them!) , but they do so to understand and to receive, not to challenge and to refute. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus encounters some who have the faith of a child and receive the kingdom of God, such as Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood in chapter 5 and the Syrophoenician woman in chapter 6, and others who doubt, take offense or ask questions to test him, such as his neighbors in Nazareth (Mark 6:3-6) and the Pharisees (Mark 8:11-13).
We live in a skeptical and unbelieving generation. We are taught to question authority and to find our own truth. May we take Jesus’ warning to heart (v. 15): “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”