Mark 10:13-22
Introduction
Today’s text is all about the Gospel although this might not be obvious at first sight.
In today’s text we see a contrast between what Jesus teaches in Verses 13 to 16 and the encounter He has with the rich young ruler in Verses 17 to 22.
The key verses in today’s text are 15 and 17.
Bear all of this in mind as we examine today’s passage.
Verses 13 to 16
In these verses we see that people were bringing children to Jesus that He might touch them. And we see that the disciples tried to stop them.
The reaction of Jesus to the action of the disciples was one of indignation or displeasure with them. Jesus told the disciples not to get in the way of the children coming to Him. The reason He give for this was that the kingdom of God belonged to such as these.
So, what did Jesus mean by this? The keys to understanding what Jesus is saying are the phrase ‘such as these’ and what He says in Verse 15. The first thing to note is that Jesus is not saying that the kingdom of God belongs to children per say. Instead, in Verse 15 Jesus makes it clear who He is really talking about. So, let’s take a look at Verse 15 which is the key verse in this section. Take note of the simile in this verse. Jesus is talking about those with a childlike approach to the kingdom of God. To be childlike is to come to Jesus with empty hands.
Verse 15 is about how we get saved. When we are saved, we enter the kingdom of God. Jesus is saying that just like a child we cannot buy our way into the kingdom. We cannot earn it by our own efforts. There is nothing we can do to deserve a place in the kingdom. We just have to ‘receive’ it as a gracious gift from God. It’s by grace and grace alone.
Take careful note of the words Jesus uses in Verse 15 as we move on to the next section of today’s text.
Verses 17 to 18
In Verse 17 we see that Jesus was interrupted by a rich young ruler. We know that he was a young man because Matthew tells us in Chapter 19 Verse 22 of his Gospel. And we know that he was a ruler because Luke tells us in Chapter 18 Verse 18 of his Gospel.
The young man ‘ran’ up to Jesus. This shows us how eager the young man was to put his question to Jesus. The answer to his question mattered a great deal to the young man. The first thing that the young man did when he reached Jesus was to kneel before Him. This shows us that he respected Jesus.
Note how the young man addressed Jesus. He called Him ‘Good teacher’. In response Jesus said, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” Jesus said this because He knew that the young man had a superficial understanding of what ‘goodness’ is. Like most people, he far too easily calls someone good, not understanding what he is saying.
Can you think of any examples of where people talk about someone being good? If you can, you will find that all of the examples are about the achievements of the person being spoken about. However, true goodness is defined by the character of God. His character is made manifest in the Law which reflects His righteousness. When we compare ourselves to God’s standard of goodness, His righteousness, we always fall short. God not only looks at our outward acts but He also looks at our heart. None of us can say that our all of our deeds proceed from a pure heart that wants to glorify God. From God’s viewpoint, none of us are truly good by His standard. So, when we approach Jesus from a superficial understanding of what good is, just like this young man, we assume that we can do something of ourselves to inherit eternal life. We see this in the young man’s question when he says, “What can I do.”
Notice how the young man wants to ‘inherit’ eternal life. He wants to ‘inherit’ salvation. But what did Jesus say about salvation in Verse 15? He said that it is something that we ‘receive’. We don’t inherit or earn salvation; we receive it as a free gift.
Verses 19 to 20
Jesus put some of the ten commandments to the young man because He knew that the young man thought that he could earn salvation by keeping the Law.
Notice which commandments that Jesus has chosen. They are all about human interactions. These commandments are known as The Second Table of the Law. The First Table of the Law includes the commandments about our relationship to God. The choice of commandments by Jesus is significant as we will see later.
The young man responds by saying that he has kept all of them from his youth. He is pleased with himself; he’s relieved. He now thinks that he has done all that he needs to do to be saved. But he’s wrong as we will see.
Verses 21 to 22
What did Jesus feel for the young man? He felt love for him; He was filled with compassion for him. Jesus recognised that the young man genuinely wanted to know how to get saved.
Jesus told the young man to sell all of his possessions because He knew that his wealth was more important to the young man than salvation. Jesus knew that there was one commandment in particular that the young man was breaking. That commandment was the first commandment; You shall have no other gods before me. The other god that this young man had was wealth and he wasn’t willing to give it up. Instead of following Jesus, the young man went away broken hearted.
And Finally
Remember that there is nothing good in us and so we cannot earn salvation. Instead, we simply come to Jesus in faith with empty hands and receive it.