In Christ Alone, our Hope is Found!
Mark 10:23-27
Introduction:
The previous context showed a rich man walk away dejected, unwilling to release
the things that enslaved him, and to trust in Christ alone. One sermon I
heard on that text was entitled, “The Poverty of Riches.” Our passage today
continues that story, as Jesus teaches his disciples in light of the departure
of the rich, young, ruler. As he
teaches, Jesus uses a striking illustration, one that we have all heard, of a
camel passing through the eye of a needle. By the way, I’ve got two books that
deal with problem passages, one by F.F. Bruce, perhaps the best known New
Testament scholar from the second half of the twentieth century, entitled Hard Sayings of Jesus, and another by
Robert Stein, a preeminent interpreter of the Gospels, entitled Difficult Passages in the New Testament.
This saying of Jesus makes them both! I don’t see such great difficulty
in the meaning of the passage as it seems pretty clear what Jesus was
saying. Yes, He was using figurative and shocking language to emphatically make
a point, but He does that frequently, trying to shake up his hearers and force
them to consider the sense of his words. It’s impossible for a camel to
pass through a needle… unless you puree it and shoot it through with a syringe!
It’s not going through alive! I think most of the problems with this story are
the result of commentators trying to make the image that Jesus uses seem less
ridiculous, rather than dealing with the obvious meaning of what Jesus was
saying. We’ll see as we look at these verses that the “word picture” Jesus uses
is intended to shock us, as it did the disciples, and drive us to
recognize both total human inability and absolute divine omnipotence in
the process of reconciling humans to God.
The BIG Idea: We need to be on guard against
trusting in ourselves and need to come to God with child-like faith in Christ
alone.
I. The Awful Danger of the Love of Money (23-24a). The departure of the rich,
young ruler gives Jesus a teaching opportunity for His disciples…
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.
First,
we see Jesus “looked around” and into
hearts. The rich, young man had walked away from Jesus, disheartened,
unwilling to let go of his riches and put his trust in Christ alone. We don’t
know his name, we don’t know if he later repented and put his trust in Christ.
It seems like he was so close. We don’t know his story after this scene, but his
unwillingness to commit his life to Christ at this time becomes a teaching moment
for Jesus. We are told that Jesus “looked
around.” What was he looking at? At His close group of disciples! This word
appears only seven times in the NT, six times are in Mark, and 6 of the 7
times, it is Jesus who “looks around.” The final use will be in Mark 11 when,
after the triumphal entry, Jesus “looks around” inside the Temple. It is a
knowing, discerning, penetrating look that sees the depths of human hearts. Remember
in John 6, after some difficult teaching, Jesus said,
“…there are some of you who do not
believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not
believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
65 And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can
come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." 66 After this many of his
disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve,
"Do you want to go away as well?" 68 Simon Peter answered him,
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have
come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." (Jn 6:64-69).
Here in Mark 10 someone else leaves. The
rich, young ruler had seemed like a good candidate for discipleship. He had
spiritual interest and Bible knowledge. He seemed to be willing to humble
himself as shown by his approach to Jesus. But this “prospective disciple” had
just left, and Jesus “looks around,” and, it would seem, into the eyes
and the hearts of His disciples. Remember, Judas was still among them. And
Peter’s three denials of Jesus also lay ahead in the not-to-distant future.
This teaching seemed to challenge the disciples deeply. Is Jesus looking for
their reaction to the departure of the young man? Is this a “do-you-want-to-go-away-too”
moment? Jesus seizes the moment to warn
these followers about a potential obstacle to discipleship. The issue is
idolatry – in this case focused on one example of a deadly, widespread idol –
the love of money.
A common idol: Can wealth be an obstacle to discipleship? The
idol that had the rich young man in “bondage” is at the forefront for Jesus’
teaching: “How difficult it is for those
who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” Jesus had quite a bit to say
about money and wealth. For example, He said in the sermon on the Mount,
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal. 21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…” (Mt 6:19-21).
Likewise, Paul said to his young friend
Timothy,
…we brought nothing into the world,
and we cannot take anything out of the world.
8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be
content. 9 But those who
desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and
harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a
root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have
wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11 But as for you, O man of God,
flee these things…
(I Tim 6:7-11a).
Since, as we observed last week,
Americans are richer than 90% of the world’s population, where does this leave us?
Notice what Paul says, not that money is “evil,” but that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It is a common
and dangerous idol that easily ensnares the human heart. Paul told the
Colossians “Put to death therefore
what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry…” (Col 3:5). Covetousness, the allure of materialism,
yes, the love of money, is put right in there with other fleshly desires that
can become idols in the human heart. Idolatry
is anything that we put before the Lord, and it is something to which we are all susceptible. We need to
take to heart the admonition of Paul,
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is
faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the
temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to
endure it. 14 Therefore, my
beloved, flee from idolatry… (I Cor 10:13,14).
We see a strong reaction from the disciples to this teaching by Jesus
in Mark 10. They are “amazed by His
words.” What is so “amazing”? Many
first century Jews would be shocked by this teaching. Remember, these are
children of the covenant. God had promised Israel “blessings” for covenant
faithfulness, and warned that unfaithfulness would bring curses (see Dt 27-28).
Just as suffering was quickly connected to sin, i.e. unfaithfulness to the
covenant (cf. Jn 9:4), so properity was considered to be indications of God’s
blessing—something promised to those faithful to the covenant. Of course, even
within the OT we can see examples of the wicked prospering, at least for a time
(see Psalm 37). The NT writers want us
to know there will be judgement and justice, but not always in this life (Rom
8:18). As Peter said, “…we are waiting for new heavens and a new
earth in which righteousness dwells…” (2 Peter 3:13). And so, in Mark,
Jesus invited his would-be disciples to take up their cross, and follow Him (Mk
8:34). No promise of health and wealth comes with a cross! Do we love Him more
than we love the world? That doesn’t seem like a message that will draw the
multitudes! Yet, John wrote,
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and
the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions- is not from the Father but is
from the world. 17 And the
world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God
abides forever…” (I Jn 2:15-17).
We need to be on guard against
trusting in ourselves [and loving our worldly idols] and need to come to God with
child-like faith in Christ alone.
II. The Absolute Necessity of Divine Grace (24b-25).
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."
A tender address… “Children…” Jesus had just taught the
disciples about the need to have faith like a child (Mk 10:14,15). So here, He
addresses his disciples as “children.”
He is not demeaning them, but tenderly exhorting them, as a father would his
children. It is a beautiful picture of the Lord’s love for us, a reminder that
He always wants what is best for us, tenderly, gently, leading us toward
maturity. Our earthly parents sometimes fell short. We as parents at
times fall short. God is always good, always motivated by love, always
consistent in doing what is best. When we see His heart like this we can gladly
accept his discipline, knowing that He will do all that is necessary for our
good.
A general principle: “How difficult it is to enter the kingdom…”
Sandwiched in between his teaching about the difficulty of the rich entering
His Kingdom, Jesus makes a more general statement. Inheriting eternal life,
entering God’s kingdom, being saved… is not easy. It is not the idea
that “love wins” and in the end we are all saved. In fact, in the Sermon on the
Mount Jesus warned,
13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy
that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the
way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few…” (Matt 7:13,14).
As Jesus teaches here in Mark 10, the
disciples get the sense of it, as we’ll see in 26b they exclaim, “Who then can be saved?” The illustration
in v.25 highlights the level of difficulty: from a human perspective, it’s not difficult,
it is just plain impossible! Next…
A Shocking Illustration: A Camel?!
The eye of a needle?! Most
of us have probably heard attempts at explaining what Jesus really meant
to say in this word-picture, I have to touch on a couple of oft-repeated, but
seemingly indefensible interpretations. Essentially the motivation with those
interpretations is either to “rescue” Jesus from having used a ridiculous
illustration, or theological, i.e. the thinking that it is difficult, but
certainly not impossible to be saved!
One approach that was first suggested around 1100 A.D. as far as we can
tell, was that Jesus was referring to a small, narrow gate entering the city of
Jerusalem. For a camel to enter, it needed to be unloaded, and then had to
squeeze through with difficulty, even, if it was large, going down on its knees.
It would be a nice picture, after all, we do need to lay aside the
things that encumber to enter the kingdom. Like the rich man and his wealth.
The problem is that in all three accounts the text reads “an eye of a
needle,” not “the eye of a needle.” In other words, it was a general
statement, and could not be referring to a specific “gate.” Also, we have no
ancient archaeological evidence of a gate into the city with such a name. Oh
well, it was a nice story!
Another theory focuses on the word “camel” in Greek kamelos, which is almost
identical to the word for “cable” or “rope,” kamilos. It is different by only one letter. The picture makes more
sense, it would also be impossible to thread a rope through the eye of a
needle! It would fit well. One problem, however: we have no convincing
manuscript evidence to support that reading! Thousands of manuscripts, no
ropes, just a herd of camels! So, we are back to the camel! Let’s see if we can
get over this hump[!].
The objection to the ridiculous idea of passing a camel through the
eye of a needle is exactly the point. This is the kind of exaggeration that
the Jewish rabbis would use to emphatically make a point. It fits perfectly
with the kind of hyperbole we see elsewhere. There are a few rabbinic
references, for example, in the Babylonian Talmud about trying to pass an elephant through the eye of a needle.
The largest animal in that region, an elephant, trying to pass through the
smallest opening we can see, the eye of a needle, was an emphatic way of saying
something was impossible! The same applies to camels, the largest animals
that would be seen in the region of Israel. Compare the word-picture Jesus uses
when he rebukes the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and says in Matthew 23:24, “You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” The
smallest known living creature in Israel, a gnat, and the largest, a Camel!
Here as well, Jesus was using a shockingly ridiculous word-picture to make His
point: from a human perspective, inheriting eternal life, entering the
kingdom of God, being saved, was not difficult, it was impossible! So, as Paul told the Corinthians, “The natural person does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to
understand them because they are spiritually discerned...” (I Cor 2:14). So
David said in Ps 14:2-3,
2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there
are any who understand, who seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become
corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
But with God, nothing is impossible. That
is the Big Idea: We need to guard against trusting in ourselves and need to
come to God with child-like faith in Christ alone.
III. The Astonishing Power of God to Save (26-27).
26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to [themselves]*, "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."
The reaction intensifies:
They were exceedingly astonished.
Note the movement as the disciples respond: first they are amazed in v.24, and then after the saying in v.25, they are abundantly astonished. The saying of
Jesus in v.25 about the difficulty of passing a camel through the eye of a
needle had its desired effect. The disciples were shocked even more about the
difficulty, indeed the impossibility, of entering the Kingdom. You can almost
hear a gasp from the disciples: “If not the wealthy, those who have been
blessed it seems by the hand of God, then who can be saved?” Depending on the translation you are using, the
disciples may have asked Him, i.e.
Jesus, “Who then can be saved?” or, they asked “one another” that question. The
second seems the right text, which adds to the poignancy of the story. We can
imagine the disciples murmuring to one-another in shock, what does this mean?
Who can be saved? Is there hope for us?
We cannot save ourselves. God can do anything! With God, all
things are possible. Remember when Abraham and Sarah are told about having a
child in their old age. Sarah laughed at the idea and the angel asked, “Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard
for the Lord?” (Gen 18:14). Isaac was born the promised son. Two thousand
years later, after announcing that she would miraculously conceive a child, the
angel said to Mary, “For nothing will be impossible with God…"
(Luke 1:37). Yes, humans can’t save themselves, they can do nothing to merit
eternal life. They have no claim on the kingdom. But God, who is
rich in mercy, has opened a way in Christ.
What is God saying to me in this passage? We need to be on guard against
trusting in ourselves, and need to come to God with child-like faith in Christ
alone.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage?
1) Have you been trapped by the allure of wealth? Are you engrossed by striving for just a little more? Only Jesus can fill that empty place in your heart. Only He can open the way to the abundant life, the life with meaning, for which you were created.
2) Will you choose to love Jesus with your whole heart? Loosen your grip on the things you cannot keep, and pursue Jesus, the One you cannot lose! He loved you and died for you.
3) Is there a "hard case" to whom you have been witnessing? Take heart, you were a hard case too, and so was I, but nothing is too difficult for the Lord! AMEN.
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