Kingdom Blessings
Mark 10:28-31
Introduction: What does it mean to follow Jesus? In
our context in Mark, the Lord has cautioned would-be followers to consider the
cost of discipleship. Scholars are fairly convinced that Mark is writing his
gospel to Roman Christians who are experiencing persecution. What we know about
the brutality of Nero makes it clear that believers there would experience
cruel and barbaric treatment at his hands. They knew there was a cost to
discipleship – they were seeing and experiencing some of that every day.
During this final trip to Jerusalem, Jesus has been teaching His followers
about the cost of discipleship, but they seem a little slow to grasp what he is
saying. Even as He explicitly told them
in chapters 8 and 9 about His approaching rejection and death (along with the
promise of His resurrection), they seem incapable grasping the plain sense of
His words. It was too much of a contradiction for them to process it seems—the
Messiah was to be a deliverer, a savior, how could His revealing end in death?
It didn’t add up. They couldn’t yet understand, but they would, in time. But
now Jesus balances the “theology of suffering” by inviting the disciples to
consider the already / not yet kingdom blessings that come to those who follow
Him.
What you might
leave behind when you follow Jesus is real and could be difficult or even
painful. In our context in Mark, for the Rich Young Ruler, it was too high a
price when Jesus exposed his love for his possessions. The disciples knew only
in part what it would cost them to follow Jesus. They had left their
livelihood, the close connections with families and friends, but, even though
they had been warned by Jesus, they didn’t know what still lay ahead, in terms
of persecution, suffering, exile, and even martyrdom.
The Context: The departure of the rich, young
ruler gave Jesus an opportunity to warn the disciples against the idolatry of
materialism.
The BIG Idea: The high cost of discipleship pales
in comparison to the blessings that are, and will be ours, as kingdom citizens.
We’ll look at this from three perspectives:
1) Consider the Cost (28); 2) Count the
Blessings (29-30); and 3) Christ our example (31).
I. Consider the Cost: There is a cost to consider if we would follow Jesus (28).
“Peter began to say to him, ‘See, we have left everything and followed
you.’”
As we have been working our way through Mark’s Gospel, he has
selectively chosen events and teachings from the life of Jesus to answer for us
three life changing questions, questions every Christ follower must come to grips
with: 1) Who is Jesus; 2) Why did He come; and 3) What does it mean to follow
Him? In this section, chapters
8-10, the third question has come front and center as Mark draws out aspects of
discipleship. The rich, young ruler
rejected the call to follow Jesus, unwilling to come to Jesus on His terms.
Look back a few verses in Mark to set the context of Peter’s statement
in 10:28. The young man who came and knelt before Jesus, asking about what He
yet lacked, was unable to cope with the answer Jesus gave him. He was
devastated when, with a single requirement, Jesus exposed the idol that had
grown in his heart: “Sell all that you
own and give it to the poor, and come, follow me and you will have treasure in
Heaven…” He had great possessions, give it all up? He went away, despondent,
saddened, because he knew, at least at that moment, he was unwilling to trust
Jesus and to let go of what he probably didn’t realize until that moment had enslaved
him. The cost was too high.
One of the most difficult things for us when we accepted the call to
go to Brazil was the prospect of separation from our extended family. For
us the cost of international flights was high and we realized that it would
likely be years between times when we saw some of our family again—if ever. I
had, taped in the front cover of my Bible, this quote from Max Lucado’s book, No Wonder They Call Him the Savior. It
refers to times when it may be necessary to leave for the sake of Christ
and the Gospel, as when missionaries are sent to a foreign field…
It seems that goodbye is a word all
too prevalent in the Christian’s vocabulary. Missionaries know it well. Those who
send them know it too. The doctor who leaves the city to work in the jungle
hospital has said it. So has the translator who lives far from home. Those who
feed the hungry, those who teach the lost, those who help the poor all know the
word goodbye.
Airports. Luggage. Embraces.
Tail-lights. “Wave to Grandma.” Tears. Bus terminals. Ship docks. “Good-bye
Daddy.” Tight throats, ticket counters. Misty eyes. “Write me!”
Question: What kind of God would put people through such agony? What
kind of God would give you families and then ask you to leave them? What kind
of God would give you friends and then ask you to say goodbye?
Answer: A God who knows that the deepest love is build not on passion
and romance but on a common mission and sacrifice.
Answer: A God who knows that we are only pilgrims and that eternity is
so close that any “Goodbye” is in reality, “See you tomorrow.”
Answer: A God who did it Himself.
Separation was something we experienced being thousands of miles from
family. It was difficult when Mary Ann’s mother broke a hip, and her health
began to deteriorate. Though we got to visit her some months before she passed,
it was difficult to not be there when she died. It is hard for people who are
rejected by their family when they recognize who Jesus is and choose to follow
Him. For Muslims or Orthodox Jews, it might mean being considered “dead” to the
family, complete rejection. In certain countries and cultures it might cost
them their lives. There will be a cost to following Jesus – Jesus said, “In
the world you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33).
Peter, on seeing the departure of the young man and hearing Jesus’
teaching about the poverty of riches, responds to Jesus’ words. Mark says that
“Peter began to answer and said to Him…”
Again, as often has been the case, Peter is the one who speaks up. (Remember,
according to tradition, Mark is writing his gospel based on the teaching an
reminiscences of Peter). I don’t think Peter is questioning in an argumentative
way (one translation says “Peter began to
argue with him…” but it seems to me that is reading too much into the
text). He seems to be searching for confirmation that he and his “band of
brothers” are on the right path. He essentially asks, “What about us?”
Peters says, “Look! We have let go
of everything and have followed you!” It’s like Peter is saying, “Sure that
guy walked away, he wouldn’t let go of his wealth and follow you, but here we
are, we’ve left everything behind!” It is interesting that though Peter says
that, he does seem to still have a house and a fishing boat (1:29; 3:9; 4:1,36;
cf. John 21:3). So, it seems, Peter hasn’t literally left everything to
follow Jesus. We know that later, after the resurrection, Peter does decide to
“go fishing.” That scene in John 21
is when they again encounter Jesus, and the Lord asks him three times, “Do you love me?” Here Jesus doesn’t
question Peter’s statement. It reminds me of the rich young man’s declaration,
“all these things I have kept from my
youth…” There, Jesus didn’t challenge the rich man on his failings, he
loved him.
The idea here probably is that they had indeed done what Jesus had asked
of them. They had left their fishing
boat with their father and the hired hands, or left behind their tax booth or
whatever previous occupations they had, and followed Jesus, committing
themselves to learning from Him and about Him. They heard His voice, and they
followed Him. Remember a vow of poverty isn’t required of followers of Jesus. He
isn’t going to ask many of us to sell everything and give it to the poor. Money
or possessions aren’t a problem, unless they come between us and God. It’s the love
of money that is the root of all kinds of evil. He knows our hearts. Are we
willing to love Him more than the idols that vie for our attention? The Big
Idea here is: The high cost of discipleship pales in comparison to the
blessings that are, and will be ours, as kingdom citizens.
II. Count the Blessings! Whatever we must leave behind when we
turn to the Truth in Christ, will pale in comparison to what we gain in Him
(29,30).
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.
There is unquestionably a
high cost for those who would follow Jesus. We should not minimize what
Jesus himself taught about the cost of discipleship. Sometimes, it is not that
we “leave” people behind, whether family or friends, but they leave us when we
choose to follow Jesus. It isn’t personal. The world is at enmity with God, and
if God is in us, they may withdraw… there is too much light! Jesus doesn’t
minimize the cost, nor should we. Sometimes we can give the impression that
once someone decides to follow Jesus, everything is going to be smooth and easy.
Peace and joy and love. Yes, but let’s not forget to tell them that they are
going to war! In Matthew 10:34-39 Jesus said,
34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have
not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her
mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be
those of his own household. 37
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever
loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his
cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his
life for my sake will find it…
Jesus didn’t hide the truth, neither
should we! But he does tell the
disciples that other side of the story. Yes, you will lose some things, even
some people, in this fallen world because the world is at enmity with God. Yes,
there will be persecutions (see Mk 10:30, “…with
persecutions…”). But you will gain a hundred times more.
First, you become part of a new family that is bigger and deeper than
you can imagine. You become a child of the King, and somehow, a joint heir with
Jesus. As a part of that family,
we have a foretaste of the kingdom blessings that yet await us. Have you ever
experienced that when you have traveled? You visit a new city (or another
country!) and meet someone on the street or in a church, and find they are a
believer in Jesus—and immediately there is a connection, you have found a
brother or a sister! That is God’s design, after all, we have the same Father!
We are children of the King, He is Lord of the universe! There was a lot of attention
and celebration connected with a certain coronation across the pond this year
(I wasn’t invited!). Think of this – you have an engraved invitation to the
marriage supper of the Lamb! We have “family blessings” now, a foretaste of the
future, and in the age to come, eternal
life.
Matthew includes the detail that Jesus told the 12 that they would sit
on thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Mt 19:28). Paul told the
Corinthians that they should be able to handle civil matters between
themselves, didn’t they know that one day they would judge angels? Paul said to
the Romans, “The suffering of this
present age is not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in [to]
us…” (Rom 8:18). *That is the Big Idea: The high cost of discipleship pales
in comparison to the blessings that are, and will be ours, as kingdom citizens!
III. Christ the Example: The stunning reversal in the age to
come will exalt those who have come to Christ in humility and faith (31).
[Jesus said] “But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
In the near context, following this event and Jesus’ third explicit
teaching about His impending betrayal, death, and resurrection, Jesus will
teach again about humility and service. We will read in 10:42-45,
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."
Mark has shown that Jesus came as the Suffering Servant. Christ is our
example. Have this mind in you that was also in Christ Jesus. Are we
called to suffer if we follow Him? For a season, yes. Should that surprise us?
We live in a fallen world, surrounded by people born sinners, in rebellion
against God. Satan himself has blinded
the minds of the unbelieving. The world rejected Jesus and put him to death. In
the upper room Jesus warned the disciples, “Don’t be surprised if the world
hates you. It hated me first!” Be assured, if we call Jesus Lord and seek to
live in obedience to God’s revealed truth, we will experience persecution at
some level. In some parts of the world, it could mean your life to declare faith
in Jesus Christ as Lord. But look at what He did for us!
Ironically, Jesus’ willing self-humiliation, His submission to the
eternal plan of the Godhead, also became His vindication and exaltation. And so,
in John’s Gospel, we see the double
entendre of “lifting up” as both suffering (on the Cross) and exaltation
(as His messianic identity is confirmed, and His death becomes the means of
saving a people for himself). He came
in humility as the Suffering Servant. He will reign in power as the King of
Kings. One day, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will
confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord! Jesus’
victory means hope.
Do we sometimes wonder if God is good, and if God is all-powerful, why
is there so much injustice in the world? Why do good people suffer and the
unrighteous seem to prosper? We need to
step back and see the bigger picture. Remember the story that Jesus told of the
rich man and Lazarus? It begins…
19 "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and
who feasted sumptuously every day. 20
And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what
fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his
sores. 22 The poor man died
and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was
buried, 23 and in Hades,
being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at
his side. 24 And he called
out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his
finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember
that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner
bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish… (Luke
16:19-25).
Complete reversal. The first, last.
The last first. We see the same idea of reversal when we realize that eternity
is at stake, and after 10,000 years the suffering of this present age will not
compare to the blessings God has for those who love Him.
What is God saying to me in this passage? The high cost of discipleship pales
in comparison to the blessings that are, and will be ours, as kingdom citizens.
What would God have me
to do in response to this passage? Could it be that the story of the rich, young ruler, and
the teaching of Jesus that followed, has shined light into your own heart, and
exposed some area of your life that you are holding back?
1) The invitation is to treasure Jesus more than anything. It
is not likely that the Lord would ask you to sell all that you have and give it
to the poor. But He does want you to follow Him, and He will not tolerate
idols.
2) Consider today what we gain when we entrust ourselves to Jesus! Eternity, Heaven yes, but even now the abundant life for which we were created! Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all of these things will be added onto you!
Do you believe Him? Do you trust Him? Then, follow Him! AMEN.
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