THE GOD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE (Mark 10:17-31)
INTRODUCTION:
Jesus rebuked the disciples for sending the parents and their children away who had come to have their children blessed by Him. In His rebuke Jesus made a startling pronouncement about salvation. He said, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” (Mark 10:15, NASB95)[1] This pronouncement set down for the disciples and all subsequent history that helpless dependence is necessary for entering the kingdom of God, to be saved. Our passage this morning introduces us to someone who is the opposite of a helpless, dependent infant. This man is unnamed in our passage, but Matthew refers to him as a young man, and tells us that he had great possessions, Luke identifies him as a ruler, possibly a ruler of the local synagogue. This young man was both wealthy and possessed a certain amount of authority.
At the beginning this young man seemed to be the ideal seeker. Some people must be taught basic truths about what God’s Word says about God, sin, heaven, hell, and eternal life. No such “pre-evangelism” was necessary in this young man’s case, as soon as he came to Jesus he asked Him how he could obtain eternal life. He seemed ready; according to contemporary evangelism methodology, Jesus should have used appropriate language and offered acceptable terms to lead this ideal prospect to a salvation prayer. But Jesus never called for a prayer or a popular “decision.” Instead, Jesus put a massive stumbling block in this man’s way, forcing him to decide what was more valuable to him: God and the life to come, or his own will and the riches of this present life. Let’s pray and then get into our passage of Scripture for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bible to Mark 10:17-31, our passage for this morning. If you are able, please stand, in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 10:17-31,
“As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, “Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.” ’ And he said to Him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.’ Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!’ The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, ‘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 a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were even more astonished and said to Him, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Looking at them, Jesus said, ‘With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.’ Peter began to say to Him, ‘Behold, we have left everything and followed You.’ 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 farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, 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, NASB95)[2]
THE INQUIRY (Mark 10:17)
Mark opens this event by telling us that Jesus was setting out on a journey. Remember Jesus has been in Perea which was located on the east side of the Jordan river. This journey that Jesus was setting out on was to go to Jerusalem for the final time, where He would die and rise again. As He was setting out, Mark writes, “…a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ ” (Mark 10:17b, NASB95)[3] What is so interesting about this event and even surprising is the identity of this man. He is young, he is a ruler (most likely a ruler of a synagogue), and he is extremely wealthy.
There are several things about this wealthy, influential man who had already achieved much according to the religious system of his day that would have shocked bystanders. First, Mark tells us that he ran up to Jesus, men of status in Israel did not run. To run one would have to gather up the long robes worn in that day, thus exposing the legs and freeing them to run, but to do this was considered undignified and even shameful. Second, he knelt before Jesus, assuming a humble, worshipful posture in the presence of the one whom the religious establishment hated and considered a false prophet and were looking for an opportunity to kill Him. Third and finally, he addressed Jesus respectfully as Good Teacher.
As I mentioned in my introduction, this rich young ruler seemed to be a sure-fire candidate for salvation. He recognized his needs, in contrast to the Pharisees that Jesus encountered. Despite all of this young man’s religious achievements, he knew that he did not have eternal life, he lacked a confident hope of heaven. Because he knew he lacked eternal life he sought for it earnestly disregarding his reputation and his dignity, he humbly and respectfully came to Jesus publicly not caring what those who saw him thought. He came to the right person, he came to Jesus Christ who alone is the way, and the truth, and the life. And he asked the right question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Remember that the religious system he was accustomed to was a legalistic system of self-righteousness. He expected Jesus to prescribe some great deed he could do that would settle things with God once and for all. What was the ultimate good work he could do that would finally permit him to obtain eternal life. Despite all his religious achievements, there was a nagging fear in his mind that salvation was still missing. There was an unsatisfied guilt, an unfulfilled longing, a painful doubt about his relationship to God. What must I do?
This young man’s primary problem lay in his misunderstanding and misuse of the word “good.” He used it very loosely in addressing the Lord. He meant no more by it than to commend Jesus as a good teacher, simply meaning, one sent from God. But at the same time, he would have considered himself and those who seriously practiced their religion as equally good. It is in light of this that Jesus responds as He does. The omniscient Lord Jesus, who knew the heart of this man as He knows all hearts, did not simply challenge this man to believe, because before he could believe he had to understand the looming judgment of sin that hung over his head, he needed to recognize his need for repentance and forgiveness by God’s mercy, in order to escape eternal wrath.
THE INTERACTION (Mark 10:18-22)
Jesus replied to this young man by first asking, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10:18, NASB95)[4] Jesus by this question was not denying His deity, that would have contradicted His explicit claims elsewhere. Jesus’ purpose was to reshape this man’s understanding of the true meaning of the word “good.” Jesus would redefine it for this man in relation to God. “Good,” unlike “bad,” is absolute, not relative. People may be more or less bad, but only God is absolutely, perfectly, and eternally good. Before the good news of salvation can be presented, people must understand that they are not good in God’s sight, and no amount of human effort or religious observance, or good works can make them good in His sight. Jesus was pointing out to this man that the law demonstrates and defines God’s perfect righteousness, holiness, and absolute goodness and it is the standard to which all who would achieve salvation by their own righteousness cannot. The law shows sinners how perfectly good God is and how utterly evil we are, which should produce guilt, dread, remorse, fear, and the inevitable reality of divine judgment. Paul said that the law is our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But the religious system of Jesus’ day had twisted the law into a means of establishing their own goodness and righteousness externally.
Before his salvation, the apostle Paul had been much like this young man. But when confronted by the Lord Jesus, Paul’s eyes were opened and for the first time the goodness of God’s nature was revealed to Paul in the law. When Paul measured himself against the law, he realized that he was not at all righteous, but that he was a wretched sinner. He likened his righteous acts to rubbish. Listen to his words in Philippians 3:7-11, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:7–11, NASB95)[5] Paul shows us clearly that true righteousness that make us acceptable to God can only be obtained through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, all other acts of righteousness are nothing more than rubbish.
The Lord Jesus then challenged this young man, like the apostle Paul would later do, to judge himself by the law and realize that he was not good. Jesus reminded the man that he knew the commandments and in knowing them he was responsible to keep them. He then gave him a sample list of them: “Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.” (Mark 10:19, NASB95)[6] All of these examples come from the second half of the Ten Commandments, except one, and they all deal with human relationships, as opposed to the first five commandments which deal with a person’s relationship to God.
This young man was not convicted by this list, instead he believed that he had kept these commandments from his youth up. He was convinced that his law-keeping vindicated his righteousness, but in reality it revealed his utter failure to truly understand his sinfulness. To him, as to the Pharisees, scribes, and rabbis, the law was concerned only with external behavior. It was this mistaken understanding that Jesus corrected in the Sermon on the Mount. If this man would have truly understood the law, he would have realized as Paul came to understand, that it condemned the hatred, lustful thoughts, covetousness, lies, and dishonoring of his parents that were part of the fabric of his wretched heart. Instead of keeping the law as he imagined, he violated it daily in his mind, which is as wicked as lawless behavior. But he did not see this but reasoned that he was a law keeper from his youth.
Mark writes that as Jesus looked at this young man He felt a love for him, Jesus saw that he was a lost sinner and loved him and tried to help him see that he was not the law keeper he thought he was. Jesus said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Mark 10:21b, NASB95)[7] Does this demand by Jesus seem harsh? Is He asking too much? Peter must have told Mark about Jesus’ loving eye contact with this young man. Jesus loved him, was drawn to him and tried to draw this man to himself. The Savior’s words were spoken tenderly, and yet Jesus meant every word that He spoke. This was the only way for this rich young man.
Why did Jesus command this young man to sell all that he possessed? Jesus knew, seeing through the man’s religious façade, that material things occupied the place of God in his life. Because of this he lived in constant transgression of the first commandment against having other gods before the true God. Not only that, but this man’s wealth prevented the helpless, childlike dependence that Jesus had said was necessary for kingdom entrance.
This is not general advice for all believers, though in this instance it was appropriate. Jesus does command that those who come to Him put away their gods, whether they be possessions, position, power, a person, or a passion.
Jesus’ words made the world stop for this wealthy young man. Jesus loving eyes remained steadfastly upon him. What would he do? Mark uses graphic words to describe the man’s reaction. My Bible says he was saddened by what Jesus said. Matthew uses this same word that is translated saddened to describe the sky becoming overcast in anticipation of a storm. There was a progressive darkening of the man’s face as Jesus’ words sunk in. Mark concludes that he went away grieving because he was one who owned much property. In other words, this young man was overcome with profound sadness because he had so much money, which
he could not possibly bring himself to give up.
THE INSTRUCTION (Mark 10:23-27)
Jesus would build on this man’s response to teach His disciples the power of wealth. This has been called one of the “hard sayings” of Jesus. Mark writes for us, “And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!’ The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, ‘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 a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were even more astonished and said to Him, ‘Then who can be saved?’ ” (Mark 10:23–26, NASB95)[8] Jesus used the incident that had just taken place to instruct His disciples. After He watched the rich young ruler walk away, loving his riches more than eternal life, Jesus turned to His disciples and told them that it was hard for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples were amazed at His words. In the Jewish culture it was assumed wealth and power were signs of God’s blessing, so how could someone God was blessing have a difficult time getting into the kingdom of God?
There are at least three reasons that it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. First, their wealth gives them a false sense of security. Paul instructed Timothy in 1st Timothy 6:17, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” (1 Timothy 6:17, NASB95)[9] Second, they are also consumed with the things of the world, and as our Scripture reading said this morning, where your heart is there is your treasure also. Again, Paul warned in 1st Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10, NASB95)[10] Third, the rich tend to be selfish, pursuing self-fulfillment and self-gratification. The heart of what Jesus was saying was that the wealthy struggled to come helpless and dependent only on the Lord Jesus for forgiveness and salvation, which He said was the only way into the kingdom of God. Then Jesus said something even more astonishing to the disciples, He said, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24b, NASB95)[11] Far from toning down His statement, He broadened it to include everyone, not just the rich. He then gave an illustration of how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God, He said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:25, NASB95)[12] In other words, it was impossible for the rich to buy their way into the kingdom, it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. The point of this picturesque expression of Jesus is not that salvation is difficult, but rather that is humanly impossible for everyone by any means, including the wealthy. Sinners are aware of their guilt and fear, and may even desire a relationship with God that brings forgiveness and peace. But they cannot hold onto their sin and personal control and think they can come to God on their terms. We see this illustrated for us in the incident we just studied. The disciples were even more astonished at Jesus’ words and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” (Mark 10:26b, NASB95)[13] “Looking at them, Jesus said, ‘With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.’ ” (Mark 10:27, NASB95)[14] Sinners, by their own power, will, and efforts cannot save themselves, only a sovereign act of God can change the heart, because God is the God of the impossible.
When sinners, by the work of the Spirit of God, reach the point where they know they are sinners and desire to repent and be saved, having acknowledged their guilt, they can only cry out to God and ask Him to graciously forgive their sins and save them from judgment through Jesus Christ. It is when they come as a helpless and dependent child and cry out, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”
THE INTERCHANGE (Mark 10:28-31)
This instruction from Jesus prompted Peter to speak up and mention that unlike the rich young ruler and many other would-be followers, the disciples had left everything to follow Christ. Matthew tells us that Peter followed that statement with the question, “what then will there be for us?” (Matthew 19:27b, NASB95)[15] “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 farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10:29–30, NASB95)[16]
All believers become a part of the church, the body and family of Christ. While many may lose their earthly families when they become Christians, they will find they have gained the heavenly family and will be given many mothers, brothers, and sisters in Christ and God will be our Father.
That mutual caring has marked the true church since its birth on the day of Pentecost. When the church first came to be it consisted in part of pilgrims who had come from Jewish settlements outside of Israel. After their conversion, the new believers did not want to go back home because there were no churches except for the one in Jerusalem. Many of them stayed permanently in the homes of the believers who lived in and around Jerusalem. Those believers fed them, housed them and loved and cared for them. Jesus also reminded the disciples that they would also receive persecutions in this present age, but in the age to come eternal life with all its eternal blessings.
Jesus concluded by stating, “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” (Mark 10:31, NASB95)[17] This statement simply means that all will wind up equal possessors of heaven’s treasures, the greatest being the presence of our Savior Jesus Christ.
The rich who reject Christ will be spiritually poor forever. On the other hand, those who forsake all to follow Christ will receive eternal riches. Those who store up their treasure in heaven understand the truth expressed by the missionary and martyr Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”[18]
CONCLUSION:
Thank God that God is the God of the impossible. If He were not there would be no hope for mankind, each of us would be destined to an eternity in the Lake of Fire, a place of eternal torment. Praise God that He did the impossible because of His great love for us and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take our place, to suffer God’s wrath against sin and to die in our place so that our sins can be forgiven, and we can be saved from the wrath to come. Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” (Mark 10:15, NASB95)[19] Have you come to the Savior in humble helplessness and complete dependence on Him? Jesus said that is the only way we will ever enter the kingdom of God. Jesus plus our nothingness equals forgiveness and salvation because He is the God of the Impossible.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[18]Elliot, Elisabeth, Shadow of the Almighty. New York, NY : Harper & Row, 1979. pg. 247.
[19]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.