Pastor Phil’s Ramblings
This month we are going to continue our journey through the gospel of Mark. In the lectionary cycle, we are in year B, the year of Mark. Our focus during October is going to be on the 10th chapter. As Mark tells the story, Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem for what will be the final time, for it is during this visit that Jesus will be arrested, tried in a kangaroo court, and be crucified. As a side note, beginning with chapter 11, Mark will describe all of the events that occur once Jesus and the disciples arrive in Jerusalem. Of course, we heard about all of those events, from the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday all the way through to resurrection during the season of Lent and Easter.
Mark tells some interesting, and perhaps familiar stories during his narrative of chapter 10. Mark begins this chapter by stressing Jesus’ emphasis on the holiness and sanctity of marriage. While he acknowledges that Moses, in order to address the issue of the hardheartedness of the Israelites in his time, decreed that a man could divorce his wife very simply and easily, Jesus makes clear that God does not approve of divorce. Tragically, it is still a very simple and easy thing for people to divorce in our time. I’m sure that you have heard it said that half of all marriages end in divorce. That is a tragic number, to be sure, but it does not mean that half of all people who marry will divorce, because many people marry and divorce two, three or even more times. That fact skews the numbers. I have often wondered what the true number is.
Next, Mark tells us a story of how upset Jesus became when he heard or saw that his disciples were preventing the children from coming to him. Of course, he rebuked them for doing that, told them to let the children come to him, and then used the occasion to teach an object lesson on what is really necessary in order to enter the Kingdom of God. If you are wondering what that is, you will find the answer in verse 15.
The next story which Mark relates to us is the story of the Rich Young Ruler, the young man who asked Jesus what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus first told him that he needed to keep the commandments, which the man claimed he did. Jesus took the young man at his word, believing that he did in fact keep the commandments. But then Jesus added one more thing. He told the Rich Young Ruler to go and sell all of his possessions, and then give the money to the poor, and then follow him. Sadly, this distressed the Rich Young Ruler, as he had sizable wealth, or, as Mark says, “great possessions.” Mark tells us that the young man went away deeply troubled.
It is assumed by many theologians that the Rich Young Ruler decided at that moment that the cost of following Jesus was simply too high to pay, and was unwilling to do what Jesus had asked of him. So far as I am aware, there is no evidence from the text itself nor from any other contemporaneous source, to confirm that assumption. While it may be true that the young man did in fact decide that the cost of following Jesus was too much to pay, it may be equally plausible to believe that the young man did in fact do what Jesus asked. There are actually people who do that, people who weigh the costs and benefits of following Jesus and decide that following him is the way for them to go. So, I don’t want to sell the Rich Young Ruler short.
It is generally recognized that Jesus talked to his disciples about his death and resurrection three times. Mark includes the third conversation Jesus has with his disciples in the chapter. At this point, Mark includes the story of James and John, the Sons of Thunder, asking Jesus to have one of them sit at his right hand and the other to sit at his left hand when Jesus comes into his glory. So Jesus asked them, “I have just told you what I am going to suffer once we get to Jerusalem. Are you able and willing to suffer that same fate?” I really do not think they knew what they were saying when they said that they could. Jesus’ response to them was that they would in fact suffer for the gospel, but even so, he did not make out the seating chart for the heavenly banquet, that it was up to his Father to arrange the seating assignments. And then he reminded them yet once again that the last would be first and the first would be last.
Mark ends the chapter with the healing of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar whom he encountered as he passed through the town of Jericho.
I’m looking forward to us spending time together during the month unpacking these passages to glean as much as we can from them. May God richly bless your time of Bible study.
Pastor Phil