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Mark 10:1-52
“And
he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judea by the farther side
of Jordan: and the people resort unto
him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again. 2 And the Pharisees came
to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?
tempting him. 3 And he answered and said unto
them, What did Moses command you? 4 And they said, Moses
suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. 5 And Jesus answered and
said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning
of the creation God made them male and female. 7 For this cause shall a
man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 8 and they twain shall
be one flesh. 9 What therefore God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder. 10 And in the house his
disciples asked him again the same matter. 11 And he saith unto
them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery
against her. 12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be
married to another, she committeth adultery. 13 And they brought young
children to him, that he should touch them:
and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it,
he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come
unto me, and forbid them not: for of
such is the kingdom of God. 15 Verily I say unto you,
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not
enter therein. 16 And he took them up in his arms,
put his hands upon them, and blessed them. 17 And when he was gone
forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him,
Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto
him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is,
God. 19
Thou
knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do
not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and
said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 21 Then Jesus beholding
him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and
give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 22 And he was sad at that
saying, and went away grieved: for he
had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked round about, and
saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the
kingdom of God! 24 And the disciples were astonished
at his words. But Jesus answereth again,
and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches 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 man to enter into the kingdom of
God. 26
And
they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be
saved? 27
And
Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with
God: for with God all things are
possible. 28 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left
all, and have followed thee. 29 And Jesus answered and
said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren,
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake,
and the gospel’s, 30 but he shall receive an
hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers,
and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come
eternal life. 31 But many that are first
shall be last; and the last first. 32 And they were in the
way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed,
they were afraid. And he took again the
twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, 33 saying, Behold, we go up to
Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and
unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to
the Gentiles: 34 And they shall mock him, and
shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. 35 And James and John,
the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou
shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. 36 And he said unto them,
What would ye that I should do for you? 37 They said unto him,
Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left
hand, in thy glory. 38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know
not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup
that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? 39 And said unto him, We
can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall
indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am
baptized withal shall ye be baptized: 40 but to sit on my right
hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them
for whom it is prepared. 41 And when the ten heard it,
they began to be much displeased with James and John. 42 But Jesus called them to
him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule
over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise
authority upon them. 43 But so shall it not be among
you: but whosoever will be great among
you, shall be your minister: 44 and whosoever of you
will be chiefest, shall be servant of all. 45 For even the Son of
man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a
ransom for many. 46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his
disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the highway side begging. 47 And when he heard that
it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son
of David, have mercy on me. 48 And many charged him
that he should hold his peace: but he
cried out the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. 49 And Jesus stood still,
and commanded him to be called. And they
call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50
And
he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus answered and
said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I
might receive my sight. 52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy
way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And
immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.”
Last Couple Weeks Before The
Cross
“We
continue again in Mark chapter 10. Let’s
say a word of prayer and we’ll begin our study. ‘Once more Lord, we ask that you open our
eyes to the wondrous things in your law that are in here in Mark 10. And Lord, as we come to your Word, I know that
it’s so important that our hearts have a right attitude, that we have ears that
hear and hearts that understand, or are willing to understand. So we pray that you could even soften our
hearts even now so that we would hear what you have to say to us Lord. I do pray that you would give us vision as we
read your Word, as to what you desire to do in and through us, Lord. But thank you for your Word. We pray your Holy Spirit would be upon us now,
in Jesus name, Amen.’ Let’s begin
with verses 1-12, “Then
he arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the
Jordan. And multitudes gathered to him,
as he was accustomed he taught them again. The Pharisees came and asked him, ‘Is it
lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ testing him. And he answered and said to them, ‘What did
Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses
permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her.’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Because
of the hardness of your heart he wrote this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God
made them male and female. For this
reason a man shall become joined to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh, so then they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together let not
man separate.’ In the house his
disciples also asked him about this same matter, so he again said to them, ‘Whoever
divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and
marries another, she commits adultery.’”
Now from the end of chapter 9 and beginning here in
chapter 10, it’s important to note that there’s been a gap in time. The Holy Spirit has led Mark--you know Mark is
a fast-moving gospel--has led Mark to focus now on the last few weeks of Christ’s
ministry here on earth. We had about six
months now in chapter 9 before the cross, and now we’re just a couple weeks
before that. And so we skip some time. The other three gospels contain some of the
things that took place during those six months. In fact, about a third of the gospel of Luke
contains some of the things we don’t have here, as we go, transitioning from
chapter 9 to chapter 10. So we can learn
about some of these things that he taught and did in other gospel accounts. But Mark has chosen now to move us right up to
those last weeks. And the rest of the
gospel of Mark focuses on those last days.
Divorce & Remarriage: Two Interpretive Camps Existed In Judaism
As
you read in verse 1, Jesus has departed from the region of Galilee, it’s most
likely he’s come into the area of Samaria, which is the area today of the West
Bank, south of Galilee, and he has crossed, potentially, some mountains into
the Jordan valley, and then into what is the nation of Jordan today. And you can see that today from the Jordan
valley, as we go there in February, you can see the nation of Jordan. And then probably back into the Jordan valley,
he’s come now into the area of Jericho, proceeding to the city of Jerusalem. Of course we know why. Well, as usual, along the way, folks all
around know him, and multitudes have gathered. And he uses the opportunity, as he’s got
people around him, to teach them, to give them the truth, to give them light,
to give them Life in the teaching. So he
begins to teach them. As you see there,
without a doubt, the Pharisees come, they’re just consistently on him now. And I guess they’re probably trying to set him
up, is what I presume. But they come
with a question. And you read the
question there, they come asking him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce
his wife?” We don’t have part of
it there, but in Matthew 19 they refer to “Is it lawful for
a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” is the specific question. If he takes a conservative view, response to
divorce, well potentially it may offend Herod, as Herod hears about it--of
course Herod and Herodias, that’s why John the Baptist was ultimately beheaded,
because of John the Baptist’s hardline teaching on that. But then if he takes a liberal way with this,
you know, they’re always trying to trap him, but if he takes a liberal way,
maybe he’s gonna offend many of the conservative Jews that would maybe have
more of a conservative approach to divorce and remarriage and things. Well, no doubt, the issue of divorce was
a hot topic in Jesus’ day as it is today--with lots of philosophies and
understandings, different thoughts about it. There were two primary understandings, and I
would say today there are two primary camps. One real big camp today in the 1990s in
America, and then the smaller camp. But
you could probably divide this issue into two primary camps, as you could then.
There was this guy Hillel,
you may have heard about him, he was a rabbi. He had a liberal interpretation of the
law, of Deuteronomy 24. He taught
that a husband could divorce his wife for any reason, ah, just about anything,
whatever he thought. You know, if she
burnt a meal, well he would consider her unclean. If maybe he saw a woman who was more
attractive than his wife he would consider his wife unclean in respect to this
other woman now. So if his wife was
unclean, according to Deuteronomy 24 [his liberal interpretation of it] he
could issue a certificate of divorce. That’s
what this guy Hillel, the rabbi taught, and he had a lot of followers
[naturally, hated by the women, loved by the men]. There was another guy, Shamei, a more
conservative rabbi who taught the only grounds for divorce in God’s eye was marital
unfaithfulness--a more conservative response [and probably the proper
interpretation of Deuteronomy 24 as we’ll see when we read Jesus’ response].
First, Jesus Says Marriage Is A
God-Thing, God Ordained
Well
Jesus responds to the Pharisees by testing their own understanding of what
Moses taught. And they respond by
basically quoting part of Deuteronomy 24. But they have, I’m sure, a certain
understanding, a more liberal understanding (it seems the Pharisees do, as you
put the different accounts together). But
Jesus, as they respond, they say ‘Well Moses said, ‘You could divorce a wife
if you gave her a certificate of divorce.’ And that is what is written in Deuteronomy 24,
but there are some qualifications to that. But Jesus, again, with these guys, he goes
right to the heart of the issue. Probably
surprises them by even going back before the Law, before Moses’ time, right
back to Genesis chapter 2. And he says ‘This
is the perspective with marriage. You
guys have a certain understanding, but let’s look at marriage from God’s
perspective. Let’s go right back to the
garden of Eden.’ Marriage is a
thing that God has instituted himself. Marriage is an idea that God came up with. He designed marriage. He made marriage. It wasn’t like this agreement/covenant thing
that men and women came up with themselves. Marriage is ordained by God. You need to understand that. It’s much more than just a contract. Marriage starts with God, as he says there, he
says in verse 9, “What God has joined together, let not man separate.” Marriage is a God-thing, that’s what he’s
saying. It isn’t a human thing at all. That’s something that God has done. It goes beyond this piece of paper that you
exchange, but there are vows made before God that God recognizes, and God joins
a man and woman together. So he tells
the Pharisees that God allowed divorce, but it was not his desire, it was not
his will. God allowed it, and he says
specifically, he made provision for it due to the hardness of their hearts. I think it’s interesting, it says, “Due to
the hardness of your hearts.” He’s
talking to people a thousand plus years after the Law. He could have said, you know, ‘Due to the
hardness of their hearts...’ But he
says, “God allowed it due to the hardness of your hearts.”--spoke right
directly to the people in front of him. God
has allowed this all along due to the hardness of man’s hearts. I wonder today if God is dealing with some of
us in the same manner? Are there areas
of our lives where we are unwilling to accept God’s desire or God’s standard,
and it’s because of hardness of our hearts? Ultimately, when we will not accept God’s Word
and its standard, it’s because of the hardness of our heart. We like to make exceptions, because we get
into this situation that’s difficult and we say ‘Man, this is a tough
situation, so here’s exception, exception, exception...’ Or maybe we like to accept a liberal
interpretation of God’s law. Well, Jesus
says to them, ‘Moses allowed it because of the hardness of your hearts,
because you weren’t willing to listen to what God desired and the blessing he
wanted to put upon your life, but because you had hard hearts and wouldn’t
forgive and you wouldn’t be gracious, you know, God allowed it, and allowed you
to go that road, of course, to receive all that would go with that.’ Well, are there areas of God’s Word today
where you have chosen to add exceptions or accept liberal interpretations
because you’re unwilling to accept God’s perfect will on the matter? Are there areas in your life? I think marriage and divorce can be an example
of that today in our culture. With the
American society where more than half of Americans today, married couples
divorce. That’s a reality in our
culture, and sadly to say, it’s a reality in the church today too. Maybe though, it’s a different issue in your
life. Maybe it’s fornication. Maybe, you know, the living together thing
becomes an issue, often. We see it in
our society, therefore we want to do that, make exceptions for God’s law there.
We say ‘Well, you know we need to
live together, because we need to get to know each other a little, and you
know, everybody does it, so it’s acceptable.’ Maybe it’s not that, maybe it’s the movies you
watch, maybe it’s an unforgiving heart. God
says ‘Forgive,’ and you say, ‘Well, this person, you’ve got to
realize what they did to me. I don’t
need to forgive them, based on what they did to me.’ You have exceptions where you’re simply
choosing not to trust God, but you have your reasons as to why. Well, is there hardness in your heart, that’s
resulting in you thinking that it’s permissible in your situation because of
such and such—you’re thinking, ‘Well, God does not mind, because A, B, C, D,
E, F, G...’ Well, God would say
otherwise. I would say, yes he does
mind, because when God says ‘This is my standard, this is my truth,’ that
is his standard, and that is his truth. He
doesn’t change, he is never-changing. Just
because we are in a certain situation that doesn’t mean that God is gonna
change what is truth. Truth gives life,
truth is what we need. Jesus says we
arrive at the conclusions that we do when we deviate from his standard because
of the evil desires of our heart, ultimately, because of the hardness of our
heart in not being willing to accept his standard. You know, God instructed the Israelites, he
said, “You shall be Holy, for I the Lord your God am Holy.” And that’s how he set the standard, he says, ‘You
shall be Holy for I am Holy.’ And then as you read through the Law he begins
to practically map out a system for the Israelites to begin to get ahold of a
sense of what it means to be Holy, and what it means to be separate, set apart
from the world. God goes through all
these things and begins to lay all these practical ways at least for them to
get a handle on what that means. He
says, “You shall be Holy, for I am Holy”—that’s the standard. That’s the standard. Peter reminds us, the church, in 1st
Peter 1:13-17, he says, “Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be
sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children. Not conforming yourselves to the former lusts,
as in your ignorance, but as he who has called you is Holy, you also be Holy in
all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be Holy for I am Holy,’ and if you
call on the Father who without partiality judges according to each one’s work,
conduct yourselves upon your stay here in fear.” So Peter makes it clear. Same thing he says to the church [as Jesus
said to the Pharisees], this is the standard, this is who you serve, this is
who you walk with. Be Holy because God
is Holy. That’s the standard. Be separate, not like the world, not thinking
like the world or living like the world. He says “Gird up the loins of your mind.”
You know, what does that mean “loins
of your mind”? You know, we don’t
really talk like that here as Americans in the 90s. But probably the way to put that into our
terminology would be to say “Get with it!”--“Get a handle on what God’s
will is and where his mind is--get with it and out of the world’s mind and get
God’s mind!” “Gird up the loins of your
minds, get that perspective.” And then he encourages further, Peter says, “be
sober.” To be sober is to take a
serious look at something, a serious look at the will and the Word and the
standard of God. He says ‘Look at this
seriously, see what God’s standard is and what he desires for you. Not in a flippant manner in any way, but
with fear, you know, work out your own conduct before God--not fear that he’s
gonna crush us, but just fear in reverence because he’s Holy.’ Understand that we’re no longer to live like
the world, Peter says. What is
acceptable today in our American culture isn’t necessarily acceptable before
God. And Peter says ‘Be Holy in
all your conduct.’ He throws in
the word “all”--all your conduct, all your thoughts, all your decisions, all
your desires, all your choices, seek to live a Holy life, seek to live
according to God’s standard, not stooping to the world’s standards. He says, “In all your conduct”--not
just in areas where we think it’s convenient...He says “In all your conduct
seek to live a Holy life for God.”
The Disciples Reaction To Jesus’
Teaching
Well,
verse 10, in verses 9-10, you know the disciples hear the remarks of Jesus. We don’t have it all here in Mark, but in Matthew
they hear this and they’re like “Wow, maybe it’s better not to get
married if this is the deal, you know--‘What God’s joined together let not man
separate”? Does God understand my
marriage and see my
situation? Man, it’s better off not
to get married then to do that.” So when
they begin to ask Jesus, as they want to understand, this is hard for them to
grab onto. You see Jesus responds, “Whoever
divorces his spouse” he says, “and remarries another commits adultery”
he says “against their former spouse.” That’s what he says explicitly, I’m not making
up the words, that’s what he says--‘If a man divorces his wife and
marries another he commits adultery against his former wife. If a woman divorces her husband and marries
another, she commits adultery against her former husband.’ He states, that to divorce and remarry will
result in adultery against the first spouse. And he says, that’s God’s standard. And that’s hard to swallow and accept, at
times, considering the situation we find ourselves in. But that is the standard that Jesus very
clearly writes and gives us. No doubt
when we consider the web that can be cast by sin, man that can be hard to grab
onto, because the sin and the lives of others can really get kind of nasty.
Like It Or Not, Marriage Is God’s
Domain
I
believe today that many today do not like to teach this truth in our present
culture because of what goes on in our culture, because a lot of folks are
offended if you say simply what God’s Word says. And I just want to share with you what his
Word says, I’m not going to add anything to it. I think a lot of people get offended today,
but God said, “Be Holy as I am Holy.” ‘Grasp for a moment what I desire and
what my standard is. I’m the one who
instituted marriage, I’m the one who’s designed it, it’s nothing that man came
up with, I did it, I joined two folks together.’ And Jesus says, ‘What God has joined
together let not man separate.’
Now, we obviously want to be balanced. It’s important to realize that this sin that
Jesus refers to here is no worse a sin than any other sin. There are some camps that seem to put those
who have been divorced or remarried in another little group, you know--this
outcast group. Sin is sin, we all here,
every one of us are sinners and stand in the grace of God, regardless of what
our sin might be. Whether what Jesus is
referring to here or another sin, we’re all sinners. So it’s important to realize that too, and not
to put this on a different level. And
certainly when we sin and repent, God forgives us of our sin. That’s the cross, we’re forgiven. He forgives us, and then he cleanses us, and
then he continues to bless our life. And
also today, in 1999, August 1st, we can’t go back in time. So however, wherever you find yourself today,
you can’t go back in time and undo things. You are here where you are today. So you accept, by the grace of God, where you
are at today. But it’s important that we
understand God’s standard and from this point on in our life we seek to live by
his standard, and his standard is Holy. He’s
a Holy God. He says, ‘Live a Holy
life, for I am Holy.’ No doubt
today, America is crumbling because families are crumbling. And families are crumbling because we are not
adhering to the Word of God. We see the
fruit of deviating from God’s standard. Just
look at our country. No doubt there’s
much pain in lives of people today, and children especially, because of
divorce. You look around and you see it.
In the past couple of weeks I’ve sat
with young people or people in their twenties where they’re still so hurt and
need so much healing because of what took place through a broken and unstable
life when they were younger. For sure,
and no doubt God’s grace can abound in every situation that we ever encounter. As we depart from God’s standard we do reap
what we sow, but God’s standard is Holy. That’s his standard.
The One Exception God Allows For
Divorce
“If
there is adultery.” Now what we don’t have here, and maybe I haven’t
noted it, or maybe I have, is in Matthew 19 Jesus included an exception. He says, ‘Divorce, you can’t divorce, you
should not divorce and remarry, but he says, ‘with the exception of marital
unfaithfulness’--the New King James says, “sexual immorality” and I
believe that’s the correct translation. When
Jesus states this when Matthew writes it down he throws in the exception. There is an exception. And I believe because when the husband and
wife are married, that in that sexual union there’s a oneness bond, that there
is a work that God is doing. We see that
in 1st Corinthians 6. Paul
says, ‘Don't join yourself with a harlot, you know, you’re becoming one with a
harlot.’ So there’s this oneness that
takes place in the marriage bed, that God does this beautiful union. So obviously that’s been defiled. We have a serious situation. So Jesus says there’s an exception. If there’s sexual sin against the marriage. Then it’s permissible to divorce and I would
say that it’s permissible to remarry. Although, you don’t have to divorce in that
situation, because God is a gracious God, and he can work, and I know of folks
where God has worked in that situation.
Should We Break Up The
‘Divorced-Remarried’ Crowd?
I
want to also just note that I do not believe that if you are here today and you
are divorced and remarried, that you should divorce again and go back to your
former spouse. I’ve heard teaching where
people have taught that. I believe there’s
a high standard for marriage, but that is certainly not God’s will to do that. That’s kind of bizarre and Deuteronomy 24
specifically deals with that. It says, ‘Don't,
if you get divorced and remarry, don’t go back to your former spouse.’ So if you’re married today, just accept the
amazing grace of God as we all do in all our lives for all the things we’ve
done, and let the Lord just bless and work [in the marriage you’re in now]. But understand his standard and if we don’t
accept his standard, it’s due to the hardness of our hearts. It’s due ultimately to the hardness of our
hearts. Also, I want to say that I
believe that all things are new in Christ. There’s folks here I’m sure that were married
and divorced before they ever knew Christ. And how can you adhere to the law of God if
you don’t even know the law of God? That’s
foreign to you. So today as a Christian,
now all things are new in Christ, the old is gone, the new is come.
God’s Teaching Through The
Apostle Paul On Divorce & Remarriage
I’d
also like to say that if you are now a believer and are now married to a
non-believer, Scripture says that if your non-believing spouse chooses to
depart, then you’re permitted to let that spouse go. You’re not to hold that person in bondage--if
they don’t like the Christian thing and you’ve become a Christian and they can’t
handle it, and that happens, and they leave, then let them go (1st Corinthians
7:15). And I would say, then, if that is
permissible, then I would assume it is permissible to remarry. [1st Corinthians
7 is Paul’s complete description of what’s permissible for the Christian in
divorce and remarriage situations. In
verses 10 through 11 he totally backs up Jesus’ statements in Mark 10 and
Matthew 19. But in verses 12-16 the
apostle Paul lists one other important exception, which this pastor mentions in
passing. I will type out 1 Corinthians
7:10-16 so you can see the complete Word of God in this situation. A non-believer is someone who is not
born-again, doesn’t have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within them. There are rare occasions where a spouse may
attend church with his or her mate and appear to be a Christian and is not. If this can be determined (Jesus says, “By
their fruits you will know them,” i.e. the overall fruits of a person’s actions
is the only real way of determining the presence or absence of the Holy Spirit)
then one isn’t bound, as Paul states in 1st Corinthians 7:15.] 1st Corinthians 7:10-16, “To the married I give this
command (not I, but the Lord): A wife
must not separate from her husband. But
if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled with her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If
any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with
him, he must not divorce her. And if a
woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her,
she must not divorce him. For the
unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving
wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but
as it is, they are holy. But if the
unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A
believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to
live in peace. How do you know, wife,
whether you will save you husband? Or
how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?” [That is basically the whole
counsel of God on the subject of divorce and remarriage. For further treatment on this subject,
see: https://unityinchrist.com/corinthians/cor7.htm] But this is God’s standard, and it's
beautiful, his standard.
What About Where There’s Abuse In
The Marriage?
I
also will note that, I don’t believe a wife should remain in a physically
abusive situation. I don’t believe that’s
healthy [and that abusive person is proving by his or her actions that he or
she really isn’t a Christian anyway, if you ask me--and this would fall under 1st
Corinthians 7:15.] Some would say ‘If
he’s beating you up, he’s beating you up, submit.’ Well, you know, I don’t agree with that. However, what I believe should follow is
separation with some serious counseling for both husband and wife, seeking
resolution, and when there’s resolution, then bring the two back together. [I don’t think that last statement is totally
realistic. This is why. Again,
personally, I don't believe that a guy who’s beating up his wife is an example
of a born-again Christian, and that such a case falls under the category of an
unbeliever “who is not pleased to dwell” with the believing
spouse. Actions speak louder than words,
and they say body language makes up 55 percent of everything we say in
reality.] A wife doesn’t have to sit
there and be beat up. So God’s standard
is God’s standard and when we don’t accept his standard, it’s because of the
hardness of our heart. ‘Well, I just
don’t want to do that, because of A, B, C, & D.’ And we have to ultimately realize it’s because
of our own hardness and evil desires. But
Jeremiah said in chapter 6, he says, ‘Chose the ancient paths, go that
way, that’s the way of life and peace--God’s way, some of the old-fashioned
standards are God’s way.’ Not
what we’re seeing necessarily in America in the 1990s [or 2020s now]. Is there hardness in your heart? Have you been struggling with God’s will for
your current situation? My encouragement
to you, is allow God to soften your heart, as you go soberly to his Word to
examine his truth about whatever the situation you’re in. And if God then begins to reveal things to
you, just repent, man, repentance is beautiful. But may our hearts be what I read in Psalm
143 ‘Teach me to do your will, Lord, teach me. Teach me to do your will, that I would do your
will and live according to your will.’ [For a totally fantastic resource on how to
build and maintain a happy marriage log onto http://www.mooreonlife.com and order a copy of
Dave Moore's eight cassette series titled Love For A Lifetime. It is about $38
but is worth every penny of it (not sure if that’s the current price anymore). For a sample of what’s in that series click on https://www.unityinchrist.com/topical studies/HowMarriageWorks.html
or http://www.unityinchrist.com/christiangrowth/HisNeeds_HerNeeds.htm and enjoy this article composed of transcripts of
two of the eight cassette tape series. Let’s
look at verses 13-16.
Jesus’ Blessing Of The Little
Children--What About Children’s Ministry?
Verses
13-16, “Then they brought little children to him that he might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought
them. But when Jesus saw it he was
greatly displeased and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me and do
not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly I say to you, whoever doesn’t
receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his
hands on them and blessed them.” You know, we have a
hard time accepting God’s standard, but it’s no doubt as you look at God’s Word
that God loves us with a tremendous amount of love. You just see especially as we’re going through
the gospel of Mark, Jesus with the children, man, he just wants to touch them,
he just wants to hug them and kiss them and embrace them. In fact, here in this situation, there’s folks
here bringing children to Jesus, all sorts of ages, as you look at all the
gospels, infants even and young children. As they bring them to Jesus the disciples say,
‘Hey, you know, he’s too busy to bother him with the children, let’s deal
with the adults here and not waste Jesus' time.’ But in verse 14 it really rips Jesus
when he sees what’s going down as he watches the behavior of the disciples. The Greek suggests that he’s indignant, it’s a
very strong emotion that’s going on, as he sees it he really is ripped that
they’ve done that. And he corrects their
perspective and says to them, ‘Hey, wait a minute! Let these kids come to me. Let them come to me, and do not forbid them. For such is the kingdom of God.’--Just
the childlike faith and the innocence and just the beauty of a child, he says, ‘I
want to hug that child.’ You
know, as moms and dads here you just want to hold your kids and pick ‘em up and
even when they’re sleeping in the middle of the night you pick them up and just
hold them because you love them. And
Jesus just loves us, man, he has a perfect will for us, just wants to bless our
lives and that’s why he says the things that he does in his Word. You know, you read through the Law, God said
to the Israelites, ‘If you do these things, you know, I’m gonna bless
your life, you’re going to go into this land that you do not even have really
the right to, I’m gonna go in there and give you this land, and I’m gonna bless
you and bless you.’ But he says,
‘If you do not conform to my way, you’re gonna reap some hard stuff.’ In fact, with the Israelites he says to them, ‘I'm gonna vomit you out of the land, I’m
gonna punish you, all these plagues are gonna come upon you.’ And no doubt God chastises those that he
loves, but if we just embrace his way, man, there’s blessing. It’s a life of peace and joy to walk right in
God’s way, whatever that might mean. Regardless
of what maybe we think today, his way is perfect, no doubt about it. Well, Jesus wants these children to come
to him, he says, ‘For such is the kingdom of heaven.’ And Jesus just holds these kids and loves
them. You know, when I read
that, there’s been some things on my heart. In recent weeks, and I’ve even talked to some
folks about it, and you know you just see his attitude towards children, no
doubt as a church our attitude should be the same towards the young people. We should focus in the children’s ministry to
have the best children’s ministry and that the kids just get fed and blessed.
But things have been stirring on my
heart, and so I’ve talked to some folks. And it was interesting Thursday morning, you
know we have the prayer [meeting] Thursday morning, and after the prayer on
Tuesday and Thursdays I just hang out and just kind of journal some. And I was journaling [writing in his
prayer-journal] and I looked at my watch and it was 8:15 and I said, ‘Ah, our
local radio show is on, and here I’m spending time with the Lord and don’t know
why I did this, but I got up and turned on the radio. And sometimes that can be a real depressing
experience for me, that I tune in and listen to the program [to himself
speaking]. And the funny thing was, I
was already thinking, I was spending time with the Lord and then these thoughts
started stirring in my mind, and I started writing them down, and as I was
going through the Word certain Scriptures would keep coming my way. And then I listened to myself on the radio,
and then on the radio I was referring to the same thing. And I said, you know, ‘There’s the things
that have been going on in my heart.’ I’m not going to mention anything, but there’s
things on my heart. And this was a few
weeks back, and I happened to turn myself on and heard myself say the same
thing that I was thinking at that moment. It’s funny how that works. But there’s been this burden on my heart, and
I’m gonna very basically share with you a couple things. And obviously as a church God will lead us
together. I think of 1st Corinthians.
You know Paul said, ‘Test the
prophets.’ You know, if you have
a prophecy, share the prophecy, but then test the prophecy. And sometimes when we talk about prophets we
think of ‘Thus saith the Lord’ you know. I’ve got the robe on, got gray hair, you know,
and there’s lightning or whatever. I
think, really, in the practical sense, in 1st Corinthians, it’s just
someone sharing with the body of believers, saying, ‘Hey, you know, I’ve got
a burden on my heart.’ ‘I think it is of
the Lord,--is it of the Lord?’ And
Paul says ‘test, man, test to see if it’s of the Lord.’ Well, I have had a burden for the young
people, and I see a great need and I have just referred to it a little bit. I referred to it just about the education of
our public schools, not only are our kids not hearing about Jesus, they’re
failing in just what they learn, schools aren’t doing enough in teaching them. It’s a great opportunity for the church. Well, we have this building, many of you guys
know about it. In times past, we’ve
referred to going back and rebuilding this building because it sits right there
in front of the town’s Senior High School, right there [he’s referring to their
old radio studio building on Pritchard Street]. And a little over a year ago I mentioned to
the church, “Let’s, you know, we give a week’s offering a month to the
missions, let’s give another whole week’s offering toward what we call “Orphans
and Widows.” Well, the Lord blessed the
missions offering with a very specific vision for York [England] and Nice
[France] and things, and the Lord has just abundantly blessed that. But this “Orphans and Widows” never really got
blessed. And I believe it was because we
never really had a vision, except other than to reach out to the needy. And so we stopped it for awhile, and some of
you are looking at me “What's he talking about?” You had to be here to hear it all, I guess,
and to kind of know what was going on behind the scenes. Well, anyway, I’ve had a desire, as a church,
to begin to just focus finances toward this building, rebuilding it, and use it
as a tutoring house, regardless of whether or not the public schools will let
us in. You know, I’ve had an opportunity
to tutor one student recently, which one of the public schools knows about. And
this student was failing the 7th grade. My
last report, I’ve only done it for a few weeks, and I’m not really doing
anything except saying, ‘Hey, do your homework’--is that the student was
just tested and tested at the 9th grade level. And they’ve been told if they don’t pass
summer school they’re not going on to 8th grade, but now they say they’re doing
9th grade work. And I’m just sitting
with this person saying, ‘Do your homework, do you homework.’ It’s not very hard to do. But if we love kids, man, we can help them in
their schooling, and of course give them Jesus, man. And the gospel is also meeting a need. Well, a second thing I’d like to do is buy a
bus. And you guys are looking at me and
going “What is he talking about?” I’ve
been there before, and sometimes I hear ya. Other times it was the Lord. But with a bus we can really impact the young
folks in the community, bring them to church, if we have a tutoring house we
can bring them there. So these are
things stirring through my mind, have been for awhile, and I can’t seem to get
away from them. So I mentioned it to
you. And as I was going through the
Word, and my journal on Thursday I then began to look at the text on Mark
chapter 10, I’m like ‘You know, there’s a lot of these truths right here
that I keep seeing before my face.’ Well, it would be neat as a church to focus on
the youth and young folks in our community. But also focus on the needy. You know our HQ congregation has a whole
ministry focused on international relief, and they just send relief, and
relief, and relief. [The whole body of Christ has a Christian version of
C.A.R.E. as well. Log onto http://www.samaritanspurse.org and check it out.] And, man, I heard a lot of stories this week
from folks, I wasn’t even going to mention my idea here, but people just kept
telling me how they’ve reached out to the homeless, to the needy and well, I’m
wondering if it’s time for us as a church to get more radical with that.
The Young Rich Man
Verses
17-22, “Now as he was going out on the road one came running, knelt down before
him and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I might inherit eternal
life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you
call me good? No one is good but one,
that is God. You know the commandments,
do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness,
do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ And he answered and said to him, ‘Teacher, all
these things I have kept from my youth.’ And Jesus looking at him, loved him and said
to him, ‘One thing you lack. Go your
way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you’ll have treasure in
heaven, and come take up your cross and follow me.’ But he was sad at this word and went away
sorrowful for he had great possessions.” Here this rich young ruler, Mark
throws a neat little perspective on this, because the other gospels refer to
this account, but here Mark says this part about “This guy came running,
knelt before Jesus,” just really eager to be before Jesus and just had
a great reverence for Jesus. Well he
comes, this young ruler, he’s got possessions, he’s got authority. You can see from the text he’s a very
disciplined young man, successful, one who seeks to do good with his life--one
who thinks that he has done good with his life. And I think that that becomes the issue here
as Jesus begins to speak to him. He
addresses Jesus as the Good Teacher. In
those verses in which you see, Jesus replies, Jesus says, ‘Well, you’re
saying I’m the Good Teacher, no one is good but one.’ He’s referring to Psalm 14, “There’s none
that’s righteous, no not one...” ‘Only
one is good and that is God, he is the only one that is good.’ So Jesus says ‘You’re calling me Good
Teacher,’ begins to force this issue, ‘If I’m really good there’s
only One I can be, because there is no one that is good, only God,’
trying to force an understanding of who he really is, he is the Son of God, He
is good. Well knowing this man’s heart,
this man comes to Jesus and says ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’
And Jesus says to him, ‘Well,
you know the commandments’--and he quotes a number of the commandments
all dealing with our relationship with others. He says ‘You know the commandments, don’t
murder, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t defraud, you know, honor your
mom and dad.’ He says ‘You
know those commandments. Obey the
commandments and you’re going to inherit eternal life.’ Well the young man says, ‘Well, you know
I have obeyed the commandments, but what still do I lack? You know I’ve been obeying the commandments, I
haven’t committed adultery, you know my mom and dad think I do pretty well, but
I know I’m still missing something Jesus.’ And Jesus is getting to the heart of the
thing, he says, ‘Well, OK, you do lack something--one thing you do lack. Go your way, sell whatever you have, and give
it to the poor, and gain treasure in heaven.’ To which this just shatters the young man, as
he’s very wealthy, he walks away very sorrowful. We don’t know if later he comes around and
wrestles through this, or just stays away from the Lord. But the Lord goes for the heart of the issue,
because if this rich young ruler really obeyed the Law, the spirit of the Law,
then when Jesus said this to him, he would have had no problem with it. When the spirit of the Law is to love the Lord
your God with all of your heart, all your mind and all your soul, and then to
love your neighbor as yourself, if that truly is my heart, the spirit of my
heart--if you say to me, “Hey, if you want to be blessed, give all you
have to the poor,” I’d be like “Well, you know, I was already
thinking about that, you know, I want to do that. You know, these poor people over here, I’d
like to give to them.” You know,
it would be a different heart. Well,
this rich young ruler, like so many, has just obeyed the letter, thought they
had this religious thing going, but missing out on the heart, really the heart
of the law. If you obey the heart of the
Law, man, you’re all set--love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your
mind, and all your soul--that’s to obey him and that’s to love Christ and have
Christ as your Lord. Well, sadly, this
rich young ruler was really attached to his belongings and he walked away
sorrowful. Let’s continue.
The Difficulty Of The Rich
Entering The Kingdom In This Age
Verses
23-31, “Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples ‘How hard is it for
those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.’ And they were astonished at his words, but
Jesus answered again and said to them, ‘Children, how hard it is for those who
trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ And they were greatly astonished, saying among
themselves, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But
Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With men it is impossible, but not with God,
for with God all things are possible.’ And Peter began to say to him, ‘See, we have
left all and followed you.’ So Jesus
answered and said, ‘Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house,
or brothers or sisters of father or mother or wife or children or lands for my
sake and the gospel’s who should 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. But many who are first will be last, and the
last first.’” Jesus now uses this
situation with the rich young ruler to warn about the love of money, the god of
Mammon, he begins to warn those around him. He even says ‘How hard it is for a rich
man to get into the kingdom of heaven.’ And according to the disciples perspective,
the perspective of the Jew, if you were rich, man, you were under the favor of
God--you were just under the fountain of blessing that we’re pouring out upon
you, and if you were rich, it was considered, man, ‘God is blessing your
life’--and that can be true. So when
Jesus says that it’s hard, the disciples are like ‘Wait a minute here, aren’t
they the ones that are really finding favor with God?’ And Jesus says again, he says, ‘How hard
is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. It’s like taking a camel, I mean, if you can
get a camel through an eye of a needle, then you can get a rich man into heaven’
is what he says. There’s a
liberal interpretation which I don’t agree with, but there’s this gate that
gets you into Jerusalem, it’s a narrow gate, called the Eye of the Needle.
That on the Sabbath all the main gates
would be closed in Jerusalem and this little gate would be left open, but in
order for a camel to get through this small gate it was required, the camel
actually had to stoop down on its knees and really work hard to get through
this little gate that was left open on the Sabbath. And the rider would obviously have to crouch
down. Some have said, ‘Well that’s what Jesus referred to, this gate.’ But Jesus said that it’s not possible with
man, so he’s not referring to that. He’s
referring to the little needle you have at home, getting a camel through that
little needle. I would say that’s just
not possible, I can’t, you know I look at a big hairy camel, eight feet tall,
and I look at a little hole in the needle and I can’t do it. And I can’t and it’s impossible. But God can do a miracle, he can get that “camel”
through the eye of that needle. But he
warns, he’s warning about this love of money, man. The love of money can have such a grip on your
heart, so much so, that you can see the way of God, and see yeah, those ancient
paths, that’s the way to Christ, man, he’s the way--and yet not be willing to
go down that way because you love your belongings, you love all that goes with
it, and you’re not willing to forsake that and follow Christ and pick up the
cross and to follow him. So Jesus warns
about that. What’s your heart like? What if Jesus said to you today, “You
know, Bob, I want you to, well listen, I got this plan, I want you to sell your
house, I want you to quit your job, pack up your pop-up tent and I want you to
drive up to Siberia or to drive up to Newfoundland or Labrador and I want you
to live there and share the gospel with those folks. Now I want you to trust me to provide.”
How would you react?--I mean, if God
really said that to you? Maybe he’s said
something like that to you before, and you’re not willing to do it, but it
shows an issue in your heart. If you
really love God, and you love your neighbor as yourself, you’re like “Alright
Lord, those people in Labrador need Christ. I’m going. You tell me how and tell me when.” Kind of like in the bulletin today, you’ve got
Noah there, you know the yard sale, selling everything before he gets on the
boat. Get your yard sale going, sell
everything and go wherever the Lord has for you to go. So what’s your heart like? I find in these passages a guard, a guard
against this mentality, this thing that can creep in. You know, we live in one of the most
prosperous countries in the world. And
it’s a grip on so many hearts in America, and even many in the church get
gripped by the love of money. And it
hinders their service to God. But the
way to guard yourself against it is to give. If we give individually, if we give as a
church, we guard ourselves against that grip of the love of money. Whatever comes into my life, I determine ‘Well,
a portion I’m gonna give to the Lord.’ ‘Or if I get a lot I’m gonna just bless
back whatever it is.’ I just want to
give, I don’t necessarily want to build up this big empire. If God blesses me with a nice house, great, a
nice car, great, I can go with it, I can go without it--but man, I want to use
all I have to the glory of God and to serve others. If you have that heart, then as God blesses
you, man, it guards you. Your heart
stays soft, you don’t get caught up into it. Jesus said to this young guy, he said, ‘Sell
all and give to the poor and you’ll get treasure in heaven.’ There’s blessing in giving, you store up in
eternity, man, you store blessing there. If you hold on and just want to build your own
empire, well, you’ll live nice now but you’ll live a little more meager later
in the kingdom of God, compared to others. I mean, meager in the kingdom of God isn’t
that bad [king David said, ‘Let me be a doorkeeper in the kingdom of God,
man, just so that I’m there, man.’ But
the Lord gives us a chance to make it so much more if we want to, and David
knew that too.]. Well, I see a guard,
and I see a guard for this church too. And
as I was thinking again on Thursday, I said, ‘You know, the church that wants
to be a church always stays guarded and focused on giving. Practically, we’re gonna give no matter what,
as a church. If you don’t do that, then
as God blesses--I was reading recently that as God blesses--you know, a pastor
that starts a church, when God starts a church through a pastor, starts a Bible
study, initially he’ll live on a very meager income. But as you watch studies, as churches get
blessed and they grow, the pastors salaries go up and up and up and up, and
with very large churches, pastors very often have very large salaries. Personally I don’t think that’s right. I’m not going to judge a man, but you know,
Jesus died on a cross, man. I don’t see
how you can [or should] make a lot of money on that. But that’s the mentality, that’s the human
heart. That will be the heart of this
congregation if we do not today determine we are going to be a church that
gives. Because if we just give now and
we get blessed and then we get focused ‘Wow, this building, man, we got to
shell out some money here, and you know, we need to hire 27 people to do this
program.’ And you know what happens?
You just begin to get inward and you
begin to become less useful to the Lord. I pray we get radical and we stay radical. I like to guard myself, set up a guard so I
cannot go down a certain road. So I was
thinking these thoughts, ‘As a church, if we set aside this amount we’re gonna
give to the Lord, percentage wise, offering a week, whatever it is, man, as we
grow, we give it. It guards us. [The basic tithe principle--income goes up,
giving goes up in proportion. This
critical principle was given by God to the Israelites, and some Christian
scholars in two commentaries think the right to levy tithes was handed over to
the church as a whole by their interpretation of Hebrews 7. [See https://unityinchrist.com/gifts.htm and https://unityinchrist.com/hebrews/Hebrews%207%201-28.htm] I like what Jesus says, though, he says, “All
things are possible with God.” Man,
the life of faith is a radical life, man. And all things are possible with God, man, I
mean, you can give away 99 % of your income, and see God take 1% and multiply
it. That’s what happened with Mr.
Quaker, you know, Quaker Oats, he decided he was going to give 99% of his
income, wasn’t basically a peasant. But
his name we know about today, he turned out to be a multimillionaire, very
wealthy. But he started to give and give
and God just started to give it back. That’s what Jesus says to his disciples. Peter says ‘Hey, well at least we do OK
here Jesus. I know we failed a few
times, but hey, man, we’ve left everything, and we’re following you.’ And Jesus says, ‘You know, if you’ve
left everything, for the sake of the gospel, you’re not going without, man. God is gonna bless in return.’ And he does bless in return, there’s
no doubt about it. In my little life
whenever I’ve left anything, I can look around and say, ‘Lord, you’ve just
blessed me. I can’t out-give you no
matter how hard I try.’ I believe it’s
true for a church also. [To read a
little more about the subject of giving CLICK ON https://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/gifts.htm, "Principles of
Giving".]
Jesus Teaches The Twelve About
His Coming Death, Burial & Resurrection--Be Careful What You Ask For
Verses
32-34, “Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going
before them, and they were amazed, and as they followed they were afraid. Then he took the twelve aside and again began
to teach them and tell them the things that would happen to them. ‘Behold we’re going up to Jerusalem, and the
Son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they’ll
condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles, and they’ll spit on him
and kill him and the third day he’ll rise again.’” You know, if you only knew the
love of God for us. How much Christ
loves you, how much he’s done for you. Here,
weeks before he goes to the cross, he’s headed to Jerusalem, he knows what’s
ahead of him, as a man he knows what’s ahead of him, as he’s walking. He’s God, yet he’s a man, he knows what’s
ahead of him...They’re still not getting it, you read this in other gospels
when he says this again, they’re like ‘We don't understand.’ Verses
35-45, “Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying, ‘Teacher,
we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’ And he said to them, ‘What do you want me to
do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Grant us
that we might sit, one on your right hand and the other on your left in your
glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do
not know what you ask. Are you able to
drink the cup that I drink and to be baptized with the baptism that I am to be
baptized with?’ They said to him, ‘Yes
we are able.’ So Jesus said to them, ‘You
will indeed drink the cup that I drink and with the baptism I am baptized with
you will be baptized. To sit on my right
hand and on my left is not mine to give. But it is for those for whom it is prepared.’--(in
Luke it says “by the Father.”)--And when the ten heard it they began to be
greatly displeased with James and John. But
Jesus called them to himself and said to them, ‘You know that those who are
considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones
exercise authority over them. Yet it
shall not be so among you. But whoever
desires to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever of you who
desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of man did not come to be
served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.’” James and John, you take
Matthew and the other gospels, they come with their mom. And the question that you read there, ‘Teacher,
we want you to do for us whatever we ask’--that question was probably
asked by their mom, they asked it through their mom. Maybe they’re a little fearful about asking,
but if you read the other gospels, the mom comes on their behalf to ask the
question. So they do ask the question,
but via their mom, evidently. But maybe
they repeat the question. But they say, ‘Hey,
do this thing for us’--‘Alright, what do you want?’ ‘We want to sit next to you in your kingdom.’ See they’ve got the Messianic kingdom in mind,
‘We want the authority, we want the blessing, we’ve forsaken all to
follow you, but we want to sit there right next to you, man, have everything
else below us and around us.’ And he says, ‘Well, you don’t know what
you’re asking for. There’s a cost that
goes with those positions, are you willing to drink the cup that I drink?--and
are you gonna be baptized with the baptism I’m baptized with?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, we’ll do whatever!’
Still not getting it across, he
says, ‘You know,' even though they don’t understand--‘You are.’ Of course James was martyred, John was boiled
in oil, survived it, then later exiled to Patmos and he lived there and maybe
later he was executed, but they certainly endured a pretty heavy cup and
baptism. The cup, Jesus in the garden
said, ‘Take this cup [from me],’ referring to the cross. And a number of times, even in the New
Testament, even in Jesus’ Word we have him referring to the cross as a baptism.
That’s why we do the baptism, to be
baptized in Christ and raised to life, identifying with that. So he’s referring to the cross. Well they want this preferential treatment,
they don’t understand what they’re asking for. He does say, ‘The seat on
my right and the one on my left is, has ultimately been ordained by my Father,
I’m not going to give you who that is.’ Well, the other ten, you know, now they’re
displeased by that. ‘What are you
doing, James and John, asking him something like that? Now, hey, you think you’re better than we are
or something?’ And Jesus uses
that opportunity, he says, ‘You know, you’re not getting it. It’s not this lording, it’s not this position
above others, the gospel, the kingdom is being a slave, being a servant. You want to be great man, just lay your life
down. I’m coming to go to the cross to
give my life as a ransom for many. And
if you want to therefore be exalted to any degree like that, like I’m going to
be, lay your life down, man, serve, be a slave for others.’ That’s what the kingdom is all about. And again, in reading this, man, I’d tell you
and I in this congregation, be slaves to the community we live in, just slaves,
servants, willing to do whatever, Jesus says--give all our belongings, give all
we got, give our time--whatever Jesus says for us to do, because we love our
neighbor as ourselves, and we love God with all of our heart and all of our
mind and all of our soul. Let’s finish
the chapter.
Blind Bartimaeus
Verses
46-52, “Now they came to Jericho. As he
went up out of Jericho with his disciples, together with a large crowd, blind
Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of
Nazareth he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus son of David, have mercy on me!’”--You look at the
other gospel accounts, there’s another blind guy with Bartimaeus. Matthew doesn’t say Bartimaeus, it says there’s
two blind men that came to Jesus. And
one of them must be less predominant. Bartimaeus
is the main guy of the two. But there’s
two, there’s another guy with Bartimaeus that cries out to Jesus. Well, those around--verse 48, “many warn him to be
quiet, but he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me.’ So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be
called. Then they called the blind man,
saying to him, ‘Be of good cheer, rise, he is calling you.’ Throwing aside his garment, he arose and came
to Jesus.” Luke says he
jumped up in excitement. “So Jesus answered and said to
him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him ‘Rabboni, that I
might receive my sight.’ And Jesus said
to him, ‘Go your way, your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he received his sight and
followed Jesus on the road.” Just
a beautiful picture, people in need, man, it’s about people in
need--ministering to people in need. I’d
rather be the people with the attitude in verse 49 than the people in verse
48, "Hey man, Jesus doesn’t have time for you, we don’t want to get
bothered by you either, we want to talk to Jesus, you be quiet over there.”
But this guy’s going, “Ah Messiah,
have mercy on me, Ah, I need your touch.” There’s people in this community with that cry
in their heart even now. And what a
beautiful thing, verse 49, to be able to say, “Hey be of
good cheer, man, there’s Jesus, he’s ready to touch your life, to bring healing
and to bring hope.” Well, blind
Bartimaeus gets this wonderful blessing. Standing before Jesus, Jesus says, ‘What
do you want?’ ‘I want my sight, I want
to regain my sight.’ If you
understand the Greek, I think one other gospel says it that way. He was seeing before, but evidently has gone
blind. Some historians have said as much
as 50 percent of the male population in Jesus’ time had some type of eye
disease, whether they were blind or some other type of disease, it was very
prevalent in Jesus’ time, eye problems. And
here this man says “I want to regain my sight.” And Jesus just says, “Well, your faith
has made you well.” This man
knew it was the Messiah. Understood God’s
Word that the Messiah came to give life and to give light and to give sight. He said, ‘Ah, Messiah, Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me!’ And
Jesus said, ‘Your faith has made you well. And Immediately his sight came back to him.’
Related links:
About gifts and giving:
https://unityinchrist.com/gifts.htm and https://unityinchrist.com/hebrews/Hebrews%207%201-28.htm
About marriage:
https://www.unityinchrist.com/topical studies/HowMarriageWorks.html or http://www.unityinchrist.com/christiangrowth/HisNeeds_HerNeeds.htm
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