An Invitation to Follow Jesus!

Mark 10:17-52
Introduction

A few years ago, we held a garage sale in Whiteridge in order to raise funds for the Arthritis Society. There were two things on the minds of people who came to the sale. They were looking for something and they were wondering how they would get it.

It was fun to watch people search for what they were looking for. One man came very early, walked through quite quickly and left. I suspect he was looking for things that he could resell for more money. Others browsed and purchased an odd collection of things that were of value to them. One lady came and asked if we had a tricycle and left when she found out we didn’t have one.

It was also interesting to see how people got what they wanted. Some people picked up an item and paid for it, others asked if we could reduce the price and some looked at the price and decided that it was too high. The funniest thing that happened was that when we had been doing the pricing the day before, we had been pricing some vases. We had put a price of 50 cents on most of them, but one was a little larger and just to be silly, I put a price of $30 on it. On the way home I told Carla what I had done and she wasn't too happy and determined that the next morning before the sale started she would put a more reasonable price on it, but the next morning she forgot. Fairly early in the day a lady came up to her and asked if she could lower the price on that vase. Our daughter was there and suggested a price of $15 and the lady countered with $10 and they sold it for that price.

These two questions – “what do you want and how will you get it?” are also questions that we ask in other areas of life.

All of us are looking for something. Leo Buscaglia became famous for his lectures on love and has spoken of it in books and on television because he believes that people are looking for love. Our government thinks that people are looking for more places to gamble, so they have increased the licenses for video lottery terminals. HGTV thinks we all want to remodel our homes and offer one show after another on home renovation. Home Depot hopes they are right. What are you looking for?

The other question is, "How are you going to get it?" I once saw a documentary on the 10 most beautiful buildings in the Muslim world. In the course of the program they described the five pillars of Islam, which is the term given to the five duties incumbent on every Muslim. These duties are profession of faith, prayers, fasting, giving of alms and pilgrimage to Mecca. That is how Muslims think they will get what they want.

            The stories in Mark 10:17-52 are stories of people who are seeking. What were they seeking? How did they think they would get what they wanted?

I.                What Do You Want?

            In this section of Mark several times people asked Jesus for things that they wanted. In Mark 10:17 the man whom we have come to know as the “rich young ruler” asked Jesus “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” What did he want? He was concerned about eternity and his place in it. He probably had a very comfortable life because he was wealthy, but was not confident that he would be OK forever. In Mark 10:26 the disciples asked Jesus, “Then who can be saved?” What did they want? They were aware of the eternal and mortal danger they were in and wondered how it was possible to be saved from that danger.

It is interesting, however, that as Jesus responded to their requests He did not use their language. He did not condemn their language and the desire it expressed, but He also did not use the same words. Three times Jesus used the same phrase when he responded to their requests. In verse 23 He spoke of entering "the kingdom of God!" The same language is used in verse 24 and 25. Each time Jesus did not use the language of inheriting eternal life or being saved, but rather spoke of entering the kingdom of God.

Why did he use this language instead of the language they used? What is the difference between asking to inherit eternal life and asking to enter the kingdom of God? What is the difference between asking to be saved and asking to enter the kingdom of God? To speak of inheriting eternal life is to focus narrowly on what will happen at the end. To speak of being saved has a focus on avoiding final destruction. When Jesus spoke of entering the kingdom of God he intended his followers to embrace something much bigger and much better. What we often want and what is often offered in presentations of the gospel is to make sure that we are OK in the end. What we want is for ourselves and those close to us to be in heaven when we die. What Jesus offers is a whole life focus. He not only wants to deal with our eternity. He also invites us to live in a relationship with God now. If we only want to have eternal life, we will never be able to understand how living for God is a much better way of living. We will never understand why following God may involve persecution. In Mark 10:30, in a passage that speaks of the rewards of following God, Jesus also mentions that it may involve persecution. If all we want is eternal life, we will never understand why persecution may be a part of our life now. When we desire to enter the kingdom of God, then we do understand that persecution may be a part of the path which will lead to ultimate victory. After all, Jesus went the way of the cross, and because He did, He gained a victory much greater than if he had called down 10,000 angels. Geddert says, “Jesus does not guarantee an easy life. He promises an identity, a support system, and security in abundance, sufficient even for times of persecution…(and)eternal life.”

If we only want to inherit eternal life, it implies that we are only interested in seeing God in the end. What Jesus wants for us is to enter into a relationship with Him now and to live in His way now for that is true life. If we do that, then we will not only inherit eternal life, but we will rejoice to enter into the presence of God and be glad to see the one whom we have come to know throughout life and for whom we have lived our lives.

So, how do you ask the question? What do you want? Are you only concerned about the end or do you also desire the life God has for you now?

II.             How Will You Get It

The next question is, “how will you get what you desire?”

A.              How You Won’t Get It

A number of statements in this passage imply how we won’t get what we desire.

1.              Being Good

The rich man addressed Jesus as “good teacher” and Jesus answered, “No one is good except God.” What did He mean? In part he meant for the man to realize that He Himself was God. The other part is that He was intending the man to understand that you cannot enter the kingdom of God by being good. If God is the only one who is good it means that all the rest of us are not good and no matter how much goodness we may have, there is never enough to qualify us to be in the presence of God. So it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God by being good because no one is good enough.

2.              Obeying the Law

            The other thing we learn is that no one can enter the kingdom of God by obeying the law. It is interesting that Jesus tells the man to keep the law. Was he actually pointing to keeping the law as the way to enter into the kingdom of God? It is true that one can enter the kingdom of God by keeping the law, but can anyone actually do that? The rich man thought he had, but we need to listen carefully to the way this conversation happens. The very fact that he was asking Jesus about eternal life suggests that perhaps he was not all that certain that his obedience was enough? Why not? The reason he did not have certainty is that in fact he actually had not kept the law as he thought he had. The way Jesus recited the ten commandments tells us that he was challenging the man's thinking. Jesus stated only the last 6 items in the ten commandments. He also changed “you shall not covet” to “you shall not defraud.” As we reflect on these differences we begin to realize what the man’s problem was. Although he could easily affirm that he kept the law the way Jesus quoted it, he would have had more difficulty saying he kept the law if Jesus had said do not “covet.” He walked away sad, when challenged to give all his possessions to the poor, and from that we see that he was guilty of coveting his own possessions and not wanting to part with them. We also see that he loved his possessions more than he loved God and so violated commandments 1-4, which speak of loving God, and which Jesus did not quote.

            What was true of this rich man is true of us. We may think that we keep the whole law, but we always will fall short in some way. Even if we think we are keeping the whole law it is on our terms and there is this nagging sense that we are missing something. That is why we cannot enter the kingdom of God by keeping the law.

B.              How Will You Get It?

So we are left with this great gap in our lives. We want the life God has for us. We want to enter God’s kingdom, both now and in eternity, but how is it possible?

1.              Leave Everything

Jesus told the man that the way into the kingdom of God was to "sell everything and give to the poor." Is that what we need to do? I believe that was what that man needed to do, but it was the application of a much more important principle and that is that in order to enter the kingdom of God what everyone needs to do is to leave everything.

Whenever anyone was being called by Jesus, they were always asked to leave everything. For the rich ruler, leaving everything required selling it. For others it meant different things. In Mark 10:28 Peter mentions to Jesus, “We have left everything and followed you.” And they had. They had left their nets and their families. As Jesus went on to explain what this meant, in Mark 10:29, he used the language of leaving home, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children or fields. Particularly in that culture these things represented things that related to who a person was. Geddert quotes that this is a list of life’s essentials. Home is where I belong; brothers and sisters are those to whom I belong; parents speak of who I am, my ancestry; children are a revelation of God’s blessing and can also represent our security in old age; fields refers to our visible inheritance and in that time it was a marker of God’s promises as they referred to the promised land. To leave these things is a large step, but unless we are willing to leave everything we cannot enter the kingdom of God. For at least two of the disciples, James and John, leaving everything meant giving up ambition and positions of honor in order to be servants. To enter into the kingdom may not mean that we have to sell everything and give it to the poor, but it does mean that we have to leave everything. Especially that which owns us, as the young man's wealth owned him. To leave everything is to acknowledge that there is nothing more important in our life than Jesus.

To leave everything in order to follow Jesus is a costly thing and that is why Jesus calls us to count the cost. Are we willing to bear the cost? As we think about that, we need to remember that Jesus Himself was willing to leave everything as He Himself says in Mark 10:45 when He pointed to His own example that He, “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

            When Jesus gave this answer it wasn't because he was trying to provoke the man with an impossibly high standard. The call to leave everything is not because Jesus wants to make things as hard as possible. When Jesus met this man we read in verse 21, "Jesus, looking at him, loved him…" The motivation behind Jesus' answer was that he loved the man. This is also true when Jesus asks the same thing of us. He invites us to give up everything because he loves us. This love of Jesus is demonstrated in the promise which Jesus gave to the disciples because they had left everything. He assures those who make this costly decision that they will have a 100 fold return on their investment. That is a huge return. If a 100% return on investment means that you get everything back, what Jesus is promising is that we will be compensated 100 times over, which would be a 10,000% return on investment. Jesus promised those who would give up everything that He would supply all their needs and more. The question we need to ask as we want to know how to enter the kingdom of God is, “Do I really believe that God will be there to catch me if I give up everything?” Faith is believing that He will and it is that kind of faith that will allow us to enter into the kingdom of God.

2.              Follow Jesus         

But giving up everything is only part one of the answer. The second part is to follow Jesus. Jesus said to the man in Mark 10:21, “Come, follow me.” Peter acknowledged, in Mark 10:28, that they had left everything in order to follow Jesus. For the weeks and months since that time, the disciples had walked with Jesus wherever he went. They were beginning to learn what the way of God was like. They were learning to function in the power of Jesus. They were learning to trust Jesus.

The journey of following Jesus is not always an easy one. Like the disciples, we forget, we falter, we fade, and then we begin again. But it is a journey in which we will learn to think like Jesus thinks, to act like Jesus acted and to do what Jesus did. Being in the kingdom of God is not only a matter of having a ticket to heaven. It is a life of following Jesus. It means that Jesus is not the co-pilot in our car, as some bumper stickers indicate, but rather the driver and we go where He goes and we do what He wants us to do as we follow Him.

3.              By Faith in God Who Is Able

Is it possible for us to leave everything and follow Jesus?

As the disciples heard Jesus say that it was very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, they understood that they were included in that difficulty. Jesus went on to reinforce that in fact it was impossible. He told them that it is as possible for a camel, to go through the eye of a needle – both humps – as it is for any man to be saved. It cannot be done.

But then Jesus gave this wonderful promise in Mark 10:27, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” The rich man, who has a hard time letting go of his riches, cannot leave everything in order to follow Jesus. The poor man, who holds on to every little scrap he earns, cannot leave everything in order to follow Jesus. The student who has great ambitions for the future cannot leave everything in order to follow Jesus. The retiree who wants to squeeze as much life as possible out of what is left cannot leave everything in order to follow Jesus. The question of the disciples is such a relevant question. “Who then can be saved?”

What we cannot do, God can do. He can turn the heart of a rich man around so that he is able to hold loosely to his possessions and follow Jesus. God can change the heart of the poor man so that he is not consumed with survival and give him the freedom to live in dependence on God. He can take students bent on having good marks and on making a mark and change them into servants who desire to make their mark for Him. He can take retirees who want rest and recreation and change them into people who generously give their lives to serve God right until the end.

Conclusion

One of the themes which we have followed throughout this section has to do with seeing. In Mark 8 we read about how Jesus healed a blind man which we understood to be a promise that he would help his disciples see. But as the story goes on, we see that they often did not see. In this section Jesus makes a third announcement of His death and resurrection and once again the disciples were afraid and didn’t understand. They continued to be partly blind because even though they left everything to follow Jesus, they were still learning what that meant.

We have read a number of stories of Jesus healing blindness and have noted their significance to seeing spiritually. Therefore it is interesting that Mark ends this section with another story of the healing of a blind man. He gives his name as Bartimaeus, which means son of honor. But this man was anything but an honored man, he was a man of shame who had to sit and beg because of his blindness. He had his cloak spread out in front of him and listened for the drop of coins which meant he would be able to eat another meal.

When he heard that Jesus was walking by him he cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Although the crowd tried to shut him up, Jesus heard him and invited him to come. What he did next is important. We read in verse 50, “throwing off his cloak.” In that act, which seems incidental, we have a very deliberate action in which this poor man gave up everything he had. He did what the wealthy man was unable to do and what every disciple needs to do, he left everything.

As he came, Jesus asked what he wanted and he said, “let me see again.” In a context that has spoken as much about spiritual seeing as physical seeing, we once again need to understand that he wanted to see in every way. How did he enter the kingdom of God? Jesus affirmed that it was not by being good or by keeping the law. It was by faith, by turning in trust to the only one who could help him see and recognizing that what is impossible for man, is possible for God.

Then to affirm once again what is required to enter the kingdom of God, we read at the end of the story that he “followed him on the way.” Being on the way with Jesus is an important theme in this section. We encounter it several times and so when we read that this is what the blind man did, we know that it means that what the rich man was unable to do, what the disciples continued to struggle to do, the blind man did. He left everything to follow Jesus and he did this not by his own strength or ability, but by faith in God.

In a recent MB Herald, there is a story of a number of seniors who live with these kind of kingdom values. One couple, Bill & Jacquie Stevens, wrote “Turning 65 was like becoming a newborn baby. We’ve done more, experienced more, and loved more since we turned 65 than all the years before. My only regret was waiting until I retired to do this. The world was ready to put us out to pasture, but the Lord was just beginning our most fulfilling experiences of our lives.” I point to this story because I know that many in this congregation are like them. I want to affirm those who have left everything to follow Jesus and encourage all of us that if we want to enter the kingdom of God, no matter what our age or stage of life, we must do so by leaving everything and following Jesus. Doing so will be greatly rewarded both now and in eternity.

What do you want? Do you just want eternal life? Do you just want to be saved or do you want to enter the kingdom of God? Are you willing to leave everything in order to follow Jesus? If that is what you want, you can’t get it by yourself, you can only have it by the power of God through faith in Jesus.

Listen to Jesus

Mark 9:2-10:16

Introduction

If you have ever visited another country, you know that there are ways of doing things which are different. In 2009 I went to Paraguay to visit some missionaries and one of the things I knew I would have to do was to drink terere. I was a little concerned about this because I did not know or understand the culture of terere, I was a little nervous about sharing a straw and I did not know if I would like the taste. My hosts were very gracious and explained that sharing a bombilla was not a problem. They also let me know that it was perfectly fine to just say thank you when I had had enough and stop participating. And about the taste, well, lets just say it doesn't taste as good as coffee and I don't like coffee.

If we are part of a culture, we have learned to live in that culture and many of the practices and habits of that culture are taken for granted by us. If we ever change cultures, we have to learn the ways of the new culture.

When we become Christians, we change cultures. We become members of the kingdom of God. It is like going to another country and we need to learn the worldview and practices of that new culture, that is, God’s worldview and God's practices. We grew up in the culture of this world and the question which I would like to invite us to think about today is, "Have we learned the ways of God and are we living in them?"

            In Mark 9:2 we read about how Jesus took three of his disciples up onto a high mountain. There he was transfigured before them and his garments shone whiter than any washing machine or any detergent could make them. Moses and Elijah appeared before them and Jesus was talking with them. The disciples were stunned because they could not understanding what was happening and Peter in his inimitable way suggested that they could build three shelters, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Peter didn’t know what he was talking about because by suggesting this he was putting Jesus, Elijah and Moses on the same level. He didn't understand that Jesus was not on the same level as Moses and Elijah. He hadn't figured out that a change of worldviews was taking place. But God revealed this when a cloud came over them and His voice spoke out of the cloud from heaven to explain what was happening. God made it clear that Jesus is superior to Moses and Elijah. Jesus was and is the Son of God and is superior to any who had gone before. Because that is true, God commanded the disciples, “Listen to Him!”

            This is an important statement. Since a change of worldview has taken place, the way to discover how to live in that world is by listening to Jesus. What an appropriate statement for the disciples of Jesus then and now. In the chapters that follow, the public healing and teaching ministry of Jesus began to change primarily to a time of teaching the disciples. In each of the stories which follow, Jesus took time to instruct his disciples on what it meant to be members of His kingdom. In each of the stories normal human thinking was exposed and Jesus instructed his disciples towards divine thinking. The disciples were to listen to these instructions from Jesus. Since we are members of that kingdom, we also need to listen to Jesus. We need to understand divine thinking and understand how it is different from the world’s way of thinking. We need to learn to live by divine thinking.

            This will be our focus as we look at Mark 9:9-10:16. It is a long section and we will not study each aspect of each passage. Instead we will focus on one thing. We will think about and contrast human thinking and divine thinking. As we do so, I would like to challenge us to open our eyes to be able to consider how our thinking is impacted by the world’s thinking and to open our hearts to be able to change our way of thinking to God’s way.

I.                The Path to Victory - 9:9-13

As they came down the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell others of this experience until after his resurrection. They didn’t talk about it, but they had some questions. Having seen Elijah and trying to process the experience and the information, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” Malachi 4:5, 6 had predicted the coming of Elijah to prepare the way for Messiah. Jesus responded that Elijah had come, by which he meant that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this prophecy and had prepared the way for Jesus. Then Jesus said something which puzzled them further. He said, “How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt?”

Why was this puzzling? The disciples were engaged in human thinking. They believed that Elijah would come and “restore all things.” Their hope was for a great and clear victory of God. Jesus’ question forced them to think about divine things. In God’s plan, victory did not come by power and by everything going right in this world. Victory came through suffering and death. Repeatedly Jesus told them that that was the way in which He would bring victory. But the disciples could not understand this message of victory through suffering. Whenever Jesus announced that he would die before he rose to victory, they were troubled and puzzled. They didn’t get it because they were thinking human thoughts.

We continue to think in similar ways. Have you ever wondered why Christians are persecuted and why God's people still suffer? Human thinking leads us to believe that God should make everything perfect now. If we want to think in God's way, we need hope in God and trust His work even when everything looks hopeless from a human point of view because God is able to bring resurrection out of death.

II.             Faith in God - 9:14-29

As Jesus and the three disciples met the other disciples, they found them in the middle of a dispute. A man had brought his son to the disciples for healing. The boy had a spirit in him that made him mute and also threw him into convulsions. The disciples were unable to heal the boy. Jesus inquired about what had happened, asked the man about his son and promptly healed him.

            After the healing, Jesus was together only with his disciples in a house and we once again realize that this is teaching time. The disciples asked Jesus, “Why could we not cast it out?” It must have been quite puzzling for them because they had driven out demons in the past. What went wrong this time?

            The problem was that they had fallen into human thinking. Perhaps they thought that they could drive out the demons by their own words. The phrase, “only by prayer” suggests that they had not brought God into the picture. In human thinking, we fall into one of several errors when it comes to works of power. One is that we may think that we possess the power to call God into action to meet our demands, especially if we have had some success in doing so in the past. Another human way of thinking is that we believe that God acts if we do the right things or say the right words. Some translations have added the word, “and fasting” which conveys exactly the wrong kind of idea. It suggests that if we pray hard enough and even fast then God has to act.

            How do we think about these things from the perspective of divine thinking? The story helps us see some important aspects of God's way. It is evident in the exchange between the man and Jesus. How is the boy to be healed? The man must believe. This tells us that faith is important. But how much faith is necessary? The man admits that he does not have much faith, but Jesus assures him that his small, weak faith is enough. Jesus answered the disciples that they needed to pray. So prayer is also important, but how do prayer and faith act? Prayer and faith are the keys to God acting. But as we say that, we need to understand that prayer and faith are not ways of manipulating God. Faith in God means trusting Him and whatever He will do. Prayer is recognizing that God invites us to ask Him because we need Him. Divine thinking about calling on God's power must not be manipulative. It must be seek God and trust Him.

III.           Servant Attitude - 9:30-37

As Jesus traveled on through Galilee with his face set resolutely towards Jerusalem, he announced once again that he would be betrayed, killed and would rise again. Once again the disciples did not understand. Yet these thoughts prompt them to think about their hopes for the kingdom of God. As they do so, their thoughts are once again permeated by human ways of thinking. The text indicates that they were arguing about “who was the greatest.” With Peter, James and John having just had the privilege of being up the mountain with Jesus alone, they may have thought that they were more special to Jesus than the others and could claim positions of honor in the kingdom. Yet even as they discussed these things, they knew that there was something wrong with this thinking because when Jesus asked them what they were arguing about, they were silent.

Once again Jesus was teaching his disciples the way of divine thinking. He says, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” The way of God's kingdom is a way of servanthood. Jesus demonstrated this himself and we read in Mark 10:45, "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” How seriously we have forgotten this! We raise some up and call them "reverend." We expect to be honored and recognized for all the hard work we do. Christian schools honor their "Alumnus of the year." All of this is much more human thinking than divine thinking. Divine thinking is well illustrated by the statement in Luke 17:10, "So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”"

I believe that when Jesus took a little child and lifted him up as an example to them he was telling His disciples that the way of the kingdom is simply a way of servanthood. It isn’t about hierarchy or position, but about being the least.

Jean Vanier is the founder of the international movement of L'Arche communities where people who have developmental disabilities, and the friends who assist them, create homes and share life together. From what I know of these communities, the underlying attitude is servanthood, without position, reward or greatness. That kind of service is an example of divine thinking about how we should live.

IV.           Belonging - 9:38-41

Addressing Jesus as teacher, in verse 38, the disciples begin to understand that they are in a learning environment. John is reminded of a man who had been casting out demons in Jesus' name but who was not one of the disciples who had been specifically trained and sent out to do the mission of Jesus. The human thinking of John was an exclusive attitude. The Good News Bible translates, “we told him to stop, because he doesn’t belong to our group.” He was thinking that if someone is not part of our group, they don’t belong and don’t have a right to do something in the name of Jesus.

Jesus once again pointed to divine thinking and expanded their thinking about who belongs to the kingdom of God. Jesus said, “…whoever is not against us is for us…”

What are the implications of this kind of thinking for us? We easily fall into the same human way of thinking, by which we build boundaries to identify who belongs and who does not. If we read this passage carefully we will see that Jesus does not even draw a line or establish any kind of a boundary. Setting boundaries about who is in and who is not is a human way of thinking. Jesus does not speak in terms of who is in and who is out. Jesus speaks in terms of who is around Him. To use mathematical terms, human thinking means to think in terms of a bounded set. What is in the set belongs and what is outside of the set does not belong. Divine thinking, the thinking of Jesus is to think rather of a centered set. It is to ask, “Who is near Jesus and who is moving towards Jesus?”

This passage challenges our thinking about who belongs. Whenever we begin to think about who belongs or does not because they are “Mennonite” or “evangelical” we are engaged in the same human thinking as John. Yet it does not mean that divine thinking is wishy washy. Divine thinking is clearly centered on Jesus. It understands the truth of the gospel and recognizes the importance of walking the way Jesus walked. But divine thinking also recognizes that we must be humble enough to recognize that we may not have all the truth and we must also be gracious and accepting of others with differences.

V.              Influence - 9:42-50

As the teaching conversation continues, we come to a passage in Mark 9:42-50 that certainly has some difficulties in it. It is clear that hyperbole is involved. I am quite sure that Jesus would not want us to engage in self harm. There is much that is important to learn in this passage, but as we are following one particular train of thought today, I would simply like to pick up one aspect of human thinking and recognize in its place one aspect of divine thinking. Verses 42 and 50 present to us the theme of the influence we have on others.

If we are engaged in human thinking we might think, “I can do as I please because I don’t have to answer for myself to anyone else.” Yet divine thinking leads us to realize that we do have an influence on others. These verses warn us that if our way of living has a negative impact on others causing them to stumble, we will be held accountable for that. God will, in fact, judge us for the harmful influence we have on others. Our words, our actions and the living out of our faith have an influence on others and it is significant for us to recognize that.

The next section talks about how we may ourselves be influenced to do evil. If there is anything in our life that leads us away from God, we need to take that very seriously. As Geddert points out, this is written not as a threat to unbelievers, but as a motivator to serious discipleship. To consider the things that influence our life and take steps to reduce their influence is also part of divine thinking.

The mention of salt in verse 50, although admittedly a little puzzling, has at least this same lesson in it. Salt is an influencer and we are called to be salt, that is, a positive influence for good. Recognizing our influence and choosing to make it positive is divine thinking.

VI.           Marriage - 10:1-12

Chapter ten continues the teaching of Jesus in regards to divine thinking.

These verses do not give us the Bible’s entire teaching on marriage, divorce and remarriage and we will not develop that theme today. We will also not work out every detail of what is taught in this passage, rather, we will continue to see how this lesson helps us discern between human and divine thinking.

The question which the Pharisees asked was, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife.” There are several aspects of human thinking present in this question. First of all, the Pharisees were asking, “what is the rule?” and secondly “How close can I get to the edge before I break the rule?”

Jesus answered with divine thinking when he spoke about God’s intention for marriage. The intention of God for marriage is that a man and a woman will become one flesh and in that one flesh union, they are joined together by God. In contrast to the Pharisees who were asking, “what is the rule,” Jesus pointed away from rule to intention. He was helping the disciples ask, "What was God thinking? How has God spoken in order to bring us to life?" He went on to explain that divorce breaks relationship, which violates God’s intention of peace, harmony and blessing.

One problem of living by rules is that it has inherent in it the danger of trying to see how close to the edge we can get. Another problem is that it also causes people to judge those who, in their mind, are not following the rule. Divine thinking invites us to learn to think with the mind of God, to learn God’s intentions and rather than living by rules, to learn to live by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

VII.        Welcoming the Vulnerable - 10:13-16

In the final section we have the well known incident in which people were bringing children to Jesus and the disciples chased them away. Children are enthusiastic. You can’t control all of their actions and movements. They are curious, honest and see things the way they are. If you have an important person in the room, many perceive that children just don’t belong. They should be seen and not heard because one must maintain a certain decorum and order and children by their very nature do not uphold that. That is human thinking and may be the kind of thinking which the disciples had as they chased the children away and told their parents that they were not welcome there.

By this time, we already know that Jesus’ thinking, divine thinking, was different. We already know that Jesus welcomes children. How could the disciples have so quickly forgotten what Jesus said in Mark 9:37 when he said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” In this passage we hear Jesus say, in Mark 10:14, “Let the little children come to me" and in Mark 10:16 that , "…he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them."

A few weeks ago Carla and I attended a seminar which taught us about inclusion of people with disabilities in church. Although churches do not mean to exclude people, we do not always know how to welcome them. We heard stories about parents who had autistic children and were unable to find a church where their children were welcome. Surely as we read this text we need to learn what it means to find a way to welcome all because that also is divine thinking.

Conclusion

In Philippians 2:5 Paul says, "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” Romans 12:2 calls us to be "transformed by the renewing of your minds." This passage helps us understand some of the details of that transformed thinking.

1. Divine thinking allows us to trust that God is able to bring victory in spite of suffering and even through death.

2. Divine thinking about calling on God's power teaches us to seek God and trust Him.

3. Divine thinking calls us to be servants.

4. Divine thinking is centered on Jesus, not on humanly defined boundaries.

5. Recognizing our influence and choosing to make it positive is divine thinking.

6. Divine thinking calls us to live by God's intentions, not by rules.

7. Divine thinking welcomes the vulnerable.

So what kind of thinking influences our mind? Human thinking or Divine thinking? We live with human thinking by default and so it takes something from God to change our way of thinking. God makes that change in us through Jesus. He teaches us divine thinking as we engage the Word of God. How thankful I am that we are not called to divine thinking in the strength of human power. The Spirit of God indwells us and we can learn and live by divine thinking in His power. May we all adopt the thinking that is based on our Father in heaven each day of our life. May we learn to, "Listen to Jesus."

Hearing Ears and Seeing Eyes

Mark 7:31-8:26

Introduction

We have moved 10 times in our married life and we have made 5 pastoral transitions. In many of these major life shifts there has been a significant amount of instability which has often resulted in worry. The most difficult ones were the two pastoral transitions when there were several months between churches, once 4 months and the other time 7 months. We worried about our ability, about whether we would ever find another position and we were concerned about where we would live.

Each time we have made a transition, things have worked out rather well. Not only have we always had enough, and been blessed to serve congregations that were a joy to serve, but God has also given us so many extra blessings. Like the time when we bought a house with shrubs in front, which Carla had hoped for or like the time when we could live on a river, which I really enjoyed.

In spite of all these blessings that we have always experienced even though we worried, it seems that every time something new comes into our life we again wonder, “Will God care for us?” “How is He going to care for us this time?” God has given us so much reason to trust Him and yet we struggle to live in confident faith.

Do you ever worry about the future? Do you ever fear circumstances? What are you afraid of right now? What do you think Jesus is doing about it? Do you think Jesus is doing anything? Why do you doubt that He is doing anything?

            We have often heard young people tell stories of what happens to them at camp. They tell about how they have grown in faith when they were at camp. Because of the concentration and the prayer, amazing spiritual victories often take place at camp. God’s presence is so great and many commit themselves to living by faith and to being faithful. On the last day of camp they are filled with a powerful sense of how great God is and how they want to follow God when they get home. But after camp it doesn’t take long and life gets in the way and routine and temptations happen and pretty soon they aren’t so confident in God any more. Where is our faith? Why can’t we remember? Why does doubt come?

The disciples of Jesus had a similar experience. They had been in the presence of Jesus and saw Him do all kinds of amazing things and teach wonderful truths. It was like being at camp all the time, but there were still times when they weren’t all that confident about Jesus. There were times when they were not aware of His love or His power. There were times when they struggled with worry and fear.

This morning we will look at the stories in Mark 7:31-8:26 in order to think about these things and be encouraged that God is at work building us up in faith and helping us to see Him at work. I hope that these words encourage you in whatever is causing you to worry and doubt.

I.                Spiritual Blindness

The key phrase in these verses is Mark 8:17, 18 where Jesus asked the disciples, “Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear?” Why did Jesus ask this question? How was it answered?

A.              Feeding 4000 People

In these verses, Jesus did a lot of traveling. We read, in 7:31, that he was in Tyre and that he went up to Sidon and then down to the Sea of Galilee and crossed it several times. The story in Mark 7:31-37 took place in an area that was inhabited mostly by Gentiles, so the audience was likely mostly not Jewish. He had been with this crowd, teaching and doing miracles for 3 days and He realized that the people were likely running out of food and getting hungry. He perceived that their hunger was serious. It is interesting that they were so interested in Jesus that they were willing to stay in a remote place to listen to him and willing to undergo some hardship to hear Him.

The story reminds us of a similar miracle story in Mark 6:30-44 where Jesus fed 5000. Once again it is the compassion of Jesus which prompts him to recognize their need and desire to feed them. Once again the disciples do not possess the resources needed to feed such a crowd. Once again the disciples witnessed an amazing miracle prompted by Jesus’ compassion.

The stories look similar, and some have suggested that they refer to the same event, but there are enough differences between the two stories to help us realize that they are two different stories which happened on two different occasions. In the first story there were 5 loaves of bread available and in the second 7. In the first story there were 2 fish and in the second, a few fish are mentioned. In the first story 5000 people were fed and in the second, 4000. In the first story 12 baskets remained and in the second 7. The most significant difference is that the first story happened in a Jewish area and the second in a Gentile area and it seems that the purpose of including both stories is to show that God provides for both Jews and Gentiles. Geddert comments, “As early as Augustine of Hippo, interpreters of Mark’s Gospel have seen the two feedings in Mark as for Jews and Gentiles…The first shows how God fulfills Israel’s hopes; the second shows how God also intends to give grace to the Gentiles.”

            The text says in Mark 8:8 that “they ate and were filled.” Through this experience the disciples once again saw God at work and realized the power and provision of God through Jesus and also the compassion of Jesus.

            Following the feeding, Jesus left in a boat to go to the other side of the lake.

B.              Conflict with the Pharisees

As He came to the other side, he met some Pharisees. They had one purpose. They did not want to know Him or listen to Him, they wanted to test Him. Their attitude was one of challenge. Jesus was deeply moved by their obstinate unbelief. They had seen so much, but remained blind to the truth about Jesus. Because of their attitude, Jesus refused to respond to them and left and crossed the Sea of Galilee again.

            The problem with their attitude was that they wanted proof that would be strong enough to change their unbelieving minds. It doesn’t work that way. Jesus demonstrates God’s power and teaches God's truth, but understanding does not come to those who demand a sign, but to those who have faith and insight.

C.              Can You Hear? Can You See?

When they got back into the boat, we have a rather interesting interchange between Jesus and the disciples. It is a puzzling conversation, but in the end it reveals their hearts and invites us to examine our hearts.

We are told at the beginning of the story that the disciples had forgotten to stow provisions aboard the boat and that all they had along was one loaf of bread.

While this was a matter of concern weighing on the minds of the disciples, Jesus was talking about something else. He began to talk about the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod. The disciples responded to each other referring to that which had been on their minds. They were concerned that they didn’t have enough bread. It seems as if their worries were so great that they didn’t have the capacity to think about anything else or to hear what Jesus was talking about.

What was Jesus talking about when he mentioned the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod? Yeast is something that influences. When it is put in dough, it permeates the entire lump of dough. In Mark 6:14 we read that, Herod had heard about the miracles of Jesus and speculated that John the Baptist had been raised. He did not realize the divine source of Jesus' power or position nor inquire more about who Jesus was. The Pharisees had seen the power of Jesus and should have recognized its origin, but refused to do so. Both of them were unbelieving. They did not accept Jesus and they did not respond in faith. Such unbelief, if permitted to enter into one’s heart, permeates and has an influence which destroys faith. Jesus was warning the disciples that they should not be unbelieving, like the Pharisees and Herod.

But they didn’t get it. They were confused about what Jesus was talking about. They were worried and in their worry they expressed unbelief. It was not the same kind of unbelief as the Pharisees, but it was unbelief nevertheless and that is why Jesus was warning them. It is in this context that Jesus raised the question we find in Mark 8:17, 18 when He asked, “Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear?” Of course He was not talking about physical blindness or deafness. He was talking about spiritual blindness and the spiritual inability to hear God. This is imagery which occurs in other places in the Bible as well. In Isaiah 6:9 we read, "Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed."

            In both passages, the inability to see what God has done and to understand His work are attributed to hard hearts. Their hearts were so hard that they did not remember what Jesus had done in the past. Jesus refers to both feeding miracles and questions them about what was left over. In spite of what they had seen, they had not understood the compassion or the power of Jesus.

            As we listen in on the conversation which Jesus has with the disciples, we should not get too comfortable because the question is also asked of us. Are our hearts hard? Do we fail to remember what God has done? Do we fail to see what God is doing? Do we have eyes, but fail to see and ears but fail to hear?

            But there is an encouraging word in this section. Jesus asks, “Do you not yet understand?”" The implication of “not yet” is that one day they will. It functions as a word of hope and a promise that one day they will get it and they will understand.

But how will they see? How will we ever hear and understand? How will we ever believe? How will we ever walk with confidence? This story is so real to us because we understand so well the struggle of the disciples. We have all been there. We have all wrestled with unbelief. We have all seen God at work in the past, but often experience doubt in the present. It may not have been bread, but in some way we have seen God provide and change lives and do great things. The greatest act of God is that of which Paul reminds us in Romans 8:32, “He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?” But we don’t remember that God did not spare His own Son. So we live with unbelief. We worry. We fret. We doubt. Our hearts are hard. Not hard in the rebellious way of the Pharisees, but hard in the sense that God’s grace and truth do not penetrate deeply. We are insensitive to the work of God all around us and so we too have eyes, but do not see and ears but do not hear.

II.             Jesus Makes the Deaf Hear

Seeing and hearing are an important connecting point in the stories in this section. We have observed how the disciples failed to see and hear. But there are two stories surrounding this story that also have to do with seeing and hearing. If you look carefully at Mark 7:31-8:26, you will see how many times seeing and hearing are mentioned. In Mark 7 deafness and ears are mentioned in verses 32, 33 and 35. In Mark 8, eyes and ears are mentioned in verse 17, as we have just seen. Then in Mark 8:21-26 eyes and seeing and sight restored are mentioned. We should not think that this is coincidental. It is quite deliberate and Mark has put these stories together for the purpose of teaching important truths.

The disciples all had good hearing in a physical sense, but as we have seen, they turned out to be quite deaf to the work of God and to trust in God.

Mark 7:31-36 tells a story about what happened in the region of the Decapolis on the other side of Galilee, when some people brought a man who was deaf and who had a speech impediment to Jesus. Those who brought him asked Jesus to place His hands on the man. This was normal procedure. Sometimes Jesus touched people, sometimes they touched Jesus, sometimes Jesus wasn’t even in the presence of the people and they were healed. This time they wanted Jesus to touch the man, but Jesus did something much different than usual. He put his fingers in the man’s ears and put spit on his tongue. Why this unusual healing method? Was it because the man was a Gentile and needed more help to believe? We are not told. What is clear, however, is that the healing happened by Jesus' authoritative word, when He said, "Be opened." The result was that the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was loosened and he could hear clearly and he could speak once again.

The lesson is declared by the people in Mark 7:37, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” Jesus is able to make the deaf person hear again. And we should not think that Jesus is only able to make the person who is physically deaf hear again. He is able to make the person who does not hear God hear again. This is a promise for all of us who struggle with unbelief. It is a word of hope for all of us who wrestle with doubt and who don’t get how God is working. Jesus is the one who can open our deaf ears to hear Him speak to us and to be able to understand what He is doing. How thankful I am for the promise that Jesus is the one who can open our ears. The one who has conquered, the one who is seated on the throne, the one who has loved us sacrificially, the one who has promised abundant life, the one who will reign for all eternity can open our ears. He can help us to hear and understand and to know what God is doing so that we can put our trust in Him. So this becomes an encouragement to trust in Him, to know that He can help us hear. My prayer is that Jesus will open my ears.

III.           Jesus Heals In Stages

The final story in the section, found in Mark 8:21-26, is also obviously connected with this whole section. This time seeing is mentioned. The unusual methods in which Jesus spit on the man’s eyes ties it to the story in Mark 7:31-37. Except for John 9 where Jesus used spit to make mud to put on a man’s eyes, these are the only two stories in the NT where spitting is involved,. These clues make it clear that we need to connect all these stories together. So what is the connection between these stories and what is the lesson in this last story?

It connects with the previous story because it is a story of healing blindness. Once again we see that Jesus is able to heal the blind. Once again we are reminded that Jesus can make us see spiritually.

But there is another unique thing about this story in that it involves a two stage miracle. Jesus healed the blind man, but it happened in two stages. The first time Jesus spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on them. When He did, the man was able to see, but not clearly, not completely. We read his response in Mark 8:24, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” There was a seeing, but it was not a clear seeing. When Jesus put His hands on the man a second time, we read that his eyes were opened and he “saw everything clearly.” Why this two stage healing? Because it reflects a reality in the world of spiritual understanding. The disciples had eyes, but they did not see. But remember that we said that “not yet” implied that they would yet understand and see? The disciples had realized a lot of things about Jesus. They had the beginnings of perception, but it was incomplete. In the very next part of Mark we have the first announcement of the death of Jesus. In that text, Peter clearly declared about Jesus, “You are the Christ.” But in the very next breath Peter rebuked Jesus and could not perceive that the way to victory was the way of suffering and death. In the weeks that followed, this confusion continued. They saw, but they didn’t see. They caught on to some things, but they missed others. Following the resurrection, their eyes were opened a little more and on the day of Pentecost, a little more. In fact, until the day of Pentecost they were in a bit of a fog, “seeing people walking around like trees.” But even after Pentecost, their seeing would not be complete as we see when Peter and Paul argued about what it meant to follow Jesus. But complete seeing will come. I Corinthians 13:12 says, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

Last week I was speaking with someone from the congregation about the message. His comment was, why do we not understand? Why do we need to be constantly reminded about the truths we should remember? Well to that frustration, this text promises that we will yet know. It is helpful to know that it is not unusual that our seeing will be incomplete now. The disciples struggled to see clearly and so do we. But that knowledge is not intended to make us complacent. Behind the acknowledgement that sometimes seeing takes time and that there are stages of perception, there is the overwhelming truth that Jesus opens blind eyes. Not just physically blind eyes, but spiritually blind eyes. It is the touch of Jesus that will make us see clearly. In addition, there is the reality that sometimes seeing takes more than one stage before we fully understand.

Conclusion

If you come to Jesus challenging Him to prove Himself, you will be disappointed. Just like Jesus did not answer the Pharisees, He will not respond to an unbelieving challenge.

If you come to Jesus expecting that He will give you whatever you want, you will be disappointed. He is sovereign and knows far better what is good for us and has eternal things in mind, not our temporal wishes. Although He often blesses us in many ways, He is not a cosmic Santa Claus.

If you come to Jesus with humble confidence in His power and His love, you will never be disappointed. You will trust His sovereignty, His compassion, His power and His love.

            All of us at various points in life seem to be deaf to this truth about God and blind to all that He has done and can do.

            The word of hope to us this morning is to know that Jesus heals deaf ears and blind eyes. The word of encouragement is to be patient with ourselves and patient with others knowing that we are all on a journey. The word of challenge for us is to keep looking to Jesus and trusting Him to bring the complete healing of our spiritual eyes and ears.