Mark 10:17-31 - Kingdom relationships call for a high cost and a high reward

The Structure of Mark

The structure of Mark - Presenting Jesus as the “Servant-King” or the “King-Servant”

Chapter 1-8, Jesus’ Power [all the things that the Kingdom will bring - all the things the church will accomplish]

Heals disease, casts out demons, calls the 12 and then sends them out two by two and gives them his authority to proclaim the gospel, cast out demons and heal the sick and they see great repentance, healed diseases etc, there are over 5,000 people who come to listen to Jesus in Mark 6, he gives them spiritual food, but does not neglect their physical needs and feeds all of them

Chapter 1 - speaks with authority in the temple and casts out a demon out of a man

Chapter 2 - he is Lord over physical ailments - heals a lame man who comes to him

As “Lord of the Sabbath” he exercises authority over the Old Testament law

Appoints 12 apostles to restore the 12 tribes of Israel

Calms a storm by simply saying “Be Still” - What manner of man is this?

He then casts out not one, but a whole legion of demons from a man

He heals chronic disease

Raises a young girl from the dead

First 8 chapters present Jesus as a KING - of this in-breaking kingdom that is truly restoring God’s order for creation from the days of Eden

King over death, king of disease, king over nature, king over demons and all spiritual beings

Chapter 11-16 - The Sufferings of Jesus

Chpt 11 - Enters Jerusalem as king would after victory but not on a horse with an army, but on a donkey

He then has his last supper and his trial and then is killed by crucifixion

Drastic difference between the first half and last half of Mark’s Gospel

The King over creation and the Suffering and dying servant

Aptly considered to be showing Christ as the Servant-King - or, in the order of events, the King-Servant

Middle section of Mark - Jesus reveals who He is to His disciples, and now starts to talk about how he must suffer to become King

Not two different missions of Jesus, they are one and the same

The pathway to the power of chapter 1-8 is the suffering of chapter 11-16

And the focus of this middle section is to help the disciples understand this - which is exceedingly hard for them to do, and will take multiple explanations by Jesus

One of the first narratives in this middle section of Mark is the healing of a blind man that happens in 2 stages. Jesus heals the blind man and after performing his healing. He first spits on his eyes, lays his hands on him and asks him “Do you see anything” and the man says “I see people - they look like trees walking” translation, i kind of see, but not clearly. Then Jesus places his hands on him again, and after this, he looks intently and his sight is restored and he sees everything clearly.

Same thing with the disciples - they have caught a glimpse of Jesus, but now he needs to help them see clearly and fully

They have seen the Chapter 1-8 Jesus, they have experienced his power, they have seen great revival, he now needs them to see the way of this Kingdom comes through humility, servanthood and suffering, and they, like us, STRUGGLE with this part of the message

At the eye view of the disciples here - seeing what they are seeing

Jesus performs a miracle, turns to them and speaks to them and processes this with them

So there are highs and lows here

Peter confesses that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the promised Christ and Jesus says “blessed are you that you say this, that is the Holy Spirit who has revealed this to you”

Then Jesus teaches them that he will be rejected and killed - Peter rebukes Jesus saying “NO!” - Jesus responds and says “that response is from the devil”

Calls the crowd back to him and says to them “Take up your cross and follow me”

Takes three of them up the mountain and is Transfiguration, turns into his glorious heavenly form,

Chapter 11-16 Jesus’ Suffering [becomes king by suffering and death]

If the first half of Mark focused on the power of Jesus and the second by the suffering of Jesus - middle section is focused on understanding how these come together

Middle section starts off with miracle of blind man - two stages of healing “Greater Clarity”

Chapter 9 - Transfiguration (glory) and then immediately tells them not to mention it until he rises from the dead

Disciples obsessed with power and greatness (arguing along the way) but reject the humility, suffering and sacrifice that is to come

Jesus brings a child among them and says “you need to be like a child to enter the kingdom, to see yourself in the humility and trust of a child, rather than a power-wielding miracle-worker”

In the narrative right before our text for today, children are coming to Jesus and the disciples are angrily turning them away bc they think that these are the least significant people to minister to - we need to move on to healings, and challenging pharisees etc

Chapter 10 - what God has put together - DOES NOT mean it will be easy (no divorce - easy way out)

Imploring an inheritance - 10v17-20

Verse 17

Runs up to Jesus, kneels before him - truly imploring maybe has been waiting for Jesus and wants to catch him before he leaves the region. Has been eagerly awaiting Jesus so that he can ask him the question

“Good” teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Verse 18

Jesus zeroes in on him calling him “good” bc no one is good except God alone

A rebuke and a response - v21-22

Matthew 22v37, the greatest commandment is this “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”

The treasure in heaven - streets of gold, yes seeing all those who have gone before, yes the fellowship and yes the mansions

Ps 73:25 - Whom have i in heaven but you

John 17v3 - And this is eternal life, that they would come to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent

Is this of greater value to you than all of your possessions?

To get into the kingdom, you need to love God more than anything else

The restrictive weight of wealth - v23-27

How hard to enter the kingdom - story of the child

“children” - it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than a rich person to enter the kingdom

As you load up your life with possessions, you are like a camel, getting larger and larger and making it harder and harder to enter the eye of a needle

“2 Timothy 4v10 - Demas has deserted me because he was in love with this world” - Demas, accompanies Paul through multiple missionary journeys, he is mentioned in Paul’s letter to Colossae and Philemon

But, when Paul is awaiting execution, in his second letter to Timothy, he says that Demas has deserted him because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica, a wealthy, cosmopolitan city

Power vs Suffering

Then who can be saved: It is impossible with man, but God can turn the heart of the believer more to Him, than to riches and wealth

The more we have, the more prone we are to miss the servanthood and sacrifice Jesus calls us to, in pursuit of the blessings and power of the kingdom

The blessings that await the benevolent - v29-31