CLARITY (Part 3): My Motivation

Introduction

Mark 10:17–31 ESV

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will 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. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

1) Ask the Right Questions…

This is a familiar story.

Sometimes, if we are not careful, we can become jaded by the familiarity.

Because we know the story so well, we are tempted to consider this man is trying to manipulate Jesus.

But stop and truly consider the context.

This man sought out the right man and asked the right question!

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

He had success in this world.

Parallel passages in Luke 18 tells us this man had power (a ruler);

He was wealthy

He was influential

He was what many of us would consider successful…yet he was concerned with deeper spiritual realities.

Jesus doesn’t write the man off.

He takes time to speak with him and gives him deeper spiritual realities through another great question:

“Why do you call me good?…”

Jesus helps the man to define what is “good”.

In this passage, Jesus is not denying to be God.

He is asking the man to see beyond his present understanding, redefine what is good, and see that Jesus is God and He is good!

It is like saying, “God alone is good…whatever your definition of good is better match up!”

This is why Jesus turns the man’s attention to the Word of God to start, but them takes Him to the heart of God within those words to help him see what he is currently missing.

In Judaism, the commandments bring life, but Jesus is helping the man to see that following rules without the right motivation of the heart fails to bring eternal life.

Jesus, with this great question, wants to the man to see that there is something greater…that Jesus Himself is greater!

What about you this morning?

Are you asking the right questions?

Are you seeking to understand deeper spiritual truths?

Do you seek greater life than what this world portrays?

Seeking Jesus for greater truth shows a great motivation that drives our lives.

If your days have no concern for Jesus and spiritual matters, then what is motivating you?

If you want Clarity in your motivations, ask the right questions!

2) Accept the Right Answers!

Mark records for us that after Jesus addressed the man’s question and the man gave a response…Jesus looked at Him with love and gave Him the right answer.

In this text, Jesus isn’t trying to play a game of philosophical one-upmanship.

Jesus isn’t trying to nit pick the man.

Jesus doesn’t have anything He’s trying to prove to anyone.

He is genuinely wanting the man to be on the right track.

Jesus isn’t trying to shame and vilify the successful, wealthy, influential man.

He loves the man who asked Him the right question and therefore give Him the right answer.

In this right answer lies a great opportunity…

Jesus isn’t calling the man to give up something, but rather to gain everything.

In order for the man to gain what He seeks (eternal life), he has to exchange his understanding of success for Jesus’ reality of success.

The focus of this passage is not what the man must give up, but what the man would gain if He accepted the right answer.

Jesus tells the man to let go of what the world values and cherish what heaven values…Jesus.

This passage isn’t about discounting wealth…it is about redefining that which we value.

What about you this morning? Are you asking the right questions…and are you accepting the right answers?

The tragedy in this passage is that the man didn’t want to exchange his understanding of success for Jesus’ reality of success and therefore, he went away sorrowfully!

His great possessions made for poor motivations.

He failed to take hold of the great opportunity to follow Jesus and gain eternal life, because his hands and heart were clinging to something of lesser value that he refused to let go of.

Do you see Jesus as being greater than everything so that your answer to Him is always a yes?

The greatest sorrow in this story and too often in our lives is not what we have to give up, but how little we often value Jesus!

Let us learn to value to Jesus more and more by asking the right questions, embracing the right answers, and then…

3) Acknowledge the Right Position…

There were three questions asked in this passage:

The rich man asked: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus asked, “What do you call me good?”

vs. 26 tells us the disciples ask, “Then who can be saved?”

First, we need to realize that we are in a position of dependence upon God.

It is impossible for any of us to have eternal life when we are already spiritually dead.

For you to have spiritual life is a miracle that only God can do…and He does it through Jesus alone!

There is nothing you can do on your own to have eternal life…it is impossible…it is only Jesus that can bring you from spiritual death to spiritual life!

Second, we are in a position of following.

Our place is following Jesus not trying to lead Jesus.

We are to seek Him and His righteousness, not ask Him to seek my will and my way.

Likewise we are to listen to, learn from, and live by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word.

It’s like a life-long game of “God’s Word says…” If God says to do it…then you do it. If God does not say to do…then you do not do it.

You’ve been training for this since you were a kid… don’t over complicate it. Trust and Obey!

There is great relief and great joy when we yield to Jesus.

Our motivation should be Him and Him alone.

We don’t need to worry about what we will gain.

If we have Him, we already have everything of value what we will ever need.

CLOSING