From True Riches To Blind Faith-Mark 10:28-52

As we begin this morning, please turn in your copies of God’s Word to the Gospel of Mark 10:28-52. We will be reading verses 35-45 shortly, so go ahead and have these verse ready for that time.

Last Sunday morning in the Gospel of Mark, in the message entitled; A Tale of Two Hearts, taken from Mark 10:13-27, we saw a contrast between two hearts. The first was the heart of a child, a child trusts those who love them implicitly, without reserve. That is the way we are to trust God. Trusting in His wisdom and goodness. What children feel towards their parents, we should feel towards God. The second heart was the heart of the self-righteous rich young ruler. His trust was not in God, but in himself. The problem was, he was faced with the impossible, but rather than trust in the God of the impossible, his trust was in himself. As the Biblical account ended, he went away sad, giving up the eternal pleasures of heaven, for the quickly fading pleasures of this life. After the rich young ruler left, Jesus countered the notion that was out there, that the rich gained their wealth because of their righteous standing before God. Actually, He didn’t just counter it, He shattered it when He stated “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” This put the Disciples in a panic, if it was impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, then what about them. Thankfully, for both them and us, Jesus went on to say; “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

This brings us to this morning’s passage, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word? We will be reading Mark 10:35-45. Next Slide

Mark 10:35–45 ESV

35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.

As we begin this morning in verse 28, we see an encounter between Jesus and the 12. Peter is serving as a spokesman for the 12 when, on the heels of Jesus challenge to the Rich Young Ruler to leave everything behind and Follow Him, Peter says; “See, we have left everything and followed You.” Matthew adds that Peter also said “What then will we have?” In other words “What’s in it for us?” Obviously, at that moment, the motive of the 12 was anything but what it should have been, but I appreciate the fact that Jesus didn’t reprimand them. Though He had every right too, instead He goes on the state that: Next Slide

Faithful Sacrifice Brings Immeasurable Treasures. Vs. 29-31; Lk. 18:29-30; Mt. 19:28-30

One of the reasons I appreciate that Jesus didn’t reprimand them, was that fact that there are too many times that my motives in serving the Lord are not what they ought to be. At least in the moment. While the disciples had many times where their heart of flesh, that part of them that operated more from a self-serving attitude than a desire to serve the Lord from an unselfish heart, we also see in Scripture that ultimately, they really had left everything to follow Jesus with pure motives. I appreciate that God doesn’t always judge me in my moments of a “What’s in it for me” mentality, but more from the overall pattern of my life. We all have moments where our hearts are not what they ought to be, thankfully, God frequently is leniently towards us. Had that not been the case, I have a sneaky suspicion that I would have had at least one encounter with a lightening bolt!

But I believe there is something else at play here. Something that brings me a great deal of hope. You see when God looks at His children, He oftentimes looks beyond the here and now, beyond the reality of who we are now, and into the future at what we will become if we just surrender to Him. While the 12 may have had times where they served from a “What’s in it for me” mentality, Jesus understood that the day would come where all that would change, and where their devotion to Him would have nothing to do with themselves and everything to do with bringing glory to His Name. In the end, all but one of the 12 completely changed, serving God unswervingly and unselfishly. My prayer is that we will follow their lead.

Yes, Jesus does not call them on the carpet, instead He reassures them, that God’s Hand of blessing is on His faithful servants.

The 12 had left everything behind to follow Jesus. Their livelihoods, their homes, their possessions, their families, the comforts of home. It would be hard to blame them for desiring some reassurance from Jesus, and Jesus does just that. He reassures them that while their sacrifice was indeed great, the blessings they would receive, both here on earth and in heaven, would be to great to measure. Look what He says in verses 29 & 30; “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, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands....and in the age to come eternal life.” For some, reading something like this could bring about a double take, where you read it and think, “Wait, did He just say what I thought He said?” And upon reading again you find out that this is exactly what He said. Some may think, “How is that even possible?” You know, this is exactly what Pam and I have experienced.

Since 1992, we have had the privilege of serving in the full-time ministry in 3 different locations. In each instance we left quite a bit behind, to be obedient to what God had directed us to do. And while there may have been some sacrifice, the blessing God has given us far out weigh anything we may have sacrificed. We now have spiritual family all over this Nation. We could probably drive coast to coast and north to south, all over this Nation, and find some new family member in State after State, that know and love us as a result of our following God’s call on our life. There are probably 60 plus individuals that pray for us and for Liberty Chapel regularly that we only know because of saying “Yes” to Jesus.

When God led us to Liberty Chapel, in July 2018, we left our home behind, we said good bye to a number of friends. Said goodbye to my sister and her family, my parents, our daughter. About 8 hours later, we were met by 32 people, most of whom are sitting in the congregation right now, who met us, helped us unload and have since become our family, with many more as well. And while there have been some trials on the way, God has blessed us beyond measure.

Just as He promised the 12 that day.

But Jesus was also completely honest with the 12, He let them know that with those immeasurable blessings, their would also be trouble along the way. He added “with persecutions”. But He immediately follows the certainty of hard times with a reminder of eternal blessings.

The next thing we see Jesus do is: Next Slide

Provide A Personal Example Of Sacrifice. Vs. 32-34; Lk. 18:31-33; Mt. 20:18-19

As you picture what is taking place here, picture a large crowd following Jesus as He makes His way to Jerusalem for His appointment with the cross. Vs. 32 makes it clear that He is leading the way. But notice what else we see described in the middle of verse 32 regarding the temperament of the crowd. Mark tells us “and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.” Twice in the last 2 chapters, Jesus makes it clear that their trip to Jerusalem, brought with it the certainty of His death. Had this been the case for any of the rest of His followers, us included, we would have headed the opposite direction. But Jesus headed resolutely to Jerusalem.

Then, He pulls the 12 away from the crowd and adds to His prophetic instructions about His death. If you compare His teaching about His death from chapter 8 to chapter 9, you will notice He adds some details in chapter 9. Well here in chapter 10, he adds even more details.

One thing is certain though, in calling the disciples to be willing to sacrifice in service to Him, He is making it clear, He was not asking them to do anything He Himself was not willing to do for them.

Following Jesus prophetic Words concerning His sacrificial death we move: Next Slide

From The Self-Serving Disciples To The Self-Sacrificing Savior. Vs. 35-45; Mt. 20:20-28

Amazingly, on the heels of Jesus prophetic Words of His sacrificial death, James and John, along with their mother (as we learn in Matthew 20), approach Jesus with a special request. They ask for privilege positions in His glory. Kinda like; “Wow Jesus, sorry to hear about your death on the cross, but since You will be headed to Your kingdom, any chance we could get golden thrones right next to yours?” I would imagine that Jesus heart sunk at their brazenly selfish request. His response was a strong word of warning to them; “You do not know what you re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” When Jesus speaks of “drink(ing) the cup He drinks and being baptized with the baptism He was to be baptized with”, He is referring to His death. He is letting them know that reward in the kingdom of heaven is relative to the degree of suffering you experience for His name on earth.

Not fully understanding all that Jesus would face in the coming days, their arrogant self confidence came to the surface when they boldly proclaimed; “We are able.”

Or course Scripture tells us that on the night of the betrayal, which historically is less than 2 weeks away, they fled for their lives rather than share in the cup of Jesus suffering, or being baptized with the baptism He was facing. However, Jesus does go on to make it clear that they should:

Next Slide

Be Careful What You Ask For, You Just Might Get it!

In verse 39 Jesus assures them; “The cup I drink you will drink, and the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized”. Again, Jesus speaks prophetically. We find out in Acts 12, that James was the first of the 12 to die a death of a martyr, when Herod Agrippa had him put to death by sword. And while John didn’t “technically” die as a martyr, he did die in isolation on the Island of Patmos and tradition tells us that he was, on one occasion, forced to drink a cup of poison, which didn’t kill him and on another occasion was lowered into a boiling churn of oil and escape without so much as a blister. If the traditions are accurate, then I guess you could say he did drink from the cup Jesus drank from and was baptized with the baptism Jesus was baptised with.

But by the time these 2 lived out the prophetic words of Jesus, they had been so transformed by the Holy Spirit, that they willingly and joyful followed in the footsteps of the Savior.

But before that takes place, we see: Next Slide

The Indignation Of The 10.

In verse 41, we find out that the 10 heard about the plot by James, John and their mother. We addressed this briefly last week. This got the blood of the 10 boiling. Interestingly though, there is no indication that their indignation was at the self-serving pride of James and John, but more at the fact that James and John beat them to the punch. In other words, they were just as self-serving and prideful as James and John, but James and John were quicker to act on their sin.

The 10 may not have patterned unselfish devotion that day, But in the end, like James and John, all of them, minus Judas, were also transformed, once they surrendered themselves fully to the Lord. In the years ahead, all willingly, and like Jesus, resolutely and with no regard for their own life’s, died the death of a martyr.

But before that took place, we see Jesus take the 12 aside and deliver: Next Slide

Jesus Delivers A Lesson On Contrasting Worlds. Vs. 42-44; Mt. 20:25-28

(pull out the mirror)

What is this? (mirror). What is it’s purpose? (in the end, it’s purpose is to correct imperfections in what others see!) We wash our faces, fix our hair, put on makeup, make sure our clothes look good, whatever we can do to improve what other people see.

That is exactly what Jesus does in verses 42-44. He places before the 12 a giant mirror.

You know oftentimes the traits we dislike in other individuals, are traits we frequently display ourselves. If you were to ask the 12 who they disliked the most, they would have uniformly shouted “The Roman Rulers”! They hated their arrogance, the way they lorded their authority over everyone under them, including the Jews. With that in mind, Jesus places before them a mirror of sorts. Letting the 12 know that the very things the disciples hated in the Roman Rulers were the traits themselves were displaying.

Look at what He said; “And Jesus called them to Him and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.’”

Let’s just say, this mirror revealed a great deal that needed to be done before the disciples could step away from the mirror!

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to watching sports, I love watching in high definition! But there are times when I am watching a closeup of an actor or actress, that I am less than thrilled with HD! And most stars hate it as well. Because no matter how good you think you look, when your in HD, well it’s hard to hide flaws in HD.

Jesus has no worries with HD, because spiritually, He had no flaws! Before He is finished teaching the 12, He pulls out His high definition camera and takes a snapshot. Next Slide

The High Definition Portrait Of The Savior. Vs. 45; Mt. 20:28

We see that snapshot in verse 45, which, if you recall from our introduction to The Gospel of Mark, is the theme verse for the whole book. If anyone had the right to be prideful, or the right to demand the best seat in the house, it was Jesus. Yet we read in verse 45; “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

For the second time in just a few verses, Jesus gives the disciples a Personal Example of what it meant to serve. You know, if we serve in the way we are called to, we never have to worry about seeking any exaltation. Of course that is never to be our desire anyways, but exaltation will come for the faithful servant. It did for Jesus as well. The Apostle Paul makes this clear in Philippians 2:5-9, where we read; “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted Him” We see over and over again in Scripture, that God exalts the humble and humbles the exalted. And when it’s God that is doing the exalting, it is for an eternity!

We close out this morning with one more picture:

A Picture Of Persistent Faith. Vs. 46-52, Lk. 18:35-43; Mt. 20:29-34

A couple of things to keep in mind as we look at this account. First, in the Gospel of Mark, this is the last recorded miracle Jesus performed on another individual. He does wither a fig tree in chapter 11, and of course He Himself raises from the dead, which I believe qualifies as a miracle. But the one was on a tree and the other was on Himself. The other thing to note, in both Luke and Matthew, Jesus heals 2 blind men. This is not a contradiction, just because the details don’t match exactly, does not make it a contradiction. The 4 Gospel writers write from differing perspectives as well as different target audiences. The fact that Mark names Bartimaeus suggests that by the time Mark wrote this, Bartimaeus was a well known figure in the early church.

We find out in Luke’s account that as the crowd was walking by, Bartimaeus asked them what was going on. The moment he heard Jesus was going to walk by, he began to shout, and the more the crowd tried to quiet him, the louder he shouted. What he was shouting was very telling. He shouted; “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” This shout indicated at least two important truths. One, He knew Jesus was the Messiah, that is what he was declaring when he called Jesus the Son of David. The fact that he cried out for mercy indicates that he realized he was unworthy of any healing. It was an acknowledgment that he was a sinner in need of grace. Notice, his mind saw the light before his eyes did.

I want to make sure we don’t miss what happens next. In verse 49 we see that Jesus tells someone to “Call him”. Look at what happens in verse 50, we find out that he threw “off his cloak..sprang up and came to Jesus.” The description of him throwing off his cloak gives a couple of potential pictures. One, he was tossing aside anything that might slow him down from getting to Jesus. Second, usually blind beggars laid their cloaks in front of them to collect alms from those passing them by. His throwing aside his cloak would indicate he had enough faith in Jesus that he knew the cloak was no longer needed for the collection of alms.

There is one other thing I want to make sure we see in Bartimaeus. Look at verse 52, what does Jesus tell Bartimaeus to do? “Go your way”. But what does he do? “And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Him on the way.” Bartimaeus had been granted both his eyesight as well as mercy from the Messiah. He wasn’t about to go his way! Again, the fact that he is named leads us to believe that he was a known member of the early church.

Our key take-a-ways for this morning are:

1. Faithful Sacrifice Brings Immeasurable Treasures. That which Jesus has called us to do isn’t always easy, but obedience brings with it rewards beyond what we could imagine.

2. Our purpose in serving Jesus is not those rewards, we aren’t to imitate the James and John of Mark 10, but James and John who later laid aside all selfish desires and served God out of love and obedience.

3. Our lives are not to reflect the world around us, they are to be a reflection of our Lord and Savior.

4. We are to be a Picture Of Persistent Faith. Laying aside anything that may stand in the way of obedience to the Lord.

Let’s close our time in prayer