MONEY MATTERS I: MARK 10:17-31

Text:

“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?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 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.’ ” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 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.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 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!” 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! 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.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 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, 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. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”” (Mark 10:17–31, ESV)

Intro:

Money Matters: Specifically Jesus’ teaching about money. If you pay attention, He speaks about it quite often.

The man was impressive by worldly standards. He was rich, He was Young, and He was a ruler of some sort (possibly in the synagogue).

Jesus didn’t need him in his entourage — He wasn’t impressed

Jesus critiques traditional values and worth. (flesh out)

This goes agains the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel which assumes that God’s hand of blessing abides on the wealthy.

Why Do You Call Me Good? (The Set Up Questions)

Mark 10:17–18 (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.

Two critical questions are raised here: 1) Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life, and 2) Why do you call me good?

The first question is the question for the ages. It’s asked in a straightforward manner, and all of mankind kinda waits with baited breath for a clear answer. With all of the symbols and theology and history, what is Jesus’ response to this most important question?

Fountain of youth

The second question from Jesus is unexpected. He says, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” The man asks about the way to salvation, and Jesus turns the question in such a way to make the man examine Jesus’ Himself. Jesus doesn’t give the man a route that is not himself.

But by asking this question, Jesus highlights the very point where this man is stuck and hung up. He says, “why do you call me good, no one is good but God alone.”

Jesus is challenging what this man thought good meant. Look at the next scripture.

Mark 10:19–22 (ESV) — 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.

Jesus had just asked him what he thought “good” meant.

Then Jesus draws this man’s attention to the law. And you might get the sense that this man is glad that Jesus starts bringing up the law. He asks how to get salvation and Jesus starts mentioning the law - the path that this man thought was the way to salvation. You might imaging him having a sigh of relief as he rests on all the work that he has done.

He says that he has kept the law ever since his youth (bar mitzvah means son of the law). The man responds by essentially saying that he is good. He highlights his own record and his own goodness. But Jesus has already made the distinction that the only truly good person is God. This man is placing himself in that category, but, of course, he is mistaken.

The law is intended to highlight our need and set and example, not highlight our own goodness.

Galatians 3:23–24 (ESV) — 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian (tutor) until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Romans 7:7 (ESV) — 7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

Jesus lists the 2nd table of the law. The 1st table regards man’s relationship vertically to God (no other God’s, taking the Lord’s name in vain, No graven images), and the 2nd table is more horizontally focused on others (adultery, theft, lying, etc.). These two sides of the law are summed up by Jesus when he says to love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself.

But did you notice which commandment that Jesus left out? Jesus lists the whole 2nd table but leaves out number 10: covetousness.

Jesus leaves out the one about wanting. And the question then becomes: What do you want? What do you really want?

And Jesus knows this. This man isn’t good, only God is good. This man cannot stand on his own righteousness. He can’t stand on his youth, his wealth, or his rule. So Jesus obliterates the bullseye and it says he loves the man when he says, “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.”

And we are told that the man leaves, sad and disappointed.

Watch your responses to Jesus’ challenge. What could be said to you that might make you walk away disappointed? What is too great to lose? What, if asked to sacrifice, would just be too much?

To sell all of your possessions isn’t your ticket to heaven, but to give all to Jesus is. We must obey the 1st commandment.

For others, it may be a different command other than covetousness. See the woman at the well and Jesus command that she forsake her adulteries and fornication.

The man comes to Jesus a rich man and a good man, but also a self-sufficient man. He needs to come to Jesus as a humble man, a poor man, and a desperate man.

Who Can Be Saved?

Mark 10:23–27 (ESV) — 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.”

Who can be saved? This guy seemed like such a qualified candidate.

Wealth is an easy idol, and man do we have much of it. It comforts. It gives the illusion of power. If the world goes bad, maybe we can save ourselves with money. It dazzles with its possibilites. It is our access to indulge our delights.

Who can be saved? With man it is impossible. This is why Jesus set the question up the way He did. Who is good? Why do you call me good? Only God is truly good. Only God has obeyed the law in full. No one is righteous, no not one. Only God. Jesus had to dig this out of the man. Unfortunately, the man didn’t humble himself (at least we aren’t told that he did so then), but he went away saddened.

Jesus makes this impossible comparison to the camel and the eye of a needle, but in one way, Jesus is the camel! - Phil 2

Philippians 2:4–11 (ESV) — 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 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, 7 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 and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Seeds Have To Die, But They Blossom Into Gardens

Mark 10:28–31 (ESV) — 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.”

The upside down nature of the Kingdom. It’s not who you’d think

You give up this notion of goodness. You give up the idol of wealth or lust or greed. The question remains, what do you want? And the answer must be not a meager and silly idol, but satisfaction and wholeness and salvation and eternal life with God on His terms. We give up everything in order to gain everything.

[possible] Like a toddler who gives up the shiny thing in their hand in order to get a real treasure.

ILLUSTRATION - Annie Dillard tells of the ill-fated Franklin expedition to the Arctic in 1845. That odyssey was a turning point in Arctic exploration because of its well-publicized failure. The preparations made were more suitable for the Royal Navy officer’s club in England than for the frigid Arctic. The explorers made room on their ships for a large library, a hand organ, china place settings, cut-glass wine goblets, and sterling silver flatware instead of additional coal for their steam engines. The ornate silver flatware was engraved with the individual officer’s initials and family crests. Search parties found clumps of bodies of men who had set off to walk for help when their supplies ran out. One skeleton wore his fine blue cloth uniform edged with silk braid, hardly a match for the bitter arctic cold. Another apparently chose to carry with him the place setting of sterling silver flatware. What must he have been thinking to take sterling silver tableware in a search for help and food? One cannot imagine that any of these sailor adventurers would have said, as they neared death on the frozen landscape, “I wish I had brought more silver place settings.” Our hanging on to things that are ultimately useless will look no less foolish. Many cannot envision life without things they cherish. They are in danger of losing the only life that counts.

— Dillard, Annie. “An Expedition to the Pole.” Teaching A Stone To Talk. Harper Perennial, 1982

Repentance Confession

Philippians 3:6–11 (ESV) — 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

ReAssurance of Pardon

Romans 8:1–4 (ESV) — 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Communion