Mark 10:28-34 This Last shall be First

Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Church

From J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”

House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text

Jesus’ Ministry Travels

Pray

Mark 10:28–34 ESV

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.” And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

Introduction

A little over half-way through Jesus ministry

First part was Him establishing His purpose for God’s people - that He has come to save His people from their sins

Now He is focused on the work He must do at the Cross

He continues to teach God’s will

He continues to address the cost of discipleship

He continues to explain His mission to save His people

Today: Jesus teaches two things - 1) what pleases God in our ministry and 2) a reminder of what Jesus will face in Jerusalem

Mark 10:29–30 ESV

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.

The glorious promise of earthly and heavenly reward

The first thing that gets our attention is the wonderful promise that they contain

There are few greater promises than this one in the Bible - its very encouraging for us in our life here in the world

Anyone who is afraid to serve Christ should look at this promise

Anyone who suffers hardship and difficulty for the sake of Christ should study this promise hard, and be happy about it.

To anyone who makes sacrifices for the Gospel, Jesus promises a reward one hundred times greater in this time

Not only will they be forgiven and glorified in the world to come, they will experience hopes and joys and comfort in this world for all they lose

In the fellowship and community of Christians, they will gain new friends, new relations that are more loving, faithful and valuable than they had before they came to Christ (relations change with salvation)

Their adoption into God’s family will be a great reward for their separation from the world

This may sound crazy, but thousands have found this experience to be true.

To those who sacrifice for the Gospel, Jesus also promises eternal life in the world to come

Once they leave their earthly bodies behind, they will enter a glorious life - in the morning of their resurrection, they will get joy and honor that are beyond their understanding

Their minor troubles in this life will result in an everlasting reward

They will live in a world where there is no death, no sin, no devil, no cares, no weeping, no parting - the old, earthly things will have passed away

God has said it and it will be proven true

What Christian can say, in the face of these promises, that there is no encouragement to share Christ

Where is the man or woman who begins to lose determination in the Christian race?

We need to think about this passage and take fresh courage - time is short - the end is certain

We may be discouraged for a night, but the joy will return in the morning - we need to wait patiently for the Lord

A warning to His disciples

Jesus saw a secret pride welling up in His apostles

Mark 10:31 “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.””

This was especially true when it came to the 12 apostles

One who appeared careful and trustworthy (Judas), carried the bag, did as much as any other apostle, yet betrayed them all

On the other side, we see a young Pharisee, trained by Gamaliel, enthusiastic for nothing except the law - persecuted Christians in his early life

Converted to Christ, became one of the chief apostles, worked harder than them all - this was Saul/Paul

The first shall be last and the last, first

This is true with churches

Asia Minor, Greece, North Africa were the power, then faded - US and Europe were heathens

US and Europe saw powerful churches, but are now fading

Asia and Africa see powerful churches and are evangelizing Europe and the US

First shall be last and the last, first

We need to pray humbly when we read passages like this

It is not enough to begin well, we must finish well

We need to pray to continue in strong faith - to continue our mission

We must bear good fruit with good habits of repentance, faith, holiness

Happy is the one who looks at the costs of their faith, and resolves to continue to walk in the narrow way, and by the grace of God, never get off track

Mark 10:32–34 ESV

And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

Jesus foreknowledge of His coming sufferings and death

The last point here, is the Lord’s clear foreknowledge of His own sufferings and death

He calmly tells His disciples of His coming torture and death that await in Jerusalem

He lays out each of the things that will lead to His death - he holds back nothing

We need to note this well - Jesus knew exactly what awaited Him in Jerusalem

Jesus made a free, careful and deliberate choice

From the very beginning of His earthly ministry, He knew the Cross was coming and He went to it willingly

He knew that the only way to reconcile His people to God was through His death

That was the agreement/covenant He had made with God the Father - He would pay for our sins through His own blood

When the time came, He was faithful to His commitment, He kept His word, and died for our sins at Calvary

Bringing it home

We need to be grateful to God for the Gospel, that gives us such a Saviour, who was faithful to the covenant - ready to suffer - willing to pay for our sins with His life - willing to save all who come to Him

We need to accept Him gladly as our Saviour, but also gladly give ourselves and all we have to His service

If Jesus cheerfully died for us, its a small thing for Christians to live for Him.

The Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Prayers

Questions