"You Call that GOOD News?" - Mark 10:17-31

Sermon Series: Spare Me the Details - Just Give Me Jesus

I don’t like to go to the doctor.  Going to the doctor usually means that something is wrong and I don’t want to come face to face with that reality.  One of the things that I don’t ever want to hear from the doctor is that I am diabetic.  I’m convinced that would be one of the worst things the doctor could tell me because I love sweets.  It doesn’t really matter what kind – ice cream, brownies, cake, donuts – I love them all.  If the doctor did some blood work and came back with the results and said, “Matt, I’ve got some really good news for you, our tests are showing that your body is not producing enough insulin.  We need to talk about some diet changes and some medications that are going to have to become a regular part of your daily life,” I would probably burst into tears and weep and sob all over the guy.  I would hardly consider that good news.  But consider the alternative for just a second.  What if that doctor did the blood work and discovered I was diabetic?  And what if he knew that that news would break my heart?  What if rather than revealing that news to me, he said, “Things look okay.  Just keep trying hard to stay healthy.”  What if he didn’t reveal to me where my body was failing and what if he didn’t help prepare me for my daily activities with medications that might help?  Would he be helping me?  Or would he be hurting me even worse?  While telling me might mean drastic changes in diet and daily medications, not telling me might result in death.  While the news might not be good, the doctor telling me and equipping me to face my diabetes would actually be a great act of grace on his part.  When something is wrong with us physically we need someone who will reveal that to us and help us discover a solution.  But I believe the same holds true spiritually.  So there’s a question that I believe each one of us ought to ask ourselves, “Have we been diagnosed with a spiritual problem and is there a solution?”  The text that we cover in this post answers that question well.  In addition to answering that question, as we examine a text that seems to have a lot of bad news we will actually uncover two pieces of really good news that should provide great hope to all people.

This passage begins with an individual running up and kneeling before Jesus.  These actions suggest that this individual was genuinely and sincerely interested in becoming a disciple of and follower of Jesus.  The man’s dialogue with Jesus begins with both an interesting statement and a revealing question – both of which Jesus will use to help direct this individual to a right understanding of salvation.  Let’s work on dissecting the first part of this dialogue.  Notice first that the man calls Jesus, “Good Teacher.”  This was a very unusual way for an individual to address someone.  “In Judaism only God is characteristically called ‘good.’  Rabbis welcomed any number of titles, but only rarely was a rabbi addressed as ‘good teacher,’ for fear of blasphemy against God, who alone is good” (James Edwards).  In Jesus’ response to the man He begins by asking the man why he called Him good.  Throughout Mark’s gospel, Jesus has strived to keep His identity as the Messiah hidden.  It was highly unlikely that this man understood fully that Jesus was God’s Son.  This may have been part of the reason that Jesus asked the man this question.  Perhaps more importantly Jesus was striving to make a point that only God is good.  Jesus says to the man, “No one is good except God alone.”  Make sure you get this point – ONLY God is good!  This is going to play a significant role in the application Jesus makes in just a minute.  The question that the man asks of Jesus reveals to the readers a great deal about the way he believes one comes into possession of eternal life.  He asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  The man’s question helps us to see his belief that eternal life is obtained by works that we do.  Jesus recognizes this in the man’s question, so He leads the man to understand that even though he has done things well, it isn’t his works that will cause him to obtain eternal life.  Jesus, knowing full well what the young man has accomplished and what his response will be, says to him, “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.’”  The man responds to Jesus in verse 20, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”  The first reaction from us, the readers, is that there is no way that is possible.  But there is nothing in the text to suggest that this man is being deceptive.  While we can be fairly confident that this man has not kept all of these laws in the intent of his heart, in action he may very well have been without blame, and that is the way I believe we ought to understand the text.  Here is a man who by the letter of the law is without blame.  But what did Jesus say earlier in verse 18?  “No one is good except God alone.”  No one is good – not even those who keep the letter of the law and by those standards appear to be without blame.  Even those who have kept the letter of the Law are not considered good and as a result are separated from God.  That’s bad news.  Even if by the standards of the Law we live a blameless life, we are still separated and apart from God and without hope for eternal life.  So where does our hope come from?  Check out the next few verses.

In verse 21 something incredible transpires.  Notice first that Jesus is looking at the man.  The Greek word used here means “to look at intently, to examine, or to scrutinize.”  When Jesus looks at the man in this way there is nothing that He does not perceive.  The man isn’t deceiving Jesus, Jesus would have known.  Jesus looks intently at the man, and then the text tells us that Jesus loved him.  This is huge – this is the only place in Mark’s gospel that we see Mark say that Jesus ‘loved him.’  While he was not good, while all his efforts had not achieved his salvation, Jesus still loved him.  That’s extraordinary news!  Then Jesus reveals to the man what he still needs.  This is the first piece of really good news – Jesus sees what each of us is lacking.  Jesus tells the man that despite his incredible efforts to keep the letter of the law he is still lacking one thing.  Please make sure that you understand the gracious act that this is.  Jesus notices the one thing that this man is lacking, but He doesn’t keep it hidden from the man.  Jesus wants this individual to have eternal life.  Jesus wants this individual to draw close to Him and the Father.  And so Jesus, in an extraordinary act of grace reveals to the man what is lacking in his life.  Jesus tells the man, “Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”  Jesus, after looking intently at the man, sees that there is one thing that he treasures more than Christ.  There is one thing that he is more committed to than even Jesus, Himself – it’s his possessions.  Jesus did not come to take second place in any of our lives.  Jesus wants us to love and treasure Him over and above all things.  So Jesus gives this man instructions to part with that which He treasures the most, so that Jesus can become his greatest and most significant treasure.  (Notice the irony of this text and part of the passage that we covered last week.  Last week Jesus instructed individuals to come to Him like little children.  Little children don’t have any possessions and yet Jesus never says they lack anything; instead He says that the kingdom of God belongs to them.  This man comes with many possessions, but Jesus says to him, you’re still lacking something and still without the kingdom of God.)  While this man had kept the Law, it had not led him to treasure Jesus.  Jesus tries to help him understand that in following Him he will have treasure in heaven.  Jesus, in other words, is a better substitute for our worldly treasures.  But too often we try to use our possessions as a substitute for Jesus.  We gain eternal life when we recognize our need for forgiveness, recognize our inability to achieve that forgiveness on our own, recognize that Jesus is the greatest treasure we can possess, and by faith surrender our lives to Him and follow Him.  That’s what Jesus was trying to help this man understand.  But instead we see something else transpire.  We see the man walking away from Jesus and the gift of eternal life because he had great possessions and treasured them too much.

We need to understand that God longs to act graciously on our behalf.  And one of the ways we can experience that grace is if we will open up His Word, and honestly listen to what He has to say.  When we do that He will show us what it is we are lacking.  God wants us to understand that none of us is good – none of us.  Regardless of how well you have kept His commands, the intent of our heart is often evil and full of sin, and as a result we are all separated from God.  Now, God doesn’t reveal this to condemn us.  He doesn’t reveal this to try to make us feel bad or discouraged.  He reveals our shortcomings so that we can do what is necessary to make sure we do possess a relationship with Him and the assurance of eternal life.  So understand that none of us is good.  Then listen to what Jesus says.  Here’s my paraphrase – “Don’t try to substitute anything for Me.  Let Me be your greatest treasure.  When I am your greatest treasure you’ll realize that I far outweigh any treasure you could possibly have here on earth.  So come and follow Me.”  If you have not surrendered control of your life to Jesus, if you are not treasuring Him over and above everything else, and if you have not decided to follow Him by receiving His gift of salvation and making Him the Savior and Lord of your life, then you are still lacking the one thing you need.  So let me ask you to listen carefully as we walk through these next couple of verses.

After the man walks away disheartened, verse 23 says that Jesus looks at his disciples and says to them, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.”  Does that mean what it really sounds like?  Does that mean it is genuinely hard for someone who possesses great wealth to obtain salvation and eternal life?  If it sounds a little hard to believe, Mark demonstrates for his readers that the disciples wrestled with the saying too.  Verse 24 says that “the disciples were amazed at His words.”  Jesus surely sensed that, so in order to make sure that His disciples understood Jesus said 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.”  Jesus appears to in fact mean what He said the first time.  So let’s articulate the truth and then let’s examine the illustration.  The truth is that coming into possession of salvation and obtaining eternal life by one’s own efforts is incredibly difficult.  Actually obtaining salvation by one’s own efforts is impossible.  How do we know this?  Jesus illustrates with the next part of His statement.  Let’s ask this question first, “How easy is it for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle?”  It’s impossible isn’t it?  Jesus says that it is more likely for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into God’s Kingdom.  So here is the unbelievable reality that the disciples are beginning to realize in this encounter and dialogue – if it is impossible for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, it is even more impossible for a rich person to come into possession of salvation and to enter the kingdom of God.  Are you all surprised by that?  The disciples certainly were.  In fact the text says that they were “exceedingly astonished.”  This wasn’t a statement of Jesus that they misunderstood.  They clearly understood what Jesus was saying, the seriousness of its consequences, and it appears from their next question that they began to even lose hope.  They ask Jesus in verse 26, “Then who can be saved?”  If it is impossible for those who are the most privileged and who have the best and most resources available to obtain salvation and eternal life, then what about those who are less fortunate.  If it is impossible for the rich to enter there certainly isn’t any hope for those less fortunate either.  So is there anyone who can be saved?  The bad news is that by our own efforts the answer is ‘no.’  There is no hope for individuals to obtain salvation on their own.  But this is also where we find the second piece of really good news – Jesus makes impossible salvation, possible.  Jesus has a phenomenal answer to His disciples’ question.  Jesus begins in verse 27 by affirming their assessment, “With man it is impossible. . .”  The disciples had rightly understood Him – obtaining salvation and eternal life by their own efforts was impossible.  But then Jesus adds, “But not with God.  For all things are possible with God.”  Here’s the outstanding news!  While obtaining salvation is impossible for man to do, it isn’t impossible for God.  God can and has made salvation available to each of us who were unable to obtain it on our own.  Whereas we were not good, separated from God because of our sin, God sent His perfect and righteous Son, Jesus - One who was righteous and good just like God the Father.  And according to the Father’s plan, Jesus came to be a substitute for a sinful and unrighteous humanity.  Humanity was without hope because our sin both separated us from God and made us the objects of God’s wrath.  But according to God’s plan and worked out by Jesus’ faithful execution of that plan, Jesus took our sin upon Himself, suffered God’s wrath on the cross so that we would no longer have to, and then (having paid the penalty for our sin in full) transferred His righteousness to those who would believe in Him and receive Him as Savior and Lord.  As a result, the salvation that was impossible for us to obtain on our own was made possible as a gift from God the Father through the saving work of Jesus on the cross.  Jesus made impossible salvation, possible!

Here then is the question that each of us has to ask ourselves, “Who am I relying upon for the hope of salvation and eternal life, myself or Jesus?”  Listen, I’m not telling you this to discourage you, offend you, or to talk down to you – I’m telling you this because I love you, because my greatest desire is that you would share in the salvation that I have, and because it is truth.  If you are striving to obtain God’s favor, salvation and eternal life by your own efforts, there is no hope for you.  You are attempting to do the impossible.  But here’s the good news – you can have those very things.  You can have God’s favor, you can have salvation, and you can have the assurance of eternal life with God.  But you have to set your heart on Christ, treasure Him above every other thing, surrender control of your life to Him, and follow Him.  

That’s a huge surrender.  Jesus doesn’t want to be the thing we treasure the 2^nd most or 3^rd most.  He wants to be the thing we treasure over and above all things.  What are some of the things that we tend to treasure most in this life – often times it’s family, homes, and possessions isn’t it?  So notice we still have a few more verses left in our text and in those verses Jesus addresses the fears and anxieties that sometimes come with letting go of those things to treasure Him the most.  Peter says in verse 28, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”  Peter was looking for reassurance from Christ, believing that he and the other disciples had done just what Jesus had instructed the man to do.  And in the verses that follow Mark’s readers find assurance as Jesus assures Peter and the other disciples that when we give up those things that we love and treasure the most to follow Him, we will receive others in their place.  For clarity sake, here’s what I believe and what most scholars understand Jesus’ response to mean.  Jesus doesn’t mean that we will get new families, new houses, and new possessions in a literal sense.  When we come to faith in Christ we become a part of new community – we become members of God’s family.  So those who are already believers in Christ become our brothers and sisters.  And when we live in right community with one another none of us should go without, because as a brother in Christ I have a responsibility to care for you.  Therefore my possessions are no longer for my benefit alone.  My possessions are to be for your good and edification as well.  You become a part of a greater Christian community and though you may have had to forsake some of the things that you had and treasured before, you come into possession of much more when you become a part of the community of believers. 

While the blessings of coming to faith in Christ are great – becoming a follower of Christ is never portrayed as an easy life with no difficulties and trials.  Christ, Himself, reminds us of this when He includes in the list of blessings we receive the fact that we will inherit persecutions as well.  But here’s the last plea – don’t fix your eyes on the wrong things, the things that we have to surrender.  Imagine a guy who is getting ready to marry a stunningly beautiful and amazingly talented and loving woman.  Then imagine that all he can think about are the things that he’s going to have to give up.  Is that crazy or what?  The guy is getting ready to gain an amazing wife and all he can think about is how he can no longer leave the toilet seat up.  That’s ridiculous isn’t it?  And yet, when we take our eyes off the glory and splendor of Christ and focus only on what we have to give up to follow Him we have our eyes on the wrong thing.

Jesus, in an extraordinary act of grace has looked upon us, seen what we are lacking (which is any goodness at all due to our sinfulness and unrighteousness) and has made known to us our shortcomings.  Don’t misunderstand this.  This is an incredible act of love and kindness demonstrated toward us.  Jesus doesn’t keep it hidden from us, which would ultimately lead us to strive day after day for that which we cannot obtain.  Jesus points out what we are lacking, and then He, Himself, did what we couldn’t do.  He paid the penalty we couldn’t pay and makes salvation and eternal life, which was once impossible for us to obtain, available to us as a free gift.  That is the grace of God, and the love of God, being extended to you freely!  The question now is, “What will you do with it?”

Small Group Questions for Discussion

1. Read Mark 10:17-22.  In these verses we emphasized the truth that Jesus sees what each of us is lacking and argued that this isn't bad news, but rather a demonstration of His love and grace towards us.  The point of the text is primarily about our lack of goodness and righteousness that is a result of our sin and the inability of our works to restore our goodness and righteousness.  We argued that revealing what we are lacking is an act of love and grace because it keeps us from striving in vain to earn our salvation and calls us instead to simply come and follow Jesus.  With Jesus, having now ascended into Heaven, what role does the Holy Spirit play in this process?  How do we typically 'feel' about the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin in our lives and what does that produce?  How instead shoud we 'think' about the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin in our lives and what would that produce? 

2. Read Mark 10:23-27.  In these verses we emphasized the truth that Jesus makes impossible salvation, possible.  Jesus made the bad news clear to the disciples that it is impossible for someone to earn his salvation.  In fact, Jesus said it is more likely for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone to earn his salvation.  When the disciples heard and understood this it seems that they began to lose their hope.  But that's when Jesus made known the really good news that God made that salvation which was impossible to earn, available to everyone through His Son Jesus.  Is there an area in your life now or recently where you feel like you were beginning to lose hope?  What is it?  What can we remember about who God is, what He has done, and what He has promised that will help us to hope in Him again?    

3. Read Mark 10:28-31.  In these verses we talked about Jesus' reassurance.  We noted that following Jesus requires a great surrender.  It will always mean that we choose not to treasure any other thing more than we treasure Him, and may also require us to literally let go of and lose some other things.  Commenting on this story in his recent book, Radical, David Platt says, ". . . obviously, following Jesus doesn't necessarily imply a loss of all your private property and possessions. . . If Mark 10 teaches anything, it teaches us that Jesus does sometimes call people to sell everything they have and give it to the poor.  This means He might call you or me to do this."  In addition David asks some tough questions.  "So what about you and me?  Are we willing to ask God if He wants us to sell everything we have and give the money to the poor?  Are we willing to ask and wait for an answer instead of providing one of our own or justifying our ideas of why He would never tell us to do this? . . . Are you and I looking to Jesus for advice that seems fiscally responsible according to the standards of the world around us?  Or are we looking to Jesus for total leadership in our lives, even if that means going against everything our affluent culture and maybe even our affluent religious neighbors might tell us to do?"  How would we answer these questions?

4. What step of faith does this passage of Scripture require us to take as individuals and as a small group?  How do we work this out on mission?