Jesus - Whose Team is He on Anyway? - Mark 10:1-16

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

Have you ever played a game that required people to compete against one another as teams?  I’m not thinking so much in the context of competitive sports, but more along the lines of group games like Charades, Guesstures, Pictionary, Cranium or Catch Phrase.  In each of these games teams compete against one another and in each of these games the teams are required to call out their guesses until they have correctly guessed what their teammate is acting out, drawing, or describing.  Chances are if you have played any of these games before you have also been exposed to the over-excited guy or girl who just can’t help but shouting out his or her guesses, even if the other team is trying to guess.  It’s terribly frustrating when that individual is shouting out answers for the other team, especially when the answer he/she is shouting out is the correct one.  We’ve all had experiences like that, and the question we always want to ask is, “Whose team are you on anyway?”  We want to say to them, “Our goal and objective is to get more points than the other team so that we can win.  When you shout out the answers for them you are helping them acquire points and hurting our chances of winning.”  We want them to understand the objective and partner with us in achieving it.  We want to know with confidence whose team they are really on.  Sometimes I think we end up having the same question for Jesus.  We look at Him and wonder whose team He is really on.  But that’s a question we ought not to have because the Bible gives us a definite answer.  We just need to know well what that answer is.  In the passage of Mark’s gospel that we will cover in this post Mark will help the readers of his gospel to see two actions of Jesus that clearly identify whose team He is on.   

In verse 1 of chapter 10 we see Jesus and His disciples (who are present in verse 10) making their way from Capernaum in Galilee into Judea and beyond the Jordan.  At the end of verse one we find Jesus engaged in His primary means of ministry – teaching.  It isn’t long, however, before some Pharisees show up with the intention of testing Jesus.  This isn’t uncommon in Mark’s gospel.  But what makes this encounter different is the subject they use to test Jesus.  On this occasion the Pharisees attempt to use the subject of ‘divorce’ to test Him.  Verse 2 tells us that their question for Jesus is, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”  Pay close attention to their wording, for we see some significant aspects of both their culture and their own presuppositions coming out in the question.  “In ancient Judaism, marriage was not regarded as a union of equals for the mutual benefit of both husband and wife, but rather as an institution whose chief purpose was the establishment and continuance of the family . . .” (James Edwards).  Because the Jewish culture did not esteem women marriage was therefore dominated by men.  And because of the permissive divorce policy within the Jewish culture many women were often left in difficult positions having been divorced by husbands for no good reason at all.  It seems that the Pharisees were desiring to challenge Jesus in regards to what they understood to be permissible and how they felt Jesus might answer the question.   

Jesus responds to the Pharisees’ question with a question of His own in verse 3.  The question that Jesus asked and how the Pharisees answer His question are key in helping us to understand their presuppositions coming into this confrontation.  In verse 3 Jesus asks them, “What did Moses command you?”  The Pharisees answer Jesus by making referencing to what Moses had written in Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  When we look at those verses we see Moses making mention of certificates of divorce being issued.  But look closely at this passage.  Divorce isn’t the main subject of these verses – it has more to do with the circumstances being addressed in the passage.  While Moses makes mention of certificates of divorce in the verses the subject of these verses seems to be focused more on maintaining the purity both of individuals and of the Promised Land.  The Pharisees have come with an agenda though and use this passage as a proof text for the answer that they see as most beneficial to them.  So they answer in verse 4, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.”  The Pharisees, along with the rest of Jewish culture, did not value women and were seeking to maintain the power and authority that men held over women, to more or less divorce and send women away as they wanted to.  But pay special attention to Jesus’ question, “What did Moses command you?”  Given that Deuteronomy 24:1-4 isn’t really a command concerning divorce we may need to search elsewhere.  So let’s begin with a different question.  What portion of the OT is Moses given credit for writing?  The Torah, sometimes also called the Pentateuch (which consists of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).  And of those first five books, Genesis and Exodus are largely made up of narratives, while the last three (Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) are largely dealing with laws and other instructions from God.  So one might be tempted to give preference to one of the last three books when trying to answer questions regarding God’s laws or instructions.  But Jesus understands that some of the most formative and important laws are found not in the last three books of the Pentateuch, but from the very beginning of the Bible itself.  So Jesus draws the Pharisees attention to their misunderstanding.  According to Jesus, Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is not what God commanded in regards to divorce and marriage.  Deuteronomy 24:1-4 should be regarded as instructions which Moses gave the hard-hearted Israelites to help maintain their purity after they had been disobedient to God’s original commands and strayed into sin.  Jesus then helps answer the question for these misguided Pharisees.  In verse 6 Jesus quotes some even earlier passages of the Pentateuch, drawing from commands God gave at creation and which Moses had recorded.  Jesus first quotes Genesis 1:27 and then 2:24, “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’”  This is what God designed!  This is what God intended and commanded!  And this is what Moses records.  Then Jesus provides a little of His own commentary on these verses from Genesis when He says, “So they are no longer two but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”  Those Pharisees were attempting to provide proof and evidence from the OT to support their desire for the freedom to divorce women whenever they deemed it appropriate.  They wanted to know what was permissible.  Jesus on the other hand wants them to understand what is commanded.  God’s design for marriage and the bond that is formed in marriage isn’t a contractual agreement that can be broken when things aren’t the way we want them to be.  Marriage is a covenant in which a new creation is formed.  It is an institution established and created by God.  And because it is created by God decisions of men cannot bring it to an end.  The real question then that Jesus seems to direct these Pharisee to is not whether or not divorce is permissible, but rather what the true intentions of God are.  And in regards to marriage, when two individuals enter into that covenant, God’s intention is for them to remain in that covenant relationship.

In verse 10 we find Jesus in a home with His disciples, a place we often find Jesus and His disciples after teaching times with different crowds.  And as is common the disciples are struggling to understand what Jesus had meant in His discussion with the Pharisees.  So Jesus speaks to them even more on the subject in verse 11.  First, let’s make sure we are clear about what happens when a marriage is consummated.  Two separate individuals come together in an act of sexual intercourse and something about that act unites those two individuals as one flesh.  It is something that happens as a result of God’s design and something that cannot be undone by man’s declaration of divorce.  While those individuals may have a piece of paper declaring that from man’s perspective they are no longer joined, because they consummated their marriage with intercourse those individuals from God’s perspective are still united as one flesh.  That is why Jesus can say in verse 11 that “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another [that marriage being consummated by sexual intercourse] commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”  Man cannot separate and undo what has been done in God’s created sequence and order.  Once sexual intercourse has taken place between two individuals they have become one flesh, and any sexual intercourse outside of that newly created ‘one’ flesh is adultery. 

Jesus uses the subject of marriage and divorce to teach us a lesson about our desires and intentions and what we are often apt to do.  Because we are great lovers of self we are often seeking to increase our power, our authority, our position, and our pleasure.  We are seeking ways to make much of ourselves.  The problem is God’s intentions and plans aren’t the same as ours.  God’s intentions and plans are to make much of Him.  So there are times when our plans and intentions come into conflict with His intentions and plans.  Marriage requires a lot of work, sacrifice, and giving of ourselves.  There are times when people, particularly men within this ancient Jewish culture, would want to move on from their marriages.  If their marriages were not making much of them and fulfilling their own personal desires then they wanted to have the ability to simply walk away and to pursue something else that would make much of them.  And some, even among the most religious, felt they had found justification within God’s law to do just that.  But Jesus cautions us from pursuing our own desires and trying to justify those desires from Scripture.  Instead, Jesus affirms God’s intentions – not our own desires.  And by doing that, He makes clear that first and foremost He is on God’s team.  As for us, rather than pleading with Jesus to join our team and to help make much of us, we ought to be keeping our eyes solely fixed on God’s intentions and purposes and go hard after them.  Will those things always make much of us?  No.  Will they always make much of Him?  Absolutely.  And that after all is what we should be striving after!  Jesus’ objective in life wasn’t to make much of us.  Jesus’ mission and ministry was to glorify the Father and to make much of Him.  As disciples of and followers of Christ we ought to have the same purpose for our lives – to glorify and make much of the God.  But that means we have to start setting our hearts and minds on God’s intentions and purposes.  We cannot presume that our desires are always the same as God’s intentions.  Instead we need to look intently on God’s purposes and plans and set our hearts on striving after those things.

In verse 13 we find some individuals who were bringing young children to Jesus.  Notice the response of the disciples in that verse – they were rebuking them!  This language is incredibly strong.  In Mark’s gospel we have seen Jesus ‘rebuke’ demons and those who attempted to oppose Him.  Now this same language and word is being used to describe the way in which the disciples are speaking to children and those who are bringing the children.  This is a shock to us because we tend to treat small children very tenderly in our culture.  However, in ancient Judaism, children were neither valued as much nor treated as carefully as we do in our culture.  So this response from the disciples would not have been entirely out of context.  While it may not have bothered most in their culture, the disciples’ harsh treatment of the children greatly angered Jesus.  James Edwards says of the disciples, “their attitude continues to be formed by societal standards rather than by Jesus.”  Jesus understood the value of these children as God’s unique creation and did not place value (or lack of value) on anyone because of their perceived position in society.  It is also common throughout the gospel accounts to find Jesus demonstrating His compassion for those who are often deemed helpless and vulnerable.  Jesus does that here when He instructs the disciples saying, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”  What Jesus demonstrates here and what He says here are so incredibly important.  Jesus gives His disciples instructions to let those who are the least significant, who have the least to offer, and who have no value or worth to anyone else come to Him.  “Let the children come . . .”  Those four words should fill our hearts with thanksgiving and praise today!  Jesus didn’t place great restrictions on who could come to Him.  He didn’t say let the most influential of society come.  He didn’t say let the ones who are the wealthiest come.  He didn’t say let those who are the most skilled come.  And He didn’t say let those who will work the hardest for me come.  There is a place in the presence of our Savior for every person.  Regardless of the value or significance which society has put on different individuals, there is a place for every person with Jesus.  But Jesus also offers some truth regarding how we are to ‘receive’ the kingdom of God.  In verse 15 Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”  There are a couple of important things in this sentence that we need to direct our attention to.  Perhaps most important is the word ‘receive.’  According to Jesus the kingdom of God is not something that we work for and earn.  It is not something that we purchase or something that is deserved as payment for service that we perform.  The kingdom of God is a gift that is to be received.  And the way we receive that gift must be like a little child who receives a gift – with a humility and a sense of gratitude.  When those who have no means of purchasing something of incredible value or working for and earning something of incredible value, receive a gift of extraordinary value, they receive it knowing that it is only because of the goodness of the giver that it is theirs and having a great appreciation for both the gift and the giver.  That is the only way we as individuals receive salvation and the gift of God’s kingdom.  We must do so humbly, recognizing that salvation is a gift of incredible value that we cannot purchase or earn on our own.  Left to our own efforts we would all fall miserably short of earning forgiveness of sins and eternal life with the Father.  So Jesus came instead and purchased it for us by shedding His righteous and innocent blood in our place.  He took the wrath of God for our sins upon Himself and in turn offers to us His righteousness and holiness.  We just have to choose to receive it with a humble and thankful heart.  Then in verse 16 Jesus took the children into His arms and demonstrated how much He valued them by blessing them and laying His hands on them?           

In these verses Jesus uses children to teach us a lesson about God’s love and acceptance versus our own practices of love and acceptance.  God the Father has a deep and abiding love for every person.  He doesn’t love and accept individuals based on their status or their ability to serve and do things for Him.  God’s love has nothing to do with our own merit or worth.  God loves us all and invites us all into a relationship with Himself.  Our love and acceptance of others is often based on what others can do for us.  How will extending love and acceptance to others benefit us?  If they can help us then we will love and accept them.  If not, we keep our distance.  According to these verses in Mark, Jesus extends God’s love, not man’s acceptance.  Another clear indication that Jesus is on God’s team.

Considering these verses, two questions come to mind for myself.  The first is, “Am I extending the unconditional love of God to all people, including those I consider insignificant and who have little to offer me?”  The second is, “Am I standing in the way of some who might be desiring to come to Christ?”  Unfortunately the answer to the first question is that I am probably not showing the unconditional love of God to all people.  I ran into a guy at Starbucks this week that came across as really weird.  As he talked to me my thought wasn’t “how can I show the love of Christ to this guy?”  My thought was “how can I end the conversation with this guy?”  The answer to the second question – I don’t know.  I sure hope that I am not standing in the way of someone who wants to come to Christ.  Jesus took this offense very seriously, so I ought to at least make time to give the question some serious consideration.  What’s worse then actually standing in someone’s way is not knowing it and continuing to hold my stance.

This section of Mark’s gospel doesn’t leave any questions about whose team Jesus is on.  Jesus desires only to make much of the Father and to bring Him glory and praise.  To believe that Jesus came to earth to make much of us – to increase our glory, our fame, and our pleasure can’t be held as a result of a serious examination of Scripture.  In these verses Jesus affirms God’s intentions and extends God’s love – two clear indications that He is on God’s team and that He came to make much of Him.  The question is no longer then, “Whose team is Jesus on?”  That answer is incredibly clear.  Perhaps the better question is, “Whose team are we living like we are on?”  Are we more concerned with understanding God’s intentions and desires and pursing those or are we attempting to get Jesus to help us meet our own desires?  Are we more concerned with extending God’s love to all people (including the most insignificant) or are we only willing to accept those who can help make much of us?  Answering those questions should help us see whose team it looks like we’re on.

Small Group Questions for Discussion

1. Read verses 1-12.  In these verses we emphasized the point that Jesus affirms God’s intentions, not man’s desires.  We noted that the Pharisees (as well as the Jewish culture as a whole) were, in this case, more focused on what was permissible than they were with what God intended and desired.  What are some of the areas where we as believers today tend to focus on what is permissible rather than what God intended or desired?

2. Read verses 13-16.  In these verses we emphasized the point that Jesus extends God's love, not man's acceptance.  Give some examples of the way that we show love to others who are like us and who are easy to love?  Do we need God to empower us to do these things?  Give some examples of how we show love to others who are not like us and who are hard to love?  Do we need God to empower us to do these things?  How would our lives look different if by God's power we were extending His love to those who are not like us and who are hard to love?  Would our demonstrations of love towards them look different? 

3. 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?