Mark 10:17-31
A. INTRODUCTION
There are many things that attract our devotion. We can be devoted to family and friends; the need to care for a parent, a partner, a child, or just someone who needs our care. We can be devoted to maintaining our rights, and the defence of our country, with the need to protect all that we hold dear. We can be devoted to our responsibilities, whether in the work that we do or the stand that we need to take on behalf of others. And we can be devoted to the causes that we feel passionate about; the things we feel strongly we should uphold and defend.
And while there are many things which can attract our devotion, it is also true that each of us will have different priorities. Each of us will express different levels of devotion even in common areas of interest. And each of us will express ourselves in different ways regarding what we see is important in life.
And just as all of that is true regarding family, friends, our rights and responsibilities, and our favourite causes, so is it also true of our devotion to God.
And two different extremes of devotion could not be better illustrated than what we have described for us in this passage from Mark gospel.
B. DEVOTION 1: THE MAN (Mark 10:17-22)
Because the first kind of devotion is presented in the story of an unnamed man who was apparently devout in his religious beliefs, who rigorously applied the ten commandments to his life, and was confident that he kept them all. He was rich and, presumably, he believed, that he was because of God’s blessing and favour upon him.
But yet, despite his façade of security, this man was concerned about his status regarding eternal life. Despite all of his efforts—and he was proud of his piety—he was no longer sure that his own efforts were enough to ensure eternal life. As a consequence, he presented himself before Jesus for some guidance and advice.
Now, there is no doubt that the man was serious about his approach. His manner, his eagerness, his kneeling posture, his formal address, and the weighty character of the question ‘What good do I need to do to inherit eternal life?’ all suggest deep respect for Jesus, and a genuine need for assurance.
Unfortunately, the answer that Jesus gave was not what he wanted or expected. Because the reply from Jesus challenged his hard-held beliefs.
Firstly, Jesus pointed to the fact that no-one was good, except God, and therefore it didn’t matter how pious and religious he was, it would never be enough to earn eternal life. He couldn’t achieve it on his own. It didn’t matter how ‘religious’ he was in his practices, because those practices alone would not mean that he would inherit eternal life.
Secondly, Jesus questioned whether he really had kept the commandments. And Jesus’s point was that the whole point of the commandments was to show people how impossible it was to keep God’s laws, how short of the mark people really were in reaching the perfection that God demanded and, as a consequence, how dependent upon God a man was regarding God’s gift of eternal life.
And thirdly, Jesus told him, that if he was serious about seeking eternal life, and if he really wanted to do something about it, then there was just one thing that he could do. And that was that he could go home, sell up everything, and join the disciples in following him.
Now on the surface Jesus’s reply to the man seems to be a bit tough. However, if you read the passage carefully, Jesus’s response was not one designed to shame the man by exposing his lack of commitment. Jesus’s response was an expression of real love. The man had come to Jesus desperately wanting to know how he could achieve eternal life. So Jesus took him, from where he was at—an already devout (if misguided) man—and tried to get him to take his devotion to a whole new level. One that would enable the man to reach his goal. However, one that required nothing less than self-sacrificing devotion.
Now, Jesus was aware of the man’s background of belief. However, there was one thing holding him back from being a true follower of God. And that was that the man considered his property and possessions more important than his relationship with God. As a consequence, the man was unable to surrender himself to the absolute claim of God on his life.
And, sadly, the result of the discussion between the man—who had come with a façade of security—and Jesus, was that the man departed with a face etched with disappointment and sorrow. He had his property and his possessions. But the cost of eternal life . . . Well, the price that Jesus demanded was just that little bit too high.
C. DEVOTION 2: THE DISCIPLES (Mark 10:23-27)
In contrast to the man, however, the second kind of devotion is presented by the example of the disciples. Now they had left everything—family, friends, jobs, everything—to follow Jesus. And maybe in contrast, the fact that most of them would not have been rich in the first place had made the demands of Jesus, to follow him, so much easier.
However, even the disciples had not been unaffected by the incident with the rich man. They had been there when the man had come to Jesus for advice. They had been there when the man had wandered sadly off. And the religious beliefs that they had been brought up with, probably, meant that they associated more with the understandings of the rich man regarding earning salvation than the ‘self-sacrificing’ devotion that Jesus taught.
So, in Jesus’s usual style, he sat them down and talked to them about the issue and, in particular, about the issue of wealth being a major obstacle to people having faith. Jesus reminded them that wealth tended to create a false sense of security where salvation was concerned. And the temptation was to trust in material resources and personal power, when what was demanded by both God’s laws of the Old Testament and the gospel of the New was a whole-hearted reliance upon God, demonstrated, in some way, by the fact that they—the disciples—had left everything to follow him.
D. IMPLICATION: OUR DEVOTION
From peoples of very similar religious backgrounds then—the rich man and the disciples— we have illustrated two quite different levels of devotion. The rich man who appeared devout in his religious beliefs but would only go so far—because he had other priorities—and the disciples who had given up everything to follow Jesus. The rich man who effectively turned down Jesus’s offer for eternal life, and the disciples who had accepted it.
Now obviously, for us, the implications are clear. Yes, we may have other things which require our devotion—family, friends, rights, responsibilities, and even good causes—but unless we are prepared to prioritise our lives so that we give God the same kind of self-sacrificing devotion that was required of the rich man and the disciples, then we might just as well, like the rich man, walk sadly away.
The rich man’s problem may have been the priority of his wealth—and as a consequence that was the area that Jesus had targeted—but for others there may be other barriers to true faith, other things that are hard to let go. For example, family commitments, community activities, work, sport, etc—all good and positive things in themselves, but not if they take a greater priority than our relationship with God.
Self-sacrificing devotion is what Jesus demands. Because without it, we have no right to call ourselves Christians; without it, we are not true members of his church; and without it, we neither have salvation nor can we look forward to eternal life.
We may feel as though we do lots of things right—keep rules, regulations, help others, etc—but without that commitment to discipleship, to putting aside everything for the priority of our devotion to God, in the end, all we are doing is kidding ourselves.
The message of the gospel is that salvation is not something we can earn. Rather, it is a free gift from God. And what God demands of each and every one of us is that we should make him our greatest priority in life. And when we do that, and when we trust in him, then we are free to accept God’s gracious reward.
E. COUNTING THE COST (Mark 10:28-31)
And the cost of this self-sacrificing devotion? If we are to join with Peter’s boast in saying to Jesus “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” (28), what price is it that we have to pay? Well, the one thing you can say about Jesus is that he lets you know all the plusses and all the minuses of total devotion. He doesn’t want anyone to make the decision uninformed.
And the costs and rewards can be basically summarised in three ways:
Firstly, Jesus acknowledges that part of the cost of discipleship is that we may be expected to leave behind members of our family and some of our friends. If we are disciples we may be expected to follow Jesus in going to places and in doing things that are far removed from the people we know and love.
It may also be that as a result of our faith, people will not understand or will not appreciate our motivation in life. As a consequence, our relationships between our family and friends will change, and not necessarily for the better.
In contrast however, Jesus states the principle that God takes nothing away from someone without restoring it to them in a new glorious form. Indeed, we may lose family and friends but, in doing so, he promises he will give us a whole lot more. Whatever our family size, the family of God is a whole lot bigger. No matter how much our family and friends care, the family of God will do a whole lot more. And our new family’s role will be to encourage, to build up, and to support us in our faith, no matter where God should take us.
Secondly, Jesus states that part of the cost of discipleship will be the loss of ownership of possessions and other things that were previously important to us. That may mean there are some things that we will cease to own. But otherwise, there will be a readjustment of the levels of devotion in the things that we would otherwise hold dear.
In other words, self-sacrificing devotion involves the need to establish a new priority. And if anything should stand between us and God—and stop us from giving him our true devotion—then drastic measures may need to be taken. Whatever it may be, and whatever we are attached to, it will need to be cast aside as we take up a life with a quite different emphasis and radically new priorities.
In contrast, however, Jesus promises that whatever we give away, we will be rewarded a hundredfold for the things we have lost.
And thirdly, Jesus says that part of the cost of discipleship means that our faith journey will not be an easy ride. Some people will not understand what we’re doing, and will respond with open hostility. The Christian faith tends to put others in a bad light. And, as a consequence, many will be opposed to our stand. Therefore, all true Christians can expect to be receive open hostility and plenty of persecution because of their stand.
In contrast, yes we may be persecuted, but we will have the gift of eternal life—the greatest gift anyone can possibly receive. The gift that Jesus made possible on the cross.
That means that come judgement day—and it’s our turn to face judgment for the things that we’ve not only done but failed to do as well—that we will be judged ‘not guilty’ and allowed to take our inheritance—a place in heaven and the gift of eternal life—because of what Jesus has done, and because we have trusted in him to have taken away all our sins, faults, and failings.
Counting the cost of faith, then, for Jesus, is very important. And even though Jesus admits that the cost is high, the rewards far outweigh the things that are lost. Yes, we might be tempted to hold on to the things that we have here and now but, in contrast, the things that we hold dear in this world, pale in comparison with the rewards of a life lived in self-sacrificing devotion to God.
F. CONCLUSION
The rich man, then, searching for eternal life, made the wrong decision. He thought that his worldly possessions were more important than his relationship with God. And despite his religious background and practices, he gave a resounding ‘No’ to eternal life.
The disciples, on the other hand, had already given up everything to follow Jesus. And, as a consequence, received the blessing of God.
And if those were the decisions of the rich man and the disciples, what is ours? Do we have things that so occupy our devotions that we are unable to give our priorities to God? Or have we accepted Jesus’s solution and committed ourselves to a life of discipleship with him?
What Jesus demands of all of us is a radical commitment to himself, sustained in the act of following him faithfully. Because anything less is no commitment at all.
Posted: 2nd November 2023
© 2023, Brian A Curtis
www.brianacurtis.com.au
