Mark 10:1-31 (November 13 2022)

I'm turning Mark chapter 10. We're gonna be in verses 1 through 31 this morning. Mark chapter 10 verses 1 through 31. We're just continuing our series through Mark and just to give you a heads up of where we'll be over the course of the next several weeks.

We're going to end Mark 10 next Sunday and then the Sunday after that. November 27th is the beginning of Advent and so we're gonna place Mark on pause until we'll pick back up with Mark in the new year after the Advent and Christmas seasons.

But we're gonna hit pause for a few weeks in Mark after we finish up Mark 10 and that is kind of where we're going over the next few weeks. Just wanted to give you a heads up on that. But here in Mark 10 verses 1 through 31 in this passage Jesus is continuing to dispense kingly wisdom except for this time it's not just to the disciples it's also to the crowds in some places here.

But he's giving kingly wisdom that is he is teaching them how to live rightly in his kingdom. And this passage touches on three very practical issues three topics that are always on people's minds. We touch marriage children and money.

Marriage, Divorce, and the Creation Ordinance

Jesus addresses marriage children and money. And so let's begin with marriage in verses 1 through 12 and let's read the words of the Living God. And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan.

And crowds gathered to him again and again as was his custom he taught them and Pharisees came up in order to test him. Asked is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife. He answered them what did Moses command you.

And they said Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away. And Jesus said to them because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 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. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together. Let not man separate.

And in the house of the disciples. In the house the disciples asked him again about this matter and he said to them whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another she commits adultery.

This is God's word to us this morning we begin with marriage. And the first thing to notice here is that the Pharisees they come up to Jesus to test him. We see that in verse 2 they want to test him and they do it by asking this loaded question is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife.

It's a loaded question for a couple of reasons. One of which is you may remember that John the Baptist was killed was beheaded because he objected to the King Herod breaking up a marriage by taking his brother's wife.

And so maybe they're trying to get Jesus. They're trying to trap him into saying something that would also get him beheaded. Second they're trying to get Jesus to pick aside in a very hotly contested Jewish debate about divorce laws.

And so the meaning of Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 1 and then the verses coming after that that was what was in question in this debate because Deuteronomy 24 1 says that a man can write a certificate of divorce to his wife if she quote finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her.

So the question they were debating is what qualifies as some indecency. So you have one group that had a rather narrow interpretation of the phrase and took it to mean marital impropriety of some sort adultery or some other sexual sin short of adultery kind of a narrow focus on what that could be.

Another group had a very broad interpretation of what some indecency could mean taking the phrase to mean anything that the husband found displeasing. And so in this view and I'm not making this up in this view spoiling his dinner could be grounds for divorce.

And so basically the Pharisees wanted what what one commentator called male oriented no-fault divorce. They wanted to be lawful to divorce for any reason so long as they filled out the requisite paperwork they filled out and wrote her the certificate.

Now Jesus doesn't fall for traps and so he doesn't answer this question directly at first he answers the question with another question to them and says what is what did Moses command you. And it's interesting he asked about a commandment but they respond with an allowance.

Moses allowed Moses allowed a certificate of divorce. And it's true you read Deuteronomy 24 you see that the law made provision for divorce. And so at that point this point we've got to square some things because Malachi chapter 2 verse 16 says that God hates divorce.

And yet the law that God gave to Moses to give to Israel made provision for it. Why. Well Jesus answers that question in verse 5 he says because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

But from the beginning God made the male and female. Therefore man should leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife. The two shall become one flesh. So they're no longer two but one flesh.

What. Therefore God is joined together let not man separate. And so what we see in Jesus's answer here is we see a general rule. And then we see a limited accommodation. We see a general rule that's rooted in in the creation of the world's rooted in nature how things are intended to be and how things ought to be.

And then you have a limited accommodation to a fallen world full of sin and sinners. And so I want to look at each of these in turn what is the general rule. And what is the what is the accommodation that God's law makes for us.

So the general rule of marriage is this marriage is one man and one woman and a one flesh union for life. This is the general rule of marriage. So in this definition of marriage we see the intimacy of marriage that the two become one flesh.

So the marriage relationship is the closest of all relationships. It is closer than even a parent and child relationship because the two become one see the intimacy of marriage. We also see the permanence of marriage.

What therefore God is joined together let not man separate. And so the general rule for marriage is it as regards permanence is that only death should separate the what this one flesh union. And so this understanding of marriage Jesus roots it in creation he says from the beginning.

And so marriages is pre-political. It's pre-cultural and at least in some sense we could say it's pre-religious that is natural. That means marriage as an institution is not the product of any culture or any government or any religion.

It's just part of the world that God made and how God made the world and how God made us as people. Therefore it's fixed marriage is fixed. The definition is fixed in the same way that God put the Sun in the sky.

And we can't just decide because it is the current year and we think it best. We can't decide to move the Sun into the bottom of the ocean. Marriage is one man and one woman and in a one flesh union. And we can't just decide to change that just because we want to.

Therefore so called same-sex marriages are actually not. They're nothing of the kind mirage is a better word than marriage for those arrangements you can no more have a same-sex marriage than you can have a triangle with four sides.

It's just definitionally impossible. Marriage is what God says it is and what God instituted it to be from the beginning. And marriage from the beginning means it's a creation ordinance. And marriage from the beginning is good.

We see that in Genesis 1 and God saw what he created looked out the world and God saw that it was good. And he put man and woman together and he saw that it was good. Now I know marriage can be difficult at times.

Sometimes I can go off the rails. We'll deal with that in just a few moments. But marriage as God intends it and as God made it is good. It's good for man and woman to come together to advance the cultural mandate to take dominion over the world and subdue it.

It is good for man and woman to come together to form and to fill their small corner of the earth. For man to face the world and go after the mission that God has given him and for woman to face her man and help him accomplish it.

For the man was made from dirt and so he tends the earth. And woman was made from man so she tends her husband. And they come together to bear godly offspring who will in turn fill the earth and do their part to subdue it and to glorify.

And marriage is good because marriage doesn't exist solely for itself. Marriage is not primarily about romance though a healthy marriage will hopefully have romance. And marriage is not primarily about friendship though a healthy marriage.

And one of the purposes and benefits of marriage is companionship. And marriage is not primarily about self-expression or self-fulfillment. Marriage is primarily about building a household that will extend God's rule into the world.

Marriage is primarily about building a household that will extend God's rule into the world. And so a marriage that exists for itself will eventually collapse in on itself. But a marriage that exists for building a household to the glory of God will shine like the noonday sun.

And so marriage is one man one woman in a one flesh union. And it is very good. So that's the general rule. That's what what God made it to be intended to be. But rules in a fallen world generally have exceptions and accommodations.

There's a few that we could address here today. I want to focus in or limit ourselves just to the one that's brought up in this passage and that is divorce. Jesus said that Moses allowed for a certificate of divorce because of their hardness of hearts.

Verse 5. Because we live in a sinful world where sinners sin and hearts are hard and sometimes they send really grieving grievously seriously. There are times where intractable situations arise and God makes provision for how to deal with those intractable situations when they arise.

And so when you take this passage you take first Corinthians you take Matthew's gospel and you take just various passages throughout the Bible you can put it together and see that the Bible's teaching is that it in cases of sexual immorality adultery abandonment in some cases of abuse that divorce is permitted.

It's never commanded but it is permitted. It's never it's never celebrated. It's never spoken of as a as a positive good but in some limited cases is permitted. It's kind of like how slavery is treated in the Bible.

It's never commended as a positive or desirable institution or station in life. And the logic of the gospel leads to liberty not to slavery but slavery being a product of a fallen and sinful world. God regulated it in order to limit exploitation and limit further harm.

Likewise God seeing marital strife and divorce as a product of a sinful world he regulated it to limit exploitation and to limit further harm. And so God makes an accommodation to sinful humanity with regard to divorce and remarriage and divorce and marriage.

But we should point out that this accommodation is limited it has its limits. This is this is not a provision for divorce for any reason. And so this idea of no-fault divorce is has been a disaster for our country.

It's been a plague upon our nation. And verses 11 and 12 show us that this kind of willy-nilly loosey-goosey approach to marriage divorce and remarriage is prohibited. Jesus said to them whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her and she divorces her husband and marries another she commits adultery.

And so in those two verses we see a couple of things one of which is an unbiblical divorce that is one that that doesn't fit into the kind of limited accommodation. An unbiblical divorce followed by remarriage constitutes adultery.

And then we also see that that both men and women can be in the wrong and that both men and women can initiate unbiblical divorces. So sometimes it's the man and sometimes it's the woman. Jesus makes that clear in this passage and I point this out because historically men have been the ones who have exploited divorce laws for selfish means.

But in our society the vast majority if you look at statistics the vast majority of divorces particularly these no-fault divorces that I'm talking about are initiated by women who are exploiting divorce laws that are often skewed in their favor.

So I just want us to see the biblical witness here from Jesus. And so we have the general rule and we have the accommodation to the rule for intractable situations that arise from life in a fallen world.

And we have the abuse of the accommodations. Those like the Pharisees who would divorce for any reason. That's what scripture says and presents to us. Now how do we apply that. I know some of you in this room have been divorced.

I don't know all the details about that. I don't know the stories behind those situations. But I know that's a reality for some of us in here. So I'll address you specifically but just a few moments. And then the church at large.

And the first thing I would say is to echo something that a pastor friend of mine posted online earlier this week that is yes God hates divorce Malachi 2 .16. But it does not follow from that that God hates those who have been divorced.

It doesn't follow that God hates those who have been divorced. In other words it's not the unforgivable sin. And so my encouragement to you would be this look back look back at the game film. You may need to repent of some sins maybe that led to divorce.

Or maybe even repent of seeking an unbiblical divorce. And if that's the case confess that confess your sin and be forgiven. There's true freedom found in forgiveness. And then don't keep looking back.

Look to Christ and look forward. Look to Christ and look forward. Or if your situation is one where you weren't the one and it wasn't your sin that brought it about it it happened to you. You didn't sin you were sinned against and you made use of a legitimate accommodation.

Then recognize that that's the case. And yes you'll likely still mourn the marriage and lament it. And rightly so but recognize that it was a legitimate accommodation and reject false guilt and be at peace now sometimes these situations are kind of gnarly and tied up.

And maybe you need help parsing out what was sin and what was not. And if that's your case I'm available to help help you search the scriptures and find that clarity. But I would encourage you remember your forgiveness.

Hold fast to the mercy of Christ and trust in it. And then lastly be faithful to God's standard in your current station. Be faithful to God's standard in your current station. And so I mentioned a moment ago one of the blessings of being new here is I don't know all the backstories.

And so if you think I'm talking about you I'm not talking about you because I don't know that. I'm talking about you. I don't know your stories. I'm just imagining a scenario where someone was unbiblically divorced and then remarried and then they read verses 11 and 12 and they think you know and Jesus calls this adultery.

You know that happens. I've known people there and so what should someone in that situation do. I'm saying acknowledge and confess the sin and turn from it. And it may. And there's a difference between high-handed rebellion knowing that's what you're doing and doing it anyway and and not knowing that something's the case and that that affects our culpability.

But acknowledge and confess it when you see it in the scriptures and turn from it. But what is turning from that look like you can't undo everything. That's true you can't. Rather what we can do is you can be faithful in your current station.

You be faithful in your current marriage. Be faithful there and move forward. Look to Christ with forgiveness from whatever happened before and be faithful where you are. That's what repentance looks like.

You can't go back and try to untie everything. So that's what I would say to those who have been divorced to the church at large. I would add this hold tight to God's view of marriage to God's definition of marriage and don't compromise for any reason.

So one phenomenon I've observed in recent years is that older Christians are sometimes change or compromise their views on matters of sexuality and marriage in order to not hurt the feelings of or disrupt relationships with their children or grandchildren.

I would say don't do that. Hold tight to what God has said. I'd also encourage you resist self-righteousness in judging those who have been divorced. Resist self-righteousness and in all things keep God's Word as the standard.

Your feelings are not the standard. Our culture is not the standard or anything else. The Bible is our standard for rule and is our rule for life. For what is allowed or not allowed the Bible sets the definitions and the Bible determines our course.

So hold fast to what the scriptures teach and all of us remember the mercy of Christ. Now we turn to see what the Bible says about children in verses 13 through 16. Let's read. And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them and the disciples rebuked them.

But when Jesus saw it he was indignant and said to them let the little children come to me. Do not hinder them. For to such belong the kingdom belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

And he took them in his arms and bless them laying his hands on them. So the disciples rebuke parents for bringing their kids to Jesus. You know because Jesus is for grown-ups don't you know. Or so they thought kind of take Jesus off.

He was indignant. The scriptures say and he said to them let the little children come do not hinder them. You see Jesus he likes kids and so here he welcomes them to himself. He says let them come here he affirms their spiritual spirituality saying for two such belongs the kingdom of God affirming that children can believe and we should raise them to believe.

And so in the kingdom of God children are not cast aside. They are not put in the corner to do their own little thing in the kingdom of God. They're not to be seen and not heard in the kingdom of God.

Children are welcome in the kingdom of God. So earlier in this service I mentioned about Hebrews 12 and how it talks about in corporate worship. We're spiritually ascending the hill to the heavenly Mount Zion.

And so there there's a sense in which we could say that that corporate corporate worship corporate worship it's a weekly trip to heaven and so we say let the kids come with us come to heaven with us. And so this is why we love having kids in our worship service.

And this is why we're not. We're not doing a children's church. I've talked with some of you individually about that. I know it's a change from past practice and I know there are some really good reasons and motivations behind giving the kids a kind of a child appropriate or children's level lesson and so I'm not saying anything bad about that.

Rather I just want to speak positively about letting the children come and that by keeping our kids in worship we are doing them a service. We were giving them a great gift. Because worship is not just information transfer during a sermon but the whole service the prayers the songs the scripture readings the confession the assurance.

The whole worship service is formative. This isn't just something where we receive something intellectually but the whole thing is formative for all of us. It means it shapes us it shapes our souls. It's like a sculpture and Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday over years and over decades it's like you're taking the hammer and a chisel on a sculpture and you're just striking it again and again and again and again just a little bit more forming that sculpture just a little bit more.

And we want to do that for our kids. And we will do that for ourselves that we might be conformed into the image of Jesus and we let our kids come and be a part of that. Why. For to such belong the kingdom of God.

And so we love kids here at First Baptist and I've seen that from you in this congregation. I've seen how you love kids. I've seen it how you've loved and welcomed my own kids. I've seen and how you went above and beyond for this sports jam event we had last Friday night and our Sunday school teachers who are teaching the kids.

I've seen how you love kids. I want to encourage that and I want us also as a church we need to be promoting this love of children out in the world because there is a hatred of children out in the world.

There's a disdain for children out in the world and that is not the way of the kingdom. This hatred or disdain comes in various forms abortion robbing kids of innocence via media and entertainment or certain types of library story hours that you've heard about in the news or certain types of books that are in school libraries.

There is a concerted effort to cut children off from their parents and grandparents specifically to cut children off from the views of the world and their ways of life. And it's working. Subversive attitudes towards children pervade our culture.

I saw one result from a statewide referendum in Montana this past week. The question was should they require medical care to be given to infants born alive and they voted no. There's subversive attitudes towards children in the culture.

They've also made their way into the church. This is sometimes expressed in how people talk about kids. But they're always a burden or a bother to us. And we just need a break from our kids. Or in increasing situations in choosing not to have children at all so that the man and wife can pursue their own ambitions and pleasures freely without the responsibility of caring for these very small very dependent people.

But Jesus said let the children come and so should we. For just like marriage is a good thing children are a good thing a blessing a heritage from the Lord a reward. Psalm 127 says. Now of course children are not an automatic blessing that is a rebellious child one.

A child who grows up to rebel against God is not a blessing but a curse. And so we have to train them and that's why we bring them to Jesus. And so parents take your kids to Jesus. I also want you to notice in verse 15 how children are an example says.

Truly I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. So we remember from last week what we said about children. Children are are weak and dependent and trusting.

They're unable to repay. Children gladly receive from your hand and they will heap love and praise to you in return. And Jesus says to receive the kingdom like that be dependent on God be trusting in God.

Realize that you cannot repay. God gladly receive from his hand and then gladly give him love and praise in return. For this is the way of the kingdom receive the kingdom like a child. The rich young ruler as we see in the next paragraph he did not have this child like faith.

The Rich Young Ruler, Wealth, and the Cost of Discipleship

Let's read verses 17 to 31 and talk about money for just a few moments. And God's word says this. 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 the 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 it is 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 with God 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.

And Jesus said truly I say to you there is no one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or mother and 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 many who are first will be last and last first.

This is God's word to us. The rich young ruler was faithful by all accounts or at least outwardly. So I mean Jesus. He listed to him the second half of the Ten Commandments and the young man said he kept them.

And nobody disagreed including Jesus. But it's interesting which commandments Jesus did not list. He didn't list anything from what's called the first table of the law the first four commandments that have to do with our worship of God.

And he didn't list the 10th commandment having to do with covetousness. And the reason is Jesus is about to reveal to him how he is breaking those. Jesus tells him to sell all his possessions and give it away to the poor.

And the man couldn't do it. He had many possessions and he is unwilling to part with them. His faithfulness ended there and he went away. Sad. Money in this man's instance had dethroned God. Money had dethroned God as the object of his trust and dependence and service and worship.

So here's the thing about money. It's not bad in and of itself. It can be used for good to provide for your household and for others. And leaving an inheritance to your children and grandchildren is a profoundly good thing.

It's not a selfish thing. Money can be a fortress given to us by God and we should be thankful for that. But we also must realize that money can be a snare for Paul says though for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

And so trusting in money undercuts our trusting God and it can make it difficult to enter the kingdom of God. And so remember what Jesus said back in verse 15 that whoever does not receive the kingdom like a child shall not enter it like a child dependent trusting broke unable to pay back.

The rich young ruler was unwilling to become dependent trusting and unable to pay and so he left and departed from Jesus. There's a lot we could say in this passage. I want to address two questions that I think naturally arise from this passage.

The first is what does it mean that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Is Jesus saying that the wealthy don't go to heaven. Is he.

Is he saying that. The answer the short answer that's no. He's not saying that rich people don't go to heaven. He is making a comment about the very strong gravitational pull that wealth and money can have on the human heart.

So don't you think about it. Think about your financial insecurities or your love of the things that you own what you're not willing to part with or give away. And you don't have to be rich to understand that feeling.

It's a gravitational pull on our hearts that affects all of us to one degree or another. And it can be very very strong. And so we need to be careful with it. And so just like thinking like this we need to treat money like we would treat a sharp knife or a loaded gun.

You know used rightly those things can be very good useful tools for certain purposes. But if you're careless with a sharp knife you're gonna end up with a cut finger. If you're careless with the loaded gun you might hurt yourself or others.

And it's the same thing with money. But that gravitational pull is not insurmountable. Not with God. Verse 27 says with man it is impossible but not with God. For all things are possible with God. And so the rich enter God's kingdom like anybody else does by God's grace.

Only the grace of God can overcome our love of and dependence upon money and wealth and riches. And so we all enter God's kingdom by his grace. The second question that arises is this. Are we all required to sell everything we have and give it away to the poor.

I mean that's what Jesus told this man. Are we all required to do that. And again the short answer is no. Jesus gave this answer to this man specifically in order to reveal his heart. It is not a binding commandment on all Christians for all times.

But the parable that Jesus tells elsewhere in scripture I believe it's Matthew 13 about the the treasure hidden in a field is a good diagnostic tool for our hearts. You might remember it. Jesus he says the kingdom is like this.

It's like a priceless treasure that is hidden in the field and so he the man finds it. And when he finds that he goes and he sells everything that he has so he can buy the field and obtain the priceless treasure.

The kingdom is like that treasure. We should be willing to sell all we have in order to obtain it because the kingdom of Christ is worth giving all the kingdom of Christ is worth your everything. And so for those who either by choice or by Providence give up the things of this life for the sake of the gospel Jesus promises reward.

At the end of this chapter he says they'll receive 100 fold of what they gave up and in the age to come eternal life. And that brothers and sisters that is more valuable than anything and everything you could possibly possess on this earth eternal life and the kingdom is worth it.

Prayer for Marriages, Families, Children, and Stewardship

Let's pray our Father in heaven. I thank you for your word Lord. I recognize that you say in Hebrews the words like a sharper than any two-edged sword. And I recognize that some of this passage cuts sharply cut sharply to our present-day culture and our cultural assumptions of just the air that we breathe.

And it might cut sharply and to our experiences. But I thank you that not only is your word a sharp double-edged sword it is also bomb for cut souls for weary souls and you heal. So father I pray for those in our church who are married.

But I pray that you'll protect and strengthen their marriages for your glory. But I pray that will build households that extend your rule into the world for your glory. Father. I pray for those who have been divorced if there are there's any kind of unconfessed sin hanging out there Lord I pray that they will confess it and turn from it.

Pray that you would lead them there by your grace. Maybe they've been wronged deeply. They need to forgive someone. But I pray that you give them grace to grant that forgiveness and for all. Lord I pray that you remind them of your mercy and your forgiveness and my prayers that they would live in peace where they are now.

But I pray for those who are widowed to miss their spouse desperately. But I pray that you would comfort them with the comfort of Christ and may the memory of their spouse be a source of joy and blessing in their life.

But I pray for those who are single. Some may be single on purpose for the sake of the kingdom. But I pray that you have them and keep them. Some may be single out of a hard providence and wish to be married.

But I pray that you would bless them and keep them and provide for them. Some may be single due to their age and station in life. I'm thinking particularly of our students. But I pray that you prepare them for marriage in the future.

You'd help them to become the type of man or the type of woman that the type of man or woman they want to marry wants to marry. Lord I pray that you'll keep them chased. But I pray for the children in this in this room.

But I pray that they would grow up to be faithful and true disciples of Christ. Father I pray that you'll keep all of our hearts free from the love of money. And that we would use whatever you give to us.

We would use it wisely and fruitfully for the good of others in the glory of your name. And we ask all of this in the name of Jesus your son and our our Savior. Amen.