Sunday School Session 11

Hello again, everyone.

You're here, I assume,.

The Scope of Mark 9:33–10:52 and the First Four Marks of a Disciple

To continue your study of the Gospel of Mark. Now, we are in Lecture 5, and Lecture 5 covers the passage of Scripture that begins in Mark 9, 33, and goes all the way to the end of Chapter 10. You realize that we have so far advanced to Chapter 10, verse 12.

We've gotten that far. And you recall that this section, Chapter 9, 33 through Chapter 10, 52, this section deals with the distinguishing marks, the identifiers of those who belong to Jesus, those who are followers or disciples of Jesus.

And you recall from last time that we looked at the first four of those distinctives. What are the four distinctives that we've talked about? One, number one, disciples of Jesus seek greatness. That is, the greatness that comes by serving others.

Number two, the disciples of Jesus must be inclusive, not inclusive. Number three, the disciples of Jesus must deal with sin. That is, they have to deal with sin so they're not a stumbling block for young believers, or what I would call a candidate for the millstone.

And they must deal harshly with sin in their own lives. They do whatever it takes in order to deal with sin.

All right?

The fourth distinguishing mark is that disciples of Jesus practice marital fidelity. They're known as being faithful partners. They're known in marriage. They're known as being content in marriage. Now we come to the fifth identifier, which is found beginning in chapter 10, verse 13 through verse 16.

But before we look at that, let's pray. Father, as we continue this study on how we look as followers of Jesus, we pray that this would be more than a Bible study, but this would be a challenge to us, that by the power of the Spirit and the power of your grace, we will put on these distinguishing, identifying marks of disciples of Jesus.

So help us now so that we truly are and look like disciples of the Lord Jesus. Thank you in his name, amen. Now, we are in chapter 10, and we're looking at the fifth mark of a disciple of Jesus, and it is this.

Childlike Faith and Jesus’ Love for Children

Disciples of Jesus must exercise childlike faith. They must exercise childlike faith. Chapter 10, verses 13 through 16. Now, as the scene opens, you're gonna notice something here. You're going to notice that Jesus loves children.

Jesus loves children. The disciples probably thought that Jesus was way too important for these children. Remember what we said last time, that these children or children were the lowest on the low, had the lowest ranking on the social order ladder.

Now, as far as the disciples are concerned, this is the Messiah.

This is the King, the highest on the social order ladder. And these little children are being brought to Jesus, and they're angry about that because this great man cannot be bothered with children. But notice what it says.

It says that Jesus was indignant with those actions because Jesus actually loves children. Jesus is not, think about this, Jesus is not indifferent to the feelings and the struggles of children, right?

Your three-year-old.

Your three-year-old is hurt and crying, crying, because her brother, right, her brother has just been mean to her. And we look at that three-year-old and we say, well, you know, they need to learn.

But Jesus' heart would break for that three-year-old. Jesus is not indifferent to the feelings and struggles. He wants children to come to him. We really love our children, but Jesus loves them even more.

You ever thought that thought?

Have you ever thought about how much Jesus loves children? And we ought to love children like Jesus did. We have to be child-friendly. And I'm talking especially here to you men. We need to be child-friendly men like Jesus was.

I don't know if you noticed,.

But as you look at the picture,.

It appears to me that children are unafraid and attracted to this man, Jesus. They're unafraid and they're attracted to him. And he touches them and they don't seem afraid of him at all. And before, in the previous text, as we've looked here, it talks about Jesus taking a child into his arms.

Children seem unafraid and even attracted to Jesus. Men, can the same be said of us? Can the same be said of us? We must be the kind of men, I believe, that attract children and that children can love easily.

Like Jesus, we have to have a tender heart towards children. Like Jesus, we have to have time for children. Likewise, we should enjoy our time with children. You know, as I look at the New Testament and I see how Jesus reacted to children and I see how children loved him and that Jesus wants children to come to him, it gives me an awareness of and a great respect for all of those people in children's ministry.

I'm not kidding. And as I remember, as I studied through Matthew and I studied through Mark and I saw these things with Jesus and children, it struck me, it struck me that children's workers who seem to get the least amount of respect are the ones that are doing the work that Jesus has called them to do.

They deserve our respect and our support. They do so much. They want to communicate. They want to bring Jesus to these children. And so they're acting like Jesus. They deserve our respect. Now, you will notice here as well that parents bring the children to Jesus.

We as parents, our heart should be to bring our children to parents. We think too often that Jesus is the savior of only grownups, but Jesus is the savior for children too. This teaches us that children are fit subjects for the kingdom.

They are capable of becoming disciples of Jesus. They can exercise saving faith. Now, the last thing that Jesus wants us to understand, and the main thing he wants us to understand as we look at this narrative of Jesus and the children is that we must exercise a child-like faith if we would enter the kingdom of God.

If you're gonna enter the kingdom of God, you have to have the faith just like a child. Isn't that interesting? We gotta be so sophisticated. We have to have all the answers to our problems. What about what looks like this contradiction in the Bible?

I don't know if I can believe. And so we have all these complicated things, these sophisticated, complicated kind of a faith. And Jesus says, you know, the kind of faith that gets you into the kingdom of God is a simple child-like faith, which is what?

You believe me, because I say so, right? When your children would come to you and say, daddy, why is the sky blue? And you would say, you're thinking to yourself, I don't know, and you would say, well, because it's not green.

And they would say, oh, okay, right? And you would look at something and say, don't go over there. Don't you go over there, that's dangerous over there. And they would believe you, that it was dangerous.

You didn't have to prove it. You didn't have to go over and show what level of danger is there. They believed you when you said that's dangerous, okay? And so that's the kind of faith that Jesus wants us to have, the kind of faith that says, Jesus said it.

I believe it, I believe it. You know, like children, right? Yes, sure, he can save me. He's Jesus, he's the savior, right? That's the kind of faith we're talking about. That's the kind of faith we're talking about.

A child-like faith that simply takes Jesus at his word, simply takes God at his word, and believes that Jesus is indeed the savior and can save you. Well, number six then, disciples of Jesus must choose Jesus over everything else.

Choosing Jesus Over Wealth and Possessions

Disciples of Jesus must choose Jesus over everything else. Mark chapter 10, verses 17 through 31 is the story of the rich young man who comes to Jesus and says, what? I wanna follow you.

Wow, you know what we would do?

We would say, wow, that's great. Man, this guy's got money and he wants to follow Jesus, let's enlist him. But Jesus doesn't do that, does he? Jesus challenges this rich young man by reciting the commandments, by reciting these particular commandments.

What are they?

He says to him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Hey, I'm on board, I want it.

And Jesus immediately challenges him and said, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Now, he's trying to tell him, no one's good but God, you're calling me good. Do you know what you're saying?

By the way, Jesus isn't repudiating the fact.

That he's good.

He's just saying, do you understand what you're saying? And then he says, 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 your mother.

So Jesus recites these things. Now, he's not trying to tell us that if you keep these commandments, you inherit eternal life. Rather, Jesus challenges the young man who believes that he has indeed kept all the commands.

And so what does he say?

Hey, I've kept them all. Yeah, that's not a problem, I'm there, okay? I've already kept them. And so Jesus challenges him. There's one commandment he doesn't mention here. He neglects the 10th commandment, the one about coveting.

Has the young man kept the commandments of God? And the answer is no, because he has a covetous heart. When Jesus challenges him to sell everything and follow him, he tests the man's heart and reveals the covetous nature of that man's heart.

Why did Jesus challenge him?

Why did he not just immediately encourage him to follow him rather than discouraging him?

Why does Jesus do this?

Jesus, don't you know how to do evangelism, right? Don't you know how to do the job? When someone says they want you, don't turn them away. Now look, here's the point. This young man cannot earn anything from God.

He can't earn it. He can't say, I've kept all those, so I deserve eternal life. Rather, he cannot embrace Jesus until he wants Jesus more than anything else in the world.

That's the point. That's the point.

Jesus wants him to understand that he must want Christ more than anything else, that he cannot stand to be without Christ, even if it means I've got to give up all my possessions. If my possessions are standing in the way, I'll get rid of them all so I can embrace you.

I don't want anything but you. You see, that's the kind of faith you need. Jesus did not, Jesus knew that the man did not really want to follow him.

You see what he's saying?

You have to want me more than anything else. You see? Listen, many people say, yeah, I believe in Jesus.

Yeah, I want Jesus.

Yeah, I want heaven.

But do they want Jesus more than anything else? Are they willing to give up whatever it is to embrace Jesus? Jesus alone, Jesus alone is my savior. I must want him. I must want salvation more than anything else.

And then Jesus says to his disciples, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Boy, I tell you what,.

That shows the power of possessions to master us. Oh, think about it. Think about it now. Do your possessions master you? Would you be willing to lose all for Jesus? See, the disciples of course says, wow, that's impossible.

It's impossible then. Jesus says, no, no, with God, all things are possible. God can accomplish that in your life. By the way, do you notice that Jesus still loves this man.

In verse 21?

Even though this covetous sinner would rather have his possessions than Jesus,.

Jesus still loves him.

Now listen, that says something to you and to me. We need to love sinners, even when they don't respond to the gospel. Are you friends with an unbeliever? Are you friends with the unbeliever in you? And you get to the point where you share the gospel with him and he absolutely refuses you and says,.

No, I don't want that.

What happens to that relationship then? Does it start to fade? Do you start to avoid that guy? It's interesting that as that guy walked away,.

Jesus still loved him.

We need to love sinners, even if they don't respond to our savior. Now you also see the grace of Jesus in response to Peter. Peter immediately says, Lord, we've left everything to follow you. We've left everything to follow you.

I don't know if Peter is bragging or if he feels sorry for the followers of Jesus.

Because they give up everything.

Jesus, we've given up everything.

I think it's the latter. He feels sorry, he's kind of saying, well, we've given up everything. But Jesus says to him that you're actually gaining more than you lose. He says, look, you'll have brothers and sisters, mothers, fathers, possessions, a hundred fold in this life and the life to come.

What's he saying? He's saying, if you give up all that you have for Jesus, if you give up your family for Jesus, if you give up your possessions for Jesus, you become part of a family. And we all, as part of that family, we have these possessions, right?

And when you give up your family, you've gained another. You've gained lots of mothers, more fathers, brothers and sisters. Even their possessions are yours, if you will. What's he saying here? Jesus' disciples will not be covetous people, but people who are satisfied in Christ.

They're satisfied in Christ. They would rather have Jesus than anything. We have a song that says that, I'd rather have Jesus. I'd rather have Jesus. And I remember that song just goes on to talk about all the things that would intrude,.

But I'd rather have Jesus.

That's exactly what he's saying here. A distinguishing mark of a follower of Jesus is one who wants Jesus. All right, now we come to the seven and final identifying mark of the disciples of Jesus. The disciples of Jesus must serve.

Greatness in the Kingdom Is Service, Not Prestige

They must serve, okay? Now, please notice that the death of Jesus connects what appears like two sections into one.

What do I mean by that?

Well, when you look at this section, it's the part where James and John want these great positions of prestige in the kingdom. And then the healing of blind Bartimaeus.

They're all one.

That is one section. Let's look at that and see what's happening here. You notice, of course, that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come up to him and they ask him for these positions of prestige in his kingdom, right?

Now, that's in verse 35. What's the problem here? Because in verse 32, Jesus again tells his disciples about his humiliation, rejection, and death. He's going to die. He's explaining to them again that he's going to die, that he's going to be rejected, mocked, humiliated, flogged, killed, and then be raised to power and glory.

And they have to understand or at least be prepared to understand the nature of his kingship. It is one of death and humiliation before ultimate triumph. Now, a couple of lessons ago, we talked about that.

They've already heard this. A few chapters before, right? The inclusio, where Jesus talks about his humiliation, death, and vindication. Humiliation, death, and vindication at the bookends, right? And he's told them already that this is going to happen.

He's telling them again, they need to understand the nature of this Messiah. And yet the disciples don't get it.

They don't get it.

What's the first thing that Mark records here? James and John asked for places of prominence in a kingdom that Jesus has just radically redefined. He's just told them, right? Earlier, what's the distinguishing mark of a disciple?

One who's a slave of all. What is the nature of this king? He's got to be rejected, humiliated, killed before he has his ultimate triumph. And he tells them this. He's told them about service. He's told them about the nature of the king.

He's now just radically redefined his kingdom. And what did James and John do? They asked him for these positions of prestige as if he didn't say anything. Now, don't get so hard on them. You do the same thing.

I do the same thing. You hear sermon after sermon on things that are important to God, and yet they don't register with you.

You just go on your merry way.

It's kind of like, this is a great, actually, this is a great illustration of what James says, right? In James chapter one, where the man looks into the mirror and see what he's like, and then turns around and forgets all that he's heard, right?

So same thing here.

They don't get it.

They're not getting it.

Jesus says, yeah, those places are prepared, but you can't ask for it. And then the rest of the disciples protest. And so Jesus, again, teaches them about the nature of greatness in the kingdom of God.

He teaches them about greatness in the kingdom of God. What is the nature of greatness in the kingdom of God? It is serving. It's not occupying places of prestige. It's not getting the applause of people.

It's not people looking up to you as a great man because, wow, look at all the things you have done, and look at what you have achieved. No, the greatness in the kingdom is all about being a servant, a slave to all.

And then Jesus tells them that he has to die, and that by that death, what? He serves others. His very death is the means of explaining what greatness in the kingdom is. It's not that the son of man came to be served, but to serve and to give his life for many.

This is greatness in the kingdom. The king gives his life in service to his subjects. He ransoms them. And so he says, stop thinking in terms of prominence, for the king himself must die a humiliating death, and therefore you must become servants.

Listen, the greatness of the king lies in his death. Our greatness in our slavery.

Let me say that again.

The greatness of the king lies in his death. Our greatness lies in our slavery. In fact, the death of Jesus is the greatest act of service in the history of the world. No one will ever see a greater act of service than that.

It will be a death that will ransom many. Jesus will serve his people by ransoming them from their sin and their guilt. Then Jesus gives them a real life example.

You wanna see greatness?

Watch what happens next, as he heals this man, Bartimaeus, who is blind. Now, please note, as the narrative goes on, it talks about Bartimaeus sitting by the roadside, shouting, shouting, what does he say?

Let's look.

And he began, and when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, son of David. Who, what does that mean?

King, king.

The son of David is the king. He addresses Jesus as son of David, as the king. And the people seek to silence him. Jesus is too important for you.

Be quiet.

You're making a ruckus.

Stop it.

The king is going by. That's not the way you act when a king comes by. Yet he yells again.

And here's the point.

The king hears the pleas of a beggar.

You get it?

The king hears the pleas of a beggar, and he serves him by healing him. Our king serves a beggar. Jesus' greatness comes not in his position, but in serving a beggar. So there you see the fantastic, the fantastic illustration of exactly what Jesus is talking about.

Now, again, we need to ask ourselves a question. Do we have the same view of serving that Jesus does? Now, we do have the right view of Jesus' death down pat. We know Jesus died. He died to save sinners.

If you put your faith in him, he will save you, and you will be reconciled to God. You will gain heaven, and you will change, all right? But do you see the connection of, the connection to yourself as a sign of greatness?

Death and serving are what make one great, not position or power used for self. When you yearn for something bigger, a greater reputation, right? A better position in the company, a better, a more exalted position in the church, as it were, then you have to see that like Jesus, humiliation and service produce greatness.

That's what produces greatness. I remember some years ago seeing the voice, a video from the voice of the martyrs, and it talked about some Christians who had suffered shame and humiliation through torture and beatings, and yes, even rape.

Those sorts of things that bring shame on us. However, the humiliation they suffered for the sake of Christ was a badge of greatness in the eyes of God. Serving is a distinguishing mark of the disciples of Jesus.

So then, we have to learn what Jesus considers are the marks that distinguish his disciples.

From all others.

We have to learn those things so that we can become what Jesus intends us to be. Too often, the marks that we use to say whether a person is a disciple don't even come close to what Jesus demands. We have to learn and practice them so that we don't devise our own distinguishing marks that end up as wrong distinctives.

You see, Jesus has called us as disciples to look like this. These are what distinguish us. May God help us to be disciples who look like this. God, thank you again for your word. It is good for us. Help us, I pray, to truly distinguish ourselves in the way that Jesus says we ought to, by service, by marital contentment, by dealing radically with sin.

All of these things, Father, we pray.

Help us to put them on for your glory.

In Jesus' name, amen.