Mark 10:1-31

Today is a new day.  Lets get at it.

South's SOAP for the Day
S-Read Mark 10:1-31.
O-We must have faith like a child.
A-Simply believe. Do not allow yourself to get caught up in the little things.
P-Pray that your faith will be pure and innocent like that of a child.

Our passage today is a large passage.  There are three different topics, divorce, children, and money.  Sounds like a fun time, eh?  We will start with verse 1-12.

Jesus and his disciples have traveled from Capernaum, which is on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee.  They are now in Judea.  This is land south west of the Sea of Galilee.  Jerusalem is the capital of Galilee.  Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.  He's been doing his best to stay away from the crowds so he can teach his disciples more before he goes to the cross.  Our passage today shows that this was no easy task.  The people are coming to him, which gives him the chance to teach.

On this occasion, the Pharisees come to him and ask a question--to test him, to trap him.  "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"  Jesus knows the answer to this question.  He's a good Jew.  He knows the Torah by heart.  He could easily recite to them what Moses had said in the Law.  He also knows that they know the answer to the question.  Some scholars think they Pharisees here are trying to get Jesus to speak out against divorce so that Herod and his niece/wife will take care of him, like they did John the Baptist.  

Jesus sees they are doing more than simply asking a theological question.  So he asks them a question back, "What did Moses command you?  The question moves their question about any man's right to what rights they have been given by Moses.

The scholar I've been journeying through Mark with points out here that when the Pharisees approach the Law, the question is not, "How does it tell me to live?"  Rather, their approach is more focused on "What does it allow me to do?" or "What can I get away with?"  Its not about responsibilities, its about rights.  This is a very insightful perspective.  One that will play out later in our passage.

The Pharisees response, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away."  They have quoted back the law Moses gives in Deuteronomy.  Some background is needed here.  Again, scholars are very helpful.  Back in the day, a man was allowed to divorce his wife with a certificate for divorce.  This did two things.  One, it showed that she had not been unfaithful.  Had the woman been unfaithful and the husband found out, the community would have the obligation to take her and her lover outside the community walls and stone them to death.  The idea of divorce here has nothing to do with infidelity.  Second, it removes all right that the man has to the woman after he divorces her.  Women in that day were regarded more as property.  Had he not written a certificate of divorce, he still would have some right to her, which would then make her an adulteress if any man married her again--that is, she would not be marry-able without the divorce paper.  Rather, it is simply if the man gets tired of her.  The woman gets protection.  She still gets cared for either by returning to her family or by being married again.  The collateral damage of the divorce is limited as best it can be.

Jesus, knowing all this background, leans into the Pharisees with the book of Genesis, quoting about how man shall leave his mother and become one with his wife.  "One flesh" is the term used.  The thought is that they have bound themselves together as one, in a covenant of marriage.  Then Jesus says, "Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate."  Garland, the scholar I'm leaning on, states, "Since God is the one who joins the two together, he is the Lord of the union."  

Reading between the lines, Jesus is telling the Pharisees, its not about what rights you have and that you feel you can change wives on the fly because you are tired of her or whatever.  You are not the lord of the union, God is.  You have made a covenant with her, blessed by God.  Your wife is to be respected and cherished.

Being a part of the Kingdom of God means you uphold the promises and covenants you make.  Being a part of the Kingdom means you are not lord of your own life, God is the Lord of your life.  Being part of the Kingdom means that cultural norms are challenged.

The second section of our passage is about the little children.  Children, as we have said earlier, were seen with little worth, with little power.  People are bringing their kids to Jesus so he can bless them.  The disciples are trying to control that.  Maybe they are protecting Jesus' privacy.  Maybe they are flexing their felt rights, just as they did when they told the one casting out demons in Jesus name to stop.   Regardless, Jesus doesn't like what they are doing.  He says to them,

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

When I read this chunk, I think of my daughter.  She's nine.  She doesn't really hate anyone.  She isn't afraid to engage with anyone.  She's innocent and loving.  Anything makes her happy.  Yes, she has toys and she would love another American Girl doll, but, she can be content with just about anything.  She doesn't fully have the "need" disease yet.  She doesn't know of social status.

That is how we need to come to the kingdom.  We need to come asking how we should live, not what can I get away with.  What do I need to do so I can skate by without fully giving up my own life.

This leads us to our last passage, the man with the money.

Mark states that Jesus is again "on his way".  He is interrupted in his journey by a man.  The man kneels before him and asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  With all that has taken on before this passage, my mind quickly thinks back to our earlier discussion--what can I do to get by, rather than what are my responsibilities.

Jesus is taken back by the Good teacher comment.  It makes sense to me.  Jesus is under God's leadership as the son.  He deflects the good to God.  I think he is also deflecting the idea that the guy can do anything on his own to get "eternal life".  There is more to it.

As with the Pharisees, Jesus starts with the Law.  Don't murder, don't steal, no false testimony, don't defraud, and honor your father and mother are stated in the text.  Jesus puts in front of this guy a chunk of the Ten Commandments.  They are the pinnacle of the Law.  They are the sign of the Law, the sign of the covenant that God made with Israel.  As a covenant between two parties is made, the last part of the process was called the document clause.  It was the establishment of something that was reviewed and used to remind each party in the covenant what their responsibilities were.  For the Israelites, it was the stone tablets that contained the Ten Commandments.  These tablets were put into the Ark of the Covenant--the place where God's presence was in amidst the community.

I wonder if Jesus has asked this list of commandments to see if this guy fully is engaged in the Law and gets the bigger picture.  Seems he does, since he responds with, "I've done these since my youth."  This statement catches Jesus.  Mark tells us that Jesus looked at the man and loved him.  Scholars think this implies that Jesus sees worth in the man, sees that he gets it.  Jesus wants to push him farther in his faith.

Jesus does push him.  He calls him out.  “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  I wonder what catches Jesus to say this.  Does the guy have on a nice toga that shows his stature in the community?  Did he walk up with the best camel in the town?  We don't really know.  What we do know is that Jesus tells him to go all in.  Somehow he sees or senses that this guy hasn't fully let go of everything to become last and follow.

Scholars say that what Jesus says here isn't necessarily out of the ordinary.  In that day and age, if you wanted to be devout to something, this was the radical statement you were challenged with.  The man came to Jesus asking about what he needed to do.  Jesus told him.  As an aside here, in the book of Acts, we see people doing this.  They sell their possessions and their real estate and give it to the community so they can care for one another and for the poor around them.  Their status isn't about what they own or who they are.  It is about what is good for the kingdom.

The man's response is one of dejection.  He has much.  Mark tells us he went away sad.  There isn't a rush to go and do what Jesus has said so he can follow.  He walks away heavy hearted.  I've always wondered if this man lets go of his worldly stuff, or if he gives up on his quest for eternal life.

The disciples are amazed.  We don't fully know why.  Are they amazed at what Jesus says or are they amazed that the man doesn't do it, especially since they have left everything and are following.

Jesus expounds on it more to his disciples talking about a needle and a camel.  Through these two things he shows the challenge that money has over us.  The eye of a needle is very, very small.  Jesus compares that with the camel, the largest animal in that region.  With money comes status, power, and stuff.  These are all things that are a challenge to let go of.  But, to live the kingdom, we must allow the kingdom to reign, not our wallets.

The disciples say something very profound to me.  "Who then can be saved?"  The idea here in my mind is that we all have this disease of stuff.  It grips us.  We allow it to grip us.  I would assume the need for power and stature in that culture was just the same, if not stronger.  The disciples wonder how anyone could let go.  They've just seen this man who has lived the Law walk away because it seems that he can't let go of his stuff.

Jesus' response?  “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

The question that we must ask ourselves is this:  Are we living like the disciples?  Have we went all in?  They've left family.  They've left security.  While they don't fully get it, they are still "on the way" with Jesus.  Are we on the way?