The Eye of the Needle and Wealth: Mark 10:17-31

Well this morning we're back in the Gospel of Mark.

So for those of you who perhaps weren't here last week, we took a little bit of a step aside for a week, and that's because we're beginning a new series that the elders have been praying about, and uh that's praying in and living out the promises of God.

And so we're taking uh the first week of every month to sit in a promise and for the remaining portion of that month to really soak in those promises and and to pray them in so that they would take root within us and they would be a fruit.

And so we're gonna do that collectively in a number of different ways.

But last week, Pastor Tom uh took the first of those promises and we were able to uh can begin that series.

This week we're back in the Gospel of Mark, and we'll be doing so as we continue to move forward.

And this morning it's we're coming from the passages Mark 10, uh 17 through 31.

And so please follow along as you're able in your bulletin or Bible.

Hear now the reading of God's holy word.

And as he was sitting out on his journey, that is Jesus, 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 his 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 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 not with God, for all things are possible with God.

Peter began to say to him, See, we have left everything and followed you.

Jesus said, Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers, or sisters, or mother, 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.

But many who are first will be lost, and the last first.

Let us just pray.

Uh for your word, your truth, your grace.

And we thank you for the ways in which you have revealed yourself to us.

And we do ask and pray that now, Lord, acknowledging that there are some hard things that you at times have to say, that we would be able to hear them, that we may be able to receive them, and Lord, that we would be able to respond, that we might receive and be greater partakers of the life that you would give to us.

And so, Lord, we ask and pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So, in the passage that we've just read, uh, we're invited into a conversation with Jesus as we've been going through the Gospel of Mark.

You're you're you're reminded that sometimes we're led into a lot of intimate conversations that Jesus has with people.

And this again is one of those.

Uh Jesus has a conversation with a man who's historically been referred to as the rich young ruler.

And he was a man who had just that.

He was well he had wealth, uh, most likely in the form of property, but he was someone who had considerable wealth.

We don't know how he acquired that wealth, we don't know if it was an inheritance or how that came about, but what we do know is it was of considerable value.

We also know from Matthew's account that he was young.

And uh when scholars look at how this word that was referred to as being young, it was usually someone who was around early 20s to 40 years old.

And so he was he was uh young and wealthy in that respect, but he was also a ruler.

He was someone who, even at this point in time in his life, had become a ruler in the synagogue.

And that leads us to only uh, I guess, draw the conclusion that he was someone who was very competent and was looked upon as uh a good standard of goodness and righteousness in the community.

And so here he was, uh this man, and he comes to Jesus initially with a lot of enthusiasm.

He has this burning question on his heart.

But as he enters into dialogue with Jesus, we soon see him leaving Jesus, his head lowered, his heart sorrowful.

So committed was he to his wealth that he had no room in his heart for Jesus.

And so it doesn't end well.

I think what we're led to see here this morning is that there are spiritual dangers that can be accompanied with wealth.

Jesus here completely turns the Jewish notion of what the ordinary Jew at that time would have thought about in terms of both morality and money and wealth.

And that day they thought of these things as a sign of acceptance and blessing with God.

However, Jesus is revealing here that money and morality can actually be used in a way that hide a spiritual poverty or reveal a spiritual poverty when it comes to true life.

And so in verse 17, we we see this man running to Jesus, coming to him out of the crowd, and he's got this great question burning on his heart and mind, and he says, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Now, this wasn't a man who was content to just stay in the crowds, as it were.

He didn't want to just just stand back.

And so he we get the sense that this was a burning question that he really wanted to ask and have answered.

And no one else was answering asking it, so here he was asking it for himself.

And it's a great question, isn't it?

I mean, it's a question of ultimate importance.

And what's more is that it seemed genuine when he asked it and his wanting to know the answer.

Uh, oftentimes, right, as we've been going through the gospel of Mark, sometimes Mark will give us clues as to uh disingenuine questions.

Like when the Pharisees came up to Jesus, he makes note of that, that they were trying to test him.

But he doesn't say that here.

And so the idea that we, the conclusion that we draw here is that, no, this was a sincere question that he had that was on his heart.

And the question is, what must I do to become a partaker of and salvation after all is ended?

What must I do to have assurance in the here and now that my ultimate destiny will be blessed?

He seems to want to know this answer above all else.

Peace of mind for the present and never-ending blessedness for the future.

But then it's interesting to note how he addresses Jesus, right?

He addresses Jesus as good teacher.

Uh good rabbi is essentially how he's addressing him.

And I think we also get something of a self-description in this.

Sometimes with our spiritual gifts inventory that we sometimes give out, one of the questions that gets to how to assess your gifts is to think of someone who has a role in your life, maybe a mentor or someone you look up to that has made an impression on you.

And the reason the question is asked is because it's trying to get at what has made, what is it about them that has made that impression?

Often indicating something in your own heart that's of desire.

And I think that's something true of what this man had given much of his life to seeking to be good and moral.

And he was also a ruler in the synagogue, and so teaching was something that he had devoted his life to.

And so he refers to Jesus also as a good teacher.

Now, what can I learn from you?

And so he refers to Jesus as such.

But Jesus says, Well, why do you call me good?

Notice how he responds to the man.

Notice he doesn't answer his question.

But he follows up a question for the man himself with that very question.

He says, Why do you call me good?

No one is good except God alone.

Now, some people have looked at this and have had the question, well, okay, so if Jesus is saying no one is good except God alone, is Jesus implying that he himself lacks goodness also?

And the answer is no.

What he's getting at here is he's essentially trying to convey to this man, you don't realize the loose way in which you're using this term goodness.

The way you're using this descriptor.

This man, you see, wasn't using the term good in reference to Jesus because he believed that Jesus was God incarnate.

He was using that term in a more superficial way.

Uh we can do the same, right?

We we we say to someone, well, he's a he's a good guy, or he's a she's a she's a good mom.

He he's a good athlete, uh, a good friend, whatever it is.

Goodness can be something that uh we use in somewhat relative terms when we use it like that.

But Jesus wants to point out here to this man, to his understanding, that goodness, his use of goodness is a superficial one.

And so he uses this absolute.

He says, No one is good except God alone.

And so what Jesus does next is he takes them to the law.

And when one of the functions of the law is that it's used to drive us to Christ, it's used to help us to see our need of him.

That's not the only use, it's also there to guide believers to as to what is good and righteous and holy.

But that's what Jesus is doing here.

He's revealing his superficial understanding of goodness.

And so Jesus speaks to him of what's referred to as the second table of the law.

Right?

The Ten Commandments can be broken up into two sections.

The first four are in relation to our love for God.

The second six can be used in relation to our love of neighbor, love of others.

But they're also connected.

We see that in the likes of 1 John 4.2.

It says, Anyone who says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar.

For he who does not love the brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Alright, so we see this interconnectedness between both tables of the law.

And so Jesus begins with the second table, his relation to others.

And he says, You know the commandments, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not defraud, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother.

And in hearing this, and Jesus speak to this, it's though this man comes with a big sigh of relief, and he says to him, Oh, teacher, all of these things I've done from my youth.

Now there's a sense in which externally he may have been able to check the boxes on a lot of these things.

Alright, have I committed adultery?

No.

Check.

Uh have I not have I stolen from someone?

No, check.

Uh the apostle Paul in many respects uses the same, the apostle Paul said, he under the law as a Pharisee was blameless.

Now that's not meaning sinless perfection, but it is saying that he meticulously observed all of the external requirements of the law to remain above reproach before people.

And so when it comes to other people and the community or whatever, he had done his duty.

He was a he was an outstanding moral citizen, as it were.

And he applied himself to this for many years.

But you see, whenever there's a trust and or a confidence in one's own goodness, there's always going to be doubt, even just a seed of doubt.

You see, because the lurking questions that can there are lurking questions that can never be resolved when one does so.

You know, the questions such as, is this how other people make that assessment?

I might make that assessment, but is that true?

Is that how other people see me?

Is that how other people assess things?

And and even more significantly, is this how God assesses things?

What if I've miscalculated?

What if I've uh what if I've done something earlier in my life that had a certain weight to it?

Does that somehow offset some of the smaller things that I do?

Does God does God grade by weight?

What if I do something later on in life that messes with this calculus right before I die?

I mean, those are some of the questions that that can be lurking in one's heart and one's soul.

One of the questions that can get at this is if you were to die tonight and God said, Why should I let you into my heaven?

What would you say?

How would you answer?

I think it's a good question because there are a lot of people today who would tend to believe that the answer to that is the same as this man gave.

Right?

And that and that was that was that there was something in him that was worthy enough of obtaining salvation, that he could somehow earn it.

And Jesus is trying to disavow him of that.

Many people today will say, well, if you ask what they believe, why they believe they'll be in heaven, will say, Well, it's because I've tried to live a good life.

Now, they might admit, okay, I haven't always been perfect, I haven't always done everything, there is some blemishes there.

And so they'll take a few marks off their grade, as it were.

But all in all, they will tell you that they believe that they're above a passing grade.

And because they believe God to be good, they believe that like any teacher, he grades based on pass fail.

Now, depending on what kind of teacher you are or what kind of grade scale you are, that can also be somewhat arbitrary.

Where I'm from, 50% or 51%.

Now, 50% was a pass.

So that was a little more generous, but I know here I think it's a little higher.

Some that can even be arbitrary.

What's our grading scale?

You see, the idea is here is if we're trying to examine and live our life based on past fail, then the idea is that we only have reason to believe that we are good if we believe that our positives outweigh our negatives.

And so therefore have a passing grade.

But you see, that's not how we're to judge ourselves, and that's not how God will judge us.

We're to judge ourselves by the character of God, and the character of God is revealed in the law.

And when we judge ourselves by that standard, we can only be led to us to say with the Apostle Paul that there's no one righteous.

No one.

All have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory and the standard of God that He has set for us.

And so there's no one good.

No one can obtain salvation by their own works and merit.

And so Jesus confronts this man with it.

And you or I are confronted with it.

But you'll see that it doesn't take this for Jesus to take the man to task.

I mean, Jesus, you look at how Jesus responds to this man in a moment, and he doesn't take him to task.

He could say, you haven't lived a day in your life up to the standard.

But he doesn't say that.

What we see Mark recording next is this that Jesus looked at him and he loved him.

Now that's not a throwaway line here.

Why does Mark record that?

Because he's communicating that Jesus wants to get to the heart of this man, but he wants to do so in love.

Truth in love.

He's got some stuff to say to the man, but he wants to reveal it to him in love.

And I think there's some instruction for us here because sometimes we just we think that in order to make a point, we need to shove the truth down someone else's throat.

Right?

Makes us feel better.

That as long as we say it, it doesn't matter how we say it, we we we just say it and we give them the truth, and it's up to them to swallow.

But Jesus reminds us here that telling isn't always teaching.

Sometimes we need to help people to see into their own hearts for themselves so that they're allowed to see their own need.

And that's what Jesus is doing here by loving this man.

Jesus allows this man to gain a glimpse into his own heart, and he does it by uncovering the idols that subverted the life that he sought after.

Jesus says, in effect, he says it's not what you need to add.

It's actually what you lack that's the problem.

Because I love you, because I love you, I need to show you what's getting in the way of the life that you seek.

Because I love you, let's focus on the first commandment.

The one that addresses your love and devotion to God.

So go sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me.

And we read that when the man hears these words, knowing how much wealth that he had and how much he had to give up and lose, his whole countenance changes.

And he turns the other way, his head drops, and he walks away discouraged, disheartened.

Because what we often call addictions, God calls idols.

Right?

The truth about idols is they promise much, but they will always, always let you down.

They will always end up enslaving you.

Like any of God's gifts, we can make any of God's gifts into an idol.

John Calvin said our hearts are idol-making factories.

That's just natural to us.

And so we can take anything of God's good gifts and we can over-desire them.

That's what an idol is, an over-desire for something.

And we can start to wrap ourselves around these things so that they begin to take on a life of their own, and they always become enslaving to us.

Like any of God's gifts, we can put them into the center and turn them into a God of our own making so that we begin to serve them.

And they begin to possess us.

And they were enslaving this man who went to the synagogue.

No doubt he went every week and he went into the synagogue and he perhaps even tithed.

But then for the rest of the week, he keeps frequent watch on his bank account and even dreamed about how to satisfy all of these cravings.

His thoughts were directed toward how he could establish more, get more, have more security, have more comfort.

And isn't that just it?

The more that we have, the more things need maintaining.

And so it takes time, it takes attention, it takes thoughts.

And they can begin to enslave us.

What is it about money that can be so alluring?

Well, I think money and wealth, you see, are primarily about security and about stability.

Security and stability.

Now, those things are not wrong in and of themselves, but it can also be used in a way that is socially and outwardly dignifying.

And I think what often is behind all of this is a sense of control.

I want to be secure, I want to be stable, and so I'm going to make sure I do what I can to achieve that and make sure I'm not vulnerable.

But you see, vulnerability is what connects us to God and our need of Him.

And so all of that can be a danger if we're led to place our confidence in these things.

Because our hearts can become fat, you see.

What does that mean?

Well, it means that through self-reliance, we begin to lose feeling.

That's what fat has no feeling in it.

We can begin to lose feeling.

And so we become dull and less responsive to God.

The cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the desires for these things can choke out the word and our ability to respond to it.

We become dull and less sensitive to what God wants for us and what He would have us to do and how to live.

And it can make our hearts unfruitful.

I mean, why pray and ask God for daily bread if you don't really believe that He needs to provide it for you?

That's where it severs that sense of need of God.

I've often found that when I am led to give up something, then I'm more attuned to focus on the fact that that's really God who gives those gifts to me.

And are from his hand.

But notice that this man doesn't say, Jesus doesn't say to this man, give it all away, period, to anything.

He says, give it to the poor.

Why?

Well, because it was a matter of devotion.

I mean, that's that's the that's at the heart of what he's trying to say to this man.

This is about devotion.

This is about love for me, for God.

We're reminded in the likes of Proverbs, he who gives to the poor lends to the Lord.

Right?

And so the poor can't pay you back.

And so it's evidence that in doing it, this man was doing it because he loved Jesus.

To go and to give all of his money to the poor was to say that I'm doing this for no other reason than because I love Jesus.

I love God.

And so in saying follow me, Jesus is challenging him.

He's saying, You're not really as good as you think you are.

However, there is a righteousness that exceeds your current understanding and ability.

And I've come to achieve it and give it to you.

But you've got to entrust yourself to me.

It won't come any other way.

Now, one thing we need to understand about possessions biblically is that Jesus is not here making a universal law that everyone needs to give up everything in order to follow Jesus and to be to enter the kingdom.

He's addressing this man personally, knowing the state of his soul.

And whenever the Spirit does that, whenever Jesus does that, whether it's in worship or any other place, we need a reminder that Jesus speaks to us in personal ways because he knows our own hearts and our own temptations.

He knows our own circumstances.

And that's what he's doing here.

So this is not a call for us to give up everything that we have this morning because there are many examples, for example, in scriptures where Jesus doesn't require that.

You're reminded in uh Zacchaeus.

Jesus goes to Zacchaeus' house.

He says, Zacchaeus, I'm going to your house.

And he goes, and uh Zacchaeus hears of the truth and the grace of God, and he he he repents and he says, I'm gonna come to see this in such a way that I'm gonna give away all my possessions.

And he gives away half of his possessions to the poor.

And then he makes wrong, he makes right what he had done wrong to others.

But the point here is that Zacchaeus didn't give away all of his wealth, and Jesus said, Salvation has come to this house.

It's also evident in the likes of Job, where you might remember the God comes to come to Satan and says to him, Have you seen my servant Job?

There's none like him in all the world, there's no one like him in all the earth.

He reveres me, he turns away from evil, he walks in uprightness, and and and and Satan objects to this.

And he says, Well, of course he does.

You've coddled him, you've given him everything.

Look what he has.

And God says to him, he says, Well Satan says, he says, if you let me add him and he take away these things, Job will surely be led to curse you.

And God says, so be it, but don't lay your hand on him.

And so we see throughout the book of Job how how he loses and suffers greatly, terribly with loss.

And yet in the midst of all of that, we see that Job doesn't trust in wealth, but he trusts in God and his provision and his care.

He didn't trust in his wealth, he trusted in his redeemer.

And when all is said and done, God restores back twice the positions that he had before.

Because at the end of the day, this is where he needed to put his trust.

This is all about his loves.

Now it may be that we are called to give all away.

You and I might be called to give much of our wealth and the things that God has given to us away.

Now look to the person next to you.

They may have just given up house or father or mother or land or possessions because of the call of Christ.

We need to be willing to do that, if called upon to do so.

But the point here that Jesus is addressing with money and possessions is that it's not these things in and of themselves, but it's our attitude towards them that is the difference.

What is to be guarded against here is the love of these things.

And I don't see any of that suggesting that it's easy.

This is not easy.

It can be hard, especially in a day and age, especially a time in this world where we have so much.

We've been given so much.

Compared to many other countries, compared to many other people, we have been given much.

And so it can be difficult to experience loss.

And Jesus, in fact, says 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.

We just note the reactions from the disciples when they hear this.

I mean, they're they're blown away by that kind of statement.

I mean, it just seems too impossible then for someone to enter the kingdom of heaven who has wealth.

And it might be impossible, it might sometimes seem impossible for us to give and to do what God is asking for us to do.

But reminded, we're reminded that what is impossible for man is not impossible for God.

Right?

It's all a matter of who we entrust ourselves to.

And this is where the Holy Spirit works to convict and to change us and gives us faith to trust in Jesus.

When my own heart is stirred up, it is covetous cravings there for trivial worldly things, passing things, things that I don't really need.

I find myself drawn to them.

I find that when I'm responsive to the Spirit, this doesn't always happen, but when I am, I feel led to at times cross my will.

And and do so by giving.

Not giving into those cravings, but giving to the work of the Lord.

And that may be at odds with advice from a financial planner or whatever.

But I find that the Spirit uses that willingness to cut through the fleshly attitudes of my heart and to relinquish the power and hold that it otherwise would have over me.

And he gives me a new affection and reorders my priorities so that they're set upon him.

It requires those spirit-produced faith.

That's the only way that money loses power over us.

It's the only way that we can be willing to receive loss and be motivated by love.

The scriptures tell us this both negatively and positively.

It says, without faith, it is impossible to please God.

But positively, the righteous shall live by faith.

And so the only way, God's way, is that he gives us faith to see an all-encompassing, more beautiful, more pleasing affection in Jesus Christ.

He gives us a new heart, you see, that has affections for Jesus and finds our satisfaction we met in Him and Him alone, supremely and ultimately.

And that itself satisfies us more than anything and anyone ever can.

And what it does is it helps us to relinquish the control that money has over us.

Because here's the hope.

It could be easy to miss what Jesus says to the disciples when they're when they're a little worked up about this saying.

And it's a simple word that he says to the disciples, but notice that he addresses them as children.

That's a comforting word to them.

Children.

How gracious.

Have you been listening the past few weeks?

Right?

Children.

What did Jesus say about children just before he had had this encounter with this man?

To such belongs the kingdom of heaven.

Was that still ringing in their ears?

What is Jesus reinforcing when he says that?

He's reinforcing his attachment to them.

He's reassuring them of his love towards them.

He's reassuring them of his care towards them.

He's reassuring them of their sense of belonging to him and his commitment to them.

And for them, therefore, to continue to rely on his care and his love and his favor.

You see, the truth is that if you entrust your life to Jesus, if I entrust my life to Jesus, you will never be left as debtor.

The life he gives to us is of a quality that when we're, even though we might be called to relinquish things and the control of the things in this world, we find it to be of a greater satisfaction than anything this world has to offer.

There is a quality of eternal life that Jesus gives to us, even though we might be called to give up something.

But that is of a taste of something much more precious than any money could ever buy or any possessions could ever give us.

It's a satisfaction that can never be met in anything or anyone else.

Do you remember the catechism question that was said just a few weeks ago?

Why ought you to glorify and enjoy God?

Because He made me and takes care of me.

I love the simplicity of those words.

There's a simplicity, I think, in trusting and his care that cuts through all of our worries and all of our fears and of all of our need to control.

That reminds us that Jesus is all that we truly need and that he will give us what we need.

Friends, we have the pearl of great price in our midst.

We have true riches.

We have redemption by his blood.

What else do we need?

Amen.

Let us pray.

Oh Father, we're reminded that these are indeed sometimes hard sayings that we need to come to terms with.

And yet, Father, we do see your heart in it that seeks to show us your love and your favor and to bestow on us gifts and life that otherwise would not be able to be received.

And so, Lord, we thank you for challenging us at times.

And the way in which money and possessions and the good gifts that you give to us can sometimes get in the way of our devotion to you.

But Lord, it's our prayer that you would help us and strengthen us, that you would give us to be people who know your love and your life and receive that life.

Because we know that it is enduring, we know that it is ongoing, we know that it will never be taken from us.

And so help us, Lord, to invest in the things of eternal importance and significance.

Help us to receive from your love and your favor and your mercy.

All these things we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.