We’ve all heard the stories, right? Or maybe even lived the story – that one in which a young child puts glasses on for the first time and is amazed by how much he or she can see: the individual leaves on the trees, birds flying up in the sky, the words on the signs as Mom or Dad drives down the highway.
Hear people talk about the shock and awe of the finally experience clear vision → clarity they didn’t even know they were missing until their eyes were literally cleared
Sometimes that new, clearer vision is jubilant and exultant
Exclamations of joy
Smiles from ear-to-ear
Laughter and giggles
Sometimes that new, clearer vision is shocking and even overwhelming à videos of people who have spent their whole lives severely color blind trying on those special new glasses that allow them to see color for the first time – powerful videos (can’t watch them and not cry) → people (old and young)
Exclamations of disbelief
Weeping
Also laughter and joy
No matter the reaction, it cannot be denied that the clarity of vision is a life-altering thing.
And so it goes with our Scripture reading this morning. Today, Mark gives us two short stories of Jesus bringing sharp, unrelenting, undeniable clarity to the disciples as his odyssey toward Jerusalem and the cross and crucifixion draws to a decisive and life-changing outcome.
1st portion = Jesus speaking of destruction, ruin, and dire predictions
Section begins with an innocent-enough observation from one of the disciples → all sitting around together on the Mount of Olives (just under 2 miles from the outskirts of Jerusalem) and admiring the beauty and splendor of the city
Text: One of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What awesome stones and buildings!”[1]
Jesus’ response = grim (to say the least): “Do you see these enormous buildings? Not even one stone will be left upon another. All will be demolished.”[2]
Later, a few of the disciples (Peter, James, John, and Andrew) seek Jesus out looking for further clarification: the when and the how, the signs that will indicate the coming of this end → But if they were looking for reassurance and a brush-off answer, they came to the wrong place: Jesus’ answer is only full of more troubling events and distressing scenes
Deception from false prophets and teachers
Wars
Earthquakes
Famine
In short: suffering – text (Jesus): “These things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end.”[3]
Spends more time in the chapter (in the part that we skipped over) going into more detail about that suffering – suffering in relationships, suffering specifically for their faith in Jesus as Christ
Culminates in 2nd part of the reading = Jesus describing how the Human One (Mark’s code name for the Messiah) will return “in the clouds with great power and splendor.”[4] → And underlying all of this apocalyptic speech is Jesus’ mandate to the disciples (and, by extension, to us) to stay alert. To keep awake. To be attentive and vigilant. This is why Jesus is trying to bring clarity to the disciples in the first place with all these predictions and apocalyptic prophecies: to help them be prepared for the time when Jesus will come again, to give them focus and purpose and a mission in the face of the terrible things that Jesus knows are coming just around the corner: betrayal, arrest, trial, crucifixion).
2 ways that Jesus illustrates this point of clarity and preparedness
First, the fig tree = encouragement to be attentive to the signs and in the same way you would be attentive to the signs of the changing seasons → But to this attentiveness, Jesus adds a pretty hefty caveat: “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows.”[5] → Jesus is encouraging the disciples to strike a balance between watchfulness and unhealthy preoccupation, between passion and obsession. Watch for the signs, but don’t ignore the world around you. Yes, watch for the signs … but don’t make that the only thing you do because not even the Son of God knows when he himself will return.
Drives this point home with 2nd illustration = household with the master gone and the doorkeeper in charge – Jesus: “Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know when the head of the household will come, whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows in the early morning or at daybreak. Don’t let him show up when you weren’t expecting and find you sleeping.”[6] → Jesus is basically warning the disciples (and, again, the rest of us by extension) to not get caught unprepared, to not get caught careless and distracted, to not get caught sleeping on the job. Because we do not know when the Messiah will return – even the Messiah himself doesn’t know that! – but when he returns, we should be ready.
Name the elephant in the room with these Scriptures (as with all the apocalyptic Scriptures): can sound bleak, stark, and very doom-and-gloom
And they can sound like that because … well, they’re apocalyptic texts. They speak of the end times. They’re supposed to shock and startle and even distress us a bit to shake us from our complacency, especially in this day and age. But especially in the midst of all that we’re facing today:
Pandemic
Supply shortages
Social distancing
Shelter in place order
Economic instability
Some of the most politically divisive times many of us can remember
In the face of all of this, our text can feel particularly uncomfortable. I know there are end times theories flying around the internet – theological conspiracy theories, if you will. And hear me clearly: I do not think that is what’s happening in our world right now.
But it’s exactly for that purpose that I want to encourage you to think of this passage not as a portent of terrible things to come but a call to action, a call to mission, a call to spend the time we have on this earth – however long that might be – working and speaking and living and loving for the message of the gospel, even (and especially!) when it feels like the world is crumbling around us … because that is exactly when the world needs to hear that reassurance of God’s love and grace the most. So stay alert. Keep the faith, yes, but also, share the faith because God knows, friends, that our neighbors, our communities, and our world are in need. Amen.
I don’t have an audio recording of the sermon this week and probably won’t for the foreseeable future. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, our worship services will be virtually attended only until further notice. (See our Facebook page for more details.) Our virtual worship is a pared-down version of worship – opening prayer, Lenten reading (for now), Scripture, shortened sermon, prayer, and blessings. Sometimes, I’ll stream a hymn, too. So instead of an audio recording of only the sermon, I’ll be embedding the YouTube video of the whole service.
Since September of last year, we’ve been following the Narrative Lectionary – a pre-selected collection of Scripture readings. The reading for today has literally been set for years – since the Narrative Lectionary was created in 2010. And today, not for the first time, we find ourselves reading a pre-selected Scripture passage that speaks so powerfully and so meaningfully to what’s happening in the world today. → today’s Scripture = 3 short stories drawn together with a common thread: generosity
Flip things around today → start with last story and work our way backward
1st story we’re going to tackle = story of the widow with the 2 coins[1]
Basics: Jesus and his disciples are hanging out in the Temple grounds across from where the collection box sits (think a slightly more sophisticated version of the donations mailbox that we set out during Gold Rush! – locked box always available for faithful worshippers’ offerings) → all the rich people are going by the collection box and ostentatiously tossing in whatever spare coins they’ve got in their money pouches (lots of money, to be sure, but nothing compared to what they’ve got stored up at home) → enter the poor widow → approaches the collection box and puts in two small copper coins that equal only one single penny together
Often talked about in sermons as a story of financial generosity – “See how generously the widow gave? I pray that you be inspired by the widow’s generosity as you consider your own giving.” → (popular one on stewardship Sunday, right?)
But I think there’s a greater generosity underlying that financial giving at play here. Jesus makes it clear that this widow is giving despite having next to nothing to give – text (Jesus to the disciples): She from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on.”[2]→The poor widow’s generosity of finances is a symptom of a greater generosity: generosity of trust. She lives a hard, hard life. She must. As a widow in that society and time, she has no husband to support and protect and shelter her. She must have no male relatives or sons to care for her either because she is clearly destitute. If she had another male providing for her, she would have had more to put in the collection box than just a few half-penny coins. But clearly, she has nothing. And yet she is unwavering in her trust that God will care for her. She is wholehearted in that trust. She is generous in that trust, dolling it out with great abandon, with a heart that is all in.
Backing up in Scripture a bit = 2nd story (a bit trickier than the story we just talked about) → story of Jesus criticizing the Pharisees and the Sadducees again
Basics: Jesus is teaching in the Temple → pointing out what he sees as some flaws in the Pharisees’ logic about the identity of the Messiah → denounces the pretentious, deceitful, and conceited way the Pharisees conduct themselves – text (Jesus to the crowd): “Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They want to be greeted with honor in the markets. They long for places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off, they say long prayers. They will be judged most harshly.”[3]→Jesus is calling out the Pharisees because they are dishonest and disingenuous. They are false in their actions. They are false in their dealings. They are false in their prayers. In contrast, Jesus is encouraging the crowd to a generosity of truth. Unlike the Pharisees, who are stingy with the truth, Jesus is encouraging the crowds to be generous in the way they live and portray and enact the truth.
Be truthful in dealing with one another (unlike the Pharisees!)
Sharing the truth of who they are (instead of pretense and façade of the Pharisees)
Sharing the truth of experiences and business practices (instead of the cheating and swindling of the Pharisees)
Be truthful in dealings with God (unlike the Pharisees)
Sharing the truth of their hearts and their faith with God in ways that are genuine (instead of long-winded and showy like the Pharisees)
Along these lines – 1st story in the reading = Jesus’ teaching about which commandments are the greatest → probably familiar because it’s in this part of Mk’s gospel that lays out the Golden Rule
Basics: one of the Pharisees asks Jesus which commandment is the most important → Jesus’ response: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”[4]→ Pharisee actually agrees with Jesus → Jesus praises the Pharisee for his wisdom
In this part of our passage today, Jesus is talking about a generosity of love.
Love for God → no-holds-barred, whole-self kind of love (all your heart, all your being, all your mind, all your strength)
Love for one another →This is that agape kind of love – love that places Other above Self, love that acts for the good rather than for the gain.
Between these two commandments – love God and love your neighbor as yourself – there is literally no one not covered by this generosity of love.
God? Covered.
Neighbor? Jesus has made it clear throughout his teaching that that means anybody and everybody, no restrictions.
Self? Yup. (“Love your neighbor as yourself” implies the importance of being generous with your love for yourself as well)
Jesus is speaking over and over again about all the ways in which we need to be generous – generous with each other, generous with God, generous with our trust and our truth and our faith. In all times. But especially in this time. Be generous with each other – helping each other; connecting with each other in ways that are safe but meaningful; checking in with each other by asking, “How are you?” and being generous enough with our trust and our truth to truly response and truly listen to the response. We are living in times like none of us have ever lived through before, friends, and above all, they are times that will take abundant faith, abundant hope, and abundant love. God is beyond generous in sharing these things with us. So let us be generous with one another. Amen.
When I was in seminary, I worked in the campus library (shocker … I know!) Every summer, those of us who were student workers had the significant and generally daunting task of doing inventory.
Basic procedure for inventory
Rolling cart with a laptop on it and one of those scanning wands
Move slowly up and down the stacks scanning the books to make sure they were in the right place and there weren’t any anomalies (books that hadn’t been checked in before being shelved, books that were still recorded as being on reserve for a class, books that had been marked missing in our computer system, etc.)
Kept various stacks on the cart so our supervisor could make the required changes in the computer catalogue system
Every. Single. Book. In the entire library … BOTH. FLOORS. Thousands of books, DVD, resources, and so on. It literally took the entire summer. However, doing inventory was actually one of my favorite things to do! It definitely appealed to my type A tendencies – making order out of disorder. I also enjoyed it because I was able to download an audiobook onto my iPod, put in my earbuds, and listen to a book the whole time I was scanning the shelves. All in all, it wasn’t a terrible way to spend a summer.
Last summer working it was mostly me and a bunch of new people working (college freshman → UDTS shares a campus with the Univ. of Dubuque, which is an undergraduate institution) → made me the student worker with the most experience by far
Charge from the library director was that, as we were moving slowly through all the rows and scanning the books, we were also supposed to clean things up – get rid of any garbage, weird things sticking out of books, etc.
Fairly large section of the middle section of books on the 1st floor all had these weird colorful strips in them
Strips = bright and colorful → sticking up out of many of the books → These strips had been there for years, so as I was scanning that section, I decided to do what the director had asked us to do and clean up the shelves … so I pulled all the colorful little slips of paper out. And when another student came to relieve me when my shift was over, I told that student to do the same.
Low and behold, a few days later, the person in charge of the cataloguing for the UD library was in my supervisor’s office livid because all of the little slips were gone! As it turns out, she had placed those slips in there in preparation to weed that section of the library, and when she finally went to start that project and found all of her carefully-placed color-coded strips gone, she was not happy. → situation in which authority caused a tricky, sticky situation
Not checking with authority (even though I thought it was pretty clear since we’d been instructed to clean up the shelves and the slips had been there for years)
Misplaced assumptions about authority (both mine and the students who followed by direction to do the same)
Unclear communication among authority figures (neither my supervisor nor the library director knew what those slips meant either)
The idea of authority is a challenging on in the church, too.
Theology around authority can be challenging → far too often used to subjugate other peoples
Justification for slavery → white Europeans believed they had the God-given right to exercise authority over peoples “less civilized” than themselves
Doctrine of Discovery → papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 that “established a spiritual, political, and legal justification for colonization and seizure of land not inhabited by Christians”[1]
Applied all across the world: Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas
Also inspired Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny in America in the 1800s which led to rapid and voracious westward expansion, uprooting a vast number of Native American tribes and paving the way for such atrocities as the Trail of Tears and Indian boarding schools that tried to brutalize native culture and language out of children in the name of white people’s “God-given Christian authority”
On a more local scale – authority in churches can be particularly spiny monsters all their own
Plenty of churches joke that everyone knows it’s the women’s group that’s really in charge of thing
Age-old threat that so many pastors have received from wealthier members that, if things don’t go their way, they’ll pull their financial support
Scholar: Recent surveys document that most church conflicts have less to do with doctrine and belief than with leadership and decision-making. In a word, with authority.[2]
And this is the same sort of sticky situation in which Jesus finds himself in our readings this morning – the quicksand of church authority.
Text: Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem again. As Jesus was walking around the temple, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders came to him. They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”[3] → At this point, we’re approaching the end of Mark’s gospel, so Jesus has been getting under the skin of the religious leaders for some time now. They’re not impressed with him anymore. They want to get rid of him. And here he is strolling around in the Jerusalem Temple right under their noses. But what are “these things” that they are questioning him about when they say, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things?”
Chunk of Mk’s gospel that we skipped over in our readings btwn last week and this week = some crucial stories
1st = Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (which we’ll read in a few weeks on Palm Sunday) → Pharisees and chief priests witnessed Jesus entering Jerusalem like a king → “What kind of authority do you have to do this thing?”
2nd = Jesus fiercely and fervently throwing the money changers and merchants out of the temple – flipping tables, throwing chairs, and roaring about them turning the temple into a “den of thieves”[4] → “What kind of authority do you have to do this thing?”
3rd = teaching on prayer – text (Jesus): “Therefore I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it, and it will be so for you. And whenever you stand up to pray, if you have something against anyone, forgive so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your wrongdoings.”[5] → “What kind of authority do you have to do this thing?”
Clearly, Jesus has rankled the religious authorities beyond what they can bear. All of the other times throughout his ministry, when the Pharisees and chief priests have challenged and questioned Jesus, it’s been in response to something he’s done in that moment – a challenge after a healing or a thinly-veiled question directly following one of Jesus’ teaching sessions. This time is different. This time, Jesus and his disciples are simply moving around within the Temple grounds. This time, the Pharisees and chief priests engage Jesus directly. This time, they initiate the encounter. They bring the fight to Jesus.
Jesus’ response = unsurprisingly hedgy and enigmatic (Mark’s Jesus, above all the other gospels, is the Jesus of riddles and mysteries): Jesus said to them, “I have a question for you. Give me an answer, then I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”[6] → And he proceeds to pose the question about John’s baptism. It seems like a simple question: “Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?” But it is far from simple. It is a loaded question if ever there was one.
Loaded because it points out the Pharisees’ own failing → aspirations and trust placed in earthly authority (their own and the authority of the oppressive Romans like King Herod) rather than in God’s heavenly authority
Question creates a trap for the legal experts, and they know it → close ranks, bend their heads together, whisper fiercely amongst themselves for a few moments weighing their options before copping out entirely – text: They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”[7]
Scholar explains significance of this exchange: Neither response is politically palatable. If they point to the divine origin of John’s work, then their faithlessness, their inability to hear God’s call, becomes evident. … If they point to a human origin, the crowds will react with hostility, as they correctly perceive John’s important status in the work of God in the world.[8] → And in the face of their cowardice and faithlessness, Jesus refuses them an answer.
But Jesus doesn’t just leave it there. He goes on to speak to them in what is probably one of the most disturbing parables in the whole Bible.
Basic plot = landowner sets up a vineyard, then set off on a trip and rented it to a few tenants to farm and care for → when harvest time rolled around, landowner sent one of his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the vineyard’s produce → tenants beat the servant and send him away empty-handed → landowner sends more servants, one after the other, but the tenants beat all of them, finally killing the last one → landowner finally sends his own son, thinking (incorrectly) that the tenants will respect the son in a way they clearly didn’t respect the servants → tenants beat and kill the son and throw in him a ditch
Jesus’ punchline (remember, this is a parable that he’s telling to the Pharisees and chief priests, not to the disciples): “So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”[9] → Jesus has left all pretense and subtlety behind at this point. His parable is uncomfortably pointed.
Scholar: To make a very strong point: that is the initial intention of Jesus’ parable about our persistent corruption as human beings and about God’s amazing patience, serious judgment, and promise of restoration. To the religious authorities Jesus is saying: “Just in case you are personally blind to the ongoing, arrogant, and even violent nature of your own institutional life and leadership, let me put things in the starkest of contexts. Here is my take regarding the depths of your personal and systematic pride and sinfulness.”[10]
To drive that point home, Jesus uses his strongest, most attention-grabbing device: quoting Scripture to those who are supposed to know it best – text (Jesus): Haven’t you read this scripture, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes?”
Comes from Psalm 118:22-23 = hymn of joy and celebration of God’s deliverance from evil and persecution → As I said, quoting Scripture to the people that are supposed to know it best is cheeky enough, but quoting this Scripture – which speaks of God giving victory over those who hate me and taking refuge in the Lord instead of trusting in any human leader – is a particularly pointed barb. It’s Jesus’ definitive commentary on the authority that the Pharisees believe they have and the source of true authority: God alone.
Clearly a barb that found it’s mark – Pharisees’ response: They wanted to arrest Jesus because they knew that he had told the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.[11] → And so begins their plotting in earnest – their plotting to implicate and falsely accuse, their plotting to imprison and convict, their plotting to eventually kill Jesus.
Challenge of reading this Scripture, especially during Lent as we look toward Good Friday and the cross and Jesus’ crucifixion = what that can say to us about authority → “Who authorized this? Who authorized this pain? Who authorized this betrayal? Who authorized this rejection and despair and unjust death? God did.” But, friends, this is where we find the good news of the gospel, because even as we await the darkness and misery of that day, we also await the light and joy of Easter morning – the empty tomb, the stone rolled, away, and the resurrected Christ. And who authorized such a world-changing, paradigm-shifting, earth-shattering thing? God did. God did … to show us how much God loves us. God did … to show us how powerful God’s grace truly is. God did … solely for the sake of our world-weary souls. God did. Thanks be to God. Amen.
[8] Eric D. Barreto. “Mark 11:27-33 – Exegetical Perspective” in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 353.
[10] Dean K. Thompson. “Mark 12:1-12 – Homiletical Perspective” in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 357.
When I was in seminary, I worked in the campus library (shocker … I know!) Every summer, those of us who were student workers had the significant and generally daunting task of doing inventory.
Basic procedure for inventory
Rolling cart with a laptop on it and one of those scanning wands
Move slowly up and down the stacks scanning the books to make sure they were in the right place and there weren’t any anomalies (books that hadn’t been checked in before being shelved, books that were still recorded as being on reserve for a class, books that had been marked missing in our computer system, etc.)
Kept various stacks on the cart so our supervisor could make the required changes in the computer catalogue system
Single. Book. In the entire library … BOTH. FLOORS. Thousands of books, DVD, resources, and so on. It literally took the entire summer. However, doing inventory was actually one of my favorite things to do! It definitely appealed to my type A tendencies – making order out of disorder. I also enjoyed it because I was able to download an audiobook onto my iPod, put in my earbuds, and listen to a book the whole time I was scanning the shelves. All in all, it wasn’t a terrible way to spend a summer.
Last summer working it was mostly me and a bunch of new people working (college freshman à UDTS shares a campus with the Univ. of Dubuque, which is an undergraduate institution) à made me the student worker with the most experience by far
Charge from the library director was that, as we were moving slowly through all the rows and scanning the books, we were also supposed to clean things up – get rid of any garbage, weird things sticking out of books, etc.
Fairly large section of the middle section of books on the 1st floor all had these weird colorful strips in them
Strips = bright and colorful à sticking up out of many of the books à These strips had been there for years, so as I was scanning that section, I decided to do what the director had asked us to do and clean up the shelves … so I pulled all the colorful little slips of paper out. And when another student came to relieve me when my shift was over, I told that student to do the same.
Low and behold, a few days later, the person in charge of the cataloguing for the UD library was in my supervisor’s office livid because all of the little slips were gone! As it turns out, she had placed those slips in there in preparation to weed that section of the library, and when she finally went to start that project and found all of her carefully-placed color-coded strips gone, she was not happy. à situation in which authority caused a tricky, sticky situation
Not checking with authority (even though I thought it was pretty clear since we’d been instructed to clean up the shelves and the slips had been there for years)
Misplaced assumptions about authority (both mine and the students who followed by direction to do the same)
Unclear communication among authority figures (neither my supervisor nor the library director knew what those slips meant either)
The idea of authority is a challenging on in the church, too.
Theology around authority can be challenging à far too often used to subjugate other peoples
Justification for slavery à white Europeans believed they had the God-given right to exercise authority over peoples “less civilized” than themselves
Doctrine of Discovery à papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 that “established a spiritual, political, and legal justification for colonization and seizure of land not inhabited by Christians”[1]
Applied all across the world: Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas
Also inspired Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny in America in the 1800s which led to rapid and voracious westward expansion, uprooting a vast number of Native American tribes and paving the way for such atrocities as the Trail of Tears and Indian boarding schools that tried to brutalize native culture and language out of children in the name of white people’s “God-given Christian authority”
On a more local scale – authority in churches can be particularly spiny monsters all their own
Plenty of churches joke that everyone knows it’s the women’s group that’s really in charge of thing
Age-old threat that so many pastors have received from wealthier members that, if things don’t go their way, they’ll pull their financial support
Scholar: Recent surveys document that most church conflicts have less to do with doctrine and belief than with leadership and decision-making. In a word, with authority.[2]
And this is the same sort of sticky situation in which Jesus finds himself in our readings this morning – the quicksand of church authority.
Text: Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem again. As Jesus was walking around the temple, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders came to him. They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”[3] à At this point, we’re approaching the end of Mark’s gospel, so Jesus has been getting under the skin of the religious leaders for some time now. They’re not impressed with him anymore. They want to get rid of him. And here he is strolling around in the Jerusalem Temple right under their noses. But what are “these things” that they are questioning him about when they say, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things?”
Chunk of Mk’s gospel that we skipped over in our readings btwn last week and this week = some crucial stories
1st = Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (which we’ll read in a few weeks on Palm Sunday) à Pharisees and chief priests witnessed Jesus entering Jerusalem like a king à “What kind of authority do you have to do this thing?”
2nd = Jesus fiercely and fervently throwing the money changers and merchants out of the temple – flipping tables, throwing chairs, and roaring about them turning the temple into a “den of thieves”[4] à “What kind of authority do you have to do this thing?”
3rd = teaching on prayer – text (Jesus): “Therefore I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it, and it will be so for you. And whenever you stand up to pray, if you have something against anyone, forgive so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your wrongdoings.”[5] à “What kind of authority do you have to do this thing?”
Clearly, Jesus has rankled the religious authorities beyond what they can bear. All of the other times throughout his ministry, when the Pharisees and chief priests have challenged and questioned Jesus, it’s been in response to something he’s done in that moment – a challenge after a healing or a thinly-veiled question directly following one of Jesus’ teaching sessions. This time is different. This time, Jesus and his disciples are simply moving around within the Temple grounds. This time, the Pharisees and chief priests engage Jesus directly. This time, they initiate the encounter. They bring the fight to Jesus.
Jesus’ response = unsurprisingly hedgy and enigmatic (Mark’s Jesus, above all the other gospels, is the Jesus of riddles and mysteries): Jesus said to them, “I have a question for you. Give me an answer, then I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”[6] à And he proceeds to pose the question about John’s baptism. It seems like a simple question: “Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?” But it is far from simple. It is a loaded question if ever there was one.
Loaded because it points out the Pharisees’ own failing à aspirations and trust placed in earthly authority (their own and the authority of the oppressive Romans like King Herod) rather than in God’s heavenly authority
Question creates a trap for the legal experts, and they know it à close ranks, bend their heads together, whisper fiercely amongst themselves for a few moments weighing their options before copping out entirely – text: They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”[7]
Scholar explains significance of this exchange: Neither response is politically palatable. If they point to the divine origin of John’s work, then their faithlessness, their inability to hear God’s call, becomes evident. … If they point to a human origin, the crowds will react with hostility, as they correctly perceive John’s important status in the work of God in the world.[8] à And in the face of their cowardice and faithlessness, Jesus refuses them an answer.
But Jesus doesn’t just leave it there. He goes on to speak to them in what is probably one of the most disturbing parables in the whole Bible.
Basic plot = landowner sets up a vineyard, then set off on a trip and rented it to a few tenants to farm and care for à when harvest time rolled around, landowner sent one of his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the vineyard’s produce à tenants beat the servant and send him away empty-handed à landowner sends more servants, one after the other, but the tenants beat all of them, finally killing the last one à landowner finally sends his own son, thinking (incorrectly) that the tenants will respect the son in a way they clearly didn’t respect the servants à tenants beat and kill the son and throw in him a ditch
Jesus’ punchline (remember, this is a parable that he’s telling to the Pharisees and chief priests, not to the disciples): “So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”[9] à Jesus has left all pretense and subtlety behind at this point. His parable is uncomfortably pointed.
Scholar: To make a very strong point: that is the initial intention of Jesus’ parable about our persistent corruption as human beings and about God’s amazing patience, serious judgment, and promise of restoration. To the religious authorities Jesus is saying: “Just in case you are personally blind to the ongoing, arrogant, and even violent nature of your own institutional life and leadership, let me put things in the starkest of contexts. Here is my take regarding the depths of your personal and systematic pride and sinfulness.”[10]
To drive that point home, Jesus uses his strongest, most attention-grabbing device: quoting Scripture to those who are supposed to know it best – text (Jesus): Haven’t you read this scripture, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes?”
Comes from Psalm 118:22-23 = hymn of joy and celebration of God’s deliverance from evil and persecution à As I said, quoting Scripture to the people that are supposed to know it best is cheeky enough, but quoting this Scripture – which speaks of God giving victory over those who hate me and taking refuge in the Lord instead of trusting in any human leader – is a particularly pointed barb. It’s Jesus’ definitive commentary on the authority that the Pharisees believe they have and the source of true authority: God alone.
Clearly a barb that found it’s mark – Pharisees’ response: They wanted to arrest Jesus because they knew that he had told the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.[11] à And so begins their plotting in earnest – their plotting to implicate and falsely accuse, their plotting to imprison and convict, their plotting to eventually kill Jesus.
Challenge of reading this Scripture, especially during Lent as we look toward Good Friday and the cross and Jesus’ crucifixion = what that can say to us about authority à “Who authorized this? Who authorized this pain? Who authorized this betrayal? Who authorized this rejection and despair and unjust death? God did.” But, friends, this is where we find the good news of the gospel, because even as we await the darkness and misery of that day, we also await the light and joy of Easter morning – the empty tomb, the stone rolled, away, and the resurrected Christ. And who authorized such a world-changing, paradigm-shifting, earth-shattering thing? God did. God did … to show us how much God loves us. God did … to show us how powerful God’s grace truly is. God did … solely for the sake of our world-weary souls. God did. Thanks be to God. Amen.
[8] Eric D. Barreto. “Mark 11:27-33 – Exegetical Perspective” in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 353.
[10] Dean K. Thompson. “Mark 12:1-12 – Homiletical Perspective” in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 357.
I was watching a movie with the boys the other day (in fact, I think it might have been last Sunday afternoon during our family down time!). We were watching a classic … well, it’s a classic for me. For the boys, it was their first time. We were watching Disney’s “Aladdin” – the animated version from 1992.
Scene that struck me: scene after Aladdin has found the magic lamp in the cave and discovered the Genie inside → Genie tells Aladdin he gets three wishes → Aladdin confesses that he doesn’t really know what to wish for, so he asks the Genie what he would wish for if the Genie himself had three wishes → Genie’s response = freedom – line: “It’s all part and parcel, the whole genie gig. Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty bitty living space. But oh, to be free! Not to have to go POOF! ‘What do you need?’ POOF! ‘What do you need?’ POOF! ‘What do you need?’ To be my own master! Such a thing would be greater than all the magic and all the in all the world!”[1]
As I sat down to start working on the worship material and my sermon for this week, that scene kept ringing in my head, especially those last few lines: “POOF! What do you need? POOF! What do you need? POOF! What do you need?” And it struck me because we hear Jesus basically saying that again and again in our Scripture reading this morning.
Asks it of the disciples
Asks it of a blind beggar on the road
And it’s the quintessential question for Lent … but maybe not in the way we think.
Actually going to start part-way through our Scripture reading this morning – reading is 3 short sections, and we’re going to start with the 2nd section → story of James and John’s unabashed hubris
Text: James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”[2] → I’m sorry. What? What?! Talk about speaking from a place of privilege! “We’ve been traveling with you for a while now, Jesus, so it’s time to cash in our chips for a big favor score.” Again, I say … what?! But it doesn’t end there.
Text continues: “What do you want me to do for you?” [Jesus] asked. They said, “Allow one of us to sit on your right hand and the other on your left when you enter your glory.”[3] → Ooooo … y’all! The audacity of this is a little staggering, isn’t it? Can’t you just picture James and John sidling up to Jesus when they think none of the other disciples are listening and making this request in low, conspiratorial voices?
Actually see that hidden in the Gr. of the text – James and John “came to Jesus” = “came up to, approached” → So we can imagine Jesus and the disciples all traveling in a gaggle together, some walking faster and some walking slower, with Jesus leading the way. And from somewhere in that gaggle, James and John speed up their pace a little bit to leave the other disciples behind and buddy up to their Teacher.
Jesus’ response = meant to bring a little reality to James’ and John’s fantastical aspirations – text: Jesus replied, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink the cup I drink or receive the baptism I receive?” “We can,” they answered.[4]
Jesus doesn’t ridicule them
Jesus doesn’t chastise them
Jesus doesn’t laugh in their faces or tell them they’re being selfish, grandeur-seeking fools
Jesus’ response is calm. Matter of fact. Measured. He simply tries to make it clear to James and John that Jesus’ own mission is not their mission.
But James and John don’t give up that easily. They’ve made their ask, and they’re sticking to it. In fact, they’re doubling down! “Sure, Jesus! No problem. We can follow where you go. We can do what you do. We’ve been doing it for the last few years now, right? How much harder can it get?”
Scholar: Mark paints a picture of James and John being so caught up in popularity and power that they cannot see reality. James and John are observing the popularity of Jesus and not the harsh political reality that Jesus is about to be handed over to those who hate his life and want to see it brought to a humiliating end. James and John have no earthly idea what they are asking.[5]
Jesus lays it out even clearer for them – text: Jesus said, “You will drink the cup I drink and receive the baptism I receive, but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom it has been prepared.”[6] → Notice that even in the face of James and John’s persistent and audacious presumption, Jesus remains compassionate. Jesus remains level-headed. Jesus remains a teacher and mentor through and through. Before letting them down as definitively as he can (telling them that the places of honor on his right and left aren’t his to give), he reassures them of their worth, telling them that they are indeed capable of drinking the cup that Jesus himself will drink and receiving the baptism that Jesus himself will receive (though James and John certainly don’t understand at this point that Jesus is telling them they will die the death of martyrs for their faith).
The other disciples, on the other hand, don’t react quite so tolerantly → somehow the other 10 disciples catch wind of the conversation that Jesus, James, and John have been having, and they are pretty upset with James and John → Jesus (ever the teacher) grabs hold of this teachable moment
Calls all the disciples back together
Points out the vanity of the Gentile rulers and how they show off their authority and power to those around them
Gives the disciples a pretty pointed directive – text: “But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. Whoever wants to be first among you will be the slave of all, for the Human One didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.”[7]
3rd section of today’s text = Jesus living example of this mission of service for the disciples
Jesus and his disciples are continuing their journey and come to Jericho → spend an undisclosed amount of time there → on their way out, Jesus, the disciples, and “a sizeable crowd” encounter a blind beggar named Bartimaeus – text: When [Bartimaeus] heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!”[8] → Before we go further, I want to remind you of how disabilities and illnesses were viewed in Jesus’ time. Unless the disability was the result of some sort of accident (loss of a limb, etc.), it was seen as a punishment for sin – either your own sin or the sin of your parents. They did something wrong. They offered the wrong offering or neglected the wrong offering or you didn’t pray the right prayer or make a pilgrimage for the right festival or wash in the ritual bath at the right time, and so you were afflicted with this condition. It didn’t matter if it was permanent or not. It didn’t matter if it was congenital or not. (Actually, that probably made it worse.) So people would have seen Bartimaeus not only as a sinner but also as unclean – someone held on the fringes of their society for fear of tainting that society and all who came in contact with him.
Makes Bartimaeus’ tenacity all the more impressive – scholar: We ought to acknowledge that Bartimaeus demonstrates a gutsy perseverance in his response to the divine initiative in the person of Jesus. The text fairly shouts the loud persistence of this marginalized human being. He will not be silenced.[9]
Jesus response to that faith-filled tenacity – text: Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.” They called the blind man, “Be encouraged! Get up! He’s calling you.” Throwing his coat to the side, he jumped up and came to Jesus. Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Teacher, I want to see.” Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus on the way.[10] → 2 important things about this text
FIRST, Jesus asks Bartimaeus exactly the same question that he just asked James and John when they made their absurd request: “What do you want me to do for you?”
Gives us a sense of equality → Bartimaeus is someone who has never encountered Jesus before. He hasn’t been following him and learning from him for the past three years. He hasn’t been part of Jesus’ inner circle. And yet here’s Jesus giving him the exact same opening that he gave his disciples. “What do you want me to do for you?” There is an equanimity to this. There’s an impartiality. It reminds us that God hears all our prayers – rich or poor, educated or uneducated, spoken or silent, ridiculous or mundane, no matter the language, no matter the context, no matter the request. God opens God’s own ears and heart to each and every one of us and says with compassion, “What do you want me to do for you?”
SECOND, Bartimaeus is the last person that Jesus will heal before he enters Jerusalem for the last time → Did you notice what was missing when Jesus healed Bartimaeus? We’ve read a number of other healing and teaching passages throughout Mark’s gospel this year, and in nearly every circumstance, Jesus firmly instructs the person who was healed not to tell anyone. But healing Bartimaeus is a significant turning point in Jesus’ ministry because he is already headed to Jerusalem. He is headed to betrayal. He is headed to the cross. The time for secrecy has passed. Jesus’ only instruction to Bartimaeus is, “Go, your faith has healed you.”
So we have these two examples of big, bold requests made of Jesus in our Scripture reading this morning
Jesus’ invitation for both requests is the same: “What do you want me to do for you?”
Jesus’ response to both requests is different
Grants Bartimaeus’ request for healing
Denies James’ and John’s request for prestige
It’s important to note these two things because it reminds us that God does indeed hear all our prayers openly and compassionately, but that doesn’t mean that God grants every request. And it reminds us that when our prayers are not answered in the way that would like them to be answered, it doesn’t say anything about our faith or lack thereof.
Nothing about our text indicates that Bartimaeus’ faith was better, smarter, smoother, flashier, or more sincere than James’ and John’s faith → And yet Bartimaeus’ request was granted while James’ and John’s was not.
But here’s the thing, friends. Here we are in this season of Lent. Here we are in this season of repentance and self-reflection. This season of examination – examining ourselves, examining our faith, examining our relationship with God and with one another. (Incidentally, today’s Photo Challenge word is ‘examine.’ Hmmm … I wonder why.) So while we often come to God asking as James and John and Bartimaeus all did, and while God is more than willing to hear us with love and mercy and grace, the ultimate purpose of faith is to turn Jesus’ question back around – to come to God saying, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Reason for that turning = first part of our Scripture reading this morning – text: Jesus and his disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, with Jesus in the lead. … Taking the twelve aside again, he told them what was about to happen to him. “Look!” he said. “We’re going up to Jerusalem. The Human One will be handed over to the chief priests and the legal experts. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles. They will ridicule him, spit on him, torture him, and kill him. After three days, he will rise up.”[11]
Last time in Mk’s gospel that Jesus attempts to warn the disciples about what’s coming (last of 3 times)
And once again, clearly, the disciples don’t get it because directly following this crucial revelation is James’ and John’s preposterous request.
Beginning of our text = our ultimate reminder of exactly what Jesus did for us → the ultimate answer to the question that he asks again and again in today’s text: “What do you want me to do for you?”
Reminder that Jesus suffered humiliation and torture for us
Reminder that Jesus went to the cross and the grave for us
Reminder that after three days, Jesus rose from that grave to give us a stark, unrelenting, unmistakable picture of exactly how much God loves us and how much God wants to do for us
So let us hold up a mirror this morning: A mirror to ourselves. A mirror to our relationships. A mirror to our desires and prayer. And a mirror to Jesus’ own question. Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” Let us respond: “No, Jesus. What do you want me to do for you?” Amen.
[1]Aladdin. Walt Disney Pictures. Released Nov. 25, 1992.
[5] William E. Crowder, Jr. “Mark 10:35-45 – Pastoral Perspective” in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 328.
[9] Michael Lodahl. “Mark 10:46-52 – Theological Perspective” in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 332.
We’re going to start off with a song this morning, friends. The lyrics are on the cover of your bulletin. There are, of course, all sorts of versions of this iconic Broadway song, but this morning, ours will come from the unforgettable, the inimitable, the supreme … Diana Ross.
Most popular song from the 1965 Tony Award winning Broadway musical Man of La Mancha (story of Don Quixote and a little bit the story of author Miguel de Cervantes as he waits for a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition[2])
(If you’re not familiar …) Don Quixote = knight with not enough to do → sees foes and battles in places where there are none (most well-known e.g. – battling a large windmill thinking it was a 4-armed giant)
Throughout the story, Quixote is a bit of a joke. His family thinks he’s crazy. The villagers think he’s crazy. He’s dogged by a doctor who, in trying to help him recognize his madness, basically ends up killing him. The only one who believes in Quixote is his faithful squire, Sancho Panza. And, of course, Quixote himself. Even in the face of embarrassment, even in the face of ridicule, even in the face of utter disbelief, Quixote clings to his impossible dream – his dream of being a knight.
In today’s Scripture reading, we encounter what seems like an impossible dream: salvation. Eternal life. Entrance into God’s Kingdom. In the face of questions and uncertainty and disbelief – both from strangers and from the disciples – Jesus is candid and thoroughly honest … but he also offers hope.
Begins with familiar story – story found in all 3 synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) → story of the rich young man or the rich young ruler (depending on which gospel you’re reading and which translation you’re using)
Young man approaches Jesus and asks a question: “Good Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”[3]
Jesus’ first response = slight but significant scolding → Jesus asks the man why he has chosen to call Jesus ‘good’ before reminding this young man that “No one is good except the one God.”[4] This may seem like a trivial thing, like a technicality … like Jesus is nitpicking. But this small correction is important because it directs the young man’s attention away from Jesus and straight to God.
At this point in Jesus’ ministry he’s been healing and performing miracles all over the place → this is Jesus’ attempt to keep the focus directed not on him and his actions but the source of those actions: God
Scholar: Jesus in not trying to deny his own goodness; rather, he is asking the man if he knows what he is saying and why he is saying it. Jesus refuses any empty flattery (if that is what it is) and takes the opportunity to challenge his [questioner] with a deeper question, “Do you even know what it means to call someone good?”[5]
Without giving the young man a chance to reply, Jesus continues with a pretty general but acceptable answer to the man’s question about eternal life → basically: keep the commandments (lists a few of them)
Man’s reply: “Teacher,” he responded, “I’ve kept all of these things since I was a boy.”[6] → Now, we have to image that the rich young man is feeling pretty good about himself right now, right? He’s asked this famous rabbi what he needs to do to obtain eternal life, and the initial response that he’s gotten is stuff he’s already done. Check that off the list! Eternal life … in the bag! Yes!
Probably excited
Probably relieved
Probably proud
And I imagine him starting to turn and go back to his home feeling safe and secure in this reassurance that Jesus has just given him … but Jesus isn’t done with this rich young man yet. – text: Jesus looked at him carefully and loved him. He said, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.”[7] … And the young man … is crestfallen. – text: But the man was dismayed at this statement and went away saddened, because he had many possessions.[8] → Okay, there’s so much to tackle in just these two verses.
First: Jesus’ moment of discernment before he speaks again (Jesus looked at him carefully and loved him.) → This is a beautiful, powerful, challenging moment, friends.
Gr. “looked at him carefully” = one of the words for “looked at/saw” but has underlying tone of consideration in it → This is a beautiful, powerful, challenging moment because we can just tell that Jesus is looking at more than just this man’s hair and tunic and outward appearance. Jesus is gazing into this man’s heart and soul. He is reading this rich young man from the inside out – his desires, his gifts, his failings … everything about him. And it is from that intense gaze that Jesus’ next invitation comes.
Jesus’ reply cuts straight through the man’s façade to the heart of his identity: “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.”
It’s ironic that to this man with many possession, Jesus says, “You are lacking one thing.” He doesn’t say, “You’re missing the point.” He doesn’t say, “I have one more thing for you.” Jesus very deliberately says, “You are lacking one thing.” In that frank and searching gaze, Jesus discerned that this young man’s pride and heart and identity were wrapped up in what he owned, in his wealth and his possessions. So he piques the man’s interest with a little teaser: You are lacking one thing. In and amidst all the wealth and possessions you’ve already accumulated for yourself, you’re still lacking.
That one thing that the rich young man is lacking – the one thing that Jesus asks of him – is the exact opposite of where he’s truly placed his heart
Lacking GENEROSITY
Lacking SIMPLICITY
Lacking CHARITY
Lacking in that he is not lacking at all à that he doesn’t know what it is to want
In that frank and searching gaze, Jesus immediately figures out the one thing that will be hard for this man to do – the thing that will, in fact, be impossible for the man to do alone … as he proves with his action.
Man’s response = to walk away in utter disappointment – text: But the man was dismayed at this statement and went away saddened → 2 very different Gr. words
Gr. “man was dismayed” = shocked, appalled, gloomy, sad
Gr. “went away saddened” = offended, distressed, vexed, irritated
Clearly Jesus’ words have had an impact on the rich young man. He goes away dissatisfied (with Jesus … or with himself?) because his possessions are many, and the thought of selling them all has him utterly bereft. Or is it the thought of missing out on accepting Jesus’ invitation and following because of his inability to part with his things what has him utterly bereft?
Scholar: Jesus’ invitation is not a command or a judgment, not an attempt to exact justice; it is, rather, an attempt to enact gratuity. To love the man, Jesus must tell him the hard truth, that his wealth is in his way. So Jesus invites him, as an act of love, to unload his burden, to give away his wealth, to free himself from that which has come to bind him, even though he has no idea he is so bound. This is love. This is the truth – and it is hard to hear.[9]
Continues with this theme of hard truth to hear in the next part of our passage BUT here we find somewhere to lay our hope
Jesus continues with theme of difficulty of giving up wealth – text: Looking around, Jesus said to his disciples, “It will be very hard for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom!” His words startled the disciples, so Jesus told them again, “Children, it’s difficult to enter God’s kingdom! It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.” Then they were shocked even more and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them carefully and said, “It’s impossible with human beings, but not with God. All things are possible for God.”[10] → There is it. There’s the whole point. That’s Jesus’ mic drop moment. The disciples are shocked … amazed … overwhelmed with this truth bomb that Jesus has just dropped on them … and then Jesus looks at them. Carefully.
Gr. = same word used when Jesus looked carefully at the rich young man → searching, probing, soul-reading gaze
And then we get Jesus’ response: “Who can be saved? No one … not by themselves. That dream of salvation that you get for yourself … earn for yourself … deserve for yourself? It’s impossible. It’s an impossible dream. But with God, you can have eternal life. With God, it’s possible. Only with God.”
Now, this text is often preached on stewardship Sunday or in regard to church finances because, well … frankly, Jesus talks a lot about wealth and money and generosity and giving in this passage. But I don’t think that’s all that this is about. I think it’s more about whatever it is that we have our hearts and our identity wrapped up in. Whatever it is we’d find it impossible to give up. → 2 reasons that I say this is about more than just money
First: that searching gaze that Jesus gives the rich young man → It’s a gaze that sees into his very heart and soul, and in that gaze – in that moment of unmitigated discernment and sheer agape love – Jesus sees what it is that is holding that man back. Jesus sees where he’s spending his time, his energy, his fervor, his devotion. And he says, “That’s it. Right there. You’re so wrapped up in your wealth that God cannot get through. So you’ve got to remove that obstacle from your path.”
Second: Peter’s response after Jesus’ declaration that all things are possible for God – text: Peter said to him, “Look, we’ve left everything and followed you.”[11]
2 ways we can read this
Can read it as Peter being exasperated: “Look, Jesus, we’ve literally left everything behind to follow you. What about us?”
Can read it as Peter being expectant: “Look at us, Jesus! We’ve done that. We’ve done everything you’ve asked. We’ve been good little followers. Does that mean we get in?”
Either way, Peter is pointing out that he and the disciples have no wealth holding them back. They have no possessions holding them back. But we still get the impression that they are being held back by something. By their jockeying for position with Jesus? By their tempers? By their misguided expectations for the Messiah? By their inability to see Jesus for who he truly is? Something is holding them back as well because even after giving them the same searching, discerning, soul-reading look that Jesus gave the rich young man, he tells them it is impossible for human beings to enter God’s kingdom without God. He doesn’t say, “Yup. You’re good. You’re in,” like some divine bouncer at the pearly gates. He says, “It’s impossible without God.”
Jesus’ response to Peter reinforces this: “I assure you that anyone who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farms because of me and because of the good news will receive one hundred times as much now in this life – houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and farms (with harassment) – and in the coming age, eternal life. But many who are first will be last. And many who are last will be first.”[12]
So in this season of Lent, let me ask you this: What is holding you back? What is getting in the way of your relationship with God? If you were to run up to Jesus just as the rich young man did and say, “Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?” what would Jesus see as your impossible surrender? Amen.
[5] Scott Bader-Saye. “Mark 10:17-22 – Theological Perspective” in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 308.
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made 