October 2018 Messenger Newsletter

"But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."
(Mark 10:31)

Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Mark 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.
Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"
Mark 10:20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
Mark 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Mark 10:22 At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

With God All Things Are Possible

Mark 10:23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
Mark 10:24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
Mark 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Mark 10:26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
Mark 10:28 Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"
Mark 10:29 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel
Mark 10:30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
Mark 10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

[Mark 10:21] Jesus is not saying that salvation is dependent on any human good work. In fact it is just the opposite (salvation is always "by grace ... through faith, and ... not of works," Eph. 2:8, 9). The rich man came and asked Jesus what he must "do" to inherit eternal life (v. 17). That he was trusting his human efforts can be seen in v. 20. Jesus wants the man to see that the kingdom of God is something that must be "received" in complete trust and dependence on God (cf. v. 15). Jesus also recognizes that this rich man's wealth has made him self-reliant; so the command to go and sell his possessions is meant to cause him to remove the obstacle that kept him from eternal life.

[Mark 10:25] Jesus is using a gentle and humorous mixture of irony and hyperbole in this epigram. Richness is not repulsive to God. However, man's tendency to trust in riches or to be absorbed totally in the pursuit of them makes the difficulty of a rich man's entering heaven profound indeed. The expression was intended as a serious warning couched in a deliberately humorous view.

[Mark 10:28] (vv. 28-31) In closing this section of teaching on discipleship, Jesus assures His disciples that all those who have made sacrifices and endured persecution for the sake of the kingdom will be rewarded, both in the present life and in the age to come.

NSRV & Believer's Study Bible (BSB) Notes

Readings for the week of October 21st
Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost
First: Isaiah 53: 4-12
Psalm 91: 9-16
Second: Hebrews 5: 1-10
Gospel: Mark 10: 35-45

Sunday Worship Services at 10:00am
Sunday School at 9:00am

Thursday Bible Study (Library) 10:30 am
Holy Communion Service (Sanctuary) Noon