Last week we looked at the most important question in the world, which is what must I do to inherit eternal life? The rich young ruler was considered a good person. But he found that he wasn’t good enough to enter the kingdom of heaven. The question before us today in the passage we’re looking at, is how do you become great in the kingdom of God? A desire for greatness is a worthy goal, if it is achieved within the realm of the kingdom of heaven. But I would be willing to guess that many people who may desire greatness, consider it only within the temporal, earthly realm, and aren’t very concerned about being great in the kingdom of God.

We typically think of greatness in the realm of sports figures. Hank Aaron was a great baseball player. Maybe the best there ever was. Muhammed Ali considered himself the greatest boxer. That’s open for debate. Tom Brady could be considered perhaps the greatest quarterback in football. That is unless you’re an old Colts fan like my wife. Then you would probably say Johnny Unitas was the greatest quarterback. My sport of choice is surfing.  But I’m not a great surfer by any stretch of the imagination.  But there are a few icons in the sport that have achieved greatness to some degree or another.  One such guy is a man named Laird Hamilton.  And even if you aren’t a surfer, you might have heard of Laird.  

Surfer Magazine once labeled Laird as “the sport’s most complete surfer, displaying almost unnerving expertise in a multitude of disciplines, and flat out surfing’s biggest, boldest, bravest, and the best big wave surfer in the world today, bar none.” I guess that qualifies Laird as being one of the greatest surfers ever. 

Usually along with such physical feats of greatness come also a lot of arrogance and pride.  And perhaps Laird was prone to that sort of thing at certain times in his life. But I understand that a near death experience may have tempered that arrogance to a certain degree. In fact, according to a YouTube video I saw, it would appear that he turned to the Lord in that situation.  I can’t say that he is saved, but it certainly seemed like that near death experience may have humbled him to some degree.  

So a while back I watched an interview with Laird in which they talked about all sorts of things that were going in his life, and the interviewer finished the talk with a last question which was “How do you define greatness?”  You would half expect an answer like, “well if you look up greatness in the dictionary you will see my picture.”  But the answer that Laird gave was really kind of out of character for him.  He said greatness required compassion, being courageous, humility and love.  There could be other aspects as well, he said, but those were in his opinion the top four.  Not exactly the stereotypical answer you would expect from a great sports figure, is it?  

The topic we are looking at in today’s passage is that of greatness, and I’ve titled the message “the gospel’s path to greatness.”  This has really been a sort of a theme in this chapter and even in the previous chapter.  There is a recurring theme about what it means to be considered great in the kingdom of God.  And in regards to Laird’s answer to the question of what constitutes greatness, I was quite surprised to find a correlation here in this passage of those same four points, compassion, courageousness, humility and love.  I think we are going to see Jesus illustrate each of those characteristics in the following passage, though not necessarily in that order.  

Before we get into this passage though, let’s look back at the last verse of the previous passage which I think gives us spiritual insight into God’s perspective on greatness.  Jesus said in vs.31, “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”  That statement sets the stage by letting us know that God doesn’t look at greatness the way man looks at greatness.  Let’s look now at the opening scene, in which we see the courageousness of Christ which is one of the essential characteristics of greatness.  

In vs32 we see Jesus leading His disciples on the road to Jerusalem.  Notice that He is taking the lead.  He is purposely, resolutely heading to His destiny with the cross.  The disciples aren’t fully aware of where He is leading them, but He knows very well the pain and suffering that awaits Him.  So Mark says He took the disciples aside to explain to them more fully what lies ahead.  Marks says the disciples are amazed and fearful.  Yet Christ is courageous.  He resolutely marches toward what most people would run from. Jesus knows the full ramifications of all that is inculcated in the cross.  Far beyond what we can even understand from the benefit of having the scripture accounts, He knew completely in advance.  And yet He faces towards Jerusalem, heading resolutely towards the cross.

Notice also what Jesus has to say about His destiny.  This is the third time in Mark that we see Jesus foretelling that He will suffer death.  He first did so in chapter 8 vs 3, after Peter had affirmed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Then He gave a more detailed version of this prophecy in chapter 9 vs 31.  And now in chapter 10 vs 33,34 He gives the most detailed version yet.  This is a great illustration of what I have often referred to as “progressive revelation.” That as you walk in obedience to the light God gives you today, He will give you more light for the next step.  It is important, not that we have full knowledge, but that we have full faith in what knowledge we have received and walk in it in obedience.  And when we do that, then God will give us more knowledge that we might walk in it.  

In this third prophecy of vs 33 and 34, we see seven distinct prophecies that Jesus reveals.  That’s pretty definitive prophecy isn’t it?  Jesus is not just giving an indistinct allusion to something that may or may not happen, but very specific things regarding His Passion.  Notice these seven points; 1, the Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests and scribes, 2, they shall condemn Him to death, 3, they will hand Him over to the Gentiles, 4, they will mock Him and spit on Him, 5, they will scourge Him, 6, they will kill Him, and 7, three days later He will rise again.  That is incredibly detailed prophecy concerning Himself, and as we all know, all those things were fulfilled to the letter. 

You know, I’m sure a lot of us we wish we could know the future.  But to know the way you will die, especially the time and the manner, which in Jesus’ case was through torture, is not a knowledge that any of us would want to have.  But to have this foreknowledge to this degree, and then to resolutely head towards it rather than run from it is to show courage at it’s greatest level.  It is one thing to go on a dangerous adventure, perhaps to surf the biggest waves you can find, but you do so with the expectation that you will survive.  Jesus went to Calvary knowing that He would be tortured and killed and yet willingly offers Himself up for our sakes.

And that courage illustrates another characteristic of greatness, which is love.  Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lays down His life for His friends.” Jesus loved us with a sacrificial love.  The greatest love that one can exhibit is to lay down your life for another.   John 13:1 says, “having loved His own, He loved them to the uttermost.”

There is another essential element of greatness, which is humility.  Yet first  we see that the disciples illustrate the negative contrast to Biblical principle of humility, through their selfish ambition. Their selfish ambition is a sharp contrast to Christ’s humility.  We see this starting in vs35.  

The gospel of Matthew adds further detail to this situation – Matthew says the mother of James and John accompanies them, and in some way or another adds her request to theirs.  They start by approaching Jesus and asking Him to do them a favor.  It would seem they understood at least that Jesus was going to be established on His throne as the ruler of the Kingdom of God.  So they have that going for them.  They have faith in Christ the King and the gospel of the kingdom.  But that’s where the good implications of their question ends.  What they were asking for, and even recruited their mother to help them get, was to be seated on the right hand and the left hand of Christ when He sat on His throne.  They were asking for the chief seats of honor in the kingdom. They were asking to be recognized as the greatest in the kingdom of God, second only to Christ.

Now this is nothing short of naked, unbridled, selfish ambition.  It is a desire to be given preference over the other disciples.  It is a desire to be recognized as greater than the other disciples.  But as we will see, it was not a good desire, but a sinful desire born of of selfishness and pride.  

Notice the sharp contrast between Jesus and the two disciples; Jesus is predicting His humiliation, while they are asking for their exaltation.  But before exaltation must come humility. Humility is an essential characteristic of greatness.  Jesus was a perfect example of humility, having left His glory in heaven to become a servant.  The apostle Paul says we are to emulate this example of Christ’s humility in Phil. 2:3-8, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Notice that Paul said we are to have the same attitude as Christ did in regards to humility, putting the needs of others before yourself.

That’s the exact opposite of the attitude of the world, isn’t it?  The doctrine of the world is go for it, grab all you can get, protect and proclaim your rights.  I’ve often said in regards to surfing that it is one of the most selfish sports there is.  There are no referees out there, no rules saying who’s turn it is.  And so it’s every man for himself.  And consequently it turns out to be a very selfish endeavor with everyone trying to get as many waves as they can.  The better you are, the more waves you get.  And that’s a good illustration of what is wrong with the world’s view of greatness.  Climb over, walk over anyone in pursuit of your goals. All’s fair in love and war. Do whatever you have to do to advance yourself. But that’s not God’s path to greatness.  

Notice what Jesus says in regards to this request of James and John. “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

James and John seem a little overconfident in their answer that they would be able to drink the cup that Jesus drinks, and be baptized in His baptism.  Whether or not they fully realize it, Jesus is talking about the agony that He will suffer at the cross.  To “drink the cup” was a Hebrew idiom which they should have realized meant to fully undergo the same experience.  And to be baptized they should have been understood meant to be engulfed, or overwhelmed.  Their answer showed they obviously did not understand what He had just said about being scourged and delivered up to be killed.  They probably thought that was just hyperbole.  Just like we think that it is hyperbole when Jesus said in the previous passage that it was impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  We have a tendency to disregard those truths which don’t fit our template.  

But Jesus out of His compassion for these two disciples does not rebuke them, in fact He acknowledges that they will in fact endure a similar baptism of fire and drink the bitter cup.  Little did these aggressive, ambitious young men who, by the way were known as the Sons of Thunder, little did they know then that one of them, James, would become the first martyr of the church, and the other brother John would be imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos.  But it should be noted that while Jesus’s suffering and death was vicarious, their suffering could never be, but nevertheless it is related in the sense they would suffer for Christ’s sake. 

However, it needs to be pointed out that they were overconfident in their assertion that they could endure what Christ would endure.  In fact we know that on the night of His arrest, they initially  ran away as did all the disciples.  But at this moment, they are full of bravado.  And that is an important distinction in the pursuit of greatness.  One must not mistake bravado for courageousness. There is an old adage I like a lot which was spoken by a king of Israel, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’  Jesus is courageous in the truest sense of the word.  The disciples are full of bravado.  They have not yet had their faith put to the test.  After the resurrection, they will exhibit some of that courage that Christ had.  But up to this point they are full of their own self importance.

Well, lest we think too little of James and John and too much of the other disciples, note that in vs 41 that when the other disciples hear this they become indignant towards the two brothers. They are indignant because the greed of the two is exposed, but their indignation exposes their greed as well.  This desire for greatness is a long standing issue with the disciples.  Remember back in chapter 9 vs 34 they are discussing among themselves which one of them would be the greatest.  So if anything, they are just jealous that James and John spoke up to claim those thrones before they did.  All of them are guilty of the same selfish interests. 

But before we move on, let’s be honest about ourselves.  It is human nature to think of yourself first.  It’s human nature to look out for number one.  But though it may be human, it is indicative of our sin nature. That is why Jesus said the second most important commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.  The first commandment is to love God above everything and everyone.  The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. 

So Jesus needs to correct this attitude among the disciples, so He stops and calls them together for a lesson.  And He tells them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

First, Jesus uses an analogy of the world’s great men as compared to those who would be great in the kingdom.  In the world’s system of greatness, the rulers exercise authority over the others.  To exercise authority is to lord one’s superiority over people, to oppress people, to govern people.  They make laws and ordinances to restrict or control.  And in so doing they make the people serve them.

But that is not the way God would have greatness expressed. In the kingdom of God, the great serve the weak.  The ruler becomes the servant.  As illustrated by the Lord Himself, He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. 

Jesus is saying that in the kingdom of God in which He is Ruler, it is the exact opposite of what is practiced in the world. Greatness consists in serving, in the outpouring of self in service to others.  It is to practice sacrificial love, and that not just to those who can reciprocate by advancing you, but even to those who cannot repay or to those who are undeserving.  This reveals yet another characteristic of greatness, that of humility, and no one is more humble than a servant.  Remember the text we looked at earlier in Phil. 2:7,8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

The service which Jesus came to give was to give His life as a ransom for many.  This ransom paid in Jesus’s blood is what is known in theological terms as substitutionary atonement.  Isaiah 53:11 in speaking prophetically of the Messiah says, “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.” 

Now finally, Mark gives us an illustration of greatness in the account of the healing of a blind man named Bartimaeus. As Jesus and the disciples are walking out of Jericho, Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is passing by.  And so this poor blind man, a beggar, begins to call out in desperation for Jesus to have mercy on Him.  Bartimaeus is a perfect picture of a man who is lost.  He is the perfect picture of a man who needs to be saved.  First he is blind. The image of blindness is a common metaphor presented in the gospel for those outside the kingdom of God.  Paul says in 2Cor. 4:4 “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 

Secondly, he is a beggar. In the eyes of the world there is certainly nothing great about him. In regards to salvation it is necessary to see yourself as a beggar.  Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To be poor in spirit is to recognize that you are spiritually bankrupt. To be a beggar means you recognize that you have no means by which to be saved.  To be rich is to think yourself as self sufficient, when in fact that very attitude prevents you from receiving the grace of God unto salvation.  So the fact that this blind man is a beggar makes him an excellent candidate for salvation.

And thirdly, notice his desperation.  His urgency.  He cries out repeatedly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”  People around him told him to be quiet.  But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Listen, that is how you are saved.  That is how you enter the kingdom, as a beggar, as one who realizes that he is blind, hopeless and helpless to affect anything on his own.  And then a desperate appeal to God for mercy.  A blind person in those days had no other recourse than to beg.  There were no state resources available to such a person.  There were no cures, no doctors that could offer help.  There were no jobs to be had for blind people.  You had to beg.  It was a hopeless situation. 

And so is our natural condition.  God wants us to recognize the reality of our sinful condition.  He wants us to realize our hopelessness, so that our hope is in Christ, our faith is in Him alone.  So Jesus says, “call him to come here.”  So they said, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.”  Notice that characteristic of courage again, but now it’s on the part of the blind man. And here we see the proper application of courage.  Courage is acting in faith to what God has promised.  If the Lord calls us to it, we may be courageous because we know that it is according to HIs will.  

So Jesus asks him “What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asks this not because He doesn’t already know the answer but because He wants Bartimaeus to confess what he desires of the Lord.  The Lord knows what we need, but He wants us to ask for it.  He wants us to confess it. And so Bartimaeus says, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!”  It’s interesting that he said, “regain my sight.”  That would indicate that at one time he had his eyesight, but for some reason or another had become blind.    

The linguists tell us that Rabboni is equivalent to calling Jesus Master.  First he called Jesus “Son of David.”  That’s a Messianic title.  Now he calls Him “Master.”  That is a recognition of Jesus’ superiority. He recognizes that Jesus has control over His creation.

And in response, Jesus praises him for his faith. Vs 52 “And Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.”  The word there that Mark uses which has been translated as “made you well” is actually in the Greek “souzo”. Souzo may also be translated as your faith has saved you. I think that’s more accurate. He asked for physical sight, but Jesus gave him spiritual sight and physical sight.

But notice Jesus says, your faith has made you well.  Faith in what, you might ask?  Faith in the power of healing?  Faith that he could be healed? Not at all.  But rather faith in Christ, in who He is, in His authority and power as Lord and Christ.   And immediately he received his sight.  And when the procession started up again for Jerusalem, Bartimaeus followed them.  

Listen, this healing of the blind man is not only an illustration of the greatness of Jesus, as illustrated by His compassion, His love and humility in serving a beggar, but also the greatness of Bartimaeus.   This man went from being the least in the eyes of the world to great in the kingdom of God. Jesus said in Matthew 11:11, that he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, who was the greatest among men.  To see Jesus in the light of His truth, to have faith in Him and to forsake all and follow Him, is to begin a journey on the path to greatness according to the gospel.  There can be nothing greater than to inherit eternal life, to become a citizen of the kingdom of God, and to become a child of God.  That is greatness that far surpasses all the world’s concept of greatness.

The question for you then is, have you begun that journey to greatness?  According to the standards of man you may think you have already accomplished much in that regard.  But in the kingdom of God, it begins with a new birth, becoming like a child, realizing like Bartimaeaus that you are helpless and hopelessly blind, unable to do anything of your own power, and calling upon the mercy of God to save you. And then in the light of God’s truth, to follow Him in faith.  That is the path to greatness.  

As I was talking about this concept to someone the other day, I said that before you can become great, you must first become good.  Before you can become a great surfer or great football player, you must first become good.  But becoming good spiritually is not something we can achieve through our own efforts.  We become good through faith in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, believing in who He is and what He has accomplished on our behalf.  And through faith in Him, our iniquity is transferred to Him, and His righteousness is transferred to us, so that we are made good, made righteous in Christ before God.  Then, and only then, we may be able to do even greater works than these, as Jesus Himself promised.  

The question before us today is without a doubt, the most important question in the world.  We find it articulated by the rich, young ruler in vs 17.   The question asked by the young man is this: “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  It is a question that should be of the upmost concern to everyone here, to everyone in every age.  Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that comes the judgement.” 

The certainty and the inevitability of death should be apparent to any thinking person.  We consider it prudent to plan and save and prepare for our retirement, and yet we do not seem to prepare for death. You may not make it to retirement. You don’t know what the stock market or real estate market will be like 10 years from now, or if you will be around to find out.  But reality should tell you that one day every man and woman in this audience today will die.  Science would like us to believe that we simply cease to exist when we die.  But the Bible tells us that upon death we will face God’s judgment and the verdict of that judgment will be eternity in either heaven or hell.  

Mark is presenting for us the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is not writing a biography of Jesus Christ per se, but he’s writing the gospel.  The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of the Kingdom of God,  who took on human form and became our substitute and our Savior, paying the penalty for our sin by His death, that we might receive eternal life in the kingdom of God. 

And as Mark writes this chapter of his gospel, he uses two events to illustrate how one may enter into that life in the kingdom of God.  Last week, we looked at the passage beginning in chapter 10 vs 13, in which Jesus essentially says that the way to enter into eternal life is by becoming like a child.  Jesus says in vs15 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it [at all.]”. I said last week that means that you must be born again.  There must be new birth, spiritual new birth.  Jesus said in Matthew’s account of that event that you must be converted and become like a child to enter into eternal life. Jesus said in John 3 to Nicodemus, “you must be born again.”  And you are born again spiritually when by faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and given new life in the Spirit.

Now in the passage we are looking at this week, the same question is presented, but in this situation, the person finds out he is not able to enter into eternal life because he was trusting in his accomplishments.  He was trusting in his own righteousness, and in his wealth.  The baby that Jesus used previously as an illustration had no accomplishments, had nothing by which to gain merit with before God, had no wealth, and had to trust completely in Jesus Christ for his salvation. The rich young ruler has everything that wealth and position and good works have to offer, and yet finds it is not enough to gain entrance into eternal life. 

So the incident that Mark records for us in the meeting of the rich, young ruler, provides a sharp contrast to that of the children.  The children came to Jesus in their helplessness and trust and they are accepted into the kingdom.  The rich young ruler comes to Jesus in his wealth and self sufficiency and he goes away crestfallen that he cannot enter the kingdom.

Let’s look more closely at why the rich, young ruler was not able to enter the kingdom of God.  I keep referring to this man as the rich, young ruler, but Mark doesn’t call him that.  Mark just calls him a man, and so we have to get the rest of the description from the other synoptic gospel accounts.  But all the gospel writers  say that he was rich, that he owned much property.  The fact that he was young may not have a lot of bearing, but the fact that he was a ruler probably indicates that he was a religious ruler of a synagogue.

Notice that he comes running up to Jesus.  That may be an indication of his youth.  He is excited to meet Jesus.  He is eager to find out the answer to a question that is obviously important to him.  Those are all good qualities.  We should all be eager to know the truth concerning the kingdom of God, and recognizing that Christ is the source of truth is an important first step.  Jesus Himself declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except by Me.”  So it is a good first step for this young man to come to the Lord with a sense of eagerness, and it is prudent to come with a sense of urgency.

Then Mark says that this young man knelt before Jesus and addressed Him as “Good Teacher.”  As a ruler of a synagogue, this would indicate an uncharacteristic willingness to humble himself, and a reverence for Jesus.  This also is a good beginning, but Jesus is going to seize upon that reference to Him as “good” in order to get this man to see who He really is.  To believe in Jesus Christ, in who He is, and what He has done, is the basis for our faith which is required for salvation.  Does this man believe that Jesus is the Son of God? I would suggest from his address of Jesus as “Good Teacher” that he doesn’t really understand who Jesus is.

So while his sincerity and urgency and reverence are commendable, it still falls short of what is necessary to gain eternal life.  That raises an important point that needs to be stressed.  Many people are impressed to come to the Lord for a variety of reasons.  And according to popular opinion, you just need to come as you are and be sincere, and if you have some degree of belief that  God is real, then God will accept you.  But Jesus makes it clear that sincerity alone is not enough.  Only the truth can make you free. So Jesus questions him in vs18, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”

And that is the crux of the issue.  Yes, we are saved by faith in Christ.  In John 3:15 we read that   “Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” But believes what about Jesus? That is the essential question.  What Jesus is pointing out is not that He isn’t good, and only the Father is good.  But rather He’s making the point that if He is truly good, then He must be God.  A lot of people are willing to say that Jesus is good, He is a good teacher.  That He was a mystic, a shaman, a spiritual guide.  But Jesus never claimed to be just a teacher or just a prophet.  He claimed to be the Son of God.  He told Philip, “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.  I and the Father are One.”  He told the Pharisees, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Therefore, either Jesus is God, and is good, or He is a megalomaniac, He is an evil imposter.  But He cannot be good unless He is God, because He claimed to be God.

Before you can gain entrance into eternal life, or the kingdom of God, you must recognize that Jesus is God.  Salvation is from the Lord.  And Jesus the Lord is the only  way to salvation. Jesus said “no man comes to the Father except by Me.”  It is only through the grace of God that we might come to know God and be accepted  by God and receive eternal life.  A good man, even the best of men, could not by his death atone for even his own sins, much less anyone else’s.  Only God can atone for the sins of the world.

The problem though really wasn’t whether or not Jesus was good, but that the young man thought he himself was good.  If you had met him, he was what you might call a good person.  He was religious, he had his head on straight, he was moral, he was sincere, he performed good works,  he was all the things that we think constitute goodness.  In his mind, I’m sure he didn’t think that he needed to be saved, he just wanted the assurance that he was going to have eternal life. He wanted Jesus to confirm that he was good enough to enter into eternal life. It’s like when you were in college, and you had worked hard to get good grades in class, but you come to the teacher near the end of the course and ask him if you’re going to get an A in that class.  I’m sure that if you compared him to practically everyone else around, you would consider him the upper crust of society.  He had no obvious shortcomings.  If anyone could go to heaven, it would be someone like him.  And it’s evident that he thought of himself that way.

So Jesus turns the conversation to the standard of goodness.  The standard of righteousness.  God’s standard of righteousness is not by comparing you to your neighbor, or your husband, for that matter.  According to our standards, we are righteous, or at least we think, we’re really not a bad person. Certainly not deserving of spending eternity in hell.  But Jesus turned him to the standard of God’s righteousness, which is the law, or commandments.  

Jesus said in vs.19 “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 notice how quick the young ruler answered, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”  Now I’m sure he was sincere.  But I am also certain that Jesus, knowing all things and able to know his heart, was more than aware of the ways in which this man had fallen short of those commandments.  But the Lord would allow this rich young ruler’s answer to stand, and move him from the second table of the law to the first table.  The second table, or the second half of the law, deals with mans’ actions towards man.  The first table of the law deals with man’s actions towards God. Had the young man been in attendance at the Sermon on the Mount, he would have known that Jesus equated hate with murder, and lust with adultery and so forth.  But rather than address those internal shortcomings, Jesus brings his attention to his relationship with God.

Vs. 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Notice in bringing his attention to his relationship to God, Jesus first demonstrates God’s love for us.  We would have no chance of eternal life were it not for the love of God.  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should have eternal life.”  God’s love comes first in our relationship with God.  We love, because He first loved us.  Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  In any relationship we might have with God, it must be predicated by the fact that God first loved us.

Secondly, if God loved us, then we are to love God. Jesus said in another place that the foremost commandment was this; (Mark 12:30)  “AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”  So the question Jesus posed to the young man was this; if you think you keep the commandments, then here is the foremost commandment.  And if I am good, then I am God.  And if I am God and you love Me with all your heart and soul, then you will do what I command you.  And this is my command, “Go and sell all you possess and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me.”  

Now no matter how you look at this statement, this is a tough thing to do.  Imagine if that were it.  Imagine if the only way to enter into heaven was to sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and then follow Christ. If that were truly the only way to have eternal life, then I dare say that none of us here today would really be willing to make that sacrifice.  Would you be willing to sell your stocks, your cars, your houses, your jewelry, etc, etc, and give it all away to poor people?  I think not.  I think all of us would be like the rich young ruler and walk away from this church crestfallen, knowing that we were not willing to give it all up to God.

So then, according to this standard of righteousness, none of us can be saved. This young man’s refusal to sell everything exposed three sins against the commandments.  First, He did not love the Lord with all his heart, mind and strength.  Secondly, he sinned by holding onto idols in his life. You cannot serve God and wealth.  His wealth was his idol.  And thirdly, he sinned against the second foremost commandment, which is that you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  If he truly loved his neighbor as himself he would have acquiesced to the Lord’s request and given the poor all that he had.  In one simple statement, Jesus exposed the young man’s hypocritical adherence to the law.  And He has also exposed our hypocrisy as well.  Though we would like to think that we are really not a bad person, Jesus has shown us that there is none righteous, no not one. We’re all guilty of breaking God’s law, of falling short of God’s standard of righteousness.

Then who can be saved?  That is my cry, and the cry of the disciples. And Jesus does not make it any easier for us.  He turned to the disciples when the young man went away crestfallen and said, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”  I would have half expected Jesus to stop the young man as he was walking away and say to him, “Hey Richie, come back here!  I was just kidding!  It’s not really that tough.  I would never ask you to sell everything and give it all away.  I was just using hyperbole!  I was exaggerating!  Lighten up, salvation is free for the asking!”  

But no, Jesus states that it is hard for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples are amazed, so Jesus repeats it again in vs24. Jesus *answered again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” But notice this time He does not add the phrase “for those who are wealthy.”  In this verse, He seems to include everyone.  

But then for the third time, Jesus declares this principle by analogy, saying in vs25, “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.” If there is any doubt, we should have none after three such statements.  Jesus has just emphatically said  three times that it is practically impossible for a rich man to be saved.  

So the disciples are amazed at this statement, and understandably so.  I am amazed by this statement.  I am terrified by this statement and you should be too. Because we are all rich in this world’s goods. I’m sure that though many of us may wish we were richer, none of us would wish that he were poorer.  And I can guarantee even if you are considered low income by the standards of the United States, you are extremely wealthy compared to the majority of other people on the planet. 

So the disciples ask the second most important question in the world, in vs.26, “Then who can be saved?” If none of us are willing to give away everything and follow Him, then who can be saved?  If the disciples question makes you cry out in despair then the Lord’s answer should make you cry out “Hallelujah!”  

The Lord’s answer is found in vs27 Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”  Notice, Jesus broadens it to all people, not just rich people.  For people it is impossible to keep the commandments.  For people it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God.  Isaiah 53:6 says, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”  It’s impossible for anyone to enter the kingdom of God on their on merits, regardless of what they might do, because none of us can measure up to the standard of God’s righteousness.  

But the good news is that Jesus Christ has measured up to God’s standard of righteousness.  He is good, and He is righteous.  And because He loves us, He has offered up Himself to be our substitute, and God has put the penalty for our iniquity on Him, and transferred His righteousness to us.  2 Cor. 5:21 says, “God made Him who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  With God it is possible to enter the kingdom, because Jesus has paid for our sins and transferred His righteousness to our account, so that by His grace we who believe in Him might be given eternal life.  That is the gospel of the kingdom of God.  The good news of the kingdom.  God has made our citizenship in heaven possible through Jesus Christ.  Salvation is from the Lord.

Peter though is not thinking so much about what Christ has done for them, but rather what they have done for the Lord.  He’s still thinking of the rich young ruler who couldn’t give up his wealth to follow Jesus.  And so he says to Jesus, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.”  That’s a rather bold statement.  They had left much.  They had left their fishing nets.  They had left their homes.  But there were times that it would seem they returned temporarily to their fishing, and to their homes.  So I can’t help but wonder if there is not a hint of the same hypocrisy in Peter that the rich young ruler expressed when he said that he had kept all the commandments since his youth.  

But notice that Jesus does not rebuke Peter for overstating their commitment.  But rather Jesus would seem to commend whatever sacrifices they had made, even if it was only temporary.  In vs29 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 farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Now this statement must be understood figuratively to be understood correctly.  The point Jesus is making is that there will be a reward for what we give up here on earth for the sake of the kingdom of God.  Paul said, “all the things which were gain to me here on earth, I gladly count as rubbish for the surpassing value of knowing Jesus as Lord.”  There is great reward in following Jesus.  But here in this earth it may be spiritual blessings in exchange for physical benefits.  In the physical, there will also be persecutions. You may well suffer physically in this world for following Jesus, but there will be incalculable spiritual blessings.  Jesus said elsewhere, “In this world you will have tribulations, but take courage, I have overcome the world.”  And when we overcome this world, we will grasp hold of eternal life, and all that eternal life promises; an abundant, fulfilled life, eternally living in the presence of the source of all life and blessedness.  So all of the benefits and wealth that this world offers will one day pale in comparison to the blessings we shall enjoy in eternity.  

However, Jesus adds one caveat to that future promise of rewards, which will be looked at more thoroughly later, and that is He says “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” This was the qualifying remark regarding the apostle’s reward. All who sacrifice for the Lord will be rewarded, but God’s way and timing of rewarding may not match up with man’s way and timing of being rewarded. When God rewards, He judges with righteous judgment.  He sees the heart, the motive, and the sacrifices that were made that may have not been noticed by man.  Man judges according to outward appearances.  But God judges according to the heart.  Thus many who have seemingly achieved great things for the kingdom according to man’s perspective, may find themselves on the end of the line in the judgement to come.  

But that should be an encouragement to all of us.  Because not all of us have great wealth, or great talents to use for the Lord.  But we will be judged by what we do have, and as we are faithful in little things, He will be faithful to reward us with better things.  

Back when I was just trying to start this church, I used to work two or three days a week in construction to help meet my bills.  I wasn’t very talented when it came to construction, so I was at the bottom of the totem pole at work. Everyone else it seemed was my boss.  But there was a man who lived in Potomac that was the big boss. And I would see him almost every weekend when he would travel to the beach and check in on the development. This man and I were just about the same age.  And though I didn’t see the resemblance, one of my coworkers said that he thought we could be brothers because we looked so much alike.  But if we did, that’s where the similarity ended.  This man, that I’ll call Dave, was at the top of the company ladder, while I was at the bottom.  I remember working in his beach house, and being a little envious of a lifestyle like he had, with a million dollar beach home fully furnished whenever he chose to come to the beach. He seemed to have everything, and I seemed to have very little in earthly wealth.  I was literally sweeping floors and taking out trash in this company, while trying to start this church. And I will confess I sometimes I felt sorry for myself, and perhaps felt like Peter must have felt.  “Lord, I’ve given up so much to follow you.  What’s my reward?”  

Well,  a couple of years after I had been working there, one day I heard the news that Dave passed away suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack.   I don’t know his eternal destiny.  From my perspective, there was nothing about him that led me to believe that he was a follower of Christ.  But one thing I do know, the beach house, and the cars and the bank accounts and profit sharing were still there, but Dave doesn’t live there anymore.  He is in eternity.  And in light of this passage we looked at today, I wonder what his reward was?  Did he receive eternal life through faith and trust in Jesus Christ, or did he enter into eternal damnation and separation from God for refusing to let go of the idols of this world?  

What about you?  What are you worshipping today?  What do you consider more valuable than love for the Lord? As you examine your life today in light of the word, I urge you to remember the question Jesus asked back in Mark 8:36,  “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  Jesus gave His life in exchange for your soul.  If you will just trust Him and believe in Him, then He will forgive your sins, and give you His righteousness, so that you might inherit eternal life.

Today’s passage is one of the best known stories of the gospels. It’s very simple truth, presented in a simple, straightforward way. So much so, that the full significance of this passage might be easily overlooked. I believe it contains some of the richest theology in regards to salvation that we might find anywhere in the scriptures, and so I want to focus on just these four verses this morning.

Let’s read it in it’s entirety first of all, and then I will try to comment on it. Vs 13, “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it [at all.]” And He took them in His arms and [began] blessing them, laying His hands on them.”

This account is repeated in all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with very little variation. Another interesting thing to note is that the familiar story of the rich young ruler follows directly after the account of the children coming to Jesus, which serves as a stark contrast. If the subject of entering into eternal life is the point of that contrast, as evidenced by the rich young ruler’s question in vs 17, then the significance of this event with the children must be taken as instructive as to how one may enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus says here that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these children. And that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. Compare that to the rich young ruler who after asking how he could inherit eternal life went away sorrowing, even though he had kept the law, because he was not willing to forsake everything and follow Christ. And of course, the phrase “enter into the kingdom of God” is the equivalent to the phrase “inherit eternal life.” They are both speaking of the same thing; the kingdom of God is eternal life. Eternal life is not just a long, long, long life. It’s the abundant life that Jesus said He gives. “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

The prosperity gospel preachers have bastardized the abundant life concept as something that you get when God blesses you with health, wealth and happiness. But Jesus wasn’t talking about that, or promising a heaven on earth type of existence for believers. But rather, Jesus was talking about a new life through Jesus Christ. He was talking about being born again of the Spirit into new life. And that life is everlasting life in the kingdom of God, as we live under the reign of Jesus Christ the Lord.

The passage begins by saying that they were bringing children to Jesus so that He might touch them. The idea was that He would bless them, laying hands on them and praying for them such as was the tradition passed down from the patriarchs. You can find examples of Isaac and Jacob doing the same for their children. Today we have somewhat of a tradition of bringing your baby to the church for dedication, which may have come from this sort of thing. But it would seem not to be out of place in Jewish society of that time to bring your baby to receive a blessing from the priest or rabbi.

So I think it was a sincere desire on the part of the parents to see the child grow up unto the Lord, to have a godly upbringing, to call upon God to protect and nurture the child, and to bless the child as he grew up. There was nothing wrong with such a thing, in fact, the parents are to be commended for their desire to raise their child up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

I would encourage you that are parents today to realize that you have a stewardship of the gift of children that should not be taken lightly. Your responsibility in raising a child is not merely to keep a roof over their head and feed and clothe them. Your responsibility is not just to save up money so that they can go to college. Your responsibility is to teach your children the fear of the Lord. To raise your children up in the church. To teach them the word of God.

When God gave the commandments to Moses He gave specific instructions to the parents saying in Deut. 6:6-9 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Being raised by Christian parents to believe the Bible and follow the Lord should not be an option. I’ve heard parents say, “Well I am leaving it up to junior if he wants to come to church or not. I don’t want to push anything on him, you know.” I wonder if such parents leave it up to junior whether or not he wants to brush his teeth. Or whether or not he wants to go to school. I would suggest that their spiritual state is of greater importance than their grade point average or how many cavities they have. So I encourage you as parents, and as grandparents, to make the spiritual development of your child the highest priority.

These parents wanted the best spiritual advantage for their children and so they brought them to Jesus. Commentators tell us that Luke makes it clear in his account that the little children were actually infants. I would think it included infants up to the age of toddlers, because we see later in vs 16 that Jesus took them in His arms. So I doubt that they were much older than toddlers.

The disciples though rebuked the parents for what they perceived as bothering Jesus with their children. This is another example of the disciples exercising certain behavior that we can as arm chair quarterbacks easily criticize them for. Many preachers seem to love to point out the faults of the disciples, as if to show their own surpassing spiritual maturity. But in the disciples defense, there are multiple instances recorded in Mark when Jesus Himself attempted to get away from the crowds.They were constantly being hounded by people seeking to see some spectacular miracle, or people seeking healing, or all kinds of things that people wanted from Jesus. And so they were probably just trying to prevent what they thought were just another type of interruption. They certainly didn’t understand the full significance of what these parents were trying to do. I’m sure in their minds, blessing babies didn’t compare with the pressing business of healing blindness or casting out demons.

But when the disciples rebuke the parents, Jesus rebukes the disciples. Actually it says He became indignant towards them. I think a better translation might be annoyed. I think Jesus thought the disciples were missing the point. Jesus came to give life, everlasting life. That was His purpose. His goal wasn’t to heal everyone of every disease in Israel. And as evidenced by Jesus’s statement, these children were the perfect recipients of the grace of God.

Jesus says to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Previously, in chapter 9, Jesus had said that whoever puts a stumbling block in front of one of these little ones, (referencing a child that was among them) it would be better for him if a milestone was tied about his neck and he was thrown into the middle of the ocean. So when Jesus says don’t hinder the children from coming to Me, I suppose He is annoyed that they so quickly have forgotten that admonition.

The point is Jesus wants the children to come to Him. Listen, there is no better time to come to Jesus than when you are young. I read some statistics once that I can’t find now, but they spoke about the odds of coming to Christ at various ages. The percentage of the possibility of coming to Christ when you were below the age of 18 was quite high, but with every decade that passed the likelihood of coming to salvation dropped considerably. By the time someone had reached the age of 60 or more, and had not come to salvation, the likelihood dropped to the low single digits. So for you parents, you’re not doing your child any favors by waiting until they get older to make a decision about the Lord. The best opportunity to become a believer is while they are young.

Jesus says, “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” John MacArthur preached a sermon on this text and the whole premise of the sermon was to say that children who die before the age of accountability are saved by the grace of God. I think he also wrote a book on that subject. And I think that has long been the traditional view of many conservative Bible teachers and scholars. John Calvin, for instance, seems to hold to that view. And they use this text and a number of other supplemental passages to support the idea that God bestows His grace upon those children that die before they have an understanding of right and wrong, and consequently are innocent of presumptuous sin. They have inherited the sin nature from their parents, but they haven’t had the cognizance to act upon it, and God grants those who die in that state grace. I would tend to agree with that view, but I don’t feel we can be dogmatic about it on the basis of this statement alone.

But Jesus does seem to make an unequivocal statement here; the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. He doesn’t qualify it by saying the kingdom of God belongs to such as these who are born of believing parents. He doesn’t say that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these who are baptized. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. And these little children have nothing to offer God in exchange. They can’t even offer God faith. But God grants them grace.

But while the salvation of babies may be implied in what Jesus says, I don’t think that is the primary point of what Jesus is saying. He further explains His point by saying, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” So He isn’t saying that only babies will enter the kingdom of God, but that unless you become like a child you will not enter it. Unless you become LIKE a child.

Well, what does that mean? How do you become like a child? It means to accept the gospel with genuine trust, with child like humility, knowing that you have nothing to offer in exchange. It’s complete trust in what Christ has done for us, and not trusting in your own righteousness, or your own accomplishments, or your own inherent goodness. To be like a child means simple, child like trust in Christ.

I heard the story of a wealthy shop owner that piled up gold coins on the window sill of his storefront. There was a sign in the window above it which said “Take one.” All day long people walked by the window and saw the coins and read the note, but inwardly they were thinking, “You can’t fool me.” And so they passed on by. When evening came, just before the shop owner was going to remove the coins, a child came by, read the sign, and reached out and took a coin. That’s child like faith.

How many people, I wonder, have refused to trust in Jesus as their Savior because they think that they are too smart for all this Christian stuff. I shudder to think of who might be here today who doubt in the validity of the gospel, who want to think about it, who want to believe that it can’t be that simple, that there must be more to entering into the kingdom of God. But Jesus said in Matt. 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

But there is yet another application that we could make from this statement of Jesus. To become like a child is to be born again. To be born again in spirit. Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3: 3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

So to be born again is to become a child again, but not in the flesh, but in the spirit. That is how you must become like a child in order to enter the kingdom of God. Being born again is to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, the Holy Son of God, who came to die in your place, to pay the penalty for your sins, that whosoever believes in Him might be saved.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Through the cross of Jesus Christ, my sins are transferred to Jesus, and His righteousness is transferred to my account. And by faith in that sacrifice on His part, I am given new life, I am born again. I have become like a child born into the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is the rule of Christ in your heart and life, together with all the blessings that result from His rule. Entering the kingdom means receiving new life, that is, everlasting life. John 17:3 says, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Once you come to know and believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you enter into eternal life and all the blessings that come from being a child of the King.

Then after stating how you must become like a child to enter the kingdom of God, Jesus took the children in His arms and blessed them. Vs.16, “And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.”

John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The Bible tells us in several places that salvation is of the Lord. God is the author and the finisher of our salvation. Do we have a part, a responsibility in salvation? Yes, our responsibility is to believe. To come to Jesus. And He will do the rest. As many as receive Him, He will give you the power to become the sons and daughters of God, even to them that believe on His name.

You are born again by believing in Jesus Christ, believing in who He is, and what He accomplished for us, and you are born again not of flesh, nor by the will of man, but you are born of God. You become like a child, born for the second time, born of the Spirit, and as a child of God, you are granted an inheritance in the kingdom of God, even everlasting life.

Today the ruler of the world has left a coin of the greatest value on the window ledge of the kingdom of heaven. He has put a sign there which says, Take one. What is your response? I urge you – in child like faith to receive His gift of eternal life, the greatest treasure.

As you know, our tradition at the Beach Fellowship is that we study the scriptures verse by verse. That tends to keep us from over emphasizing some things, or under emphasizing other things, depending on what we think people want to hear. Last week I said that the subject matter of Jesus’ teaching on hell at the end of chapter 9 was very unpopular, and if I were a smarter, more popularity conscious preacher, I would have skipped over it.

Well, I suppose that today’s passage of scripture is even more unpopular than the subject of hell. Today Jesus speaks against divorce, and for the sanctity of marriage. And so in all likelihood, I will be offending at least half of you here today. According to the American Psychological Association, approximately 40-50% of first marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate for second marriages is even higher, with approximately 60-67% of second marriages ending in divorce. I have also heard that the statistic for divorce is about the same in the church as it is in the world. So I’m sure that in our representative congregation here this morning, about half of you have been divorced.

That being said, I have already resigned myself to the fact that I will never win any popularity contest. And I believe that it’s far more important that I try to please God rather than men, so I will simply tell you what Jesus had to say on the subject and you can take it up with Him if you find it unsettling.

Let’s look at our text beginning in Mark chapter 10, vs 1: “Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more [began] to teach them. [Some] Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and [began] to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.”

Jesus is deliberately and slowly moving closer to HIs destination which is Jerusalem and to His destiny which is the cross. He now leaves Galilee and enters Judea and once again the crowds flock to Him. And as was His custom, He began to teach them. The subject of His teaching is the gospel of the Kingdom of God. The only means by which people can enter the Kingdom of God is through Jesus Christ, through faith in Him as the Son of God, the Messiah, and what He will accomplish for them on the cross.

One of the main points of His teaching is to help people come to the realization that they are lost. That is why in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus spends a great deal of His message expounding the law. The purpose of the law was to make man understand that he is a sinner in need of salvation. I think it was Billy Graham who said, that the difficulty is not in getting people saved, the difficulty is in first getting people to understand that they are lost. Most people tend to think that they actually are not such a bad person. And so they make excuses for themselves while condemning others. But in reality all men are sinners and hopelessly lost, outside of the kingdom of God.

The Pharisees were a religious order of the Jews that prided themselves on their self righteousness. They believed that they kept the law as they had determined it. They had lawyers and scribes and rabbis who had studied the law and wrote a commentary upon it called the Mishna which they held in higher regard than the scriptures. So believing that they had kept the law according to their interpretations, they were not exactly fond of Jesus’ teaching which suggested that they were actually guilty of breaking the law.

And so the Pharisees routinely showed up whenever Jesus was teaching to try to catch Him with a trick question, or to catch Him or His disciples in some infraction according to their understanding of the law, with the ultimate goal of discrediting Jesus in the eyes of the people.

Their question then was a trick question, one that was designed to get Him in trouble with half the people, regardless of how He answered it. The question was whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife for any reason. According to one school of rabbinic teaching, Moses, whom they considered the author of the law, permitted a man to divorce his wife for unchastity, or adultery. The other school interpreted that Moses wrote that a man could divorce for any thing that he found distasteful. For instance, he could divorce her for burning his toast. And the majority of Jews favored that interpretation, and possibly that was also the accepted view of the disciples.

So if Jesus answered in such a way as to take the stricter position, He would undoubtedly offend the majority of people that favored the more lax view. But if He sided with the more liberal view then they could accuse Him of accommodating sinners and being morally lax.
Either way He answered, the Pharisees weren’t interested in keeping the commandment as He understood it, but only in trying to embarrass Him and discredit Him before the people.

But in response to their trick question, Jesus turns them to the scriptures, not to the rabbinic traditions. He says in vs3 “And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” The scripture, though written by human hands, in this case Moses, is the inspired word of God. So the scripture is authoritative, because it is the word of God. The rabbinic traditions were the word of man as he interpreted scripture. But Jesus turns their attention to the word of God. It’s the authority, not the rabbinic traditions.

By the way, that’s why we preach through the scripture, verse by verse. There is no other authority. Science is not an authority. Philosophy or psychiatry is not authoritative. All of the sciences are evolving, ever changing. But God’s word never changes. It is forever settled in heaven. 2Tim 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” And Peter says in 2 Peter 1:20-21 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

The Pharisees answer Jesus in vs 4 They said, “Moses permitted [a man] TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND [her] AWAY.” What they give is an abbreviated synopsis of what Moses said, and in so shortening it, turn the intention of the law into something that indicates permissiveness. They say Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce. That is not actually what Moses says.

The original commandment can be found in Deut. 24:1-4 which says 1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts [it] in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s [wife,] and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts [it] in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, [then] her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.”

Moses, while recognizing that the common practice was to write a certificate of divorce and send her away, does not condone that practice, but is merely addressing the additional responsibility of possible sin after a man has divorced his wife. Moses is saying that if you divorce your wife, and she becomes the wife of another man, then the former husband is not allowed to take her back again to be his wife. That’s a sin, an abomination before God. But Moses does not encourage or condone divorce. They had misinterpreted the law to accommodate their sinful desire.

So Jesus answers them in vs 5, But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.” See, Jesus says that Moses didn’t permit divorce, but he is writing a commandment in response to the hardness of their heart in carrying out their sinful desire to divorce their wife. In Malachi 2:16 God says, I hate divorce. God said, “the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”

So God didn’t condone or give permission for divorce. Sometime before, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke to this same issue saying, Matt. 5:31-32 “It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for [the] reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” So Jesus had taken a position on divorce and according to Him, who is the Word made incarnate, the only reason for divorce would be unchastity. But even then, I think that the will of God is that there would not be divorce. He does allow for it in the case of unchastity, but He does not order it.

And that principle finds it’s in the sanctity of marriage as given by God. If marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman and in the sight of God they become one flesh, then what God has joined together let not man separate. So Jesus expounds the principle of divorce by stating the ordinance of marriage. He says in vs 6 “But from the beginning of creation, [God] MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

So in answer to this question of divorce Jesus goes back to the original ordinance of God in regards to marriage, and once again, Jesus uses scripture as His authority. The first scripture reference is taken partially from Genesis 1:27 which says in full, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The world has a whole bunch of problems with that verse, don’t they? First of all, the world doesn’t believe in creation. It doesn’t believe in intelligent design. The world believes in evolution, which is that man evolved over billions of years from some microorganism and random chance.

But if you believe that God designed and created man in His own image, and created them male and female, then that sets the parameters for everything that comes after. God didn’t make three or four or ten genders, He made two genders, male and female. But if you take God out of the equation, then I guess anything goes. If evolution were actually possible, then it’s conceivable that man could evolve into many different genders or variations of genders. But I don’t believe evolution is even possible, and if it were to happen that gender evolved then it would mean the end of our species. But I believe the Bible, and that God created man male and female and He said it was good. And that settles a lot of questions for me right there.

But that raises the question, do you believe in God, or more to the point, do you believe God? A lot of people claim to believe in God. However, they don’t believe in the God of the Bible. But the Bible says that Abraham believed God, not believed in God, and He credited it to him as righteousness. Abraham believed what God said. And like Abraham we gain righteousness by believing in the God of the Bible and believing what He said and what He promised and what He accomplished.

So having established that God made man male and female, Jesus goes on to show that God established marriage. Vs 7 “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” Again, Jesus quotes scripture. This time He quotes from Genesis 2:24 which says, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

The whole context of that scripture should be considered though. God had said that it was not good for man to be alone. And then “the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” God designed marriage as part of creation to complete man and accomplish God’s purposes in creation.

So the indissolubility of marriage is stated by Jesus in very forceful terms. Jesus is summarizing the divine ordinance concerning the marriage bond. In God’s eyes, they form a partnership, one completing the other, each complementing the other, so that they individually are better together through their union. For a man to separate what God has joined together, means to arrogantly defy the work of God. And I would add to that, that when a couple make their vows to come together in marriage, that they make such vows to God and not just to each other. It is a three party covenant. So when you break that vow to your wife or husband, you are also breaking a vow to God. And that is a fearful thing, to break a vow to God.

Well, after Jesus said these things, they go into a nearby house, whose house we are not told, and the disciples take the opportunity to question Him further about this teaching. Vs.10 “In the house the disciples [began] questioning Him about this again. And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

What Jesus is saying here is that a husband who divorces his wife, thereby separating what God has joined together, is committing a grievous sin, and that he adds to that grievous sin a further condemnation by marrying another woman. Such a man is sinning not just against God but against his wife, for he is involving himself in adultery against her, or if she remarries, causes her to commit adultery.

So in very simple terms, using scripture as the authority, Jesus denounces divorce, refutes the rabbinical misinterpretation of the law, reaffirms the laws true meaning, condemns the guilty party, defends the innocent, and throughout it all reaffirms the sacredness and inviolability of marriage as ordained by God between a man and a woman.

So we are to understand that Jesus regards the break up of a marriage to be an abomination before God. Yet on the other hand, that same uncompromising Lord Jesus Christ is the merciful Savior, who says to the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.” For most people listening here today that have had a divorce, it’s too late to undo it. In fact, you can add to the injury by divorcing once again to try to rectify the old divorce. But we can go and sin no more. if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The law exposes the fact that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But if we turn in repentance to the Savior, and believe that He died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins, then as Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, so we by faith believe in what God has done and we receive the righteousness of Christ applied by grace to our account that we might gain eternal life and escape the condemnation that we deserve.
If you’re here this morning and you have been considering divorce I pray that God’s word has convinced you that God’s plan does not accommodate divorce and you will keep your vows to God. But if you’re here today and you are considering marriage, I hope that you realize that marriage is a covenant between you and God and your future spouse. It’s not something to be entered into lightly, or with a cavalier attitude. And if you are here this morning and you recognize that you have sinned against your spouse and against God by divorcing your spouse, then I hope you recognize that if you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins, and cleanse you from all unrighteousness, and by faith in His work on the cross, God can make all things new in your life.

As I so often tell you, I preach through the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter.  In so doing, we end up dealing with the attractive parts of the gospel, and the not so attractive parts of the gospel.  But irregardless of a particular scripture’s agreeableness, we know that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I suppose that I preach through the gospel verse by verse, is because I’m not smart enough to write out a series of sermons on popular topics such as loving relationships, or on God is love, or about how to live your best life now.  However, I suppose that if I were really smart, I would skip right over this passage before us today and move on to chapter 10 as if nothing was amiss. 

This passage and subject matter would have to be one of the most difficult to speak on in light of the attitude of our present culture, and the incongruity of speaking on such a unpopular subject of divine judgement and the punishment of hell.  I’m sure that speaking on these subjects will certainly disqualify me from any popularity contest. Those of you visiting here will probably go home and tell all your friends of this horrid experience you had, when you visited a church  on the beach on a really delightful morning, with the sun shining and the waves breaking and the dolphins jumping, and then this awful preacher started ranting on about hell fire and damnation.  Really quite a terrible scene.

But you know what’s really weird, is that Bible scholars tell us that Jesus spoke more on hell than He did about heaven.  So if you are going to preach through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, then you will have to hear a lot about hell.  And so I really don’t see how we can avoid this for long.  So let’s just get to it, and deal with it, as best we can.

Thankfully, this passage doesn’t start with that subject, however.  It starts with the apostle John asking Jesus about someone they had seen casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and they had told him to stop doing it, because he was not one of them.  It seems a bit out of context with the rest of the passage, but I think there is a thread of continuity that runs through these verses and we see it all come together at the end.

Vs. 38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.”  But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as [followers] of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”

It’s important to read this keeping in mind that the disciples had just had an embarrassing incident which we looked at a couple of weeks ago in which they had been unable to cast out a particular nasty demon.  Actually, it wasn’t so much that the demon was particularly powerful, but that the disciples had neglected to spend enough time in prayer, recognizing their utter dependence upon Jesus Christ to do any mighty works.   Pride, or a lack of humility on the part of the disciples were really the problem, not the power of the demon.  Remember Jesus had cast out  thousands of demons that were in the demoniac of the Gerasenes. So the difficulty wasn’t the demon, the difficulty had been their lack of reliance upon God for their authority.

So then the disciples see a man casting out demons who aren’t a part of their group and they have a problem with him, perhaps due to jealousy on their part.  In fact, they tried to stop him.  But what they failed to pick up on was that this man was not some Jewish exorcist, he was casting out demons by the name of Jesus Christ.  In other words, this man was a believer in Jesus Christ.  He was working the works of God through the power of Jesus Christ.  That’s what it means when Jesus said, “in my name.”  In the power and authority of Jesus Christ.  And he could only do that because he was a believer in Christ. Just because he wasn’t a member of the 12, didn’t mean that he was not a disciple of Jesus.

And Jesus speaks to that, saying, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is for us.”  The key to understanding that saying is that this man was working “in My name,” or “in Jesus name.” The power of Christ works in us that believe in Him to bring about any righteousness that we do.  Our ability to live the Christian life lies not in our power of discipline, or our power of self control, but in having given our life to Christ, so that the power of Christ lives in Me.  That’s what it means to be saved, to be born again, it’s to have new life in Christ, Christ living in me.  That’s what Paul speaks of in 2Co 12:9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

And that power of Christ in us is the reason that we do good works. As Paul says in Eph 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Now there is a special significance to that phrase, “in My name,” or “in Christ’s name.”  What it means is that it is true to the gospel of Christ, it is according to the truth of Christ, it is by the authority of Christ, it is in the power of Christ.  Jesus, as the Son of God,  omnipotently knew that this man was speaking the truth of Christ and working in the genuine authority and power of Christ.  We may see someone today who claims to be speaking and working in the power of Christ but we may wonder if the person is truly representing correctly the gospel of Christ.  And sometimes that is a justifiable concern.  Because the devil often masquerades as an angel of light, as we are told in the scripture. 

So we have to balance this admonition of Jesus to not hinder someone who is preaching in Jesus name on the one hand, with another admonition against those who claim the name of Jesus, according to Matthew 7:21-23, but their sinful life betrays them as not being of Christ.  Jesus said,  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven [will enter.]  “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

So we must use spiritual discernment to know when someone is truly working in Jesus name, and when someone falsely claims Jesus name, but they aren’t preaching the truth of Jesus’s gospel.

But for those who truly work in Jesus name, Jesus says in vs41 “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as [followers] of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”  So as we do the works of righteousness which God prepared beforehand, that we might walk in them, even to the very minor work of giving a cup of water to another believer, Jesus says that such work will be rewarded.  Heaven is a place of rewards, as well as a place of rest.  It’s a place where we are given rewards for the works that we have done on this earth.

But at the judgement seat of God which is in heaven, it will on the last day be a place for the judgement of wickedness.  And just as a minor thing as giving a cup of water will have a reward, so will every thought and deed, no matter how trivial it may seem now, have a consequence or a reward in the judgment.

Jesus spoke of that in Matt. 12:35-36 saying “The good man brings out of [his] good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of [his] evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.”

And so having spoken of the reward of the righteous works,  at this point Jesus turns His attention to that judgment of the unrighteous works, those who have rejected Him, and who hindered those who would come to Him.

Jesus says in Vs42  “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.”  These little ones that Jesus speaks of are the children of God, those who have believed in Jesus Christ, who have believed His gospel and been converted.  This statement relates back to vs 37 “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”   Matthew’s account of this saying gives further amplification of this – “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  So little children are the children of God, made so by conversion, being born again.

But those that hinder a child of God, that cause a child of God to stumble, to fall into sin, Jesus says that having a millstone tied around your neck and being dumped into the ocean to drown would be a much better alternative than the judgment that you will face when you are called to give an account for your life.  I think that there will be a hottest part of hell reserved for people who lead others, especially young naive people, even children, into sin. And yet I believe the devil has especially targeted children today in our society, and he’s using people of influence in the media and entertainment industry to put a stumbling block in front of them.  Jesus says that such people will deserve the most severe punishment. And Jesus promises that God will judge such with the fullest measure of His wrath.

Jesus goes on to say that the disciples must be on their guard lest they cause others or themselves to stumble, to fall into sin. If any bodily organ, hand, foot, eye or anything, no matter how dear to us it may seem, if it threatens to become a trap or a stumbling block to someone, they must immediately take drastic action to be rid of it.  Jesus correlates this back in chapter 8 vs 34 as taking up your cross, being willing to die to  physical lusts of the flesh.  Here he relates it as cutting off your hand, or plucking out your eye.   In other words, you don’t try to mollify sin, to condone sin, to accommodate sin.  You cut it off. You mortify the flesh.

Jesus says, in vs43 “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]  If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,  where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.”

There are some theological issues that are raised by this teaching which I want to address, and yet I am sure I cannot answer to everyone’s satisfaction.  The primary question to my mind that arises is the reality of hell.  Is hell a real place?  I would say that according to Jesus, it is very much a reality.  Is hell eternal or is it a place of annihilation? I would say that according to Jesus’ statement, it is eternal.  Is hell a place of fire and burning? I would say that according to Jesus, it is an unquenchable fire. Then another question is, who will go to hell? According to what Jesus indicates here, it is for those who have rejected Christ and continued in rebellion against Him.  Sin is rebellion.  And hell is reserved as the punishment for sin.

I wish to God that there was not a hell. I wish that no one would ever end up in hell.  I hope and pray with all my heart and soul that none of my loved ones or friends would ever find themselves in hell.  I heard one preacher say that we should never be able to speak of hell without tears in our eyes. No one in their right mind wishes hell on anyone.  Even our worst  enemies we should love enough to do everything possible to keep them from hell.  

But I also heard another preacher say that a person will have to walk over the cross of Christ in order to get to hell. They are going to have to trample on Jesus as He is dying on the cross for your sins, in order to get to hell. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus suffered our punishment so that we might be delivered from the hell we were destined for.  The good news of the gospel is that salvation is a free gift of God, if we will just believe in what Jesus did for us, that as the Son of God He became our substitute, and was punished for our sins, so that we might be forgiven and receive the righteousness of God, and we might have eternal life.  

But Jesus makes it clear that for those who reject Him, there is reserved for them a place in hell.  Then Jesus continues to talk about the judgment of fire, which I think is directed towards His disciples, or believers,  in vs 49 saying,  “For everyone will be salted with fire.”  He isn’t saying that everyone will go to hell.  But it’s not easy to understand what He is speaking of.  He probably is speaking of a trial by fire, what Peter calls a fiery trial, which will come upon everyone for the purpose of purification.  In believers, this fiery trial will be the means by which sin is purged, our iniquity is burned away so that our righteousness may be revealed.  Jesus correlates fire with the metaphor of salt to represent a curative, a preservative against the corruption of sin. If you rub salt into a wound, it burns like fire, but it also cleans and preserves against corruption.  So is the work of a fiery trial in a believer.

In Isaiah, when the prophet saw the glory of God on His throne, he said, “woe is me for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” And an angel of the Lord took a lump of coal from the fire before the altar and put it on his lips, and said, ““Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”

The hymn How Firm A Foundation that we sing here so often says, “when through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be thy supply, the flames shall not hurt thee, I only design, thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”

Peter says in 1Peter 4:12-13, 17 “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;  but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. … 17 For the time [has come] for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if [it begins] with us first, what will [be] the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” 

So there is either a fire of punishment for the wicked or a fire of refining for the believer.  But everyone will be salted by fire. But Jesus leaves the idea of fire and continues with the metaphor of salt, saying in vs 50 “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty [again?] Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

It’s easy to see that salt is good. It’s a preservative, it cleanses, it was even used as currency, as a measure for money.  The saying that someone is “worth their salt” means worth their wage.  It comes from Roman times when soldiers were paid in salt.  Salt was considered of such great value that the soldiers were paid with it.

However according to Jesus, salt could become worthless. It could lose it’s saltiness. And He asks the rhetorical question, “how can you make it salty again? Jesus said in Matt. 5:13  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty [again?] It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

You might say then that salt is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in your life, the refining fire of the Holy Spirit in your life.  But if you disregard the Spirit’s warnings, and sin against God and man, then you effectively quench the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, and righteousness and judgment.  But it’s possible to quench the Holy Spirit and rebel against the Lord, to continue in sin.  And if that occurs in your life, then your physical life is  no longer good for anything godly, but to be trampled under foot by men.  Reminds us of trampling over the cross of Christ in order to get to hell, doesn’t it? 

Heb 10:28-31 says,  “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses.  How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.”  It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

So as a preservative against the temptation to sin, Jesus says, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”  It’s useless for a man to try to do good works unless by the grace of God he has been made good within. That is unless he has been converted into a true child of God. It’s having the power of the Spirit of Christ in you. To have salt within oneself means then, to have the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, working to conform you into the image of Jesus Christ.  Romans 8:9 says, “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” So having the Spirit within you,  then you become, as Jesus said in Matt. 5:13, the salt of the world. And therefore also, your speech is always seasoned with salt. 

To that end, Jesus said, be at peace with each other.  Having the Holy Spirit in us as the salt that cures us from quarreling, from envy, from strife, from anger, from jealousy, from trying to outdo each other, but instead learning to love one another and serve one another, and value the other more highly than yourself.  That is the means of peace.  As Paul said in Rom 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”  That is how we become the salt of the earth. Being at peace with one another is how we manifest Christ who is in us,  to the world.   As Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” (Matt.5:9)

I have titled this message this morning “War of the Worlds.” That title may sound familiar to some of you who may be aware of the Orson Welles science fiction radio program of that name that ran during World War 2. It was based on a book by H.G. Wells which was written around 1897. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, it was a book about the invasion of earth by Martian alien creatures. It was one of the first of it’s kind of that sort of science fiction.

One significant quote from that book says, “Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.” I found that scenario eerily similar to the conflict going on in our world which we are told about in Ephesians 6:11, [Eph 6:11 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places.]”

1 Cor. 2:12 says that there is a spirit of the world that is in opposition to the Spirit who is from God. 1 John 5:19 says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? To think that the whole world is held in captivity to the dominion of darkness. 2 Cor. 4:4 says that the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. And consequently, because of Satan’s dominion over this world, Ephesians 2:2 says that man walks according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

There is a battle for this world between God and Satan. Now we must understand that Satan is not equivalent to God in power or authority. He was actually created by God. But we must not underestimate him. He is undoubtedly the most powerful of all the angels created by God, and the fallen angels or demons under his dominion have supernatural power. We read in the Old Testament of a single angel that killed 185,000 men in one night.

But the scripture tells us that greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. And so our only hope in doing battle against the forces of darkness is through Jesus Christ. He has complete authority over all things in heaven and in earth. Jesus spoke of the devil as the enemy, as a thief, saying in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have [it] abundantly.” And so as Paul said in Eph 6:11-12 we must “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly places (or the spiritual realm.)” And the armor that he says we must put on to fight this battle is truth, faith, salvation, the gospel, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

But battles in the spiritual realm are rarely fought in our mountain top experience, they are most often fought in the valley of the shadow of death. The disciples have just had a tremendous mountain top experience. The three disciples, Peter, James and John, got a glimpse behind the veil so to speak of the spiritual realm. They saw Jesus transfigured with the glory of God, His face and garments shining like the sun. They saw Moses and Elijah miraculously appear and talk to Jesus. They heard the voice of God speak saying, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him.” You just can’t imagine a greater mountain top spiritual experience than that.

But now they have come down the mountain. They have come back down to the realm of the god of this world. And the 9 disciples who had been left behind are surrounded by jeering critics. There are all sorts of things happening in this incident which are really expressions of the power of evil, the captivity by which Satan has blinded and held captive the world. We see an extreme example of demonic possession in the young boy by which Satan was trying to destroy his life. We see the failure of faith and discouragement of the disciples which rendered them fruitless and powerless. We see the pain and suffering of the father as he sees the hopeless situation of his son. We see the ridicule and criticism of the scribes.

The scribes are of the religious party about which Jesus said, “John 8:44 “You are of [your] father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own [nature,] for he is a liar and the father of lies.” And so rather than these religious leaders showing compassion on this young boy who is held captive by demonic power, they see that as something to gloat over, to lampoon the disciples who are confused and discouraged by this demonic power that they are facing.

Let’s read Mark’s account of what happened. Mark 9:14, “When they (Jesus and the three disciples) came [back] to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and [some] scribes arguing with them. Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and [began] running up to greet Him. And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; and whenever it seizes him, it slams him [to the ground] and he foams [at the mouth,] and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not [do it.]”

The disciples are under attack from the scribes, the teachers of the law, the representatives of established religion. And all around them is this crowd of people, who are taking sides in the argument and adding to the general confusion. The disciples have lost control of the situation. That’s always a strategy of the devil. Confusion, chaos, disorder, discord, anger. All of these things which undermine the authority of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And at the center of it all, the predicament that gives rise to this confused melee is the dejected father and his son who is desperately in need of deliverance.

But then there’s something like a ripple that runs through the crowd, as the people looked in amazement at Jesus who had just showed up. And there’s a great surge in the crowd as some run forward to meet him. And in verse 16, Jesus asks a simple question: “What are you arguing with them about?” And the answer that he receives is actually only an indirect answer. It suggests to us the root of the problem, but the answer comes from the lips of a man who’s in the crowd, and Mark describes him as “A man in the crowd answered”—somebody shouts out from the group—“‘Teacher, I brought you my son.’”

The nature of what Jesus is asked to deal with is actually demonic possession, as we discover in verse 17. The result of the demonic possession is such that the boy cannot speak. When the evil spirit takes him, “it throws him to the ground,” he “foams at the mouth,” he “gnashes his teeth,” and he “becomes rigid.” This is a terrible situation, one in which the demon is undoubtedly trying to destroy this boy. It’s somewhat like what we know as a form of epilepsy. But you will notice from the text that this is not described as a medical condition; it is described in terms of demonic possession. This demonic force violently throws this boy to the ground repeatedly, undoubtedly causing him to have head trauma which results in seizures. Perhaps by this time there had been permanent damage to this boy.

There are primarily two views of demonic possession that you find prevalent in the church today. One is that it is absolutely everywhere, so look out, it may be behind your closet door; or, that it absolutely doesn’t exist, therefore don’t worry about it at all, because there is no such thing. And of course, science doesn’t believe in it either. But both views of the church are wrong. And it takes discernment to navigate from a first-century description to our twenty-first-century reality. But we can know this for sure: that the reality of demonic possession to any degree is always purposefully to deceive and to destroy the image of God in a man or in a woman. It is to destroy any hope of salvation. It is never in order to enhance life, it is never in order to fulfill life, it is never in order to make life better; it is always to deceive and to destroy. And that is the condition, of this son and only child, Luke tells us, of this father. He’s his only boy—his only son, who has been in this condition for his entire childhood.

And so this man, having obviously heard of the miracles of Jesus, had sought Him out to deliver his son from demon possession. But Jesus wasn’t there when he arrived at the place he had heard about. Instead, he found 9 of Jesus’s disciples. But the disciples had been unable to cast out the demon. They had a great experience casting out demons earlier when Jesus had sent them out two by two. The demons had been subject to the name of Jesus. But for some reason, they were unable to be successful on this occasion, and it was embarrassing to say the least, not to mention it was tragic for the father who had such high hopes. And it was an opportunity for the critics, the scribes, to embarrass and condemn the apostles for their lack of ability. You know, the devil cannot really find fault with Jesus, but he can criticize His followers. He can demoralize his followers so that they add error to error, so that people don’t believe the truth of the gospel. So that people might even turn away from the faith.

So look at Jesus’s answer. Vs 19 And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he [began] rolling around and foaming [at the mouth.] And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. “It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” And Jesus said to him, ” ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

I want you to notice here that Jesus is not rebuking the father of the boy. He is rebuking the disciples. The lack of faith, the lack of belief is on the part of the disciples who thought that they were faced with a superior force that they could not overpower. It really comes down to them thinking that Jesus was somehow insufficient. Now in their defense, these particular disciples had not been witnesses to the transfiguration. They had not seen the glory of God manifested in Jesus on the mountain. But still, they had seen Him deliver hundreds of people from demonic possession. I can only assume that since He was not there physically with them, they lacked confidence that He could still deliver this boy through them. So Jesus in effect says to them in exasperation, “How much longer am I going to be with you? You’re going to have to learn how to carry on My ministry without Me.” That requires faith on their part, and that faith is shown to be lacking.

And so he says, “Bring the boy to me.” Verse 20: “So they brought him.” And immediately you have a collision between the dominion of darkness and the kingdom of light. What takes place in the immediate response of the forces of evil within the boy as they recognize the Spirit of God in Jesus Christ. As soon as the spirit in the boy saw Jesus—look at verse 20—“it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.”

What we see here is the compassion of Jesus towards the boy and towards the father. This is what Jesus came to do, to save the world from sin, from the curse of sin, the captivity of sin. He is the light that shines in the darkness of the world, and the world does not overpower it.

And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” The devil was trying to destroy this boy, and by extension, to destroy this father who had to witness this for the entire childhood of his son. The strategy of Satan is to destroy as many people as possible. You know, the alcoholism of a man not only destroys him, but it often destroys his family, his wife, his kids. That’s the way sin works. And that’s the way the devil works to destroy.

Vs23 And Jesus said to him, ” ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” That sentence “All things are possible to him who believes,” has to be one of the best examples of a verse of scripture which is often used out of context. That’s the slogan of the charismatic faith healers. That’s the proof text of the prosperity gospel preachers. But make sure you keep it in the context of which Jesus said it.

Who or what is the person to believe in? Is it to believe that whatever I can think of, or desire, I can have it if I just believe it really really hard? Is that what Jesus is saying here? I think not. I think in Jesus’s response you see first of all His repetition of the statement “if You can.” This man was saying If you Jesus can deliver my son… If You have the power Jesus. If You have the authority. It’s almost as if the man is maligning who Jesus is by casting doubt upon His authority.

And so Jesus response is “All things are possible to him who believes.” The point is that this man must believe in who Jesus Christ is. Not believe in the power of positive thinking, or even the power of prayer, or even in the power of faith. But believing in who Jesus is. And if you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, the Son of God, you shall be saved. That is saving faith, to believe in who Jesus is, the Son of the living God.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please [Him,] for he who comes to God must believe that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” So there is saving faith, and there is working faith. This man needs to show saving faith. The disciples were guilty of failing in working faith. Or we might better say, walking faith. Because the Bible says we walk by faith and not by sight. They failed to walk by faith. Jesus wasn’t around. They couldn’t see Him and so they didn’t have faith in His ability to heal this boy. Faith is not just something by which we are saved, but it’s the means by which we live, by which we work the works of righteousness.

The father at least recognizes that his faith is something that needs improvement. He says, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” That’s the other element about faith that needs to be mentioned. And that is that faith grows, faith matures. Faith is strengthened. And faith is a gift of God. So the father gets that right by asking Jesus to improve his faith, to give him faith to believe.

Vs25 “When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.” After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and [the boy] became so much like a corpse that most [of them] said, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.”

We shouldn’t interpret that as if Jesus wanted to have a crowd and so He waited until a crowd formed and then began to heal the boy. No, just the opposite. Jesus wanted to avoid the sensationalism as much as possible, so He wanted to avoid the crowd.

But as He commands the evil spirit to come out of him, the spirit throws the boy into one last convulsion which is so devastating that it seems that the boy must have perished. He looks like a corpse, deathly white and perhaps not even breathing. But Jesus takes him by the hand and raises him up.

This is what Jesus does. This is what Jesus does in our day and time. He takes people whose lives are decimated, who have been deceived and who are being destroyed, and he does what only He can do and what no one else can do, that is, he enters into that spiritual deadness, and he takes the person by the hand, and raises them up, and they enter into new life.

Jesus is the one who says, “I am the resurrection and the life, and he who believes in Me, even though he dies, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” He’s the only one who can deliver us from death and sin. He’s either truth or He’s a liar. He’s either the God in the flesh who has the authority to forgive sin, to give life, or he’s a liar.

Well, after the boy is healed, after all the drama is over, the disciples go back to the house with Jesus and they ask Him a question. Vs 28 When He came into [the] house, His disciples [began] questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

What Jesus is basically saying is, “You didn’t pray.” Or perhaps, “you didn’t pray enough.” When do you not pray? When you don’t think you need to. Or when you don’t want to. Or when you’re presumptuous. Or when you think you can do it by yourself. So, if you think you can preach by yourself, there’s no need to pray before you preach. If you think you can do everything, just go ahead and do it, and see how it goes. That’s what he’s saying: “And you tried it. You tried it without prayer; next time, be sure to pray.”

Prayer is expressing your dependence upon God. Prayer is calling upon the power of God. Prayer is saying it’s not by some power that I have, but by the power of Jesus Christ that this boy would be healed. Prayer is communication from us to God that the power might come from God through us.

You see, prayer is ultimately aligning our wills with the will of God. It is simply acknowledging that God must do these things, that we don’t possess these things in and of ourselves. It’s not that our will be done, but that His will be done. And I think these disciples were getting a little too self important, and therefore they needed a little reminder. Just a little bit further in this chapter we will see that they were discussing among themselves who was the greatest. So perhaps they needed a little public humiliation as a necessary part of their training, a reminder of where their power came from.

We need remind ourselves that the faith that is fundamental to this story is not a faith that reaches out into some vague void—a belief in belief, or a belief in something—but it is a faith that resolutely trusts in the Lord Jesus. And in a world that scoffs at our belief in Christ and is quick to criticize our failures, we’re able to turn to One who says, “Bring the boy to me. Bring the girl to me. Suffer the little children to come unto me.” You can’t educate them out of this present darkness. You won’t be able to therapy them out of this snare and trap of the world that Satan has set for them. Actually, it’s good that you know you can’t do this. Bring them to Jesus. And some of us, as parents and grandparents, might want to take that in a very personal way. And if we can’t physically bring our children and grandchildren face-to-face with Christ, we can go face-to-face with Christ in prayer and bring them into his presence and trust in His power to make that which seems impossible, possible.

Last week I said that we were entering a stage of Jesus’s ministry in which there was a transition. It was a transition from Him primarily preaching and ministering to the multitudes, to His ministry primarily being focused on the disciples. Jesus knew that it would be less than a year until He is taken away from them, and they must continue to carry out His ministry. And so He wants to prepare them for His departure.

But there is another transition in His ministry, and that is that He is slowly but inexorably heading for the cross. In this passage we see that He has gone far to the north, to Caesarea Philippi;, but from this point on He will be moving from north to south, on the way to Jerusalem to be crucified. That is His goal, His purpose, His mission. To present Himself as an offering for sin, by His death on the cross, so that He might save those that are lost.

It’s noteworthy that this event is preceded by the healing of the blind man, who was healed in two stages. You remember last week we looked at the healing of this man, who when Jesus first anointed His eyes, he said he saw men like trees walking around. Then Jesus touched his eyes again, and the man began to see clearly.

That incident illustrates what happens as Jesus ministers particularly to the disciples. They are given spiritual discernment so that they might recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. And yet their spiritual vision is still not clear. They see Jesus in an unclear way, as pertaining to the interests of man, but not the mission of God. However, for three of the disciples, Peter, John, and James, they will receive even more insight when they see Jesus after this event, transfigured before them on the mount of transfiguration.

But today we’re going to look at the first stage of their spiritual discernment. Let’s read starting in verse 27, Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others [say] Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”

This has obviously been a source of great debate during the ministry of Jesus. We’ve seen this sort of question voiced time and again by the multitudes and by the Pharisees, and by everyone that heard Jesus teach and saw the great miracles which He was doing. Some have said, “never a man spoke like this man,” when they heard Him speak. Others, such as the Pharisees, said that He performed miracles by the power of Beelzebub. That is by the power of Satan. It seems everyone had an opinion about Him, but there seemed to be no consensus.

The disciples echo answer Him, saying some say You are John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others one of the prophets. It seemed evident to the people that John the Baptist was a prophet of God. And yet it’s odd that they would think Jesus was John the Baptist, because one, John had baptized Jesus, and two, John was now dead. But nevertheless, some such as Herod thought that John had risen from the dead and was now ministering as Jesus.

Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, had prophesied that Elijah the prophet would arise before the coming of the Messiah. Many people failed to see that John the Baptist was that prophet, and instead thought that Jesus was actually Elijah. And the fact that Elijah never died, but was taken bodily up to heaven gave credence to the idea that he had returned.

But bottom line, the majority of the people thought that Jesus was a prophet, whether a prophet risen from the dead or not, they believed He was a no more than a prophet. Though it’s doubtful that the Pharisees even accepted that. But they knew the common people believed that.

Even today, most religions of the world believe that Jesus was a prophet of God. Islam, for instance, believes that Jesus was a prophet, and that Mohammed was a prophet. Jesus, in their view, is no greater than Mohammed. He is just a prophet. The Bahai Faith believes Jesus was a prophet, as well as Mohammed and others. Many religions accept that Jesus is a prophet. The Jews believed the greatest prophet was Moses. But Jesus is far greater than even Moses. Heb. 3:3 says, For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house.

So then Jesus asks another question to the disciples. Vs 29 And He [continued] by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” Matthew’s account says that Peter added “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

Matthew’s account also says that Jesus responds to Peter in Mat 16:17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal [this] to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Now unfortunately, the Roman Catholic Church has completely misinterpreted this passage and somehow deduced that Jesus was instituting Peter as the first pope and whatever the pope said ex cathedra was as the vicar of Christ and had as much authority as the words of Christ. And I don’t have time this morning to deal with all of that, except to say that is not the meaning of this statement, and that’s not what Jesus was saying.

But let’s consider what Jesus did say. First of all, Jesus said that His identity could only be discerned spiritually. You must be given spiritual eyes to see spiritual truth. Jesus is saying that the logic and reason of man cannot discern spiritual things. If one is saved by believing in Jesus Christ, then there must be a supernatural healing that takes place, whereby the blind are given sight, so that they might see and believe.

According to human reason, His own townspeople had become incensed at Him and said, Who does He think He is? We knew Him when He grew up here, with His brothers and sisters and His mother. And they tried to throw Him off a cliff. So there must be spiritual sight given in order to believe. And Peter and the disciples had been given that sight.

The negative thing about Peter’s confession is not seen that clearly on our part, but it becomes more clear from the text following. That is that Peter and the disciples had an incomplete view of the Messiah. All the Jews had been looking for and yearning for the Messiah for hundreds of years. Isaiah and other prophets seemed to promise that when the Messiah came, He would set all things right. He would be the royal Son of David, who would resume the throne, who would vanquish Israel’s enemies, who would rule the over the world from His throne in Jerusalem. He would usher in a time of peace and prosperity such as the world had never seen.

Peter and the disciples do not understand that the Messiah must die for the sins of the world in order to be our Savior. They could not comprehend that. And so in that respect his confession is lacking because his knowledge is incomplete.

So while Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God may be limited by their incorrect theology about the Messiah, it is nevertheless marvelous, it’s spiritually discerning, it recognizes not only that Jesus is the Messiah, which is the Hebrew word that is rendered here in the Greek as Christ, but Peter also recognizes that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. He recognizes the deity of Christ, that He is God incarnate.

And that confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God is the confession of our faith, by which men are saved. Jesus said in Matthew’s account, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Now I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of sermons about Peter, which means stone, being a little rock and Jesus being the cornerstone upon which the church is built. And that is correct. But it’s also true that Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah the Son of the Living God is the bed rock that Jesus builds His church upon. Because that confession is the means by which a sinner is brought into the church. The church is not a building, but a body of believers. And to be a believer you must believe that Jesus is Lord.

Paul says in Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

That confession is how you are saved, and being saved is how you are brought into the church of Christ. It’s not by walking an aisle and being voted in, or taking a membership class, or even being baptized. Being saved is confessing that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, is your Lord and Savior.

It’s interesting that many years later, as Peter writes his epistle to the church, he uses that same metaphor of a stone, saying in 1Peter 2:4-5 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Now back in our text, in keeping with this transition in Jesus’s ministry to teach the disciples, Mark says in vs 31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Notice here that Jesus begins to teach them the real mission of the Messiah. They had a wrong view of the ministry of the Messiah as a King who would restore Israel to a place of prominence and prosperity. But Jesus tells them in very plain terms that He would suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. This must have gone in one ear and out the other. Because after His crucifixion, the disciples don’t seem to remember this. They weren’t looking for Jesus to rise from the dead. They were mourning after His death, wondering what it all meant and what they were to do now. But yet Mark says Jesus was stating the matter plainly.

And Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. What does that mean? Matthew says that Peter said, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” Maybe he meant, I won’t let it happen to you. Remember Peter would be the one to take a sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest when they came to arrest Jesus before His crucifixion. But I think he is speaking that way because his theology didn’t include Jesus dying for the sins of the world. His theology was more like the prosperity gospel of today, that sees the blessings of God as primarily material and physical. The Messiah is supposed to be their political Savior who creates utopia, not the sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

But Jesus turns around and rebukes Peter, and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” I spoke of this incident a couple of weeks ago as an example of Satan’s influence on a person. Peter is a believer. He has just made the greatest confession of His faith. And yet literally moments later Jesus is calling him Satan. Now you can say that is hyperbole if you want. You can try to explain it any way you want. But the clear meaning of scripture cannot be altered. Jesus called Peter Satan, either addressing directly Satan who is behind Peter’s remarks, or addressing Peter who is perversely influenced by the power of Satan. That doesn’t mean that Peter was demon possessed. But it does mean that even a Christian can be demonically influenced or even controlled to the degree that they give in to him.

Why does Jesus speak this way to him? Why does Jesus speak to Peter as Satan? Because, according to Jesus, he is not setting his mind on God’s interests, but on man’s interests. Satan’s mission is to glorify man. To glorify the flesh. To say that man can be like God. That he can decide between good and evil. That he can decide what is best for himself. Satan’s mission is to glorify man, to make him a god, that can control his fate, that can enjoy his creation, that can reap the fruit of his labor.

You know, these so called Satanists of our day are fools. They think that Satan wants to receive their worship, that they would glorify him. No, Satan’s strategy since the beginning is to get man to glorify himself. His first lie to Eve was to say that you can be like God, to know good and evil. His goal is to get man to worship man. To make man think he is like god. And in so doing, Satan’s strategy is to cause man to rebel against the sovereignty of God and thus condemn himself to eternal hell. Satan’s strategy isn’t to get people to worship him per se, but to get people to worship themselves. He wants to destroy mankind. And getting them to reject God is the most sure way to bring destruction upon the world.

Peter thinks he is being smart. He may even think he is being theologically erudite. But behind his theology is a focus on what he thinks is good for man, not on God’s interests. God’s interest is what is good for man, which is his salvation from his sins that he may receive new life. But Peter’s interests are on what he thinks is good for man, what he thinks God must do in order to bless man.

So Jesus must explain God’s mission more clearly to the disciples which he does starting in vs 34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Jesus has just said that He must die and be raised from the dead. And now He explains what that death means, which is death on a cross. But not only is Jesus going to the cross, He says those that wish to come after Him must also take up their cross and follow Him. These disciples were following Jesus. If they didn’t want Him to go to the cross, then it stands to reason they didn’t want to go to the cross either.

But we know that the disciples weren’t crucified with Christ on Golgotha. So what did Jesus mean by that saying? Well, I think He means that if you follow Christ, you have to set your mind on God’s interests and not mans. You must deny the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, and even die to those desires, so that you might live for God’s desires. That speaks of true repentance, ladies and gentlemen. To die to sinful lifestyles, to die to envy, greed, and pride, so that you might live for God’s interests, you might live for righteousness.

Paul speaks of this necessity of death in Col.3:2-5 “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

Jesus explains it further saying in Mark, For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. I think He means there that the man who wishes to preserve his sinful way of life, who wishes to succeed in life irregardless of God’s interests, but focusing on his own worldly, materialistic success, will in fact lose that which he is trying to save.

I was talking to a woman the other day who had lost her brother to an untimely death due to illness. And she was explaining how her brother who was a military veteran was a prepper. A prepper is someone who is preparing for the apocalypse. He is preparing for a melt down of society and law and order, and all the social chaos that would come as a result of it. This man had saved a small fortune in gold and silver bars. He had purchased many guns and lots and lots of ammunition. He had all kinds of generators and battery chargers and supplies. He had even bought these giant metal shipping containers and built an underground compound that he could live in until it was safe to come out. And then he got cancer and died at a relatively early age. He had made every preparation in order to survive, in order to live regardless of what happened. But I can’t help but wonder if he was prepared to die. I can’t help but wonder if he prepared to meet God.

Jesus said to His disciples, For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? The media seems to make so much out of billionaires and the movie stars and whoever has the most money. And yet what reward is it really to die a billionaire and not be right with God? You can’t take your money with you. A billion dollars on earth doesn’t have any value in heaven. Hebrews 9 says, it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

Jesus spoke of that judgment in the parallel account in Mat 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. There is going to be a judgment for every man, when every thought and every deed will be examined in light of what you believed about Jesus Christ.

Jesus went on to say in Mark’s account, vs38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

What are you trusting in today? Are you trusting in the value of your 401K, your IRA? Are you trusting in your ability to be financially independent? Or have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, who has forgiven your sins and given you eternal life? I urge you to repent and confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that you might obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.

I want to emphasize something about Mark’s gospel as we continue in our verse by verse study of it this morning. And that is that Mark is not writing a biography of Jesus, he is not writing a history of Jesus Christ nor His ministry. But Mark is writing the gospel. The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. The good news is God’s plan of salvation for His people, brought about and manifested through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Now I emphasize that point because understanding that helps us to discern why some things are stated in the gospels and some things may have been left out. So that we might understand that some things that might seem merely biographical on the surface may be intended to be used to teach certain principles of the gospel. We have to be careful not to over-spiritualize every thing that happened, and yet we do need to recognize some things that have spiritual significance and not just read it in a superficial way.

And Jesus Himself emphasizes the necessity of that, of having eyes that see spiritually, and not just see the physical implications of an event. In fact, He rebukes the disciples for their lack of spiritual insight in vs17 saying, “Why do you discuss [the fact] that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? “HAVING EYES, DO YOU NOT SEE? AND HAVING EARS, DO YOU NOT HEAR?”

Now that’s pertinent especially because of the fact that Jesus has reached a transition point in His ministry. From this point on, He is not so much focused on preaching the gospel to the multitudes as He is focused on teaching the disciples. He will be crucified within a year’s time, and He must prepare the disciples to carry on His work once He is gone from them. And so we will consider this passage in light of this transition in HIs ministry, and that Jesus is using these events to teach the disciples especially. To prepare them for ministry when He is taken away from them.

So then, the chapter opens with yet another feeding of the multitudes. You will remember we looked a few weeks ago at the feeding of the 5000 in chapter 6. This is a few weeks or so later, we’re not sure exactly. It’s in another location, which may have been in the Decapolis region, a largely Gentile region.

Look at vs 1, “In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”

Though Jesus is now focusing on teaching the disciples, that doesn’t mean that He has abandoned the multitudes. Mark says He has compassion on them. But perhaps Jesus also wants to pass on that compassion to His disciples. He wants to teach them what it means to have compassion. And so He does that by example. That really is the best method of teaching a lot of the time, isn’t it? Not just to preach doctrine, but to show by your actions the life changing doctrines of our faith. For out of a changed heart come a change in actions and behavior.

Jesus had taught that principle previously as recorded in Luke 6: 44-45 “For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil [man] out of the evil [treasure] brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

So how better to teach compassion than to once again feed the hungry multitudes who have no possibility of feeding themselves. And even more to the point, to engage the disciples in that process.

But the disciples are slow to learn. Vs. 4 And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able [to find enough] bread here in [this] desolate place to satisfy these people?” They have already forgotten what happened a few weeks earlier when they were in another desolate place, and there were 5000 people there who had not eaten. But let’s not criticize too severely the disciples when we are often guilty of the same thing. Isn’t it amazing how quickly we forget the provision and blessing of God in the past when faced with a new trial in our lives? We are so caught up in the moment of crisis that we forget how often God has delivered us or provided for us in previous trials.

But let’s continue the story in vs 5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people. They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well. And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.”

Now when Jesus fed the 5000 there were 5 loaves and two fish. In this feeding of the 4000 there are seven bread cakes, which were like flat bread, and some fish. I don’t think there is anything significant about the amount of food available. But what is significant is that Jesus asks the disciples how much bread that they had. Again, the emphasis of Christ’s teaching is to instill compassion for the multitudes in the hearts of the disciples, and to consider what they had as the means of supplying the need of the multitude.

Spiritually speaking, this miracle illustrates that Jesus is the bread of life that comes down out of heaven, which God gives to men who are desperate for the spiritual food which gives life. And the disciples take the bread of life from Christ and serve it to the multitudes, and God is able to make it sufficient for everyone that will receive it.

So the disciples serve the people and after everyone has eaten, they pick up 7 bushel baskets full of the leftovers. There is more than enough for the multitudes and for themselves. These baskets are quite a bit larger than the 12 baskets they picked up after feeding the 5000. In the previous case, the baskets were more like the size of a personal lunch basket. There were 12 disciples and 12 baskets left over for them to be able to eat. In this feeding, Mark uses a word that is also later used to describe the basket that the apostle Paul was let down from the wall in. That’s a pretty big basket, to be big enough to hold a man. It reminds us of the promise that in regards to ministry, that God will provide all your needs according to His riches in glory. Perhaps it also speaks to the abundant, super sufficiency of the gospel.

It illustrates the principle Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure–pressed down, shaken together, [and] running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Immediately after this event, they get back in the boat and leave this region to go to the region of Dalmanutha. And it is after leaving the predominately Gentile region, and going back to an area more populated by the Jews, that they run into the Pharisees again. Vs11 “The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.’”

I’ve said before that the Pharisees were like the game, “whack a mole”. They were always popping out from behind a tree or something, hoping to catch Jesus or His disciples in some error. In this case, they come asking for a sign from heaven. Jesus has been doing hundreds if not thousands of miraculous works. But they want something more. They want to tempt Jesus to do something prideful or self validating. And if He should do what they ask, then they would use that against Him as well. Because they have already decided not to believe in Him. I think they recognized that there was already more than enough evidence to prove that He was the Messiah. But they have rejected Him because they do not want this man to rule over them. They have attributed His miraculous powers to Satan. And so in a similar fashion as Satan did in the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, they want to tempt Him to sin in some way in order to publicly discredit Him. For instance, to sin like when Moses struck the rock in anger so that water came out. They hope to discredit Jesus in a similar way.

Matthew adds in his account in chapter 16 vs 4, that Jesus said “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.” That miraculous sign that Jesus speaks of was likened to the sign of Jonah, where Jesus was three days in the belly of the earth and would rise again from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus was the sign from God that Jesus was indeed the Holy One of God and that God had considered Him righteous and His atonement had been considered sufficient for the sins of the world.

But when Jesus says this generation will not be given a sign, He is speaking of the Jewish people living in His day. Particularly, He is speaking of the Pharisees and other religious leaders that have rejected the truth of the gospel. When Jesus appeared after His resurrection, He doesn’t appear to the Pharisees, or temple priests. He only appears to those who had believed in Him, His disciples.

But isn’t it also true that our evil generation seeks for a sign? Isn’t it true that people today say that if God is real, then why doesn’t He show Himself? Why doesn’t God prove Himself to me? But one day God will reveal Himself in all His glory, with flaming angels of fire, and yet that display of His glory will not be for their salvation, but for their damnation. God has established that it is by faith and not by sight, that we are saved.

Let’s look next at vs 13 “Leaving them (that is the Pharisees), He (Jesus) again embarked and went away to the other side. And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” They [began] to discuss with one another [the fact] that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss [the fact] that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? “HAVING EYES, DO YOU NOT SEE? AND HAVING EARS, DO YOU NOT HEAR? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” “When [I broke] the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Seven.” And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Once again, we see the emphasis here is on Jesus teaching the disciples, and He uses the incident with the Pharisees. Jesus is trying to teach spiritual discernment to the disciples. Discernment is not something that is easy to teach. Yet it’s something vital for a spiritual teacher or leader to have.

But when Jesus is warning them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, the disciples think that He is upset because they forgot to bring enough bread for lunch. I”m not sure how they made that correlation, except it seems that they are always thinking about their stomachs. I suppose we are guilty of the same thing a lot of times. The Lord may be teaching us a spiritual principle in the Word, and we interpret it as a physical thing. I was trying to explain to someone the other day about that principle in regards to what we consider blessings. We tend to see blessings only in the realm of the physical. In fact, we most often consider God’s blessings as being financial. But actually, God’s blessings are much more than simply financial. In fact, you might argue that financial “blessings” are more often than not really a curse.

So Jesus was warning them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Herodians. The Herodians were the party of Herod who were conniving with the Pharisees how to discredit Jesus and ultimately how to kill Him. Leaven in scripture is always a picture of sin. That’s why they ate unleavened bread at Passover. So in this case, Jesus means that the teaching of the Pharisees and Herodians is evil, in that it has the corrupting influence of sin in what appears to be spiritual food. The gospel is spiritual food, the bread of heaven, given to the multitude. But the spiritual food that the Pharisees fed the people was in fact corrupted by sin. It was corrupted by unbelief and hatred and the desire to murder of the Son of God.

And it would seem that Jesus is a little exasperated that the disciples cannot see that, but instead interpret His warning as saying something about not having enough bread for their lunch. So Jesus reminds them that He had supplied enough bread to feed 5000 people and 4000 people and still have plenty left over. Don’t they understand that He could easily feed 12 disciples from one loaf of bread? Don’t be focused on physical things when you need to be focused on spiritual things. If you comprehend the spiritual, then God will take care of the physical.

There’s one final illustration of this principle of the necessity of spiritual discernment. And that’s found in the healing of the blind man. Vs 22 “And they came to Bethsaida. (This is the same place where Jesus fed the 5000) And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I see [them] like trees, walking around.” Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and [began] to see everything clearly. And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

Taken at face value, this is one of the most confusing and difficult to understand miracles that Jesus performs. Jesus who has by now healed probably hundreds of blind persons, who has healed countless others from every sort of disease, who has even raised dead people to life, heals this blind man in two stages. And no one seems to know why. Some commentators just say that God has His purposes and we are not privy to them. And that may be true to some extent.

But when you consider the context of this whole passage, we might get some insight into why Jesus heals this way. One thing is for sure, it’s not because this man doesn’t have enough faith to be healed, as the charismatic faith healers like to say. It’s not because Jesus doesn’t have enough power to heal in one sitting this particular brand of blindness in this man. As I just said, Jesus has healed thousands of people, even dead people. You can’t find less faith than in a dead person, nor a more difficult illness than death. So you can disregard those possible reasons.

I think we must use a bit of spiritual discernment ourselves in considering all that Mark has related that happened so far in this chapter, which gives us the only possible reason that Jesus heals this way. And that is to illustrate that spiritual discernment, or spiritual maturity comes by sanctification, which is progressive in nature. See, salvation comes to us in three stages. The first stage is justification, whereby by faith we are judged in Christ, where He takes our sin upon Himself and we receive His righteousness. At this point we are born again, made alive in Christ Jesus by faith in who He is and what He has done. We are given a new heart.

Then the second stage of our salvation begins at that moment. And that is the process of sanctification. Sanctification is the process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. It is the process of living out the righteousness that has been imputed to us. It is learning to be obedient. It is learning about the Lord. It is contemplating on His word and applying it to your life. It is the fruit of righteousness produced in our life from having been given a new heart. As Jesus said, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good.”

I read recently about a man who was saved out of a pagan culture. And as he grew in his faith he decided he wanted to memorize the Sermon on the Mount. He said, “I had a really difficult time memorizing the Sermon on the Mount until I committed to live out those principles in my daily practice.” Sanctification is living out our salvation, bearing the fruit of righteousness in our life.

The third phase of our salvation is glorification. When we shall see the Lord face to face, and we will be made like Him, given a new body in the new heaven and the new earth. But the second stage is the one we live in now. It’s a stage of spiritual progression. And that stage is the one in which you grow in spiritual discernment and maturity. And I think that’s what Jesus was illustrating by His two stage healing of the blind man.

Remember, He has given two illustrations of feeding the multitudes from His hands to the disciples hands to the hands of the multitudes. Then He rebuked the Pharisees for not seeing Him for who He was despite having seen the miracles and signs that He had done. Then He rebuked the disciples for not having eyes to see, for being spiritually dull and only thinking of the physical, when they should have been focused on the spiritual. And now He heals the blind man in the first stage, so that he sees, but not clearly. And then laying His hands on Him again, the man begins to see clearly.

I think there is a correlation indicated there in the progressive nature of our sanctification. Whereby as we follow Christ, as we do as He instructs us, as we follow in His footsteps, as we listen to His word, our eyes are made more clear, so that we understand more distinctly the truth of the gospel, so that we might be more closely conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

That is the goal of our salvation. We will not be made perfect here in this life, but as Paul said in Phil. 3:12-14 “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Paul’s speaking of the process of sanctification, of becoming more like Christ, and then he goes on to speak of our glorification. 17 “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end [is] destruction, whose god [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame–who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”

Let us strive to follow in Christ’s footsteps, that we “may be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own derived from [the] Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which [comes] from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil. 3:9)

Last Sunday we looked at the passage in Mark where Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because of their hypocrisy.  These religious leaders cleaned the outside of the cup, so to speak, but the inside was full of corruption.  They publicly made a great show of  following the traditions of men, which presumably had their basis in religious law, but inwardly they broke the commandments of God.  And so Jesus taught the disciples that it was necessary to have a clean heart, for out of the heart proceeds all evil.

Now a clean heart or a new heart speaks of a spiritual transformation.  A leper cannot change it’s spots.  Neither can man change his heart.  We sometimes speak of “having a change of heart.”  We mean by that a change of mind, or a change of attitude.  And it’s possible to do that.  My wife says it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. I’m just supposed to accept it and go along with it, I suppose.

But spiritually speaking, to have a change of heart is much more than simply deciding to do wear the blue shirt rather than the red shirt.  The Bible uses the word “heart” to denote the will and emotions and intellect of a man.  In Biblical terms, you can even use the word soul as a synonym for heart.  So when the Bible speaks of the heart, it speaks of the innate desires of man, the intrinsic nature of a man.

Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it? In that saying, we see that man in his fallen state is sinful, and he is sinful because his heart is sinful, inclined to sin.  And he cannot know it, which means comprehend it, or control it.  This condition is the result of the fall. When Adam and Eve sinned, they caused their sin nature to be passed on to their children, and to all succeeding generations.  So man is born with a sin nature, a sinful heart, which produces a sinful life.  So immediately following the fall, it says in Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every intent of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.”

The heart is the source of all evil.  As Jesus said in the previous section, vs 20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,  deeds of coveting [and] wickedness, [as well as] deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride [and] foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

The great problem of the world is not pollution. It’s not poverty.  It’s not a lack of education or a lack of health care.  The great problem of the world is that the world is held in the bondage of sin. Sin is the snare and condemnation that is brought upon the world through the enemy of God and man, who is Satan.  And the only way to be freed from that captivity of sin is through Jesus Christ.  

Now Mark is going to use two events in the ministry of Jesus to illustrate this principle of salvation, which is that a change of heart must come through faith in Jesus Christ. There must be a spiritual transformation, and only Jesus has the power to change hearts.  That is illustrated here in two episodes following this teaching about the heart.

The first episode is described for us starting in vs 24 “Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know [of it;] yet He could not escape notice.  But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.  Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.”

Now remember Jesus has just finished teaching about the heart being unclean and now Mark records Jesus as going into the Gentile region, a region that the Jews considered unclean. Traditionally, they avoided Gentile regions, and avoided as much contact as possible with Gentile people.  But Jesus deliberately travels to Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region and enters a house there, presumably to stay with the occupants.  Who they are we are not told, but we might suppose that they were Gentiles, though they might have been Jews living in a Gentile region.

But irregardless of who He was staying with, word gets out that He is there, and a Syrophoenician woman comes to see Him. Now she is undoubtedly a Gentile.  And for the most part, Jews did not converse or have fellowship with Gentiles.  She knows this.  But she is desperate for help.  And she knows that only Jesus can help her.

Matthew’s account in Matthew 15 tells us more about this woman’s faith than we see here in Mark.  Matthew says that she says to Jesus, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.”  Notice she calls Him Lord, Son of David.  It’s evident from that appeal that she believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.  She has a right understanding of Biblical prophecy, better than the Pharisees by the way. And as this event unfolds she continues to call Him Lord. 

The scriptures had been given to the Jews.  And the covenants were given to the Jews. Jesus would say in Matthews account in chapter 15: 24 “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  Jesus would say to the Samaritan woman, “salvation is of the Jews.”  So the gospel is first given to the Jews, even as the old covenant was given to the Jews.  But that did not mean that the other nationalities could not obtain salvation.  There was such a thing as becoming a proselyte, which was to convert to the Jewish faith and practice.  And the scriptures show many examples of Gentiles converting, such as with Rehab the harlot, with Naaman the Syrian, with Ruth the Moabite.  So there was a way for a Gentile to become saved.  But it was through the Jews.  And Jesus had limited His ministry to the Jews.  But we have already seen other examples of His ministry reaching beyond that border, such as with the Samaritan woman and the Roman centurion whose servant was healed. But Jesus’s primary ministry at this time is to the Jews.

But this woman has come to Jesus believing in who He was, as prophesied in scripture, and she is seeking His help in the deliverance of her daughter from demonic possession.  We have been talking about demonic influences or demonic control or demonic possession for a couple of weeks now in our Bible studies.  And I think it is a matter of concern for our times as well. As we become more and more a pagan society, as we reject good and embrace evil, we open up our hearts to demonic control.  And I believe we are seeing more and more evidence of demonic control, and even demon possession occurring in our society today. In fact, demon worship and Satanic practices are not only becoming more common, but are more acceptable today and even trendy.  I heard a popular female movie star the other day refer to herself as a witch.  And she seemed proud of that title. 

Scripture tells us in the last days men will worship demons and sorcery will become more and more commonplace. Rev. 9:20-21 “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;  and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.” It’s interesting to note that the word sorceries comes from the Greek word “pharmakia” which is where we get the word pharmacy from. The scripture shows that sorcery and drugs are closely connected. No wonder our society is manifesting more and more demonic influence.

I’m afraid that we tend to try to explain away a lot of what is really demonic control over a person’s life by trying to attribute it to other factors, such as an emotional or psychiatric disorder, or a drug or alcohol problem.  And I will agree that sometimes unnatural behavior is a psychiatric or emotional disorder and we it’s not always easy to be able to discern the difference.  But I also believe that a lot of behavior is demonic in origin and we don’t recognize it as such.

I don’t know what the specific characteristics of demonic possession was with this girl.  But we know that she was a young girl. Mark says she had an unclean spirit.  Matthew says she was cruelly demon possessed.  I would suspect from other accounts of demon possessed people that one manifestation of being demon possessed was that she was hurting herself. Another mother came to Jesus on another occasion about her demon possessed son who threw himself in the fire and tried to harm himself.  And we recently studied the story of the demoniac in the tombs who cut himself and constantly was screaming.  So in the case of this young girl there was probably some very evident manifestation of demonic possession which her mother knew was of the devil.

But I will tell you that there are varying degrees of demonic control, and not all of them show signs that we might attribute to that.  For instance, there is an event that happens not long after this, where Jesus tells Peter, “Get behind Me Satan.”  Peter showed no outward signs of demonic influence. He was a disciple. He had just made a great statement about Jesus Christ being the Son of God. And yet Jesus sees enough of the devil in him at that moment to call him Satan.  And I don’t think Jesus was joking when he said that.  I don’t think he was exaggerating either.  So we must believe that Jesus meant what He said. 

So not all demonic control manifests itself in someone by having a demonic look about them.  They don’t always have horns on their head or fangs or some evil look about them. And yet we need to be discerning.  In Peter’s case, the evidence was simply according to Jesus, “you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”  God sees the heart, and He knows our thoughts.  And He could see that Peter’s thoughts were influenced by Satan.

But while Jesus can read the heart, I don’t think we have the ability to read minds.  My wife thinks she can read my mind.  And maybe she is the exception and can actually do that. But most of us mere mortals can’t read minds. But nevertheless I think we can be more discerning sometimes when it comes to demonic behavior.  I had an experience recently where someone I encountered I believe was being demonically controlled.  And one of the primary reasons I believe that was that their mouth was spewing the most vile curse words and profanity that you have ever heard. I’ve had a few encounters like that over the years in ministry and I believe that when you have that kind of the vilest profanity being used, being screamed at you in a unreasoning manner, you can be sure that the person at that time is being controlled by a demon.  They may not even be aware of it, such as Peter wasn’t aware of it Im sure, but nevertheless, it’s a manifestation of evil that has it’s source in demons. It may not be a permanent condition, but it may come on for a while and then it’s influence may seem to wane. In the case of this young girl, it seems to have metastasized to a permanent condition.

Well, Jesus responds in a way to the request of the woman that may seem atypical. Vs27 But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw [it] to the little dogs.”  There are a couple of things that seem inappropriate with Jesus’s answer. For one, it would seem that Jesus was calling this woman a dog.  A dog was a euphemism that the Jews used to refer to Gentiles. It showed the disdain that they had towards Gentiles.

But Jesus actually uses a different phrase to describe the position of the woman. He says “little dogs” or some translations have it, “house dogs.”  The derogative word dogs that the Jews used indicated that Gentiles were like mangy dogs that ran the streets, practically wild and ravenous. But the dogs that Jesus speaks of is a house pet. Being called a house pet is not quite as bad as being called a mangy wild dog.  But we might suppose that Jesus is not making a derogatory statement to this woman about being of an inferior race, but rather to  show her relationship and position in the kingdom of God.

An even better understanding of His intent is shown in His mention of “first,” ie, “let the children be filled first…” A first obviously precedes and acknowledges that there will be a “second.” So Jesus is indicating that there will be a time or opportunity for the Gentiles, which will come after the gospel is preached to the Jews.

But this woman, percieving that Jesus has opened the door slightly, is bold enough to try to push it open even wider.  Vs 28 And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”  She recognized that her position was that of the house dogs, but also knew that even they receive some of the scraps from the table. She had faith that God could still help her and deliver her daughter, though the Gentiles were not the primary object of Christ’s ministry.

And Matthew says in  15:28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great [is] your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.  Mark’s account has in vs 29 Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.”  Even by her leaving Jesus to go back to her house was an act of faith, as she had no evidence that Jesus had delivered her from the demon until she arrived and saw her daughter. But she believed in Him and in His word.

But let’s make sure we understand Jesus’s commendation of her faith. It was faith in Jesus Christ, in who He is.  Not faith in herself, or faith in the power of faith.  She believed in who Jesus was, and in HIs word.  And Jesus rewarded her faith in Him by delivering her little daughter from demonic possession.

The second event that illustrates the power of Christ to change our hearts, is found in the next episode that Mark selects for us.  Vs 31 “Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.”  Now the geography described here is a little confusing for me, but Decapolis was ten cities that were primarily inhabited by the Greeks.  So again there is this idea of Jesus visiting these unclean regions, or unclean people.  The principle being taught of course is that only Jesus can make the unclean, clean. 

Vs 32 “Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.’”

In every case of Jesus healing or delivering someone, He seems to use a different method.  We just read about Jesus delivering the demon possessed daughter and yet He didn’t touch her or even visit her personally.  He delivered her from a distance. But in this case, Jesus not only touches this man, but he puts His fingers in the man’s ears, and spat on his finger and touched the man’s tongue.  In chapter 8, in another healing of a blind man,  Jesus will spit on a man’s eyes, in the process of healing him. 

Now trying to understand why Jesus did some things some times, and other things other times, and sometimes did nothing at all, is beyond our pay grade.  Except to show us that there is no secret formula for healing.  And I don’t think that there is some medicinal value in spittle. I don’t think that there was some special holiness in Christ’s spit which had healing properties. I really don’t know why He did it that way though, when He could easily heal someone without doing anything at all, as we have clearly seen. 

But what is evident is that as He puts His fingers in his ears, and touches his spittle to his tongue, He shows that He is changing those specific impediments by the power which comes from Him. The elements of Jesus’s body enters this mute and deaf man’s body which then changes him.  Isn’t that what is represented by taking the Lord’s supper?  When we eat of the elements which represent Christ’s body, we symbolically show the means by which we are saved through His sacrifice on the cross.  We receive the Spirit of God who gives us life, who changes our heart, so that we might have life more abundantly.

The fact that Mark says that Jesus sighed as He looked up to heaven, indicates that Jesus took the man’s condition upon Himself.  He sympathized with this man’s condition. I am reminded of Isaiah 53 which says, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He [was] wounded for our transgressions, [He was] bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace [was] upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. …  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put [Him] to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see [His] seed, He shall prolong [His] days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.  He shall see the labor of His soul, [and] be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.”

Jesus came to save sinners.  That was His purpose.  To offer Himself as our substitute, to offer Himself as a sacrifice to atone for our sins, that we might be given life.  Jesus did not come to earth just to heal as many people as possible and miraculously feed tens of thousands of people.  But He came to fulfill the prophecy of One who would crush Satan’s head, who would set the captives free, and who would rule over the kingdom of God.

And so Mark tells us in vs 36 “Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed [it].  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’”

Jesus told them not to tell anyone because He did not want to be overwhelmed by people wanting to be healed, to the point that He was not able to preach the gospel. But nevertheless, His healings did provide evidence that He was the Son of God.  If they would have believed that, then they could have been saved.   But though HIs healing astonished them, most of them stopped short of believing unto salvation.

Believing in Jesus as Lord is believing first and foremost in who He is, the Son of God, in what He has done, which is to provide atonement for our sins through His death on the cross, and believing in what He has promised, which is eternal life.  When Jesus was preaching in a house and they opened up the ceiling to drop a paralytic man in front of Him, Jesus said to him, “Son your sins are forgiven you.” And the Pharisees became indignant because they said no one has the power to forgive sins but God alone.  So Jesus said, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”–then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

That’s the reason Jesus healed and casts out demons, so that men might know that He has the power and authority to forgive sins, to create in them a clean heart and renew a right spirit within them,  and give them everlasting life.  I hope that you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, that you might be given  a new heart and a new life through Him.