Who Is Good? July 30
Mark 10:18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”
When we think of “good” in the absolute sense, only God qualifies. The man has no conception of Jesus as more than a man, a teacher of men, and for such a person the word “good” does not apply.
The man addresses Jesus as “good teacher.” He really does not know Jesus, yet addresses Him with praising words. Jesus asks why the man has called Him good since the man clearly does not know Him. Jesus rejects the title of good for Himself as a man to emphasize that empty words of praise do the man no service.
Jesus is also showing the man that He does not aspire to praise from mankind. The man assumes pride and ego have a place in Jesus, that praise will result in a more favorable response, but Jesus curtly denies this assumption. With this denial he also dashes the young man’s self-perception as good, and any hope of earning that praise.
We might judge the man harshly without considering that we each are guilty of such thoughts at times. “What did I do to deserve this bad event?” or “I must be living right for this good thing to happen!” are echoes of this man’s belief.
A seemingly courteous address has been hurled back into the man’s face like a splash of cold water. Perhaps the man is awakened enough to learn from the rest of the lesson.
Commandments Obeyed July 31
Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
In Matthew and Luke, Jesus lists five of the six Commandments from the second tablet, the Commandments governing relationships with other men and women. There are six Commandments here in Mark, the unique one being, “Do not defraud.”
The sixth Commandment omitted in Matthew and Luke is, “Do not covet.” This is not the sixth command (fifth in the list) that Jesus mentions in Mark.
The word translated as “defraud” is Strong’s G650, apostereo, literally meaning, “deprive not.” This seems to be a summary statement of Moses second tablet concerning the relationships among people, “Do not deprive people of what they are due,” from these six Commandments.
The man affirms that he knows and has kept these Commandments from his youth. He does not comment on the summary commandment inserted by Jesus or on the missing one. We can be sure that he has kept these Commandments in the same sense as the Pharisees have kept them.
Nothing is said of the missing Commandment, words that Jesus has held in reserve since they are the heart of the issue.
Covet Not August 1
Mark 10:21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
Jesus looks at the man with agapé love. He wants the best for this man who thinks he has earned heaven, so Jesus holds a mirror up to him. Whether the man looks into the mirror or acknowledges what the mirror shows is beyond Jesus’ control. Changing the man is not Jesus’ job.
All of the things and qualities that the man before Him has are based on the physical world. What the man lacks and desires is eternal life. The physical world and eternal life do not overlap.
Jesus tells him that he must give what the man considers to be his treasure to the poor, and to seek the treasure of the spiritual world, faith. With faith, a person needs nothing beyond acting inside of faith rather than outside of faith.
The man’s eternal life begins at the moment he lets go of control of his life. The man has made himself and his life what it is. The alternative is to allow God to mold him into His son. There is no place between the two roads.
Jesus gives the answer: Surrender attachment to things. Give them away and accept back what is required for life. Surrender the hold on the future, which is non-existent.
Serve God and mankind. This is the cross each must bear.
A Choice August 2
Mark 10:22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Jesus’ last instruction on what the man must do to enter into eternal life disappoints him, makes him sorrowful. This is a cross he will not bear willingly.
At the intersection of the world and heaven, or spiritual death and spiritual life, the rich man is weighed heavily by his accumulations. He not so much chooses down as his direction as he allows his possessions to rest their weight upon him. With that decision, he continues in the underworld of physical life rather than the transcendent life of heaven on earth.
He turns his back on Jesus and walks away. In so doing, the son rejects the Father.
He chooses to be a slave to this desire for certainty that all of his needs and wants will be filled. Is this our choice, as well?
We may argue that time and chance happen to us all, so we at least try to improve the probabilities of success in keeping our barns full of everything.
Like the rich man in this story, we have a choice to make. On one hand, we can strive for certainty in an uncertain world, living on the treadmill called “not enough.” On the other hand, we can accept the freedom of uncertainty.
When we know we are not in control and cannot be, the burden of attachment to things falls from around our necks like a yoke removed from an ox.
We give tomorrow to God and accept today in return. Thus begins eternal life in the present.
Attachment August 3
Mark 10:23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!
Jesus summarizes the lesson just taught to the young man to be sure that the disciples have understood.
That Jesus addresses the disciples as “Children” in verse 24 is not coincidental with the lessons on children only a few verses earlier.
First, it is a reminder that we are indeed God’s children, just like the disciples. The assurance of a Father in heaven and that we are His both lifts us up and softens the second meaning.
Second, we have difficulty understanding this statement just like the disciples struggle with it. We are children in the school of unlearning, shedding misconceptions in order to receive correct understandings.
The man who comes to Jesus is wealthy. Jesus does not condemn the man but embraces him with fatherly counsel, bestows upon him the Father’s robe of wisdom. Wealth is not an issue for Jesus. Attachment to that wealth is the issue.
Wealth is a circumstance. Whether earned, stolen, or inherited, the value of these things is an arbitrary assessment. The basis for this assessment, the standard by which people value “things,” is not a firm foundation, not based on any lasting values.
With the simple request that the man be willing to give up his riches, the righteous mask is stripped away and the naked self is revealed.
The Eye of a Needle August 4
Mark 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
In verse 24, Jesus restates verse 23 to emphasize that those who trust in riches are the ones who will have difficulty entering the kingdom of God. Now He puts the statement into a brief parable.
That a camel, a beast of burden carrying worldly possessions, could fit through the eye of a needle seems an absurdly extreme picture for the difficulty of a rich man entering the kingdom.
A commentary mentions there was a narrow opening in the walls of Jerusalem, an alternative entrance too small to permit a mule or camel to enter. Only individual people could pass through, and not with any great amount of baggage.
Perhaps the imagery does apply to a real entrance, but even if it is only an imagined story, the lesson is clear.
The only two things we have that are ours are our spirit and our body. Both can enter the kingdom of God now, and when the body goes to rest, our spirit remains in the kingdom.
We lay down our burden - whether it is wealth or poverty, pride or guilt – and then we enter the kingdom of God. External things and thoughts of self are cast off.
All who enter are received. Each one is a child of the Father, and each one is cherished for their individual being.
Who Can Be Saved? August 5
Mark 10:26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
When Jesus tells the Pharisees that divorce was never intended and that divorced persons who remarry commit adultery, the disciples said, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry” (Matt. 19:10). Mark omits this question earlier in the chapter in his telling of the divorce controversy.
The disciples’ reaction is similar here when Jesus tells them that attachment to things bars people from the kingdom. Their mercurial faith collapses into the statement, “Who then can be saved?”
A belief that they have held for a lifetime, that riches are a blessing from God, a reward for a person’s works, is destroyed by Jesus’ remarks on the rich man just interviewed. They see the destruction of man centered salvation, but they have not yet replaced it with the construction of God centered peace.
To possess things, have them at our disposal, is different from being attached to them. Only when things become necessary for our peace does this unholy attachment pull us off balance. Their weight upon us destroys any peace, because now we must work to support the things we own to ensure we do not lose them.
This is the work we do for conveniences, the years of work traded for that which does not satisfy (Is. 55:2).
Jesus must reel the disciples back from the opposite extreme. He must remind them of Whose they are rather than what they possess.
Next day
Mark 10:18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”
When we think of “good” in the absolute sense, only God qualifies. The man has no conception of Jesus as more than a man, a teacher of men, and for such a person the word “good” does not apply.
The man addresses Jesus as “good teacher.” He really does not know Jesus, yet addresses Him with praising words. Jesus asks why the man has called Him good since the man clearly does not know Him. Jesus rejects the title of good for Himself as a man to emphasize that empty words of praise do the man no service.
Jesus is also showing the man that He does not aspire to praise from mankind. The man assumes pride and ego have a place in Jesus, that praise will result in a more favorable response, but Jesus curtly denies this assumption. With this denial he also dashes the young man’s self-perception as good, and any hope of earning that praise.
We might judge the man harshly without considering that we each are guilty of such thoughts at times. “What did I do to deserve this bad event?” or “I must be living right for this good thing to happen!” are echoes of this man’s belief.
A seemingly courteous address has been hurled back into the man’s face like a splash of cold water. Perhaps the man is awakened enough to learn from the rest of the lesson.
Commandments Obeyed July 31
Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
In Matthew and Luke, Jesus lists five of the six Commandments from the second tablet, the Commandments governing relationships with other men and women. There are six Commandments here in Mark, the unique one being, “Do not defraud.”
The sixth Commandment omitted in Matthew and Luke is, “Do not covet.” This is not the sixth command (fifth in the list) that Jesus mentions in Mark.
The word translated as “defraud” is Strong’s G650, apostereo, literally meaning, “deprive not.” This seems to be a summary statement of Moses second tablet concerning the relationships among people, “Do not deprive people of what they are due,” from these six Commandments.
The man affirms that he knows and has kept these Commandments from his youth. He does not comment on the summary commandment inserted by Jesus or on the missing one. We can be sure that he has kept these Commandments in the same sense as the Pharisees have kept them.
Nothing is said of the missing Commandment, words that Jesus has held in reserve since they are the heart of the issue.
Covet Not August 1
Mark 10:21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
Jesus looks at the man with agapé love. He wants the best for this man who thinks he has earned heaven, so Jesus holds a mirror up to him. Whether the man looks into the mirror or acknowledges what the mirror shows is beyond Jesus’ control. Changing the man is not Jesus’ job.
All of the things and qualities that the man before Him has are based on the physical world. What the man lacks and desires is eternal life. The physical world and eternal life do not overlap.
Jesus tells him that he must give what the man considers to be his treasure to the poor, and to seek the treasure of the spiritual world, faith. With faith, a person needs nothing beyond acting inside of faith rather than outside of faith.
The man’s eternal life begins at the moment he lets go of control of his life. The man has made himself and his life what it is. The alternative is to allow God to mold him into His son. There is no place between the two roads.
Jesus gives the answer: Surrender attachment to things. Give them away and accept back what is required for life. Surrender the hold on the future, which is non-existent.
Serve God and mankind. This is the cross each must bear.
A Choice August 2
Mark 10:22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Jesus’ last instruction on what the man must do to enter into eternal life disappoints him, makes him sorrowful. This is a cross he will not bear willingly.
At the intersection of the world and heaven, or spiritual death and spiritual life, the rich man is weighed heavily by his accumulations. He not so much chooses down as his direction as he allows his possessions to rest their weight upon him. With that decision, he continues in the underworld of physical life rather than the transcendent life of heaven on earth.
He turns his back on Jesus and walks away. In so doing, the son rejects the Father.
He chooses to be a slave to this desire for certainty that all of his needs and wants will be filled. Is this our choice, as well?
We may argue that time and chance happen to us all, so we at least try to improve the probabilities of success in keeping our barns full of everything.
Like the rich man in this story, we have a choice to make. On one hand, we can strive for certainty in an uncertain world, living on the treadmill called “not enough.” On the other hand, we can accept the freedom of uncertainty.
When we know we are not in control and cannot be, the burden of attachment to things falls from around our necks like a yoke removed from an ox.
We give tomorrow to God and accept today in return. Thus begins eternal life in the present.
Attachment August 3
Mark 10:23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!
Jesus summarizes the lesson just taught to the young man to be sure that the disciples have understood.
That Jesus addresses the disciples as “Children” in verse 24 is not coincidental with the lessons on children only a few verses earlier.
First, it is a reminder that we are indeed God’s children, just like the disciples. The assurance of a Father in heaven and that we are His both lifts us up and softens the second meaning.
Second, we have difficulty understanding this statement just like the disciples struggle with it. We are children in the school of unlearning, shedding misconceptions in order to receive correct understandings.
The man who comes to Jesus is wealthy. Jesus does not condemn the man but embraces him with fatherly counsel, bestows upon him the Father’s robe of wisdom. Wealth is not an issue for Jesus. Attachment to that wealth is the issue.
Wealth is a circumstance. Whether earned, stolen, or inherited, the value of these things is an arbitrary assessment. The basis for this assessment, the standard by which people value “things,” is not a firm foundation, not based on any lasting values.
With the simple request that the man be willing to give up his riches, the righteous mask is stripped away and the naked self is revealed.
The Eye of a Needle August 4
Mark 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
In verse 24, Jesus restates verse 23 to emphasize that those who trust in riches are the ones who will have difficulty entering the kingdom of God. Now He puts the statement into a brief parable.
That a camel, a beast of burden carrying worldly possessions, could fit through the eye of a needle seems an absurdly extreme picture for the difficulty of a rich man entering the kingdom.
A commentary mentions there was a narrow opening in the walls of Jerusalem, an alternative entrance too small to permit a mule or camel to enter. Only individual people could pass through, and not with any great amount of baggage.
Perhaps the imagery does apply to a real entrance, but even if it is only an imagined story, the lesson is clear.
The only two things we have that are ours are our spirit and our body. Both can enter the kingdom of God now, and when the body goes to rest, our spirit remains in the kingdom.
We lay down our burden - whether it is wealth or poverty, pride or guilt – and then we enter the kingdom of God. External things and thoughts of self are cast off.
All who enter are received. Each one is a child of the Father, and each one is cherished for their individual being.
Who Can Be Saved? August 5
Mark 10:26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
When Jesus tells the Pharisees that divorce was never intended and that divorced persons who remarry commit adultery, the disciples said, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry” (Matt. 19:10). Mark omits this question earlier in the chapter in his telling of the divorce controversy.
The disciples’ reaction is similar here when Jesus tells them that attachment to things bars people from the kingdom. Their mercurial faith collapses into the statement, “Who then can be saved?”
A belief that they have held for a lifetime, that riches are a blessing from God, a reward for a person’s works, is destroyed by Jesus’ remarks on the rich man just interviewed. They see the destruction of man centered salvation, but they have not yet replaced it with the construction of God centered peace.
To possess things, have them at our disposal, is different from being attached to them. Only when things become necessary for our peace does this unholy attachment pull us off balance. Their weight upon us destroys any peace, because now we must work to support the things we own to ensure we do not lose them.
This is the work we do for conveniences, the years of work traded for that which does not satisfy (Is. 55:2).
Jesus must reel the disciples back from the opposite extreme. He must remind them of Whose they are rather than what they possess.
Next day
