Lesson 7: To Such Belongs The Kingdom Of God

As we’ve noted numerous times in our study, at the beginning of His public ministry Jesus proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1.15). But who would be in the Kingdom? Mark chapter 10 helps to answer that question.

Notes from the text:

• 10.1: Jesus had left Galilee, making His final trip to Jerusalem. On the way He crossed the Jordan into Perea.
• 10.2: the question is somewhat different from Matthew 19.3 where they asked what cause would allow divorce. However, they had reason to question whether Jesus permitted divorce based on His teaching (see Matthew 5.31-32).
• 10.3-5: note that Jesus asked what Moses commanded, but they replied with what Moses allowed. This is significant because if one reads Deuteronomy 24.1-4 you see that the command was that a man who divorced his spouse was not permitted to remarry her once she had married someone else. Moses did not command divorce, he gave commands to mitigate the damage of divorce. As Jesus correctly points out in vs. 5, this command was given because of their “hardness of heart”.
• 10.6-9: Jesus returns to God’s original will regarding marriage quoting Genesis 1.27; 2.24. Note that “hold fast” is a passive verb (NKJV: be joined). The point being that the joining is done by God. And since God joined them, man isn’t supposed to separate them (vs. 9).
• 10.10-12: “Since the original one-flesh union between a husband and his wife is permanent in the eyes of God, a divorce does not cancel this union. Entering a second union and having marital relations within that relationship is as much adultery as if the husband of a wife had intercourse with a woman married to another man. The divorce and the subsequent remarriage, which in first-century society would have been a common expectation, is just as much an offence against God and his purpose for marriage as it is an offence against the (first) wife who is wronged.” (Tyndale)
• 10.13: the children were likely brought to Jesus because at this time infant mortality rates were over 50%. However, note how the disciples failed to heed Jesus’ instructions in Mark 9.37.
• 10.14: “The statement the kingdom of God belongs to such as these is not a pronouncement about children but about people who are like children, who share a child’s status. In antiquity, the dominant features linked with children were their vulnerability, their dependence on their parents and their social marginality before they reached adulthood. Jesus commands the disciples to allow the children to come to him because they represent the kind of people to whom the kingdom of God belongs—those who come in utter dependence upon God” (Tyndale)
• 10.15: “The word receive reflects the passive stance of little children: they need their parents to take care of them; they receive their parents’ care and provision as a matter of course. People who refuse to be ‘like children’ will never enter the kingdom of God.” (Tyndale)
• 10.17:
  • That this encounter follows Jesus’ statement that one must “receive the kingdom of God like a child” is significant. The rich, young ruler looked like a likely candidate to be in the Kingdom, but he failed in showing utter reliance on God.
  • “eternal life” is synonymous with the kingdom (vs. 23) and salvation (vs. 26).
• 10.18: Jesus is challenging the young man to consider his words. God is good, so if Jesus is good then His words must be treated as God’s words.
• 10.19-20: Jesus directed the man to part of the ten commandments dealing with treatment of others. The young man may have kept them since his youth, but remember that Jesus pointed people to the real fulfillment of the Law, not simply obedience to surface level commands (see Matthew 5.17ff).
• 10.21:
  • That the young man was sincere is shown by Jesus’ love for the young man.
  • On one level, Jesus was calling for the young man to fulfill the true purpose of the Law. To fulfill the Law required more than abstaining from stealing, but taking care of those in need (see Leviticus 19.18).
  • On another level, Jesus was calling for the young man to follow Him, to be His disciple. Doing such required full dependence on God (receiving the Kingdom as a child).
• 10.22: “The sincere, law-abiding man had expected an answer that would allow him to continue his life essentially unchanged. He had immense respect for Jesus as a teacher, but he was not willing to commit his life to him at the expense of his wealth. His wealth and the status quo had more power than Jesus’ words and the power of the kingdom of God.
• 10.27: while not lessening Jesus’ comments regarding those with wealth, His point is that no man can save himself; such is impossible. But not for God! God can bring anyone into the Kingdom… if they will receive it like a child (see vss. 14-15).
• 10.28: note that Peter still owned a boat (see Mark 4.1,36; John 21.3), yet they had left all of that behind in order to follow Jesus.
• 10.29-30: there are immediate benefits for being in the Kingdom (see Acts 2.44-45; 4.32-37), but also persecution. But whatever we leave behind is worth it since eternal life is the reward to come!
• 10.31: “Most Jewish people understood that the day of judgment would turn things upside down (cf., e.g., Is 2:11–12, 17); those who appear great in this world will be nothing in the next, and those who were nothing in this world will be great in the next. Jewish people applied this principle especially to the exaltation of Israel over the other nations, the oppressed righteous over their wicked oppressors, but Jesus applies it also to individual rank and status.” (IVP Bible Background Commentary)
• 10.32-34: this is the third time Jesus foretold His impending death and resurrection (see Mark 8.31-32; 9.31).
• 10.35: the disciples continued their pattern of failing to understand Jesus’ mission (compare Mark 8.32; 9.32). Jesus foretold His anguish and death; James and John sought personal glory.
• 10.38: the cup and baptism/immersion are both OT figures for God’s wrath (Cup: Psalm 75.8; Isaiah 51.17,22. Immersion: Psalm 42.7; 69.1-2).
• 10.39: James was the first apostle to be martyred (see Acts 12.1-2) and while John may have been the last living apostle, he also experienced great persecution (see Revelation 1.9).
• 10.40: one possible interpretation is that Jesus came into the Kingdom by being crucified. On that occasion, two thieves were on His right and left hands (see Mark 15.27).
• 10.44: “The years have dulled the shocking nature of this statement. Plato has Callicles ask: ‘How can anyone be happy when he is the slave of anyone else at all?’ The slave experienced ‘civil death’ with no legal or human rights. Seneca characterizes a slave as one who ‘does not have the right to refuse.’ The slave’s entire life was at the disposal of the master.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary)
• 10.45: a likely allusion to the suffering Servant in Isaiah 53.
• 10.47: Isaiah foretold that one would come who would give sight to the blind (Isaiah 35.5-6). The blind man evidently believed that Jesus, the Son of David, was the one foretold.
• 10.48: “The disciples want to get on with the business of setting up the kingdom (10:37; 11:9–10), not understanding that stopping for a blind beggar is the sort of thing Jesus’ kingdom is all about (cf. 10:13–14).” (IVP Bible Background Commentary)
• 10.50: the cloak may very well have been all the man possessed. If so, he “left all” to follow Jesus.
• 10.52: once again we see the connection between faith and healing/salvation (see Mark 5.34).

Using the text in evangelism:

1. Our practices must be rooted in God’s word. While divorce and remarriage is the central issue in vss. 1-12, there is a deeper issue that is important for everyone regardless of their marriage situation. The Pharisees knew God’s will for marriage, for it was plain from the beginning (Genesis 1.27; 2.24), but they tried to use other passages to justify their practices. Jesus correctly told them that Moses’ legislation in Deuteronomy 24.1-4 was not permission to divorce, but a result of their hardness of heart. If they wanted to please God they needed to heed God’s will on the matter: “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (vs. 9). God has spoken plainly on any number of issues (baptism, loving others, forgiving enemies, etc.) and we don’t need to try using other passages to justify our practices that don’t respect what God has clearly spoken.
2. “to such belongs the kingdom of God”. The rich, young ruler is exactly the kind of person that most people thought would be in the Messianic Kingdom. The disciples’ exclamation, “then who can be saved?” (vs. 26) would have been asked by most people in first century Palestine. The rich, young ruler was both observant of the Law and clearly blessed by God… how could he not be in the Kingdom? Because he lacked the most essential quality of a Kingdom citizen: “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (vs. 15). The Kingdom is for those who recognize their absolute dependence on God. Such will “receive” the Kingdom AND with absolute trust “enter it”. The rich young ruler was unwilling to sell his possessions and follow Jesus (the only way to enter). By contrast, blind Bartimaeus had nothing to lose and thus put his complete trust in Jesus, the Son of David who could have mercy on him. His childlike faith saved him! The Kingdom belongs to us if we 1) receive it like a child, with full trust and dependence on God and 2) do what He says to enter it. Refusal to do what He says demonstrates that we are not receiving the Kingdom like a child.
3. “For all things are possible with God.” The disciples may have wondered who could be saved if not the wealthy, but Jesus pointed them to an important truth: “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (vs. 27). This is why we should have childlike faith; we cannot save ourselves, but He can! Jesus willingly went to the cross (vss. 32-34) and came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (vs. 45). Because of what Jesus accomplished, salvation is possible for all of us. The only question is how much we trust Him? Enough to leave all and follow Him?