The One Thing

THE ONE THING

An Exposition of Mark 10:17-31

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: June 6, 2021

Series: Mark: Knowing and Following God’s Son

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

I invite you to turn to the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 10. I'll be reading what is probably a very familiar passage to many of you. The account of the rich young ruler is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. We are looking at Mark’s account. Let’s listen to God’s Word as it is given to us in verses 17-31:

¹⁷ And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 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.’”²⁰ And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” ²¹ And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”²² Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³ And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” ²⁸ Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹ 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 lands, for my sake and for the gospel, ³⁰ who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:17-31)

This is the Word of God. It is for our good. Let's pray.

Father, once again we stand on holy ground as you are addressing us through Holy Scripture. Father, I pray that you would give us teachable hearts that would receive the words of our Lord, that we would be transformed and strengthened and renewed this morning. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

WALKING THROUGH THE PASSAGE

I'm going to walk through the passage in five parts.

Part 1: The Right Question (v. 17)

The first part – beginning right in verse 17 – is the right question. This rich man who comes to Jesus is earnest and he asks the right question: “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

The significance of this question has already been established for us in Chapters 8 and 9. For example, if you look toward the end of Chapter 9, Jesus said: “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” (Mark 9:43) So there lies before us these two great possibilities in reference to the future and to eternity. On the one hand, there is the possibility of entering life – of inheriting eternal life, of inheriting the kingdom of God. And on the other hand, there is the possibility of being cast into the outer darkness in Gehenna – into hell and its unquenchable fire. In light of these great realities, it is profoundly right to ask: What must I do in order to not be cast out into the outer darkness but rather to enter into eternal life with God?

If you have a nice family, a nice job, a nice house, a nice retirement plan, but you fail to obtain eternal life, then you will lose everything (Mark 8:35-37). Nothing is more important than settling this question which the rich man asks in verse 17.

Part 2: The Probing Answer (v. 18-21)

This leads us into verses 18-21, which is the second part of our passage. I call this the probing answer. Jesus’ answer probe the man's assumptions and expectations, and ours too.

Sometimes when it comes to really good and important questions, we often like over-simplified or even pat answers. We might think, Just give me the bottom line. Just give me a cliché. Just spell it out for me in a very straightforward way, and you can spare the details. But Jesus doesn't do that. And we often should not do that either. Jesus is dealing with individuals who are in a very unique place. The truth is unchanging, but Jesus tailors that truth in order to address the man in front of him – in order to address his heart, his mind, his conscience, his needs. So let's look at Jesus’ probing answer.

Of course, the rich man had addressed Jesus as “Good Teacher” (v. 17). And that's the first thing that Jesus responds to: “And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”” (v. 18) We never do get an answer from the rich man on this question, but Jesus’ question is very interesting. Jesus knows that since he is the Son of God who shares fully in the glory of his Father, there is a very true sense in which Jesus himself is truly good. But it is doubtful that the rich man understands the divine glory of Jesus. Instead, the rich man is thinking on a human plane that there is this human teacher in front of him. And Jesus wants to make it very clear that we can't have this conversation, and we can't deal with your question, on a mere human plane. If we're going to talk about goodness, you need to understand that there is one and only one who is good.

God alone is good. Are you good enough for him?

As we move from verse 18 to verse 19, Jesus moves from the goodness and perfection of God to the commandments of God. And remember this – as Paul taught us in Romans 7 – that the commandments of God are “holy and righteous and good” (Romans 7:12) Jesus says, “You know the commandments” (v. 19). And then what he does here is to highlight the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13), the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14), the eighth commandment (Exodus 20:15), the ninth commandment (Exodus 20:16), another commandment that is entailed in the Ten Commandments, and then the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12). “Do not murder” – life is sacred. “Do not commit adultery” ­– marriage is sacred. “Do not steal” – the property of others is to be respected. “Do not bear false witness” – the reputation of others is to be respected. “Do not defraud” – do not withhold from anyone what is due them, whether honor or wages or whatever else. And then finally Jesus calls attention to the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and mother.”

Now God's commandments to us can basically be understood in two categories. First, there are the vertical commandments that call attention to our relationship with the Lord: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength. Second, there are the horizontal commandments, the commandments that relate to our relationship to other people: Love your neighbor as yourself. It is the horizontal commandments that the Lord calls attention to in verse 19. Of course, you can't really love your neighbor as yourself – you can't fulfill the commandments to love other people – unless you are first of all loving the Lord properly. But in any case, Jesus focuses on the horizontal commandments at this point in the conversation.

The man answers, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” (v. 20) Now some of you might be tempted to reply, Yeah right. Let's go to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) and talk about affections and motivations and attitudes, and then we'll see how good he has been.

But Jesus doesn't do that. He lets the man's answer stand. Here is an earnest young man who knows Scripture and who is asking a very serious question about eternal life. I think we should take his answer at face value, and not try to probe all of his heart attitudes and motivations. We should understand that here is a man who has lived an outwardly respectable life, with respect to his being a good neighbor to those around him. I don't think he is a hypocrite. I don't think that he is being insincere. Here is an outwardly respectable man.

Now, as we proceed to verse 21, Jesus moves on to the heart of the matter. “And Jesus looking at him, loved him…” We have to pause here. This is beautiful. The Messiah, the beloved and well-pleasing Son of God, the Holy One, the One who was at the Father's side when He spoke the universe into existence, the One who holds everything together, looked at this dear man and “loved him”. Jesus desired this man’s well-being. Jesus looked at this earnest, fragile, self-reliant, and insecure man with love, and Jesus’ compassion went out to the man.

Jesus loved him and spoke to him. The loving Redeemer demonstrated his love for the man by telling him the truth. In our day and age, too often people pit love against truth, but we should never do that. If you can put your finger on the issue in someone's heart and you can set before them the way of healing, then love does it. To not do that when you can do that, is not love but hate. Jesus loved this man and told him the truth.

Picking things up in the middle of verse 21, Jesus told him: “You lack one thing”. Now you have to hear this correctly. It is not as if Jesus is saying, You know, friend, you could have had an ‘A’ but you lack one thing, and so you're kind of down to an ‘A-’. And I'm going to get you back up to a perfect score. That is not what's going on here. “You lack one thing” and, as we'll see, the one thing you lack means that you have a zero. You lack the one thing that matters. You lack the one thing that would be everything if you had it.

Jesus tells him: “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (v. 21) Now let me say just a brief word about what Jesus is not saying. Don't fail to see the big picture of Jesus’ statement here. Jesus is not saying that the one thing that you must do to inherit eternal life is to make the largest financial contribution ever to charity, and then you're good to go. That would be a very superficial reading of the instruction.

Let’s not read the instruction superficially, but according to the depth that Jesus is driving at. It is as if Jesus is saying to this man, Friend, you have a lot going for you. You are a citizen of Israel. You know the Old Testament. You know the commandments. You have made a sincere effort to follow the commandments of the Lord. And you have a lot of wealth – and if you know your Old Testament, you know that it is God who gives wealth; wealth is a blessing. You have a lot going for you young man. But here's the problem. You have been breaking the first commandment for a very long time. What does it matter if you are doing okay in commandments five through nine when you are abysmally failing the first commandment?

What is the first commandment? “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) Worship God only. Serve him alone. Love the Lord with your whole being. And here he is – God in the flesh – standing before this man and calling him to account. Not to slay him for his past idolatry, but to offer him a fresh start.

But the rich man had a substitute god. Wealth was his god. Possessions possessed him. Possessions were his god. He looked to his riches for his identity, and for his comfort, and for his security, and for his future hope. He wasn't banking on God; he was banking on money. He wasn't banking on the promises of almighty God; he was banking on his possessions.

What Jesus is telling this rich man to do is exactly what he has been telling every potential disciple to do. There is nothing new here. The only thing that is new is that Jesus is tailoring the call of discipleship to the specifics of this particular man. But the basic call to discipleship is always the same. Back in Mark 8:34 we read this: “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”” In other words, you need to die to anything and everything that stands between you and me. And what stands between the rich man and Jesus is the rich man’s riches. Deny yourself, take up your cross, dethrone wealth, and follow me. It's the same thing that Jesus told every potential disciple – every potential disciple must dethrone everyone and everything else, and follow Jesus with single-minded devotion.

Remember what we learned in last week’s passage. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mark 10:15) It is as if Jesus is saying to the rich man, Friend, you're coming to me, and your heart and your hands are full of stuff, and you can't come to me like that. You have to come to me like a little child – helpless, needy, dependent, and ready to entrust yourself entirely to me. Stop anchoring your life in earthly wealth. Abandon it, and start banking on the unfading and imperishable treasure that is hidden in the heavens, the wealth that is found in God's eternal home.

But there's more. Jesus doesn't stop there. Many years ago, I heard John Piper talking about this passage and it stuck with me. I completely agree with him on this point that I'm about to tell you. The emphasis of Jesus’ instruction to this man is not what he must give up. As important as it is that he must give up all of his wealth and that the poor will benefit from it, the emphasis is not on what he would give up, but on what he would get after he gives everything else up. And Jesus is what he would get after giving up everything else.[1] Jesus is saying to him: Stop ordering your life around wealth and start ordering your life around me. Be totally 100% all in – not ordering your life around some principle or rule or system, but ordering your life around me. And by the way, I don't want your money. I love this, by the way. Jesus walked this earth in relative poverty. One time he said: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Luke 9:58) Jesus lived relatively poor, and this rich guy comes up to him, and Jesus did not want the rich man's riches. Jesus wanted the rich man’s heart. Jesus wanted him. Jesus didn't crave the man’s wealth. Jesus loved the man. This rich man would never be able to say that he enriched Jesus or that he funded Jesus’ ministry. The invitation is clear: Come, follow me. Trust me. Learn from me. I will make you rich. I will be enough for you. Open wide your heart, and I will fill it. I will be living water to your soul. I will give you more joy than thousands of gold and silver coins. I will show you the Father's glory. I will teach you how to live in my Father's Kingdom and I will make you a fruitful participant in my mission. And when wealth fails, and when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and when your earthly life is spent, you will be with me forever.

But the rich man walked away.

The Great Impossibility (v. 22-27)

So let's move to verses 22-27. Here we learn about the great impossibility.

How did the rich man respond to Jesus’ appeal and invitation? Verse 22 says, “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” The man must have been really torn inside. There must have been part of him that was drawn to Jesus, and yet he couldn't imagine liquidating his assets and having nothing. He couldn't imagine that having nothing but Jesus is a good thing. So he walked away, sad and downcast.

Then we come to verses 23-26. Jesus is reflecting on what has just happened, and it is a teachable moment for the disciples. It is a teachable moment for us, too. Verse 23 begins:

“And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished…” (v. 23-26)

Notice what is happening here. Initially, Jesus says it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God – and the disciples are amazed. Then Jesus goes further. He utilizes a metaphor that calls attention to something that is impossible. Indeed, it is impossible for a large camel to fit through the eye of a sewing needle – and yet this is easier than getting a rich man through the entranceway into God’s kingdom. So not only is it difficult (v. 23) for rich people to enter the kingdom of God, it is actually impossible (v. 25) for rich people to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples’ reaction at this point is not mere amazement (v. 24), but exceeding astonishment (v. 26).

You should understand that the disciples were not yet Christianized the way that we have been. What Jesus just said blew their mind, because in their mind to be a wealthy man in Israel who was outwardly respectable in conduct was a sure sign of God's favor and blessing. And they thought, If anyone is on the fast track to entering the kingdom of God, it is rich people in Israel who live outwardly respectable lives. And now Jesus is saying, Actually it is impossible for them to enter God's kingdom! The wealthy are so attached to their wealth. And even though that wealth is a gift from God, they forget about the Giver. They turn away from the Giver and they just become infatuated with the gift. And they can't disentangle themselves from it.

Jesus’ probing answer (in v. 18-19, 21) and then this follow-up instruction (v. 23-26) really begin to reshape our understanding of how Jesus is answering the rich man’s original question. The initial question was: “[What] must I do to inherit eternal life now?” Of course, there is a perfectly legitimate answer to that question. The answer can be articulated in different ways, such as: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Or: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) Or as Jesus teaches in Mark 8:34 and 10:21 – Leave everything else behind and follow me.

But now in Mark 10:25 Jesus is saying, Actually, it is impossible for you to do what you must do. If it's just a matter of human ability, it is beyond you. You cannot do it. And so now the question is no longer about what I must do (v. 17) but instead about what must be done to me and what must be done in me.

In verse 26 the disciples are thinking not just about rich people, but about everyone – if it is difficult for respectable wealthy people to get in, and we thought it was going to be easy for them, but if it is impossible for them to get in, then we have to ask: “Then who can be saved?” (v. 26) And Jesus doesn't say, Well, it is actually easy for some people to be saved. He doesn’t say that. What he does say is this: “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” (v. 27)Here’s the reality: something has to be done to you and in you. God is able to do things that are impossible for people to do. God is able to give you ears to hear. He is able to give you eyes to see. He is able to give you a heart to love Jesus – so that when you hear Jesus say to leave everything else behind and follow me, you don't respond to that in a disheartened and sorrowful way, but instead you respond to his invitation with joy. You respond, ‘Yes, I want that!’

And this is what Jesus talked about in Matthew 13: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44) The next verse in Matthew 13 continues: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46) Jesus is talking about the heart being captivated by the one thing! By the “one pearl of great value”! By the hidden treasure that outvalues everything else combined. Has this happened to you?

Maybe someone is here this morning and that has not happened to you. You have not had a change of heart that now has great affection and love and yearning for the Lord Jesus Christ. If that has not happened to you, seek the Lord. There are many people here, including me, who would love to talk with you and pray with you after the service.

Be assured that there is a magnificent promise for everyone who leaves everything else behind in order to follow Jesus.

The Magnificent Promise (v. 28-30)

This brings us to verses 28-30, which I call the magnificent promise. The disciples have been observing and listening and digesting all of these things, and they realize that they have done what the rich man failed to do. The rich man refused to leave his wealth in order to follow Jesus. But when Jesus told the would-be disciples to follow him, they immediately left their nets, their boats, their livelihood, their tax booth and they began to follow Jesus (Mark 1:16-20, 2:13-14).

They left everything and followed Jesus. So now in Mark 10 they get to thinking, We have done what the rich man failed to do. Specifically, “Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”” (Mark 10:28) I don't know Peter’s tone when he said this. I don’t know the attitude out of which he spoke these words. I don't know the exact point that he was driving at. But he was calling Jesus’ attention to the reality that he and his fellow disciples had left everything in order to become his disciples. Jesus replies by giving them – and by giving us – a magnificent promise. And this magnificent promise is beautiful.

Now if you're here this morning and you are not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then hear this as a promise of what would be yours if you would leave everything else behind and follow Jesus. If you are already one of Jesus’ disciples, then take this as a great reminder of what the Lord gives to his followers – and seek to live in the fullness of what Jesus gives to you. The promise unfolds in verses 29-30:

“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 lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”” (Mark 10:29-30)

Everyone who leaves behind precious earthly relationships and valuable earthly riches in order to follow Jesus is the beneficiary of his magnificent promise. I want you to notice five glorious gifts that Jesus gives to every disciple according to verses 29-30.

Jesus Gives You Himself

First, Jesus gives you himself. Reflect on the words “for my sake” (v. 29). When you leave everything else behind for Jesus’ sake, you don't become a mercenary who is just in it for a little payout. The chief blessing that you get is fellowship with Jesus. Paul told the Corinthians: God has called you “into the fellowship of his Son” (1 Corinthians 1:9). The Son of God – the Savior of the world – is the living bread who will sustain you and carry you and supply all that you need.

Jesus Gives You Participation and Partnership in the Gospel

Second, if you leave everything else behind “for the gospel” (v. 29), then you get all the benefits that come from the gospel. In the first instance, this means that you get forgiveness and peace and reconciliation with God. But I really think that the point that Jesus is making in the phrase “for the gospel” is that you become a participant in the global and ultimate triumph of the gospel. Jesus is on mission to take his gospel to the ends of the earth, and to establish gospel outposts (local churches!) everywhere, among the peoples all over the world. And if you give yourself to the cause of the gospel, then you get to be part of its advance! You no longer have to be bogged down by hobbies and sports teams and trivial interests that have no lasting future. Instead, you get to be part of the advance and progress and everlasting triumph of Jesus’ messianic kingdom.

Jesus Gives You The Hundredfold Blessing of a New Family

Third, Jesus promises you the hundredfold blessing of a new family (v. 30). This is really beautiful. This particular promise is very special to Charlotta. She has left her hometown and dear family relationships for the sake of the gospel – and wherever the Lord has taken her, he has provided her an abundance of family in those places – “houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands” (v. 30). This is a very practical and very earthly promise. For example, many of you know how Jared and Faye open up their home and yard and pool to us as a church family. There is a very real sense in which their house is our house; their pool is our pool; their backyard is our backyard.

There is such richness in the relationships that exist within the body of Christ – and not only in the local church, but also with other believers in the region, and not only in the region but throughout the world. We have brothers and sisters all over the country and all over the world who are glad to show us hospitality, to love us, and to take an interest in what we are doing, and vice versa. Don't miss out on this beautiful community that Jesus is putting together, and he wants us to pour ourselves into it. Open up your homes, open up your lives, share your resources, care for one another. Sharing life together is far better than just having your own little retirement fund in your own little house with your own little television to watch whatever you like to watch while you are cut off from relationships.

So, you get Jesus, you get participation in gospel mission, you get the hundredfold blessing of a new family. But that’s not all.

Jesus Gives You a Share in His Sufferings

Fourth, if you leave everything else behind in order to follow Jesus, you also get persecutions. After Jesus promises the hundredfold blessing of a new family, he adds “with persecutions” (v. 30). Jesus taught us back in Chapter 8 that following him includes sharing in his sufferings (Mark 8:31-38). We have the privilege of representing him in a world that hates him. We have the privilege of taking up our cross and laying down our lives for his sake and the gospel’s sake. We have the privilege of facing opposition and rejection and persecution and slander as we proclaim the gospel and stay faithful to Jesus. And over and over and over again, throughout the New Testament, the perspective of disciples is that this is a privilege (for example, Acts 5:41, Philippians 1:29-30). We rejoice that we get to share in the sufferings of our Lord.

Jesus Gives You Eternal Life

The first four promises all pertain to the here and now of this present life. The final promise looks beyond the present life and into eternity. So fifth, Jesus says that if you leave everything else behind and follow him, then “in the age to come [you will receive] eternal life” (v. 30). Eternal life is life with God, in perfect fellowship with him and with one another, forever.

This is the magnificent promise for every disciple: fellowship with Jesus, fellowship in gospel mission, fellowship with one another, fellowship in suffering, and fellowship in eternal life. Live in the fullness of this promise.

Welcome to Life with Jesus (v. 31)

Finally we come to verse 31. Jesus concludes his instruction by saying, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Here's my clunky summary of verse 31: Welcome to life with Jesus, different rules apply, adjust your expectations accordingly!

Think about what a fitting conclusion verse 31 is to this passage (Mark 10:17-30) and to the previous one (Mark 10:13-17). Do you remember the disciples thought? If anyone is on the fast track to the kingdom of God, it is outwardly respectable rich people. But Jesus says, It is impossible for them to enter the kingdom of God unless a miracle takes place. And in last week's passage the disciples thought, God’s kingdom isn’t for the little kids, the babies, the toddlers, the six-year-olds – they should just go home (see Mark 10:13). But Jesus says, God’s kingdom is for the little ones, for children and child-like people, for the lowly who come empty-handed (Mark 10:14)! Do you see? In both passages, the disciples’ expectations are completely reversed and turned upside down: “many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

In Luke 1, as part of Mary's wonderful prayer, she prayed: “he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” (Luke 1:51-53)

The children came to Jesus with nothing, and they left having been blessed by the King. The rich man came with his hands full of his stuff, and he left disheartened and sad.

Jesus tells us that the religious leaders – those careful cultivators of righteous appearances – refused to enter the kingdom of God. But who rushes in? Tax collectors and the prostitutes (see Matthew 21:28-32). “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The worldly somebodies don't even get in to God’s kingdom. But the worldly nobodies who trust in Jesus become sons and daughters of God.

That said, even among those who are truly inside the kingdom of God and are part of God's family, even among us there is this different rule that governs our walk with the Lord and with each other. Jesus will say in our next passage: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:42-44) Do you see? “[Many] who are first will be last, and the last first.” Who is the greatest? The one who is washing feet, mowing yards, shoveling snow, running errands, loving on people for Jesus’ sake, and you don't even know about it. They are great in the kingdom of God.

Ultimately – don't miss this! – ultimately verse 31 points forward to the final judgment, which is what the initial question was about: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 17) In other words – in the words of verse 30, in fact! – how can I receive eternal life in the age to come? There will be many surprises at the final judgment. Therefore make sure that your Christianity is not worldliness sprinkled with a little Jesus. Many who are first from a worldly perspective, will be last from God's perspective. Therefore make sure that your life is truly and humbly surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel. This will not earn you the world's applause, but many who are last from the world's perspective will be first from God's perspective.

Let's pray. 

Father, we rejoice in the fact that the kingdom of God does not run on worldly expectations, does not run on earning and meriting anything, but it runs on grace – free grace to the hungry, free grace to the poor, free grace to sinners. And Father, I pray that the truth of this passage would really work on our hearts and minds. Let us always remember that you are the one who makes us rich. Father, if there is anyone in here, old or young, who is outside of your kingdom or who is feeling disheartened and sorrowful like the rich man, we pray for them. We pray that you would open their eyes to see the glory of Christ and that you would draw them into your forever family. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

ENDNOTES

[1] I’m not sure of the particular resource where I originally read or heard John Piper make this point. But for one resource where he communicates this basic idea, see his “Remember the Rich Young Man: A Message to Graduates,” June 7, 2009, published by Desiring God. Available online: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/remember-the-rich-young-man.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Victor Babajide Cole, “Mark.” In Africa Bible Commentary: A One-Volume Commentary Written by 70 African Scholars. Tokunboh Adeyemo, General Editor. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.

James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark (The Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (The New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

Eckhard J. Schnabel, Mark (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Vol. 2). Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2017.

James W. Voelz, Mark 8:27–16:20 (Concordia Commentary). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2019.

Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.