Mark 10:26-31

Jesus was blunt: "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it." (Mark 10:27, The Message)

This pretty much encapsulates the whole conversation. Are you trying to pull off eternal life on your own? Or are you surrendered and surrendering daily?

This is about as bluntly as Jesus could have put it. It is some of the beautiful simplicity of the gospel. Salvation is found in Christ alone. Not to overuse a very popular saying right now (and I hope it stays that way): Jesus. All.

Not "Jesus and." That's nothing but a demonic fraud that deserves a quick trip to the garbage heap. "Jesus and" might salve pride, but it accomplishes nothing. Pride points back to who? Me.

Peter takes a different tack in this conversation and points out that they left everything to follow Jesus. Well, sort of. Some disciples did have wives (and possibly families since that kind of goes hand-in-hand much of the time) and homes, although many of them would lose those things eventually as they pursued their lives of dispossessing of themselves for Christ's sake. I again have to wonder, though: was Peter's motive in saying this much better than that man Jesus had just been talking to?

The only chance we have is "Jesus, all." Yet even Peter's statement seems to show him trying to do something, and it almost sounds like he is justifying himself a little. "Well, uh, commandment keeping (which is what we've thought would do it since birth) isn't going to do the trick, so then giving up everything is what we have to do." Sorry, Peter. Go back to verse 27.

Jesus does, however, uphold what Peter actually says, so perhaps Peter's statement is more sincere than it first looks. Anyone who gives up won't lose out. They'll get it back many times over, plus eternal life (plus big troubles on earth). It's interesting that "eternal life," in The Message, is called a "bonus." The meat of the payback is being with Jesus, whether in this life or the one to come.

My takeaways...

• Surrender salvation to Jesus. "Jesus, only" can accomplish eternal life. I have no chance through commandment keeping, my efforts, or even my action of dispossessing of what I have. If it has to do with what I do, it falls woefully short of acquiring it. Every chance in the world is found in complete, daily surrender.
• Surrender all I have to Jesus. Really, all I have is what He gave me in the first place, so do I really have anything? I'm but a caretaker for a little while. Marriage? Children? Extended family? Friends? Pets? Home? Everything inside that home? Car(s)? Job? (we can't go far enough with this). None of it's mine to begin with. If it's getting in the way of following Jesus, I've made something terrible of it and abused the privilege. The solution? Surrender it back to Him. That might mean losing it completely. This is a matter of intense prayer. I believe, however, when we put anything we have before One, He'll help us know what to do with it, even to the point of walking away from it, and He'll give the strength necessary to do it. I'm actually thinking that it would be wise to do this with my dearest possessions on a daily basis. Surrender them. Ask the One what I should do with them. Listen. Obey.

Father, my life is Yours. I surrender. I depend on Jesus only today. Transform me, and remove anything in my life that hinders that process and the life of following You. Take me to the cross, but bring me through a resurrection experience today. Holy Spirit, baptize me and give me a completely different life, enabled to walk away from anything of the old existence and into the new.

Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field. Begin with me!

Mark 10:17-22

For once a wealthy individual approached Jesus without a seeming thought to test Jesus, but to seek Him. At least his heart was open to something Jesus might share.

His approach is so like the tact many take today. "What must I do to get eternal life?" (Message). Two words belie his theology: get and do. These also belie this man's own internal struggle: have I done enough? Don't tell me you haven't ever thought like this... I think we all have.

Well, there is an answer, and Jesus spells it out pretty plainly. Keep the commandments. But we have to realize that to Jesus, commandment keeping looks different. If its true, as 'll my righteousness (commandment-keeping) is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), then it must mean that even my keeping the letter of the Law is inadequate and empty. I'm going to feel this way even if I never break a commandment, and it seems to me that this was this man's issue. "Teacher, I have--from my youth--kept them all!" Well, if he had done this, why bother continuing the conversation? If commandment-keeping was enough, then as soon as Jesus told him to do that to get eternal life, the fellow should have said, "Well, cool! I've done that! See you in heaven!" But he didn't. He kept going with the conversation, seeking the answer.

I think Jesus loved this man (as it says) because he came to the conclusion that Jesus hopes everyone will come to. That is, "My righteousness, my commandment-keeping, my [fill in the blank] will NEVER BE ENOUGH to 'get' eternal life." In fact, eternal life isn't something you just get... you don't do something to acquire it or earn it. There is always going to be something, this side of heaven, that puts you in the category of law-breaker. Without total and complete surrender to Christ--His death, resurrection, will, and plan--we are all in grave trouble. It's about surrender and acceptance, not acquisition and earning. This is an incredibly hard thing for most humans to grasp. We aren't raised with this kind of mentality. Ergo the man's dissatisfaction.

What was this man's "something"? Looks to me like it was riches. A sense from this man that he "had it all" and had achieved ultimate success. He may have kept the commandments, but it looks like he kept them to acquire eternal life, just has he had worked to acquire riches (or maybe he inherited those--makes it maybe even more confusing to figure out how to earn something). Maybe, if he inherited his riches, he was thinking about why he didn't just inherit eternal life as well, since he'd inherited everything else (born with a silver spoon in his mouth).

Either way, his "something" had to be surrendered. It's not about earning. It's not about achieving or conquering. The way of Christ is surrender.

Today, I pray to know what my "something" is that I need to surrender. Maybe it's more like "somethings" (plural). God has much to do with my heart yet, and surrender is daily and it is sometimes really hard. Maybe there's a series of questions I need to ask today:

• What is the absolute most dearest thing to me in my life? (wife, children, relationships, a possession or possessions)
• Am I clinging to the dearest thing as though it's my own? (it isn't)
• Am I tempted to do something today out of a sense of obligation to Jesus, as though I need to earn His favor? Or do I think to respond to His love?
• What do I need to dispossess to enable me to follow Jesus more fully? Does this mean to literally put it out of my sight and reach, or does it mean to surrender it's use to Christ?

Father, walk with me today. Son, transform me today. Holy Spirit, reveal my "something" today that I need to surrender. May I follow You and act out of a loving response, not a desire to earn eternal life. I surrender my life to You. I surrender my dreams and intentions to You. Thank you for loving me so perfectly.

Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today. Begin with me!

Mark 10:13-16

There was a crowd of people there that day, made up of commoners, disciples, and religious authorities. People had different reasons for being there. Disciples were following Jesus to learn. Religious authorities, such as the Pharisees, were there to test Jesus and try to trip Him up in nuances of the Law (which He knew far better than they did as He was there when it first came about).

What is intriguing to me is the reasons for the crowds to be there. Some came to learn. Jesus obliged and taught them. Some were curious to see this wonder-working rabbi that seemed to rile the authorities so much. Some came for healing, either for themselves or for friends and loved ones. Then there was this group of parents that came to Him. They knew enough about Jesus to know that He was knowledgable and powerful. They knew He taught about truths of God's Kingdom, claiming that the Kingdom was at hand. And so they brought their kids so that this misfit with His motley crew of disciples would bless their children. After all, what had they to lose? World authorities were proving to be impediments in their lives, and the so-called religious authorities weren't doing much for them either. Here was a man who offered something different.

Imagine how difficult it would be, then, to witness His disciples trying to keep your kids away from such a man. Think of what this would communicate to them... that God's Kingdom wasn't for kids! That this incredible life that Jesus was offering was only for big people. Imagine the choice parents would be faced with if this was true. Do I leave my kids to follow this man? Do I leave them behind? Or do I pass up on this opportunity to stay with them?

This, to me, is the biggest reason that Jesus was "irate" with them (The Message). It says that they shoed the children off. Jesus came as a child, not as an adult, incarnate as an endangered baby. He was Savior to the nations, and He came for young and old. To shoe away the children was to force them away from the only true source of life that existed (makes me wonder if the disciples really fully believed this yet), and it forced parents to choose between Jesus and their children. I can't imagine something making the Son of God more furious than this. Makes my blood boil just thinking about it.

Do I see a child and immediately react with annoyance? Or do I see a little one and light up inside? Do I make it simple to embrace Jesus (for anyone--in the "simplicity of a child")? Or do I muck it up with my own ideas?

God's Kingdom is for all. And Jesus Christ is the only reason I have any right to touch it at all. My takeaways? First, embrace Jesus--and embrace His Kingdom. Second, never do anything that gets between a child (and a child's family) and Jesus. In fact, go out of your way to make it easier for them! Third, don't muck up the beautiful simplicity of the gospel with my own ideas and takes on things. It's Jesus... only. Fourth, as you observe a child simply loving Jesus, join in! Enjoy Him as a child enjoys Him! Do you feel like dancing over Him? Then dance! Do you want to sing and bounce in place with a little one's energy? Do it! (You wouldn't have that energy but for Him anyway). Fifth (and these come in no particular order), come to Jesus to learn, to be healed, to be blessed, and to lead another (such as a child) to such a blessing. Embrace Him with joy and with the simplicity of a child. Any other agenda is flawed and full of gas.

Father, I embrace Your Son today. Fill me with joy in Him! May I dance in Him today, not just walk! May I be blessed and healed, and show me how to lead another to such an experience. Please bless my children today... may they be fully devoted to Jesus, embracing Him with incredible joy. Help me not to muck up Your beauty with my self--in fact, put that self to death!

Father, fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today. Please! Begin with me!

Mark 10:1-12

This is one of those passages of Scripture that you'd almost as soon not touch. It deals with marriage. To be more specific, it has more to do with divorce. I think that Jesus must have been highly grieved by this. The Pharisees came to him to test him with a really tragic human problem and approach to a question that should have directed them back to God's ideal for the answer. Instead, they tried again to trap him in a nuance of Torah.

I have far too many friends and relatives who have experienced divorce. None will tell you it was pleasant. None would tell you that it was something trite. As I read about divorce in Scripture and read through some comments on the subject from other authors I respect on the subject, I see a few things come through loud and clear.

First, God's ideal is marriage. It is two-becoming-one flesh. It is spirit, mind, and body union. As God looks at a married couple, He looks at one person. I think it's much the same as when we look to Him. He is three, but He is One. The result of such a union is another person, the ultimate expression of the love of two that have become one. It is a union God created, not man. It is not something that should be separated by man, especially on a whim, as it is attacks what He created.

Second, divorce is a concession to sin. Like sin, which is rebellion against God, it results in tearing apart God's creation. God created earth. Man has consistently, throughout history, selfishly destroyed God's creation. Divorce is kind of like a model of what has happened on earth. It is a concession to sin on a couple of fronts. For one, even as Moses wrote what he wrote in Deuteronomy 24 (which is what the Pharisees were referring to here), it was a concession in the Torah to the hard-heartedness of man (i.e. his self-centeredness in marrying her and putting her away just because she displeased him).

Third, Jesus is teaching that it should be avoided if at all possible. The only real exception He ever makes is in the case of adultery. In this case (which is a pretty close approximation to the other gospels' accounts) it could be interpreted as divorcing for the purpose of marrying someone else, which would be adulterous in God's eyes.

Now this is tough. I can understand why the disciples, in Matthew 19:10, would say it's better not to even get married if that is the situation between a man and wife. I think we have to be a little careful here not to pass judgment. Divorce is a sin concession... but it was a concession that was made. Where I start having difficulty is where one party divorces another and makes that party a victim of adultery. I think it's appropriate to read the Bible's total testimony on the subject. If you just stick with Matthew 5:31-32, for instance, sexual immorality is the only reason to divorce someone without it being adultery. When you get to Matthew 19 and Mark 10, it seems to read divorcing and marrying someone else (or for the purpose of marrying someone else).

I think I'm getting close to splitting hairs here. If I'm going to stick with a plain, straightforward reading of the Word, there's a couple of takeaways I can draw.

1. Every effort should be made to avoid divorce and preserve marriage in just about every circumstance. God made it, not people. It's not to be taken tritely.
2. Really the only biblical purpose for divorce and re-marriage is sexual immorality (adultery, or "defiling the marriage bed"). That's tough to accept, but it's a pretty plain instruction in Scripture.
3. If adultery hasn't happened, but the marriage is miserable, I don't think that the parties are mandated to just endure misery. If being apart is the only option, separation seems to be an option (look at 1 Corinthians 7:10-14), but divorce isn't sanctioned at all except for the case of adultery.

Think about it. Jesus has had just about every reason to "divorce" mankind. We have, as sinners, committed adultery against him. We have done things that are extremely displeasing to him. All sin is rebellion against God, and we've all sinned. Yet he still endures with us and loves us to the bitter end. In the end, he is not the one who divorces us. We have to divorce him in order to be eternally separated from him. So maybe it's for us to avoid hard-heartedness, be patient and enduring in marriage, and do everything we can possibly do, with everything at our disposal, to preserve what God has created.

Father, make me patient as You are patient with me. Strengthen and bless my marriage, showing me every option and opportunity to be strengthened. Be close to those who are having difficulty, and show them the same. Fling laboring harvesters into your harvest field today... begin with me!

Mark 9:42-50

Child-like faith brought actual children to Jesus. They saw, heard, and trustingly came to Him. Child-like faith led a man to, in the Name of Jesus, believe in His power and love enough to cast out demons in His Name.

Disciples were concerned with themselves that day. The children and those with child-like faith were concerned only with (and fully dependent upon) Jesus. Only.

Getting in the way of those with child-like, simple, trusting faith spells doom for those wrapped up with themselves and their status. You can't regulate the fruit of raw faith no matter who you are. If you try, you'll be kicking against the movement and work of God Himself, a no-win scenario if there ever was one. Was it not Lucifer who was wrapped up in himself at one point? Was he not concerned with his status in heaven? Did his hands and eyes not cause him to sin? Jesus is speaking not just a truth here that applied to the immediate, but to the eternal. He had personally witnessed the results of selfish motives.

Sin is rebellion. In this case, to rebel against God is to place self over God's agenda. His agenda is inclusive of children and those with child-like faith and raw trust. To get in the way of this is to rebel, and you're better off maimed and blind than to do this.

What are my eyes on today? Are they on my agenda? My needs? The needs that I perceive in the church? In my home? Do I see simple belief and trusting faith and think, "It'll never work... no common sense... there's a process to follow here... experience to gain first... they're crazy!"? Do I get in their way? Any time I look to myself/procedures/systems/traditions/policies before looking at Jesus with raw trust, it's like my eyes or hands getting in the way of child-like faith (which could include my own). Am I suggesting throwing those things out? Not at all! Such things exist for a reason, and policies and procedures are found throughout Scripture. But the eyes and motives should begin and end with Jesus, the One. Otherwise they are false and even become idols.

Put aside status today. Seek downward mobility. Love and support the child-like (including the children themselves). And seek to become more child-like in faith and in deed.

Father, rule over me and this day You have given me. Jesus, transform me, putting the self to death to be raised to abundant life in You. Holy Spirit, put that spark of child-like, trusting, raw faith in me today that leads to loving obedience. God, fling laboring harvesters into Your fields today... begin with me!

Mark 9:38-41

³⁸ “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

This seems to go back to the heart of what the disciples were having a pointless argument about. We saw someone... and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us. Remember, their argument a few verses prior to this was about who among them was the greatest (answer... none of them were... the whole point is to look to Jesus). What's ironic is you go back a bit further and the disciples themselves were unable to cast out an evil spirit, being told that it only happens because of prayer, which is the ultimate act of looking to who? Jesus. Period.

Right before this story, Jesus took a little one in His lap. The Bible doesn't just come out and say it, but you really get the impression that Jesus absolutely loved doing this, and you get the impression that He was really popular with them. If you're a toddler superstar, by the way, take it as a good indication that you're a lot like Jesus! The Kingdom... and all its power and riches... belongs to them!

So, then there's this man who is exercising the power of Jesus' Name to cast out demons. I read this story and am left with the impression that whoever this was, he was embracing the very simple-yet-powerful truth of Jesus at face value. He has power over the forces of evil! In His Name the disciples had cast out evil spirits in the past. Somehow, although we're not told a lot about this man, he embraced the power of that Name at face value and participated in Jesus' liberation of mankind from the powers of darkness. Without this kind of simple, child-like, face-value faith, the man couldn't have done this. And with such faith, powerful things can happen, and people become allies with God! "... whoever is not against us is for us."

I take a few takeaways from this.

1. It isn't about me, or us. If we just look at ourselves for making choices or exercising power, we'll fall flat on our faces (see: disciples trying to cast out the demon at the base of the mountain, Peter trying to figure out what to do when he saw the transfiguration, the disciples arguing about who was the greatest when a little child blew them away).
2. It is about Jesus. Listen to Him. Call upon Him in simple trust, realizing that I have absolutely no power over anything in life if it weren't for Him.
3. Do not oppose those who are partnering with Christ. They will speak and do things that couldn't be done if it weren't for Christ. Even if I don't like it or feel threatened by it, I have no business opposing people who are obediently following Christ. Hey, if it isn't of Christ, it's doom to fail anyway, so why should I concern myself over it? The point is to stop depending on my self to judge these things anyway.

Father, get my eyes of me, and train them to stay on you. I am nothing. You are everything. Please, Jesus, transform my attitude and my life. Holy Spirit, baptize me and enable me to focus on You alone and to build up those who focus on You alone. Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field... begin with me!

Mark 9:33-37

It seems these disciples were on quite an emotional roller-coaster. First, three of them had seen Jesus transfigured (literally changed right before their eyes). Then the others weren't able to cast out a demon that had kept a boy mute his entire life. Then they were taught (again) that Jesus was going to be rejected, suffer, die, and rise again.

Now Jesus calls them out. Jesus was getting away from the crowds to teach his disciples. There was urgency here, things they needed to know. But on the journey, rather than digest what Jesus was teaching, they were arguing about which one of them was the greatest. Peter, James, and John had seen Jesus transfigured. Their reaction was to let us build memorials. There was no command given to do so, and God's reaction was to simply listen and do what Jesus directed them to do.

At the base of the mountain, the focus was on we could not cast out the demon. Jesus' reaction to them? "This kind can only come out by much prayer" (read, "Yeah, I know that you can't do it. You're not strong enough. Only God can do this through you. Depend on Him").

The disciples continued to be confused by Jesus' teaching about His suffering and death. He wasn't being the Messiah they dreamed about. Jesus' teaching to them? It would be, "If anyone is to be My disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." In other words, embrace the path of suffering that Christ embraces, knowing that in the end the result is real life.

Now those same men are arguing about who was the greatest. It would take Jesus fulfilling His own teaching before they would understand. Jesus' way is the only way of any value. It is the only chance for any of humanity. Until you are ready to start denying yourself and seek to serve each other, you'll never truly be great.

Embrace and serve the little ones. Serve them, even the ones that seem the simplest. Don't get so full of yourself that you forget that God is in love with children and those who think like them. Welcome them, welcome Jesus. Welcome Jesus, welcome the fullness of God. It begins with service. It begins with embracing His path and denying our own.

How do I seek to build up self? What do I do to make myself "feel better" in life? Am I guilty of self-medicating with things of the world (TV, internet, shopping, etc.)? Or am I truly embracing the path of Jesus, taking up my cross, denying myself, and really serving the "least of these"? I am ashamed to admit how much of my life revolves around my desires and search for my happiness. Even the best of intentions get caught up in this. Even "service" is tainted with a desire to feel better about my expression of my relationship with Jesus. I'm encouraged with the knowledge that Jesus is merciful and forgiving and knows my heart. What I want Him to do today is replace it with a new one that really embraces His path for my life.

Father, walk with me each step today. Jesus, transform me completely, taking my self with its heart to the cross in Your body. Holy Spirit, baptize me today, and give me a new heart that beats with love for God and a reflex to obey and follow You. Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today. Begin with me!