Calvary Baltimore Weekly Sermons

Today's passage is also in Matthew and Luke.

Matthew 20:20-29: Matthew says the question about James and John sitting at Jesus' right hand comes from their mom. It may be they had their mom ask in case Jesus got offended by the request. Even if the mom is asking the question, it's coming from James and John!

Also, Matthew says at the end that they come out of Jericho, while Mark says they were in Jericho to begin with. This is not a contradiction; at the time there was an old Jericho and a new Jericho a few miles from each other.

Matthew 20:30... Matthew records two blind men, and Mark only records one. Normally there are no names given in these stories; Bartimaeus must have been someone of note to be named. This may explain Mark naming only one person. He was likely someone later well known to the early church.

Luke 18:35-42: Luke has them approaching Jericho like Mark does. He mentions Bartimaeus was also a beggar.

Luke 18:43: He followed Jesus while glorifying the Lord

Now to our main passage, in Mark! Mark 10:32-52...

As Jesus and the apostles draw closer to his crucifixion, he is the one leading the way. Even when what we're about to do is difficult, we can choose not to complain or drag our feet, and actually lead the way!

He gives his third "passion prediction" (prediction of his coming suffering), and the apostles are blind to it. They don't understand.

v35... James and John want more power, more authority. When we're doing all that he asks, it's tempting for us to expect God to bend to our will. He's not required to do that! We have no power over him. We pray boldly in his word! But never forget the ending: "Thy will be done!"

v36... Jesus asks what they want; they want self-glory. When Jesus asks you what you want, a good response is, "Enable me and help me to glorify you!" Not "Can I have more glory for myself!"

v37... In Mark 9, regarding greatness, positions of honor at the table... James and John want this sort of special position of honor.

v38... They're thinking of sitting at a table for a victory feast, as conquering rulers... but they fail to realize Jesus is heading to Jerusalem to die! Before the glory comes the suffering. They don't realize they're asking to be hung on a cross next to him!

v39... He predicts the suffering and wrath coming on James and John as well. Drinking from Jesus's cup and being baptized with his baptism refer to suffering and persecution. James and John will suffer and be persecuted, but will not suffer the actual wrath of God, as the Father put that on Jesus alone, and he suffered it on our behalf!

v40... only the Father decides who sits where at the table with Jesus.

v41-42... Jesus calls the twelve to himself to instruct them. To teach about godly leadership, he gives them an example of ungodly leadership. 

v43... To be the greatest, be the best servant! Love and serve the Lord and the people around you.

v44... To be first, be the slave of all! All we are and all we have belongs to him! I am not my own, but his willing slave. Because of our allegiance to Christ, we learn to become like him in service to others, to humble ourselves like a child. 

v45... James and John are looking to be treated like kings... but to be like the King of Kings, you must humble yourself and serve. Give people your time!

v46... Bartimaeus is the final healing miracle in Mark, and is the only person healed in the synoptic Gospels who's been identified by name. He was likely known to the early church or the apostles.

v47-48... The apostles are trying to silence Bartimaeus, as if he's an annoyance. But he calls out louder!

v49-50... Jesus says to bring him over! He senses there's more going on here than just panhandling.

v51... he asks Bartimaeus what he wants Jesus to do for him-- the same question he asks James and John earlier... getting back his sight would be an answer to prayer, but would also disrupt his life, his source of begging income. So the disciples look for power, self-glory, but Bartimaeus just wants eyes so he can glorify God!

v52... The disciples were blind men who needed Jesus to heal them too! They need to come to Jesus not jockeying for power, but for their eyes to be opened, so they can follow him the right way! Once Bartimaeus was saved, he followed the Lord. 

So if God opens our eyes, we respond by glorifying him and following him!

Though we are to bring our gifts, our possessions, our resources all under his authority, we can still enjoy the things of this world that he's given us! Enjoy your family, friends, a good meal, a beautiful sunset. If we do these things to his glory, it's worship!

The difference is we worship the Lord of the gift more than the gift itself. We worship and follow the Creator rather than worshipping and following the creation. Enjoy a nice meal, but don't live for food! Yes, work hard, but don't live to work! Follow where our Master leads, through his Word, in prayer, following the Spirit. Like this blind man, we are healed, and we follow our Lord and Master!

The rich young ruler had it backwards: we don't do good works to earn salvation. The blind man is healed and rests in the work Jesus did to give him salvation!

Those of us in heaven will know we didn't get there on our own merit. We will be the people most grateful for what Jesus accomplished!

Mark 10:32-52

v32-36...

Jerusalem was built on a mountain, so one must ascend to it. Jesus describes how he will willingly be delivered over to his fate, and he'll do it all to save us through his resurrection! When you hear "the passion of Christ" it means the suffering of Jesus. There have been three passion predictions now. 

James and John ask Jesus to do whatever they ask... We should pray boldly to him, but remember, it is "Thy will be done," not mine!

v37... The disciples are still seeking worldly greatness.

v38-40... He calmly explains they cannot sit beside him in heaven because that place is not prepared for them. They know not what they ask for. They think the cup Jesus will drink is a celebratory cup of some sort... It's heavier than that: it'll require Jesus's very life.

Because of the cross on which he'll die, we praise him for he is worthy!

James and John will both be protected and killed. 

v41... The other ten disciples get angry at James and John, likely because they were trying to the others to the punch... Trying to become the first.

v42... Disciples are seeking greatness, still. He never discourages them from this, but redirects them to a better kind of greatness! Humble service. 

Greatness is not based on power dynamics! This is not how God's people should act. It is worldly, satanic. We must not abuse our gifts for evil, selfish purposes. This is the opposite of what Jesus expects from his people! 

v44... Whoever would be first must be a slave of all! No man would write this; it is of God. Not just a servant, but a slave! "Doulos" is a Greek word meaning one who is a willing slave, who commits himself to his master voluntarily. A slave is not master of himself, of his resources, of his time. All these things must come under the authority of the master! And Jesus wants us to be a slave of all. 

He wants us to never be above service to any person he brings our way!

Millard Fillmore... left his family on Christmas Eve to help the firefighters put out a fire in the library of Congress. Servant of all, despite his position. 

v45... Two reasons why he came: 

1. To serve. John 5:19... He can do only what the Father does. He dedicated every waking moment to the will of the Father. 

2. To ransom. To give his life as a ransom for many. A kinsman redeemer. He gave his life for our debts. 

When people reduce the message of Jesus to mere morality tales, it misses the point. Christianity without the cross is not Christianity! That is why he came. 

v46-52... Blind Bartimaeus in Jericho. Bartimaeus knows he's the one with authority over his blindness. 

They rebuked him, but Jesus stopped, stood still and said to call him over. Jesus told him to get up, he threw off his cloak, his most precious possession! He called him rabbi, but in the sense of Savior. Jesus told him he's healed, and to go on his way! And then he chose to follow along with Jesus. 

Jesus didn't give this man any great ultimatum like he did the rich young ruler... Because this man didn't have any idols. To be great on the Kingdom of God, you don't need to be an impressive person! You just need to come to Jesus, in utter dependence. 

One thought...

Bartimaeus left everything to follow Jesus. Luke records that when he followed him, he glorified God, and people saw and glorified God themselves! He wanted his vision not for selfish reasons, but so he could glorify God.

Matthew 5:16... Glorify him so people see your good works and give glory to him!

People are instinctively selfish. We all want glory, to be captains of our own ship. This is the basis of social media. All image! We crave praise and exultation from the world. Satan's original temptation: eat this fruit, and you'll be like God. We want praise and exultation!

But we were made to exalt and glorify God! Joy not found in earthly pursuits, only in glorifying God! We follow the path of Christ, and there is fullness of joy! We must be servants. The lower we can stoop, the better! Luke 14:11... Humble yourself; this is the path to greatness! The path of Christ. 

We love and serve not to be saved... but because we are saved! We were made for his glory. 

He says it's better to give than to receive; humble yourself to serve the people he puts in front of you. These are the greatest saints. Meet the needs because you belong to him!

B-Side: Mark 10:23-31

Recapping v17-22... The rich young ruler was wrapped up in his possessions. In 2 Timothy 3... people will be lovers of self and of money. The love of money is the root of evil; money itself is not the problem, but our relationship to it is. It can become an idol. This is what Jesus was dealing with in this man. He tells the man he needs to make himself (Jesus) his treasure, and he walks away.

v23-24... Jesus says twice it's difficult to enter the Kingdom of God! Not because we have a lot of works to perform, but because we have to die to ourselves. You can do nothing to inherit the Kingdom; it is given freely to those who will lose themselves in favor of God himself. We must know our spiritual bankruptness!

v25... to enter the Kingdom, you have to renounce this world. In Galatians, we had sects forming, dividing people by class, etc. In God's Kingdom, the president and the plumber are on equal footing. It's easy to feel you're special if you're wealthy and successful, to have pride in one's own identity. To receive the Kingdom is to identify in Christ; that is our entire identity!

Our finances must come under the authority of God! This is especially difficult if you've worked so hard to become wealthy and successful. Though you did the work, he gave the increase, and it comes under his authority like all other aspects of our lives must.

v26-27... No man can do this, but all things are possible with God! John 15:4... apart from me you can do nothing! Romans 8:8: those in the flesh cannot please God. Apart from God's Spirit, we cannot receive God's Word into our hearts.

Only God can change hearts, so we must rely on him in our evangelism! We should share Christ with the unsaved whenever we can, but it's God who softens hearts and makes it possible for people to receive him.

So before our evangelistic efforts, we should give ourselves to pre-evangelism: prayer! Pray for them before we ever speak to them. If they get converted, it'll only be because of the grace and mercy of God!

v28... a disciple holds nothing back from his Lord; we must go where he sends us, and he'll provide. 

The rich young ruler doesn't understand yet that even if he keeps his possessions, his land, for himself, it'll all be taken anyway (in this case, by the Romans years later). 

B-Side: Mark 10:23-31

Recapping v17-22... The rich young ruler was wrapped up in his possessions. In 2 Timothy 3... people will be lovers of self and of money. The love of money is the root of evil; money itself is not the problem, but our relationship to it is. It can become an idol. This is what Jesus was dealing with in this man. He tells the man he needs to make himself (Jesus) his treasure, and he walks away.

v23-24... Jesus says twice it's difficult to enter the Kingdom of God! Not because we have a lot of works to perform, but because we have to die to ourselves. You can do nothing to inherit the Kingdom; it is given freely to those who will lose themselves in favor of God himself. We must know our spiritual bankruptness!

v25... to enter the Kingdom, you have to renounce this world. In Galatians, we had sects forming, dividing people by class, etc. In God's Kingdom, the president and the plumber are on equal footing. It's easy to feel you're special if you're wealthy and successful, to have pride in one's own identity. To receive the Kingdom is to identify in Christ; that is our entire identity!

Our finances must come under the authority of God! This is especially difficult if you've worked so hard to become wealthy and successful. Though you did the work, he gave the increase, and it comes under his authority like all other aspects of our lives must.

v26-27... No man can do this, but all things are possible with God! John 15:4... apart from me you can do nothing! Romans 8:8: those in the flesh cannot please God. Apart from God's Spirit, we cannot receive God's Word into our hearts.

Only God can change hearts, so we must rely on him in our evangelism! We should share Christ with the unsaved whenever we can, but it's God who softens hearts and makes it possible for people to receive him.

So before our evangelistic efforts, we should give ourselves to pre-evangelism: prayer! Pray for them before we ever speak to them. If they get converted, it'll only be because of the grace and mercy of God!

v28... a disciple holds nothing back from his Lord; we must go where he sends us, and he'll provide. 

The rich young ruler doesn't understand yet that even if he keeps his possessions, his land, for himself, it'll all be taken anyway (in this case, by the Romans years later). 

Mark 8... Be like a child, a servant. Be willing to die in order to live...

Rich young ruler... Jesus teaches other-worldly teaching, counter to the world. 

Today's text: Mark 10:23-31... 

Jesus offers the man eternal life. He can have it if he believes, believes in Jesus. Believes what he says. We too can have eternal life if we believe what Jesus said about himself and follow him! 

V24... How difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! Especially for those who have prospered. This is opposite what prosperity preachers preach. Jesus was mainly homeless! Timothy had chronic stomach issues. 

V25... Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. This was written and transcribed in Rome, not referring to the Jerusalem eye of the needle gate. Jesus is saying it's impossible! 

V26... The disciples were exceedingly astonished. As if punched in the face! Sure, it's hard being poor, but wealth brings with it temptations that can make it very difficult to enter the kingdom. In our country, we're wealthy by the average standard of the world.

V27... So who can be saved? With man, nobody! But with God, anything is possible! Salvation is not earned, but offered freely by God! All we can do is receive it in faith!

V28... Peter, Peter, Peter... He tries to show Jesus how he and the other disciples have given up things to follow him. Jesus says listen up... If you leave what's dear to you and follow me, you'll receive a hundredfold. Many of the first will be last, and the last will be first!

Three thoughts.. 

1. Wealth... Use your finances for the kingdom of God. Support the church. In the Old Testament, there was the tithe, 10%. This law is no longer in effect.

But believers are still called to financially support the church! 2 Corinthians 9:7... Give what God has placed on your heart to give! If Jesus is to be your Lord, he must be Lord of all, including your (his) money.

The church must also be responsible with the funds entrusted to it. 

We must take care of the needs of the church and its people.

Money can be a test of faithfulness. A test of allegiance to the Lord! Everything must belong to him.

2. Heavenly Father... To belong to the Lord is to gain a heavenly Father. We lose a lot of earthly relationships in this life, but belonging to Christ, we'll never lose our heavenly Father! We are adopted as his children. Jesus came to reconcile you to the Father.

Jesus calls us to pray not to Jesus, but to the Father! We will never lose him; he loves us so much he sent his son to die for us! He provides for us. And he wants us to have a relationship with him. 

3. Eternal treasure...

Earthly rewards and eternal rewards come to the believer...

Earthly rewards: life can get hard. Trials are real. Jeremiah had it rough. He gave his life to advance the Gospel, but all his fruit looks rotten.

So what is the hundredfold blessing? Your life will be free of hardships? No. You'll be hated and persecuted, and people will turn on you. So what are the blessings? The beatitudes... 9 blessings. Rest for your soul. John 14... Peace-- no trouble, no fear. You may not feel it right now, but through faith, it's available to you! And his gifts are never taken away. Remember who you are in Christ: you belong to God the Father. 

3b... Blessings in the age to come, eternal life. Heavenly blessings. Set our minds on things above... We will follow Jesus right into the next world! We will die as he died, but we will rise as he rose, and in heaven we'll be blessed with joy and peace beyond imagination!

We'll have a perfect mind, a perfect body! A perfect feast! In the millennial kingdom, we'll be on thrones ruling nations. Worship alongside angels, archangels... Well look into the eyes of God the Father! Our eternity is the New Jerusalem... Where Christ is our light source! Eternally loved, wanted, never depressed or anxious. This is what the rich young ruler REJECTED. Accept it! It's bigger than money. Will you make the Lord Jesus bigger than everything?

Choose to day whom you'll serve! If it's Christ, be all in!

Mark 10:17-22

The rich, young ruler. This story is in Matthew, Mark and Luke! They were aware of what each other wrote; the Holy Spirit prompted them all to write their accounts.

Mark was not written chronologically, but thematically. So far, Jesus has said that to be his disciple you must be of low importance, a servant, like a child. Also you must not be a stumbling block; don't misrepresent him! You are to love your spouse, not bringing sin into marriage. You must also have an infant-like dependence on him! We don't deserve the Kingdom, contributing nothing of our own.

In today's text, we go from the lowest of the low (infants) receiving the Kingdom, to the highest of the high (the rich, young ruler) ultimately rejecting it.

v17... the man is asking what he must do to earn heaven. According to Jesus himself, there's nothing we can do; we bring nothing to the table.

v18... It's indeed possible to be "a good man" as we see in Acts 11:24 (Barnabas), so Jesus isn't making the point that a man can't be "good" by a certain definition. But God alone is infallible. This man has said he's lived a good life, but he's still a sinner like the rest of us.

We live in a world that's filled with difficulties and tragedy, and it can be easy to be bitter when people fail you. Jesus alone is truly, fully good! He's the light of the world.

Psalm 1 and 2... these Psalms broadly summarize all the other Psalms; you can find most of the content of the 148 Psalms in Psalms 1 and 2. Psalm 1 instructs us on how to live righteously... and we know there's only one perfectly righteous person: Jesus. Coming to him is the only way to avoid perishing! Your works will not help you.

v19... Jesus goes immediately to Scripture, to the Word of God-- not to church history or what church leaders say!

v20... This man says he's kept the Commandments since his youth; elsewhere we see Paul calling himself blameless under the Law. This is likely not bragging, but an honest account of a life earnestly lived in pursuit of the things of God. 

v21... This man is not a believer, but this passage specifically says Jesus loves him! Our Lord loves people; he cares for us, desires good for us, even if we reject him! We must not accept sin, but we must still love the sinner. 

...This is the only man in the Bible who is called to sell everything and become poor to follow Jesus. It's not intended to be normative; it's specific to this man's relationship to his money and possessions. 

v22... the man realized he cared too much for his possessions to follow Jesus, and therefore in sadness, rejected him.

One quick thought to close...

It may be tempting to think that this man's decision is based on greed or a love of money, but we can understand why he'd believe that his riches may be a direct result of his righteous living. Psalm 112 says a generation of the upright will be blessed; wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness will endure forever. He thinks, of course God is blessing me, as I've been righteous! He must have been confused when Jesus told him he had to get rid of it all. So it's a little more nuanced than simply, "This man chose money over God".

That said, Jesus is God! And if he wants this man to sell all his possessions, that's the right thing to do. And he rejected the Lord Jesus, the blessing of all blessings, in favor of his earthly treasure. There is a real deceitfulness in riches... more on that next week!

Not all wealth is bad. There's something specific about this man's wealth that Jesus is dealing with.

V17... This man realizes Jesus is special, but he's not sure how. He's essentially asking Jesus, "How can I know I'm saved?" He struggles with assurance. 

Mt19:16... Someone asks Jesus, "what good deeds must I do to have eternal life?" Similar to this guy. He thinks he has to do good works to enter heaven.

This is how humans think, but not God! He knows we are too fallen to save ourselves. This is how Christianity is utterly unique: we are only saved by the deeds of another!

V18... "And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.'" Nobody is good!

...To be saved, we have to know who we are. We have to abandon the illusion of our goodness!

God will never turn on us; he's always for our good. Humans fail, and are selfish. God and God alone is infallible, inherently good! 

Galatians 2:16... You're not justified by works of the Law.

Romans 5:18... By one man's obedience many will be made righteous!

We are by nature sinners. The wages of sin is death. 

So how can I know that I'm saved? If your plan is to stand on judgement day on your own merits, arguing how well you improved, your good deeds... You will be damned. There is only one good: God. Only in him will you be saved. Jesus lived the perfect life, and if we put our faith in him, we are brought into perfect unity with him! When he's our way, truth, life, shepherd, our leader... That's how we are saved! 

We want to be great people, do good things, be free from sin, be holy as the Lord God is holy. Only if we have the Spirit of God can we do this. And only through the blood of Jesus Christ! We must abide with and identify with Jesus Christ! 

Eternal life does not begin with our righteousness! We are saved not by the intensity of our faith, but by the object of our faith!

John 6:28: the only works required of us: believing in the Lord Jesus Christ! Who is worthy? Only Jesus! 

Having faith in Jesus means you're only allowed into heaven because he said I am! 

V20... So why does Jesus address this man's wealth specifically? It seems this man was trained in the ways of holiness and was serious about the things of God. He seems to be a godly young man. 

V21... He says the young man lacks one thing... Sell everything and follow Jesus. If you want to belong to Jesus, you have to be all in! 

Biblical conversion isn't an emotion, it's an action. You have to believe in him, and believing in him means following him!

This doesn't mean you can't have nice things. If God has given you these things, enjoy them! But as a Christian, you need to truly follow him, and be all in! But if you helping to the Lord, so does the house... So does everything you have! Your possessions, your soul, your life! 

For this man, it was not good for him to keep these possessions, and Jesus knew he needed to give it up! He loved God, but he was serving two masters, God and money. His wealth had his heart, his affections!

There are things in our flesh that we have unhealthy relationships with. Our hearts are idol factories! We can idolize anything... Our health, our wealth, our titles. All these things can be good, but we can turn anything into an idol! 

Riches can create a false sense of security. Love of money (not money itself) is the root of all evil.

We must not have dual allegiance; there are no dual citizens of heaven!

Mark 8:34... Deny yourself and follow me... Lose your life for my sake and you will live! 

But this man wants to keep his other god, money. 

V22... The man went away sorrowful, because he knew he didn't want to give up his riches.

Give everything away, and in return, you'll get Jesus, an eternal treasure!

You can choose to be lord over your own life, but where is true joy really found? In earthly treasures? The respect of your peers? No.

Money can get you a lot, but it all fades. 

God made you, he loves you. If the Holy Spirit is drawing you away from something, don't be like this rich young ruler! Don't hold onto your idols! It's a rock you're dragging behind you. 

He knows the path to joy! In eternal life and now as well! You'll always have misery in this life, regardless of what you follow.

What will you follow: earthly treasures, or heavenly treasures?

Our country isn't a permanent thing; it's temporary. We hope to be an influence on our nation, on our relatives, on our church family. But if any of those things are keeping us from our walk with God, we must pluck them out!

The U.S. Constitution is beautiful, but it's not God's word; it doesn't bring salvation! He has a specific plan for us that may call us to go in a different direction than a given political or governmental entity. 

We don't have to agree with every decision of Israel, but Israel is still to be prayed for, as their salvation is part of God's future plan for them. 

In our country, going to church and truly living as a Christian is no longer the standard, but God hasn't changed. This is a good reason to speak an evangelistic message. We should be preaching the message that Jesus was born, lived the perfect life, died for our sins, and rose again!

We deserve the death that's appointed to us; what we don't deserve is the eternal life he offers us! He took my place. Romans 8... He predestined, called, justified, and glorified us! All because our eyes were opened... by him.

The rest of the message... Jesus went all around and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, the kingdom of priests he wants to send to all the earth. That's us! 

Matthew 6... The Lord's prayer. Your kingdom come... Seek first God's kingdom. 

God is in me, and in God, there is no darkness! So when I sin, I must not continue to sin! Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness!

Hebrews 11... Abraham stepped out in faith.

The Kingdom is only a kingdom because our King is there! They're is only one way to God: his son Jesus Christ. 

Death is liberation from the early kingdom to the heavenly one! We are in a temporary dwelling.

Hebrews 11:10... Abraham was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God!

But we do have responsibility for the place where we're living... Jeremiah 29... Build houses, plant crops, have families, seek the public welfare. Live God's standard in the world! And they'll see the satisfaction we find in God.

Seek the welfare of your country. We must be involved in the political process and the government of our country. We must vote for the good of the nation, not for our own good. We must pray for our leaders, regardless of their affiliation or their actions, because God placed them there!

Daniel 12:4, "But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."

...People will be blown around left and right until knowledge of godly things increases. 

All eyes are on Americans right now, and we must point those eyes not to our country or its government or military, but to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Today's passage begins of the second disputation of Malachi.

God says the sins of a believer are bad because they grieve the Father's heart, not just because they're breaking some abstract rule. Though they are. James 1:22... It's a relationship AND a religion. 

Don't assume that God doesn't care how we live, act, treat people, and worship him!

A son honors his father... Jesus taught people to pray, "Our Father"...

The best chance your son has of growing up well is through having a strong father. We should love and nurture, but we are to be men, different from women! 

Deuteronomy 6:7 - the shema... Teach biblical principles diligently to your children! One way to fill the world with believers is for strong believers to have lots of children.

To be a good example to your kids, be a good husband and a good father. Your children are your mission field! They need to see you die to your flesh. And they need to honor you, and have a degree of reverence for you. This is how they learn to respect their heavenly Father!

We must learn to honor and respect our heavenly Father. He is holy!

Numbers 6:27... God wanted his priests to bring him glory, but they despised his name in front of the people... not very priestly!

V7... When they profane his altar, they profane him.

Moses as Israel's leader was meant to make himself holy unto God for the sake of his people. It's an honor to be asked by God to do anything! But it's not to be taken lightly. To represent God, you must be separated unto him! Live above reproach, lest God be poorly represented!

Press onward toward the upward call of God! There's a calling on your life. Be a living epistle... People are reading your life. Represent our God well! 

The altar, the table... Table means altar here.

V8... The priests were offering polluted food... Here we see it was that they were not offering their best animal sacrifices, with no blemish or defect! They were offering their worst, not their best.

And they knew better! So God was calling them to change their ways.

We can tend to do the same. We put God last. 

God isn't making up a new standard here; he's calling them back to his original requirement! 

If we've left the old paths established by Christ, we need to return! We need to submit to and honor him! We must obey and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bribing the Almighty... they believed God would owe them if they gave him something. They expected God to honor his end of the bargain... This is not worship! 

We are no longer under the law... We don't serve him to manipulate him or earn his favor... We do what we do out of a worshipful, grateful and thankful heart! So we don't give him our minimum-- we give him our best! 

Ephesians 6... Do things as a service unto the Lord! He knows your motives. 

Focus on the cross, learn who he is through his word, and learn to love him. As you grow, continue to give him your best, because he is worthy! 

All glory and honor and power unto him!

Mark 10:13-16

Luke 18:15 records the same passage, but the wording specifies that the children were infants.

The book of Mark was said to be the eyewitness account of Peter, with Mark as his scribe. The Gospels show how the apostles were often obstacles to Jesus' ministry... Peter was brutally honest about the apostles' (and his own) spiritual ineptitude. This is comforting to us, as we stumble through our walk with Christ.

v13... Here, the apostles were just trying to guard Jesus' time. Does Jesus throw them out of his presence for their mistake? No! He rebukes them, and still loves them.

Why did these people want Jesus to touch their babies? In the Old Testament, we see evidence that the blessing of a patriarch, a man of God, was honored by God. The people recognize him as a man of God, and want his blessing! Does this kind of blessing carry into the new covenant? Yes! In James 5, we see that the prayer of a righteous elder has great power. 

Acts 8:14... the apostles laid their hands on people, giving their blessing, and the people, already saved, received the Holy Spirit. Also Hebrews 6 shows the laying on of hands. At Calvary, we baptize and lay hands on them to pray for them.

v14... Jesus is communicating that we need to be as dependent on God as babies are on their parents.

v15... at Calvary, we don't believe in infant baptism because Scripture shows it to be an act for those who have already made a profession of faith. But in this passage we may ask, if children are brought to Jesus here, then why should they be denied baptism? Also, in Acts, we hear of whole households being baptized.

...we would argue that, looking at context, Jesus is using babies here as an illustration for the adults, and his blessing of these babies doesn't equate to baptism or conversion. It's a picture of salvation, rather than a prescription of infant baptism.

v16... he blessed them and laid his hands on them.

In v14, "don't hinder the babies"... reminds us of Mark 9:42: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." It's very clear that, as disciples, we don't want to be a stumbling block or temptation for "these little ones" to sin. Ironically, the disciples failed at this, illustrating what not to do! 

When dealing with little ones or new Christians, we don't want to be contentious or quick to shoot people down; we should be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. We don't want to hinder the work of God! If we disagree with someone, we should do it gently and respectfully.