Good Witnesses, Good Citizens-1 Peter 2:11-25

 

Peter had affirmed that the church is the elect and holy household of God with all the benefits, privileges, and hope that go with it. The issue he addresses now in this section is how they should behave in the larger society, and in the world they temporarily live in. Beginning in 1 Peter 2:11, he gives teaching concerning their responsibilities in a society where they are considered aliens and outsiders.

In v.11, he addresses his audience as “Beloved” which stresses their family love and bond as brothers in Christ. Peter urges them to abstain from the usual selfish desires and insatiable cravings that are common to man. They are beloved to Peter, but aliens and strangers to the unbelieving world. I think this is because of their different belief system rooted in Christ, but also because their life reflects the place we are headed to, and not where we currently live. They should live this way so that their lives are worthy of our Lord, but also to be a good witness to outsiders. In v12, Peter told them to have good behavior so that the non-believers will not be able to successfully slander them, and hopefully will be drawn to Christ through their lifestyle. The world will attempt to speak abuse against Christianity, not by attacking Christ, but by attacking Christians. We hear it constantly in our society today, “I can’t believe in Christianity because of the hypocrites in the church.” Everyone wants to criticize Christians, but nobody can successfully criticize Jesus, so they usually leave Him alone. Even all the other major religions think very highly of Jesus, but not Christians. I find it interesting that there are hypocrites in banking, real estate, sports, politics, and every walk of life, but we all still keep our money in banks, buy property, admire sports stars, and get involved in politics. We do not let hypocrisy keep us out of anything else, but people are looking for an excuse to justify their rejection of Jesus. Nevertheless, Peter’s antidote for this problem is for us to live lives above reproach, because virtuous deeds and good citizenship may silence and refute slander and win over non-believers. Jesus said something very similar to this in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before people, that they may see your deeds and glorify God who is in heaven.”

Good Citizenship

In 1 Peter 2:13, Peter uses a word that is foul to our human nature—“Submit”. Tell me to climb a mountain, swim an ocean, crawl across a desert, but don’t tell me to submit! This is the cruelest assault on my pride imaginable. We see life as a personal competition in which we try to dominate, and by no means let anyone dominate us. One of my most difficult challenges is to admit that I’m not right about something, or to not get the last word. Jesus submitted to the laws and government that He lived under. In Matt. 22:15-22, the Pharisees were trying to trap Him into breaking the law of Rome concerning a poll tax that the Jews hated. They asked Him if the poll tax was legal, thinking that if He said it was illegal He would offend the Romans, but if He said it was legal He offended the Jews. Jesus showed His wisdom and also His submission to authority by saying, “Whose likeness is on the coin?” They answered “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus said, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” In this simple answer, Jesus confirmed His submission to Roman law, and He got a solid “shot” into a sensitive area of the Pharisees with the implication that they were not rendering unto God what was His. It is the will of God that His people submit to government authority even if they don’t like the type of government or the people governing. Naturally there are exclusions like the story in Acts 4:18-19, and repeated in Acts 5:28-29 where Peter and John were ordered by the government officials to stop pr...

Living Stones—1 Peter 2:4-8

 

In Peter’s first epistle, he was exhorting his audience to grow spiritually in chapter 2. He used several metaphors to accomplish this. First, he urged them to have a desire for God’s Word that could be likened to a baby’s desire for its mother’s milk. As a baby grows physically through constantly imbibing its mother’s milk, so also a Christian grows spiritually by studying, dwelling on, and applying God’s Word. Extending the “birth” metaphor that he began in ch.1:3 concerning our spiritual birth through Christ, this is a consistent way to move from our position before the Lord to the application of living lives worthy of our Savior. We should hunger and thirst for the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit will use to change us from within. The “pure milk of the word” is that divinely given nourishment supplied by the Gospel. In 1 Peter 2:3, he says “since you have tasted the kindness of the Lord”. He means that since they have the blessings that come with salvation, why stop there, keep going towards maturity.

Building Up the Family of God

The second metaphor Peter employs is the image of the stones that it takes to build a good building. In v.4, Jesus is portrayed as a “living stone”, the most valuable cornerstone that a good building must have. This stone has been rejected by the human race as a whole, but we see Him as “choice” and “precious” in the sight of God. He is the basis that God has provided for our salvation, and thus the foundation for us to build our spiritual building upon. We who believe in Jesus as our cornerstone are being built up as a spiritual house upon Him. Peter says we offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. By this he means that we sacrifice our lives (our buildings) to be a part of His building.

Old Testament Support

Peter goes on to quote Isaiah 28:16 as a prophecy of the Messiah being sent by God into the world to be the cornerstone of people’s lives. Everyone who would accept Him as their Savior and the foundation of their lives would not be disappointed. In the first part of Isaiah 28, the prophet makes clear that Israel had sinned terribly, and it was not hidden from God. Therefore judgment was coming in the form of Assyrian conquerors. Nevertheless, God would not forget His people, and He would send a stone, “a costly cornerstone for the foundation” of God’s spiritual building that He would build. By this, he meant that God would send His Son into the world to be the cornerstone of the atonement for their sins. Then Peter quoted Psalm 118:22 in order to draw a sharp contrast between believers and nonbelievers. Christ is our precious foundation, but unbelievers have “rejected Him as their cornerstone”. Unbelievers stumble or trip over Him to their own condemnation. All who do not receive Jesus as their Savior will one day face Him as their judge. Now we have a choice of having Jesus Christ as our advocate, or rejecting Him, and end up facing Him as our judge.

Don’t just take Peter’s word for it, Jesus also quoted from Psalm 118:22 after telling a parable to the religious leaders who had rejected Him in Matt.21:33-46. The parable was a short fictitious story about a vineyard that had been rented out by a landlord. When harvest time came, the landlord expected payment that was due, but the vine growers not only refused to pay, but they beat and killed the servants he sent to collect. After another group of servants met the same fate, the landlord sent his son to collect, thinking they would respect him. Instead, they killed the son and conspired to own the vineyard themselves. If you know the history of Israel it’s not hard to see that in the story the landlord represents God, the vine growers are Israel, the servants are the prophets, and the son is Jesus. At first the religious leaders did not understand this so Jesus asked them a question designed to make them indict themse...

1 Peter 1:13-25, Mission Impossible—Be Holy

In 1 Peter 1:1-12, we are told of all the blessings that are ours in Christ. Of course no gift is greater than God’s grace. Just think of it—total forgiveness, peace with God, certain hope in the promise of the second coming of Christ and our resurrection, and eternal life in glory. Therefore, nothing should demand a greater response. Because of God’s grace we should be willing to respond now by living for the Lord right now. We should be living lives worthy of the Savior who has blessed us, as Paul wrote, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father” (Col.3:17).

“Gird Your Minds”, 1 Peter 1:13-16

At this point, Peter shifts us from explaining God’s grace to commanding those who have received it to respond appropriately. Peter covers three big issues that have to do with right thinking—hope, holiness, and reverence for God. “Therefore” moves us from the statements of verses 1-12, to the application of our salvation in verses 13-25. Peter used an expression well known in the first century “gird”, which was literally gird up your loins. The ancient soldiers wore long tunics, but before battle they got prepared by tying the tunic up between their legs and tucking it into their belt, thus freeing their legs for movement and protecting their groin area. Peter was using an extreme metaphor to say “prepare yourself for action”. I think he did this to get their attention because of the difficulty and importance of the application of living holy lives. Also, he says to “keep sober” meaning to stay under control and stay focused. When you “fix your hope” you are living with great anticipation and expectation of that great event of the appearing of Christ. In this sense hope is the equivalent of faith. Faith trusts God in the present, and our hope for the future is so certain because it is based on God’s promises. In a fallen upside down world where we often feel like aliens, hope and faith is all important in order to persevere. I read a story that Viktor Frankl wrote in MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING about his experience in a German POW camp during WW II. His friend had a dream in 1945 they would be liberated on March 30. On March 30 the allies had not appeared, and he got very sick. On March 31st he died. They were liberated about a week later, but when his mind gave up hope, so did his body. Therefore Peter was writing to his audience to let the hope of 1 Peter 1:1-12 fill their minds. By God’s mercy we have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”. We have a glorious inheritance awaiting us in heaven because by faith we have received the salvation of our souls. Now that is the highest hope imaginable, and it will sustain us and enable us to persevere the distress of various trials.

If we are to be obedient to our Father in heaven, then we must stop being like the old us who obeyed the desires and passions of our body. We grew up in a fallen world that put tremendous peer pressure on us to be selfish and look out for #1. We also had carnal desires like self-indulgence, greed, sexual impulses, and ambitions. That was the old person before Christ, but now we are to be obedient like the holy one who saved us. Mission Impossible is “You shall be holy for I (God) am holy”. We are to have the same character as the God we serve! The fallen unsaved world does its best to be good, but why? The world is trying to be civilized, to keep good order, safety, peace, prosperity, reputation, popularity, etc. But Christians are to be holy because we are to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, and to be good witnesses for the Lord. Is it really possible for us to be perfectly holy? That is certainly our standard and our goal, but it will not be fully realized until the resurrection. Yet now we are participating with the Holy Spirit in the process of spiritual growth or sanctification...

The Hope That is in You—The Letters of Peter

1 Peter has two uniting themes of hope and holiness as hallmarks of the reborn children of God. These themes of 1 Peter exhort us to live holy lives now because of the hope that is in us. Our hope is the desired expectancy of the return of Christ and our bodily resurrection unto eternal life with all its glorious rewards. Therefore we love one another, grow spiritually, submit to authority, defend the faith, serve the church, endure innocent suffering, exert a positive influence, and have joy even in the midst of adversity—all because of the hope that is in us.

Hope is the distinguishing feature of the Christian life. Hope is one of the three great virtues of the Christian’s response to a fallen world. Hope marks the Christian’s attitude toward the future, thus hope is in many ways equivalent to faith. The only difference is that faith involves trusting God now in the present, but hope is trusting God for the future. Hope expects and anticipates what God will do, and then causes the believer to live now based on the future promises of God.

The Body of the Letter

Peter was writing his first letter from Rome about 64 A.D. to a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles in Asia Minor. All the traditional church sources placed Peter in Rome about this time, and Peter alludes to Rome in 1 Peter 5:13. Peter called it Babylon, but everybody agrees that it was code for Rome. By 64 A.D. Nero was in power and was persecuting Christians, and church tradition tells us Nero had Peter crucified upside down not long after this, possibly in 66 A.D. Suffering is mentioned 20 times in this letter and future glory 10 times. Therefore the theme seems to be that Christians should persevere now, even though being persecuted because of their future hope of glory.

Innocent suffering was a revolutionary concept new to the world at that time. The idea that someone who was innocent would suffer without returning the insult or seeking revenge was foreign to the Greco/Roman world. Christ was the ultimate innocent sufferer, and Christians should feel a unity with Christ when they suffer innocently. The Jewish teaching at the time and still alive today in all religions was that adverse circumstances and suffering came because of specific sins, and was deserved. Nevertheless, in the New Testament God allows suffering for His purposes and our good. Suffering is seen as part of the Christians’ conflict with the world, an identification with the suffering Christ, and a means of developing Christian virtue and endurance. Peter told his audience in 1 Peter 4:13, “to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.”

Most biblical authors have a view based on the end times, and Peter is no different. He expected the end of the world and the return of Christ imminently. He expected it, hoped for it, and he knew our destiny to be with Christ in glory. Therefore he told his audience to live now based on what is coming—Jesus is coming back. Our hope determines our behavior, so our view of the future should motivate us to live godly lives now.

There are three main sections in 1 Peter: 1:1-2:10 reveals the destiny of all believers, and assures of the realities of salvation so that they might be comforted and encouraged now.

2:11-4:19 teaches the practical demonstration of the believer’s life as a good witness in the midst of sufferings, both in the relationships with the church and also the world.

5:1-14 gives the duties of the believers to feed the flock, submit to authority, and trust God in every difficult circumstance.

Greetings from Peter

The traditional greetings of a Greek letter can be found in 1 Peter1:1-2. Peter introduces himself as the author by saying that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for apostle means literally “a sent one” from Go...

James 2:14-26, Evaluate your Faith

During the Reformation in the 16th century, Martin Luther was against including the Letter of James in the Protestant Bible. He believed there was a conflict between James and the letters of Paul pertaining to the means of salvation. Luther called James an “epistle of straw”. In 1543 he wrote “I would give my doctor’s beret (they got a cool hat for getting a doctorate) to anyone who could reconcile James and Paul.” I doubt that I could convince Luther, but my task is to prove that Paul and James were not at odds over the means of salvation. Paul was primarily concerned with the acquisition of saving faith while James was primarily concerned with the demonstration of saving faith. In his letter, James presented a series of tests by which professing believers can evaluate the genuineness of their faith, then he let them be their own judge. We all know that it is likely that many people in the church today profess to be Christians without any real belief, knowledge, or commitment. They are Christians in the same sense they are Americans-by culture, tradition, and geography only. If they were arresting people for being Christians, there would be no evidence to convict them. The Bible makes it clear that when you truly believe in Jesus as your Savior, the Spirit of God begins to work a change in your life, and it is certain that in time you will undergo a change with the resultant fruit of that change. We are saved by the grace of God, which is the atoning work of Christ on the cross, and as a result our lives are changed and we do good works. It was the same for James’ audience and he wrote his letter to call them out.

James 2:14-26

In this controversial passage James begins a contrast between what a person says and what he does. I remember an old pastor once told me the joke—“The secret to being a really good minister is to be sincere all the time. Once you are able to fake that, you have it made!” Unfortunately that is all too true, but of course not in our churches (tongue in cheek). James lists three kinds of faith here in chapter 2. In verse 14, there is a dead, lifeless faith that says a lot of good things, but does nothing–that is just intellectual assent. By that I mean you believe in the reality of Jesus dying for your sins, but you really haven’t committed your life to that truth. That really is not a saving faith. That would be like saying you believe George Washington was the first President of the United States, but you are not committed to serving this country. Dead faith is characterized by empty confession, false compassion, and no commitment.

The second kind of faith James mentions in verse 18-19 is demonic faith, “You believe that God is one. Fine, but the demons also believe, and shudder.” Again that is just knowledge of something without a commitment to it, and in this case you can actually believe in the historical accuracy of Jesus, but by your actions oppose Him. Many professing Christians today actually oppose most of the core Christian beliefs like the resurrection, the inspiration of Scripture, and the deity of Christ. At least the demons “shudder” or tremble with the fear of God. These kinds of Christians don’t even fear God.

The third kind of faith that James discusses is a dynamic faith that is living and active and visible. True living faith has been tested and proven. It has resulted in a changed life, increased obedience to God’s Word, and some evidence of good works.

John Calvin explained it well when he said, “Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone.”

All of the characters in the Bible are great examples of this, so James uses two famous ones in the Old Testament to prove his point in verses 21-25. In Genesis 22, Abraham was commanded by God to take his only legitimate son Isaac out to Mt. Moriah and sacrifice him. When Abraham took Isaac out there, tied him up,

James 2:1-13  Partiality with Evil Motives

The theme of the book of James is about living out our faith, and being a doer of the Word, not just a hearer. In chapter one, James taught on our faithful response to trials and tribulation, our correct response to temptations, and our correct response to the precepts of the Word of God. Now in James 2:1-13, the author will deal with our treatment of people that are less fortunate than ourselves. In the first century Roman Empire, as well as now, there was social disconnect between rich and poor, slaves and free, and other factions in the church. James will rebuke his audience for their materialistic and nationalistic view toward others. The first century church was much more severe in these areas than even we are today. Almost one half of the Roman Empire were slaves, so it is likely that almost half the members of the churches would have been slaves. Can you imagine slave owners sitting in church with slaves as their equal? In the first century when this was written, there was no such thing as women’s rights, or any kind of individual rights unless you were a male Roman citizen of the Patrician class. Rome was a republic, but women and slaves were not allowed to vote. Plebeians, the poor lower class had no legal rights under the law. Therefore, there was tremendous discrimination by gender, class, and nationality. Nevertheless, the Apostles taught the New Covenant ushered in by Jesus Christ and wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal.3:28). This meant that spiritually, and in the church, God recognized none of these differences. The only thing God recognizes is whether a person believes in Jesus as their Savior. Of course God alone knows what is in a person’s heart, whether they truly believe or not, and that is how He judges them. Even in the Old Testament God told Samuel, “Do not look at the outward appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.” (1 Sam.16:7) In the New Testament in Matthew 11:11, Jesus said “Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist”. That’s amazing because John was a lonely character like Elijah who owned nothing, lived in the wilderness, and ate locusts and wild honey. Do you think Jesus was looking at John’s bank account or John’s heart? Nevertheless, you have to wonder if this guy showed up at your church looking like a street person if he would be welcomed.

One of my favorite stories is about a young man from Boston who applied for a position with a Chicago bank. Naturally his references were from Boston, so the bank contacted them. They replied, “He has an excellent family background, his father is a Saltonstall, and his mother is a Thurston and a cousin of the Rockefellers. His family tree can be traced back to nobility in England.” The bank wrote back, “We do not need the young man for breeding purposes, just work!”

Correct and Proper Partiality and Discrimination

At this point I think it is valuable to point out what the author James is NOT talking about here in this passage. It is absolutely necessary to discriminate and judge people in certain situations. For instance, you want your children to be friends with kids who are good influences and will not lead them astray. If a teenager with a Mohawk and a van with a mattress in back shows up to take your daughter out, then by all means discriminate! In business be partial in choosing to deal with those with integrity. Avoid the dishonest and deceptive people, and if John Dillinger shows up at your church—call the police! James 2:1-13, is saying don’t be a judge with evil motives or selfish reasons. Instead of being partial to the rich in money, be partial to those rich in faith.

James 1:13-18, The devil made me do it, or did he?

An interesting bit of biblical trivia is that when we see our English translation in the Bible of “testing” (James 1:3), or of “tempting” (James 1:13), the original Greek used the same Greek word for both testing and tempting—peirasmos. The context determines which sense is meant and how it should be translated. Clearly, in James 1:3, the author is referring to tests of faith by the trials of life, but in James 1:13, he is speaking of solicitations to evil. You could compare the testing to external difficulties, and the temptations to internal appeals to our natural desires. If we are not careful, the testing on the outside may become temptations on the inside as we are tempted to develop evil solutions to problems that are testing us. An example of this that we are all aware of is marital infidelity. If our marriage has problems because of various issues that we are not properly dealing with, we may be tempted to hook up with an attractive member of the opposite sex. James made the point that the natural thing to do is deny personal responsibility, and blame it on your spouse, or to even say, “Why did God make me like this- susceptible to temptations?”, or like the comedian yells, “The devil made me do it!”. All of these are attempts to deflect responsibility, just as the human race has been doing from the beginning. When God asked Adam if he had disobeyed and eaten the fruit, Adam said, “The woman whom YOU gave me, she gave it to me.” My personal favorite is Aaron in Exodus 32:24, when he took up the gold collection to make the idol of the golden calf. When Moses questioned him, he said it was not his fault, “They gave me the gold, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf!” Nevertheless, James established in his epistle that when we are tempted to evil, we cannot blame our failures on anyone but ourselves. If we fall to temptation, it is because of our own lust, and we especially can’t blame it on God because God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”

1 Corinthians 10:13

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he also makes it clear that God does not tempt anyone to evil, but even sovereignly places limits upon the extent of our testing/temptations. Many of us have memorized this passage because it gives us such comfort and assurance that we can overcome the trials and temptations in life. Paul wrote, “No temptation (or test) has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (test) will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.” Therefore we can be assured that whatever test or temptation that comes our way, God will enable us to endure it and overcome it if we entrust it to Him.

Four Proofs that God is not Responsible for Evil

In James 1:13-18, the author gives four proofs that God does not tempt anyone to evil. In v.13, God has no vulnerability to evil nor could He lead anyone else astray. Mankind, on the other hand, is by nature full of desires which can carry them away when the opportunity presents itself. In v.14, James says this happens when we are “carried away” or drawn away. The Greek phrase used here means to bait a trap. No fish bites an empty hook, there is always bait that appeals to our inner desires. In Genesis 13:10, when Lot had to decide between going east to Sodom or west to Canaan, his desire for land and wealth could only see the “green plains of Jordan”. That turned out to be a fatal decision for his family. The third proof concerns the nature of lust. In James 1:15, lust is depicted as a mother conceiving and bearing a child, which is sin, whose ultimate destiny is death (separation from God). This is an excellent image because desire is not necessarily wrong, just as eating, drinking, sex, and money are not wrong; but when lust hooks up with thes...

James 1—Consider It All Joy

The Letter of James in the New Testament was written by the half brother of Jesus between 45 and 49 AD. James was the head elder in the predominately Jewish Church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:17,15:13). He was writing to Jewish believers who had fled persecution in Jerusalem, and were scattered in different locations throughout the area. The letter is concerned with the practical aspects of living the spiritual life in Christ. The emphasis is on how our faith should be revealed in everyday life. In chapter one, James discusses three tests of the believer’s faith. First, the faithful response to trouble is a joyful response that somehow you will be able to endure the trouble, and something positive will result. Secondly, in 1:13-18, the faithful response to temptations to evil is to take full personal responsibility for any wicked desires, and come to God in humility and contrition seeking a transformation of your heart from God. And thirdly in verse 19-27, by faith we should be doers of the Word of God and not just a hearer.

Rejoice in Your Trials and Tribulations?

If you are like me, this is easier said than done. We typically spend a lot of time asking unanswerable questions, like—Why me? What have I done to deserve this? This is someone else’s fault! How can anything good come out of this horrible situation? In order to turn trials into triumphs, we must obey four imperatives given in James 1:2-12:

In v.2 James commands us to “consider” or evaluate what God is doing in our life. Everything worldly that had been important should now take a secondary priority to our relationship with Christ. We need to evaluate the situation from a spiritual perspective. Don’t forget the grace of God that has saved you from your sins and has given you a guarantee of eternal life with Christ, and don’t forget that God loves you and has a plan for you. God will be active working with you to endure the trial.

In v.3, James says to “Know” that this is a test of your faith, because throughout the Bible all faith is tested. Every biblical character had his/her faith tested and proven. The test proves our commitment, and gives assurance that God is with us—not to get us out of trouble, but to help us endure and grow in spite of the trouble.

In v.4, James says to “let endurance have its perfect result” that you will grow and mature so that you lack nothing spiritually. The idea of “let” is to yield your will. God wants to work in us and through us in those tough situations, but God will not work through us without our consent. There must be a surrendered will.

Lastly, in verse 5-8, we must “ask’’ God for guidance and wisdom, and know that God has promised to give it. Wisdom from God is necessary to apply the Word of God that we already know. James correctly qualifies our prayers to God for help and wisdom in adverse circumstances by saying we must ask in faith without doubting, and truly expect answers. The danger is typical of human nature that our emotions carry us back and forth from belief to doubt like “the surf of the sea” flowing in and out. We are typically “double-minded” or divided in our faith in the sense that we pray to God, but then we try any short cut of our own evil devices to get what we think we need. In the prophet Hosea’s message to Israel, he related how they were praying to God to save them from Assyria, but also they sent ambassadors to the evil pagan idolaters in Egypt to help them against Assyria. God is not fooled.

The Sovereign God’s Purpose in Trials

I believe in the sovereignty of God, and I believe that “God causes all things to work together for good”, but what good could possibly come out of these adverse circumstances? Why would God allow this stuff to happen to me? I can think of at least eight reasons, and this is by no means an exhaustive list so please add to it:

* To test our faith, reveal it,

Mark 10:32-52   The Trek of the Befuddled

Earlier in Mark 8:31 and 9:31, Jesus had taught the disciples about the necessity of the upcoming Passion Week when he would be arrested, crucified, and then resurrected. The first time, Peter argued with Him and Jesus sharply rebuked him. The second time we read that “they did not understand this statement but they were afraid to ask”. Naturally they did not want to lose their leader whom they dearly loved and depended on. Peter even asked in 10:28 what they were going to get out of leaving their family and business to follow Jesus, assuming that if Jesus died there would be nothing. Now in Mark 10:32-34, Jesus tells them a third time as they walk toward Jerusalem, but this time we see the fear the disciples have of going there. The last three times they were there the religious leaders tried to kill them, and the disciples know that this time they would be successful. In Mark 10:32, we can see their reluctance since Jesus is walking way ahead of them. They are practically moon walking in an attempt to slow down the inevitable. Therefore Jesus “took the twelve aside” to tell them what was going to happen. Jesus gave many more details this time that make it sound even worse such as betrayal to the priests, condemned to death by the priests, then handed over to the Gentiles who will mock Him, spit on Him, scourge, and kill Him. Three days later He would rise again. Even more perplexing to us is that Jesus knows all this, so He is directing His own destiny. The disciples (and us) are not used to people purposefully walking into torture and a death sentence. In fact, as Jesus draws nearer to His destiny the disciples go farther away from understanding.

Liberal theologians and historians claim that Jesus was a Hebrew philosopher and revolutionary who inadvertently walked into a trap in Jerusalem and randomly was killed. Others think Jesus entertained delusions of grandeur, but miscalculated the opposition. Baloney, Jesus being omniscient knew exactly what was going to happen, and He willfully gave Himself up to accomplish God’s plan of redemption for mankind. That Jesus knowing all these details further reveals His deity. The law of compounded probability (I made that up) says that for any prediction of the future, specific multiple details make it infinitely impossible to predict. For instance, to say you were going to die on this trip might have a 50% probability. But if you add details like who is going to arrest you, who they will deliver you to (Chief priests), that you will be mocked, scourged and killed by Gentiles, then three days later rise again, that has almost an infinite probability against it. The disciples totally did not get with the program of the cross as evidenced by the action of James and John in v.35.

Mark 10:35-45, Selfish Ambition

While Jesus is teaching on the suffering of the Passion Week, the disciples demonstrate their lack of understanding of the necessity of the crucifixion. They are not expecting the death and resurrection, but they are expecting the imminent setting up of the Kingdom of God. Jesus has already promised them they will reign and rule with Him in the Kingdom, so let’s get this show on the road. We see periodically in the four Gospel accounts the arguing among them about who will be the greatest in the Kingdom (Mark 9:34), and they were no doubt jockeying for position like ruthless executives in a Fortune 500 corporation. Naturally we are shocked, and expected the very chosen disciples of Christ to be better than that, but human nature is complex. These wonderful faithful disciples were acting like brazen fortune hunters as if this were a competition. Even at the Last Supper, right before Jesus’ arrest, they were still arguing over who was the greatest and who deserved the highest position in the Kingdom of God (Luke 22:24). John and James now come to Jesus to ask the favor that in the Kingdom they will sit in the place...

Mark 10:17-27  Tthe Rich Young Ruler

In Mark 10:13-16, people were bringing their little children to Jesus so that He might touch them and bless them, but His disciples rebuked them and told them to go away. When Jesus saw this He admonished His disciples and ordered them to bring the little children to Him, and Jesus reminded them that “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”. I’m sure the disciples were initially confused by that statement, so Jesus explained Himself that, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter at all”. If you believe that you are saved by your own good works, then you may not understand Jesus either. Yet knowing that we can only be saved by faith in the grace of God, we should understand His meaning—in order to be saved we must have childlike faith in Christ. A very young child cannot possibly have done good works or even obeyed the law in order to be saved, but their childlike faith in Jesus made for an excellent visual example of the type of complete trust and faith God expects us to have. Children have no clout, no rights, and no power to repay, yet Jesus blessed them, and acknowledged their salvation. Next, in the story of the rich young ruler, we will see that the well to-do man who claimed to obey the law will go away grieved because He proves that he has no faith other than faith in his “property”. As usual Jesus shocks His disciples by revealing that the rich man who they thought was saved is doomed while the little “rug rats” in the street were saved.

What Must I DO?

Before Jesus and His disciples could leave for their next journey, a man that we later learn is rich and respected ran up to Jesus and knelt before Him, indicating respect for Jesus as a man of God. The man asks Jesus an important question that reveals his wrong view of the means of salvation, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” I am certain that if Jesus said to give money, or feed the poor, or had given him a list of works to accomplish, he would have done it. I believe He was sincere, but sincerely wrong in his presumptions. The first thing Jesus did was to rebuke his idle flattery by saying “No one is good except God alone”. Jesus was rebuking the man’s inadequate view of the word “good”. In the theological realm, good must be defined in relation to God, so it is defined in an absolute sense, and not a relative sense. People may be relatively good or bad in relation to each other, but only God is absolutely perfectly good.

The Set-Up, Mark 10:19-21

Jesus knew this man’s problem. Being omniscient and knowing the man’s heart, Jesus knows the man’s idol is money (property). Therefore Jesus set him up to indict himself. Jesus quoted the commands that the man thinks he keeps in a religious sense, but which command did Jesus purposefully leave out? The first and most important command is Exodus 20:3 saying, “You shall have no other gods before Me”. Nevertheless, Jesus threw the softball commands out there that everyone thinks they can keep, “Don’t murder, don’t lie, don’t steal, and honor your parents”. This provokes the rich man to jump all over Jesus’ statement saying, “I have kept all these from my youth”. In excited triumph the man walks into the trap exclaiming, “High five, super, I’ve done all that, and I’m a good person”. I think the guy was suffering from self deception derived from his worldly success, but deep down he knew there was something lacking or else he never would have approached Jesus. Jesus looked at him and felt a love for him, which governs the interpretation of this story. Jesus surely loved Him and what Jesus said to him next was said out of love. Jesus then told the man just what he needed to hear—the truth. Love challenges him with the painful truth for his own good. This man needed radical surgery to save his life. In verse 21 Jesus told him what he lacked, and in doing so He was explaining the first commandment agains...