Mark 12:28-34 Is Love the Answer?

Mark 12:34  "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

A teacher of the law asked Jesus to identify the most important commandment in the Bible. Jesus gave the standard, orthodox answer. Quoting from the Old Testament he responded: God is one; love God and secondly love your neighbor. The teacher was pleased with Jesus' answer. He repeated what Jesus said and added his own commentary saying that such love was "more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." (verse 33)

Perhaps, the teacher of the law was pleased with himself. He had gotten Jesus to say something that the teachers of the law would accept as orthodox. It was as if the teacher had asked a pupil a question and gotten the correct answer from his student. The teacher affirmed the pupil and gave a little commentary in addition. His added commentary was described by the Gospel writer as "wise." Then came the zinger. Jesus gave the last word and ended the encounter in such a way that this teacher and no one else "dared ask him any more questions." (verse 34)

Jesus said to the teacher who had answered wisely, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." To say that one is not far is to say that one has not reached. The teacher had elicited from Jesus the orthodox statement of the most important commandment in the Bible. What more could be said? If one knows and fulfills the law what could be left to do? The teacher apparently knew what was the most important commandment, but he was still short of the kingdom of God.

Earlier in this same chapter of Mark Jesus had stumped the Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees as they attempted to catch him in an error of biblical interpretation. Later in the chapter we read the account of Jesus warning his disciples to beware of such teachers and leaders who make a show of wisdom and spirituality but are not to be trusted. They are predators who will receive God's severest punishment. Jesus taught them that a poor widow who gives a fraction of a penny honors God more than such religious leaders. (see 12:44)

Christians do not want to preach the "Great Commandment" as an achievement to attain. We do not want to make love of God a right answer in our list of orthodox beliefs. The Gospel brings us into a relationship with God through faith in Christ, This relationship cannot be reduced to law. We enter the kingdom of God when we receive the call of God in the grace which comes to us through proclamation of the cross and resurrection. We come to love God because God first loved us; we love others as ourselves when the Spirit produces a supernatural compassion within our hearts which we cannot produce in our own strength. To proclaim love as a law--even as the greatest law--will put us "not far from the kingdom."

Mark 10:46-52 Healing Faith

Mark 10:52    “Your faith has healed you.”

Some of the dearest, most faithful Christians I have known died prematurely. I know they were people of faith who prayed. I know that many, many fellow believers prayed for them. Yet, they were not healed in the way we wanted. Healing faith is not a possession that we can claim for our own. Healing comes as the providence of God orders, and such healing always has a purpose in addition to the relief from suffering. All true faith rests in God’s purposes whether the end is physical healing or not. True faith is the faith that brings reconciliation and discipleship. True faith prays with Jesus under the shadow of the cross, “Thy will be done.”

Bartimaeus was in the right place at the right time. Jesus passed by the intersection where he was sitting. It could have happened that Jesus went in a different direction or that Jesus passed by when Bartimaeus was not present. The encounter between Bartimaeus and Jesus was a gift. It was not a right or the end of good planning, and it was not chance either. In God’s providence it was meant to be.

Bartimaeus cried for mercy. He did not ask for fairness or justice. Others, perhaps, needed and deserved healing more than he. Apparently, many in the crowd thought that he was undeserving of the attention of Jesus, and they attempted to make him stop his shouting for help. He persevered. He did believe that Jesus could help him. He had faith.

Bartimaeus received the call of Jesus. How joy must have filled his heart when he heard the people say to him, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” (Verse 49) It is never within the power of a person to have all that faith requires; faith moves forward only when Jesus calls.

Bartimaeus was asked what he wanted. Surprisingly, some people do not actually want what Jesus offers. (John 5:6) Even some who saw the miracles of Jesus and received the witness of the resurrection turned away from the gift of faith. Bartimaeus asked and received his vision. Jesus said, “Your faith has healed you.” However, it was not just the faith of that moment, but it was the faith that included all the elements that had put Bartimaeus in the place of his encounter with Jesus and the purposes that were fulfilled as Bartimaeus lived forward with his sight.

Bartimaeus did not return to his former place where he had sat begging; instead, the text tells us that “he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.” (Verse 52) The healing of blind Bartimaeus resulted in his discipleship.The faith healing of Bartimaeus was not for the relief of suffering alone. The greater mission of Jesus was reconciliation with God, the forgiveness of sin. Healing faith was a witness to that greater purpose. (See the account of healing in Mark 2;1-12) 

Healing faith is not up to us. Paul the Apostle prayed to be healed from his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7) but was not. The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane was answered in a way that seemed to be a resounding “no” from God. Our prayers for healing may be answered in ways that seem to be a “no” from God as well. Faith trusts that God’s purposes are greater than our sickness or heart break or disability or even death. In our weakness God’s strength is made evident, and beyond our cross there is the promise of resurrection.

Mark 10:35-45 Holy Ambition

Mark 10:43  “. . . whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant.”

Two kinds of ambition appear in this passage from Mark. One kind of ambition is holy; the word holy means separate. Holy ambition takes a different path through life than the typical ambition that we celebrate in sports and business and other competitive endeavors. Both kinds of ambition have their place. Jesus occasionally pointed to the typical kind of ambition as a picture of worldly cunning. However, Jesus called his disciples to follow holy ambition if they wanted to be great in his kingdom. (Verse 43)

How like God in his grace to create holy ambition, a path to greatness, which comes to a person not by being the most gifted or hardest working or luckiest. In God’s kingdom everyone has the potential to be first regardless of their talent, opportunity, education, hard work or luck. The path to greatness is open to all. 

Worldly ambition creates stress and often makes people angry with each other. (verse 41) Holy ambition is graceful, at peace and patient. There is no pushing or struggling to be last in line, and when one least expects it, one discovers that God has chosen to give his rewards beginning at the back of the line. (See the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Matthew 20). 

Jesus himself is the model of holy ambition. He told his disciples, “. . . the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (verse 43) The early believers sang a hymn about Jesus which Paul placed in his letter to the church at Philippi.

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be

used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing;

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Mark 10:17-31 The Measure of Goodness

Mark 10:18  “Why do you call me good?”

What does it mean to be good? The conventional and cultural definition of good is easy to identify. Judging by popular news broadcasts, movies, television and novels, today's conventional standard for goodness is tied to one’s care for the poor and one’s absolute rejection of any whiff of bigotry. Entertainers and other opinion makers eschew the earlier standards that popular culture elevated: chastity, temperance, hard work, even truth telling. Along with modesty these old standards seldom get much support on the athletic field or in the movie theater or the nightly news. Today, if one is egalitarian and one helps the poor then one has met the basic definition of good.  

Today, as in the first century, one would find it difficult to enlist Jesus in support of a definition of the good. Jesus refused to be called good. (verse 18) Unlike today, conventional goodness in the first century was defined by the Ten Commandments as interpreted and applied by religious leaders. However, that standard did not meet the definition of Jesus for goodness. It didn’t work in the first century, and it didn’t work fifty years ago, and it doesn’t work now. Yet, the current standard of goodness in America doesn’t work either. These standards do not put us right with God because they are misused. Like the young man in Mark chapter ten the standards--ancient or modern--are most often used to justify one’s behavior. “I must be good because I have kept the Ten Commandments,” or “I must be good because I am not prejudiced,” and “I must be good because I volunteer in my local homeless shelter.”

When the earnest young man came to Jesus with his desire for affirmation he was disappointed. Although Jesus looked upon this inquirer with love (verse 21) Jesus refused to give his blessing to conventional goodness. Jesus simply raised the standard to a level that the man could not reach. (verse 21) It is amusing that current opinion makers will quote this passage to support their idea that service to the poor is the best, the most Christian definition of goodness. However, none of those would-be-ethicists do what Jesus said: sell everything, give to the poor and follow him. Today, just as in the first century people cannot and will not meet this standard of goodness. Even the disciples of Jesus, who had left everything to follow Jesus, despaired in face of this standard. They asked, “Who then can be saved?” (verse 26)

“No one is good--except God alone.” (verse 18) What good we do by any definition of goodness that we propose is never enough to justify ourselves before God. The message of the gospel is God’s mercy which has come to us in person in Jesus, God’s very presence among us. He died and was raised from the dead to give us eternal life, not because we are good but because God alone is good, and God loves us and is merciful to all who call upon him. To seek goodness on our own merit or without reference to God is to go away from the one place where goodness exists. What the world puts first--in the ancient world and today--God puts last. (verse 31)

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Grandchildren. Our youngest grandson will be baptized at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville Sunday October 4, 2015. He is ten weeks old. Last night Judy and I took care of him while his parents went out for a couple of hours. He was awake most of the time. He smiled a lot, especially when Sweetie Pie and Mr. Happy huddled around him and gave him kisses, but he also delighted his grandmother with a series of big smiles just for her. I'm still waiting for the youngest grandchild's nickname to emerge. Mr. Happy has called him "Squeaker," and "Floppy." Neither of those names will be allowed to stick. In due time, something just right will emerge.