One Thing You Lack

Mark 10:21
Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-5
⁴Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

 

Philippians 3:6
I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

 

Matthew 5:20-22a
²⁰But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! ²¹You have heard that our ancestors were told, “You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.” ²²But I say…….

 

1 John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.

 

What feels like the sacrifice of possessions may be the slaying of an idol.

 

Exodus 20:1-4
¹ Then God gave the people all these instructions:
²“I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. ³You must not have any other god but me. ⁴You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. ⁵You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.”

 

Galatians 3:24
Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.

 

Romans 7:7
……it was the law that showed me my sin.

 

Mark 10:22
At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

 

Freedom from idolatry is proven by sacrificial living. 

 

Mark 8:34-37
³⁴Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. ³⁵If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. ³⁶And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? ³⁷Is anything worth more than your soul?”

 

One Thing You Lack: Why Isn’t Good Good-Enough?

The Life-Setting of Mark’s Gospel

Crisis: A.D. 64 Rome Burned. Christians were blamed.

Christians were not suspect, but they were not understood.

Daily life became very precarious for the Christians throughout Italy.

Mark writes his gospel with Peter’s influence between A.D. 65-70 

First, Nero had self-acknowledged Christians arrested then through investigation, large numbers of others were condemned……Their deaths were made farcical. Dressed in wild animal skins they were tore apart by dogs, or crucified, or made into torches to be ignited after dark as substitutes for daylight. Nero’s personal gardens were often used for the spectacle. Despite their guilt as Christians….they were pitied.   

- Tacitus; Annals 15

If Christians were to be strengthened and the gospel effectively proclaimed it would be necessary to exhibit the similarity of situation faced by Jesus and the Christians of Rome. The Gospel of Mark is a pastoral response to this critical demand. 

- W. L. Lane; Mark

The Context of Mark 10

Jesus has left the familiar territory of the Galilee to move into more hostile territory nearer to Jerusalem.

Some Pharisees come to trap him with a question.

He deals with the Pharisees then later reemphasizes his teaching with the disciples.

Children come to Jesus for a blessing.

The disciples are annoyed. Jesus is indignant with their response.

Children actually demonstrate for us how to enter the kingdom of heaven. 

A humble and sincere determination is an approved approach to God.

Mark 10:17 

¹⁷As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Luke 18:1-6

¹ One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ²“There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. ³A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ ⁴The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, ⁵but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” ⁶ Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge."

Matthew 10:18

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good."

Micah 6: 6-8

⁶What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? ⁷ Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?  Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? ⁸ No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

If only God is good, how can I ever be good enough?

Mark 10:19

But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’”

Mark 10:20

“Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

Application in preparation for next week

Put yourself in the story.

What would your response be?

If you know right from wrong, does your obedient behavior stem from a devoted heart?  Or heartless obedience?