Mark 10:13-31

Oh, to be a kid again!
Mark 10:13-31

If you are reading this, I can assume that you are an adult with a “big” brain.  Why then, with all our obvious accumulated knowledge, would Jesus tell us that we need to become like a kid to get into Heaven?  Does He want us to regress in some way?

God calls us to become childlike in our faith — not immature, but accepting.  Children easily accept the impossible as fact because they lack any “reference” in their mind that tells them that something is impossible.  As adults, we have experienced many things that lead us to certain conclusions about what is possible and what is not.  We think we know it all and in doing so, we put God in a box.  God becomes defined and limited in what He can do for us, and we become self-reliant as a result.

The example in Mark is of a man who called Jesus “Good” (a term reserved for God only), and claimed that he had obeyed the 10 commandments since his youth.  Jesus “loved” this man (had compassion for him) and asked him to go sell all he had and follow Him.  The man went away sad, for he was rich.  Jesus then went on to say that it is impossible for rich men to get into heaven.  It would be like fitting a camel through the eye of a needle.

Impossible?  Jesus really said “hard,” but really now, can you fit a camel through the eye of a needle?  Go ahead, try it.  I’ll wait…  OK, you probably already know that, having seen the size of a camel and a needle, you might automatically conclude that this task would be impossible.  So there! — that’s the end of it — it’s impossible.  Where does Jesus get off saying that it’s merely “hard?”

The answer is found in verse 27b:  “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”  Jesus was not saying that rich people don’t go to heaven, but rather, he was illustrating that wealth generally leads to self-reliance.  Rich people generally do not need the kind of trust in God that a poor person needs in order to survive.  How can you have faith that God will take care of you when you are already taking care of yourself?  Yet we are called by God to trust Him and have faith in Him and to obey Him.  Wealth often gets in the way, as does our “knowledge” of what is possible and what is not.

If you are not tied down by your possessions, and God is first in your life, congratulations!, you are obedient to God and He loves you for it (He loves you anyway).  This does not mean that life on this earth will be pleasant for you however.  Jesus does warn us that our faith may lead to persecution, but He also states that our eventual reward will be eternity in heaven.  Isn’t that worth much more than earthly possessions?  Jesus also did the impossible by dying on a cross for us.  There was no way we were getting to heaven on our own, but through Jesus, it is now possible.  Praise God for that!  That was the other message contained in Mark 27b.  Jesus died for us so we could spend eternity with Him!

If you ask a two year old if a camel can go through the eye of a needle, they’ll probably say, “sure, why not.”  Why then wouldn’t we?

By the way – A line in a song really caught my attention this morning as I was driving to work about a millionaire who lost all his wealth, became homeless and now lives on $1.50 a week, and decided that he was better off for it.  The song is called “Don’t worry” by Rebecca St. James.  I love it when God sends me a clear message.  I think I’ll look at my own priorities today.