Certificate of divorce - Mark 10:4
In Deut. 24:1-4 Moses allowed a husband to divorce his wife with the use of a
certificate of divorce. Hard hearts - Mark 10:5-9
Jesus affirmed that divorce was not God's intention. God allowed it, not because it was his first choice for marriages, but because of the
hard hearts of His people. Jesus did not answer the Pharisees by quoting their traditions. Instead he referred back to the
beginning in Gen. 1:27 and 2:24. God's intention when He created Adam and Eve was for the permanent union of one
male and one
female.Sexual immorality - Mark 10:10-11
Mark did not include the additional explanation that was included by Matthew (5:32; 19:9). Matthew reported Jesus' words, "except for sexual immorality". (In 1 Cor. 7:15 Paul added an exception for desertion.) Mark probably did not mention these exceptions to the prohibition of divorce because of the immediate context. The Jewish leaders challenged Jesus. All of those leaders believed that divorce was permissible for
adultery. That was not being debated at all. It required no comment at that moment.
Children and the Kingdom of God - Mark 10:13
Probably the parents brought their
little children to Jesus. Mark used the same Greek word for
little children here as he did in 9:36. Luke (18:15) used a more specific word saying that these little children were "infants."
Jesus was very displeased - Mark 10:14
When Mark reported that Jesus
was very displeased he used a very strong word to indicate Jesus' displeasure.
As a little child - Mark 10:15-16
Jesus insisted that the only way to
receive the kingdom of God was to receive it with the same mindset as a little child. We are all God's children and therefore should embrace the wonder and amazement for God's creation that is embodied by children. Then Jesus, God's messianic King,
blessed them.
What must I do to inherit eternal life? - Mark 10:17-31
This paragraph makes the same point as the preceding one. Entering the kingdom of God is a gift. The preceding paragraph said it is given to a helpless child. This paragraph says that it cannot be bought by the rich man.
Young ruler - Mark 10:17
Matthew (19:22) called the man a young
man. Luke (18:18) added that he was a
ruler of some kind, probably a ruler in the synagogue. It would have been unusual for a young man to be a ruler. That probably indicates that he had either prominent family connections or extraordinary personal giftedness. The fact that he was looking for something to
do revealed his view of religion. For him it was something people had to do to earn God's blessing.
No one is good - Mark 10:18
Jesus' words
No one is good are the central point of this story. No matter how good this man might have been, he wasn't good enough. In fact, he wasn't really good at all; and neither was anyone else. See
BC 26.
Jesus directed him - Mark 10:19
Jesus directed him to the ten
commandments. See Exod. 20: 12-16.
Jesus loved this man. - Mark 10:21
Jesus
loved this man. There was a special connection between Jesus and this young man who had run to him and knelt down before him (10:17) searching for the way to fill an emptiness in his life. The
one thing the man lacked was a willingness to let go of everything he used to fill up his emptiness and follow Jesus. Neither riches nor keeping the law could ever earn him the kingdom. The demand to
sell whatever he had did not mean that all followers of Jesus must give up all their possessions. It means that loving God above the things we treasure the most is the greatest commandment (Matt. 22:37, 38).
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