Mark 10

Mark 10:1-12

In this chapter we have, 1. Christ’s dispute with the Pharisees concerning divorce, ver. 1—12. 2. The head entertainment be gave to the little children that were brought to him to be blessed, ver. 13—16. 3. His trial of the rich man that required what he must do to get to heaven, ver. 17—22. 4. His discourse with his disciples upon that occasion concerning the peril of riches, ver. 23—27. and the advantage of being unprovoked for his sake, ver. 28—31. 5. The repeated notice be gave his disciples of his sufferings and death approaching, ver. 32—34. 6. The counsel be gave to James and John, to think of suffering with him, rather than of reigning with him, ver. 35—45. 7. The care of Bortomani, a poor blind man, ver. 46—52. All tabular passages of glory we had the substance of before, Matt. xix. and xx.

1. AND ’ he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judea, by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again. 2. And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. 3. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? 4. And they said, ’ Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. 5. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hundreds of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6. But from the beginning of the creation, ’ God made them male and female. 7. For this cause ’ shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 8. And ’ they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 9. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 10. And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. 11. And he saith unto them, ’ Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. 12. And

2. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, the committee’s adultery.

Wherever our Lord journeys, we find him employed in the blessed work of preaching the word, to teach us to be instant in season and out of season. Mutilus, the man who is not to be a man, and some with a malignant purpose to entangle him in his talk, and raise some matter of accusation against him. Of this number were the Pharises, who, by an enforcing question concerning divorce, endeavoured to lead him into a dilemma, either of contradicting Moses, or being exposed to the censure of a man of loose morals. He asked them what Moses had commanded? They answered, that in many cases he had permitted divorce. Our Lord replies, that it was no more than a permission, granted merely because of the hundreds of their hearts and their cruel dispositions, as a law of the state to prevent worse consequences; but at the beginning it was not so: the very creation of one man and one woman, and but one, intimated the inseparable union between them; the setting the law of marriage, Gen. ii. 24. declared it, since, for the sake of this relation, a man must quit even the dearest ties of nature, and prefer his wife to father and mother: and the connection arising from the marriage-bond is so close, that, as Adam and Eve were one flesh, her body being formed from his, so much every husband and wife reckon themselves as no more than, but one flesh. Whom God therefore hath thus indissolutely joined together, it would be the highest presumption in man to separate.

The disciples, who had been used, according to the generally received opinion among the Jews, to think divorces lawful, desired in private farther information on this point. And our Lord informs them there was but one lawful cause for divorce; and, except in the case of adultery, whatever man or woman doomed their partner, and married again, would themselves be adulterers, and exposed the injured party to the like crime. Note, it becomes us first well to weigh the case before we take a companion for our lives: when once the choice is made, mutual kindness and forbearance, and desire to please, should every day endorse the relation, and remove whatever might occasion a wish of it.

13. ¶ And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them; and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14. But when Jesus law it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15. Verily I say unto you, Whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 16. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Mark 10:13-16

Christ Jesus hath a tenderness for the lambs of his flock: he doth not refuse the request of those pious parents who perform their babes to him before they can lize his praises. The disciples here indeed opposed their application; but Jesus encouraged it, took up the infants in his arms, laid his hands upon them, and blessed them. And, if they were capable of receiving the spiritual blessings of his kingdom, what should hinder their being admitted by baptism into the visible communion of his church? Of such he declares the kingdom of God confided, as well as of grown persons, who in humility, trachableness, and dependence upon their father’s care, must become as little children; without which they never can partake of the privileges of this kingdom. Lord gave me then this spirit of a child, that I may be enabled to cry, Abba, Father!

17. ¶ And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18. And Jesus said unto him, Why calleth thou me good? There is none good, but one, that is God. 19. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all those have I observed from my youth. 21. Then Jesus, beholting him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou had, and give to the poor; and thou duld have treafor in heaven; and come, take up thy cross, and follow me. 22. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. 23. ¶ And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God? 24. And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again, and saith unto them,

Children, how hard is it for them that craft in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! 25. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? 27. And Jesus, looking upon them, saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. 28. ¶ Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. 29. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel’s, 30. But he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life. 31. But many that are first, shall be last: and the last, first.

Mark 10:17-31

We have here,

1. The young ruler’s application to Christ, and sorrowful departure from him; which we considered, Adm. xxx. 16. His address was most respectful, and his question infinitely important; eternal life being our great concern, and to favour that the one thing needful: and, where the value of an immortal soul is lost, we cannot but be ludicrous in our applications to Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Our Lord perceived the same under which he laboured, and, rebuking him for giving the title of good to any person whom he regarded as a mere man, desired to discover to him the insufficiency of his own righteousness, and his inability to keep that law, by a perfect obedience to which eternal life alone could be secured: and in the precepts of the second table our Lord sets before him the path of duty. Ignorant of the spiritual extent of the commandments, he conceives he may venture to say he hath kept all these from his youth, because he hath escaped the grosser violations of them. So apt are we to flatter ourselves in our own eyes that we are righteous, when indeed it is our ignorance that hides from us our sinfulness. Something amiable in him attracted the regards of Jesus, and, looking upon him with compassion, he would fain humble those high thoughts of himself which he had entertained: and, to bring him to the left, he bids him give one proof of his obedience and charity, by setting all his possessions, distributing them to the poor, trusting on the promise of a more enduring substance in heaven, and then let him take up his cross and follow a suffering saviour; and this would infallibly bring him to the eternal life he fought. But, alas! these were too hard sayings for so rich a man to comply with: he went away forcibly chagrined at the proposal; and, if such was the only alternative, he rather chose to part with eternal life than his great possessions. Note, (1.) The only proper use of worldly wealth is to do good with it. Though we may not be commanded to sell all literally, we must remember we are really no more than stewards, and that a solemn account will shortly be required concerning every person we have possessed. (2.) Great riches often prove a great fount. How many by these have lost eternal life? (3.) A man may be possessed of a thousand amiable qualities, and yet be utterly destitute of true grace.

2. Christ observes, to the astonishment of the disciples, the difficulty of their salvation who have the abundance of this world, and whose hearts, in consequence thereof, are engaged to craft on their riches: and when, by the impracticability of a camel’s going through a needle’s eye, he intimated the immense obstructions there were in the way of a rich man’s salvation, the disciples, above measure astonished, concluded the impudibility of any man’s being saved, since such as were not rich in general wished to be so, and they were conscious to themselves how much their own hearts were set on temporal grandeur. Jesus, looking with compassion upon them, to relieve in some measure their anxiety, but then confeder that, though such a change of heart as was needed to every mootified disciple of his was beyond the power of man, it was not beyond the power of God, who can give the most wealthy the deepest poverty of spirit, and enable those, who have the greatest obstructions in their way to glory, to surmount them.

3. They who leave all for Christ shall be no losers thereby. Peter mentions with some satisfaction, that, though their possessions and connections were not great, they had given them up to follow him. And Christ assures him that what they or any others should part with for his sake, would prove in the issue to be their unfeasurable gain: whether a man quoted his home, his substance, his relations, or friends, or whatever else was dear to him, for the sake of faithful adherence to Christ and his gospel, he should find his truth advantage in it, in present comfort, and sometimes in kind, the Lord would give him a hundred fold, such possessions, which all who will live guilty in Christ Jesus must expect as long as they are in the body, and in the world to come an eternal life of happiness and glory. But many that are first in possession will be so outstripped in zeal

and

and fidelity by others, who will be called after them, as to come in light in the race: whilst the light, who formed farthest from the kingdom of heaven, and lately enhanced the offers of the gospel, by their diligence will often forft reach the goal; see 1 Cor. xv. 10. Note, (1.) The nearest and dearest relations must not weigh with us, when for in competition with our profession of Christ, and the service of his gospel. (2.) Till we come to heaven, however prosperous our circumstances may be, we are to expect the cross; it is only then that we shall have finished our warfare, and entered into our eternal rest.

32. ¶ And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem: and Jesus were before them; and they were amazed, and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him. 33. Spong, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes: and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles; 34. And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. 35. ¶ And James and John the sons of Zebedee come unto him, saying, Mafter, we would that thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall desire. 36. And he said unto them, ‘What would ye that I should do for you?’ 37. They said unto him, ‘Grant unto us that we may sit, one on my right hand, and the other on my left hand, in thy glory.’ 38. But Jesus said unto them, ‘Ye know not what ye afk: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of?’ and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? 39. And they said unto him, ‘we can. And Jesus said unto them, ‘Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized with, shall ye be baptized.’ 40. But to fit on my right hand, and on my left hand, is not mine to give, ‘but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.’ 41. And when the ten heard it, ’they began to be much displeased with James and John.’ 42. But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accouned to rule over the Gentiles, exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. 43. But so shall it not be among you: but whoever will be great among you, ‘shall be your minister.’ 44. And whoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. 45. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Mark 10:32-45

The nearer Christ drew to the scene of his sufferings, the planer he warn his disciples of them, that they might be the less surprised at them when they came.

1. He here appears eagerly hastening to face his enemies; whilst his disciples, considering what he had fuggled would happen to him at Jerusalem, were amazed at his resolution, and followed him trembling, apprehensive, probably, left they might be involved in his troubles. To prepare them for this distressing event, Christ again called them, and told them distinctly all that would befall him; that, when it came to pass, they might remember that he suffered nothing of which he was not appalled, and to which he did not voluntarily submit: adding, after all his indignity and death, that he should rise again; and that, if they understood it, would have been a sufficient support against all their fears.

2. He rebukes the pride and ambition of the disciples, which all these warnings could not cure. Two of them wanted to be prime ministers in his kingdom, and, through their mother, wished to have a general promise granted them of bestowing on them a request they were about to make, which proved to be no less than securing the two most honourable places next the throne, when Christ should, as they expected, set up his earthly reign. But, as they mistook the nature of the Messiah’s kingdom, which called them to suffer, not to bear rule; so also was their desire impossible to be granted; it being unalterably fixed by the eternal decree of God on whom the honours of glory should be bestowed. The ten, as culpable as the two petitioners, and equally ambitious of the places they fought, were exceedingly displeased at their affecting this precedence, to which they thought themselves equally entitled. But Jesus, to silence both parties, less than know, that the kingdom he was about to erect was not to be governed as earthly monarchies, where the rulers exercised defiance; but, on the contrary, he would be the greatest in the Messiah’s kingdom, who was in his own eyes most abused, and most ready in every work and labour of love to serve the meanest disciples; for herein he nearest resembled his Mafter, who came with deepest humility as a servant, and was

to die upon a cross as a slave, paying down the ransom for the sins of many, whom he intended to bring in this way unto glory.

46. ¶ And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples, and a great number of people, blind Bartimeus, the son of Timeus, sat by the high-way-side, begging. 47. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. 48. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. 49. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called: and they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. 50. And he, calling away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51. And Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, I Lord, that I might receive my sight.’ 52. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way: ’thy faith hath I made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.’

Mark 10:46-52

In Matthew we were told of two blind men, here but of one; perhaps he was the most remarkable, as the son of Timeus. He sat begging by the way-side; and no sooner heard of Jesus passing by, than, crying unceasingly, he would not be silenced till Jesus stood and called him; when, eager to be led to him, he threw off his upper garment, and, coming before the Saviour, presented his request and received his cure. In him we see, (1.) An emblem of the sinner’s misery, poor, blind, and defticute. And a happy thing it is when, brought to a sense of this misery, he is found at the way-side of ordinances, crying after Jesus. (2.) The blind and same are among the true objects of charity, and to their cross we must never be deaf. (3.) The calls of Jesus are our encouragement to come to him; and they are so general, free, and full, that, whenever a poor, guilty, corrupted creature feels his wants, we may safely say to such a one, He calleth thee. (4.) When we are coming to Christ, whatever would prove a hindrance, like this gimmick, should be cast off, particularly that robe of self-righteousness and self-sufficiency which sticks to close to us. (5.) None truly cry to him, and go away without relief. If we have faith in his power and love, we shall assuredly see the salvation of God. (6.) When Christ enlightens the eyes of our minds, it is in order that we should henceforth keep him ever in view, and follow him in all his holy ways.