Who Can Be Saved
Mark 10:17-31
10:17 As he was starting out on a trip, a man came running to him and knelt down and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to get to heaven?" 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked. "Only God is truly good! 10:19 But as for your question-you know the commandments: don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, don't cheat, respect your father and mother." 10:20 "Teacher," the man replied, "I've never once broken a single one of those laws." 10:21 Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. "You lack only one thing," he told him: "go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor-and you shall have treasure in heaven-and come, follow me." 10:22 Then the man's face fell, and he went sadly away, for he was very rich. 10:23 Jesus watched him go, then turned around and said to his disciples, "It's almost impossible for the rich to get into the Kingdom of God!" 10:24 This amazed them. So Jesus said it again: "Dear children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God. 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." 10:26 The disciples were incredulous! "Then who in the world can be saved, if not a rich man?" they asked. 10:27 Jesus looked at them intently, then said, "Without God, it is utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible." 10:28 Then Peter began to mention all that he and the other disciples had left behind. "We've given up everything to follow you," he said. 10:29, 30 And Jesus replied, "Let me assure that no one has ever given up anything-home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property-for lover of me and to tell others the Good News, who won't be given back, a hundred times over, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land-with persecutions! "All these will be his here on earth, and in the world to come he shall have eternal life. 10:31 But many people who seem to be important now will be the least important then; and many who are considered least here shall be greatest there." (Mark 10:17-31)
Bible is not tricky, and shows us the way to be saved simply. However, we still have things to wonder while reading Bible. This morning's scripture is the one I had not known if I understood it truly or not for a long time. How about you, all? Have you had any questions from today's scripture?
Good Teacher
My first question was in Verse 18. Jesus answered to the man who called Jesus a "good teacher" and asked Jesus the question, "Why do you call me good? Only God is truly good!" Why Jesus refused to be called a "good teacher"? For this question, I have figured out some answers myself. My first answer was "Because Jesus was modest, he denied being "good." However, I reconsidered for Jesus continued showing his authority to people. Therefore, this answer seemed to be wrong. Then, my next answer was "Because Jesus hated complement, he denied the man." Nevertheless, I did not think the man told Jesus complement. Rather, the man asked seriously, "What must I do to get to heaven?" Jesus was taking the last trip to Jerusalem then. Jesus, as a man, would never pass that town again. The man ran toward Jesus not to miss the valuable time to meet Jesus. Also, the man might have asked Pharisees and other law scholars the same question. Pharisees taught "God gave his chosen people eternal lives. Jews were God's people, so received eternal lives, and foreigners were corrupted forever." Thus, obeying laws proved being God's people, so the man tried obeying their laws strictly to receive the eternal life. However, the man needed more than that. The man expected Jesus taught him something more than what Pharisees and other law scholars did. The man decided to obey whatever Jesus told him, and knelt down in front of Jesus. We feel not complement, but seriousness in this part.
Then, what was the reason Jesus told the man "Why do you call me good? Only God is truly good!" The reason was Jesus asked the man whether he admitted Jesus as not only a teacher but also God. Nevertheless, the man could consider Jesus as a teacher who was a better person than him, but not as God. The man asked Jesus the path to the eternal life, but did not understand Jesus was the granter of the eternal life. Jesus is not only the teacher showing the path, but also the way and the life. The man was a goodperson. He was confident obeying laws. He did not realize his sins: real himself, yet. Obeying laws truly means more than following the details of laws physically. He thought he obeyed the commandments, loved God who is better than anybody else with everything and neighbors just as loving himself, but he did not. When Jesus told him, "go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor-and you shall have treasure in heaven-and come, follow me, [his] face fell, and he went sadly away. " Why? Bible says, "for he was very rich." By not doing what Jesus told him, what he loved wealth better than God, himself more than his neighbors, and what he desired treasure in this world more than heaven even though he wished for the "eternal life" seriously were unveiled. However, should the man have left Jesus? No, he should have stayed with Jesus, obeyed Jesus, and relied on Jesus.
Many people think Christians do something good to follow the "great master," "good teacher" Jesus. If non-Christians think so, it is still understandable. Nevertheless, if Christians think so, they have to reconsider themselves. After World War II, to reconstruct churches damaged by the war, representatives from European countries gathered to have the meeting. In the meeting, they talked about "who are Christians?" and many of them defined Christians. How do you all define "Christians"? Among all the representatives, German, whose country was damaged most by the war, spoke the most impressive definition. It was "Christians are ones who cannot survive without Christ." It is absolutely right. The people who rely on their goodness, and consider Jesus as a "good teacher" only are not Christians in true meaning. Real Christians admit their sinfulness to love a person than God, other people than themselves, and things in this world than the eternal lives in heaven, so rely Christ. We accept Jesus as more than a"good teacher," so as our Savior, our king, and the one without whom we cannot live. We believe in him, and obey him.
The Rich Man
In today's scripture, my next question was between Versa 23 and 26. "Jesus watched him go, then turned around and said to his disciples, "It's almost impossible for the rich to get into the Kingdom of God!" This amazed them. So Jesus said it again: "Dear children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." The disciples were incredulous! "Then who in the world can be saved, if not a rich man?" they asked."
Understanding the meaning of "It's almost impossible for the rich to get into the Kingdom of God," should not be difficult. It means that a rich man tends to rely on his wealth, and not God, and he is attracted to the wealth on the earth, and misses the treasure in heaven. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God," is an exaggerated expression. "A rich man" refers to a person trusting his wealth, power, and wisdom, and not admitting that he is poor spiritually, and being haughty. Such person can never go through the gate of heaven just like a camel can never go though the eye of a needle. Many reference books for Bible say "the eye of a needle" means the small side gate next to the sanctuary gate in Jerusalem. After sunset, the sanctuary gate was closed, and it was impossible for such a huge camel to pass the small side gate which allowed only one person barely passed. However, Jesus might have referred "an eye of the needle" to a real eye of needle. If he did so, the words emphasized the more difficulty to enter the heaven.
Anyway, I understood the both meanings. What I had not understood for a long time was the reason his disciples were surprised at Jesus' words repeatedly. Bible says, "This amazed them. The disciples were incredulous." Why the disciples felt strange in Jesus' words. The reason is "a rich man" Jesus meant was different from the one his disciples thought. His disciples thought "a rich man" was a person God blessed and loved, so close to heaven according to the commonsense in Jerusalem at that time. We have been studying "money stewardship" in our Bible class. Recently, we have learned placing priority on profit is a sin, money itself is neutral and God grants wealth to diligent people, and wealth is the sign of God's blessing from Proverbs and others. The disciples misunderstood the meaning of "a rich man" in those aspects. Actually, only wealthy people could obey laws strictly in old Judea. The poor people had to go out to drive sheep in the field to make living on the Sabbath day, and could not have time to pray in the morning, afternoon and evening or to fast twice a week. If they had fasted, they could not have worked. Therefore, they thought only rich people could be religious. Even today, some people say, "People who have both time and money go church. We do not have them, so we do not go church." However, the reality is different. Many people coming to church do not have extra time, but squeeze the time to spend for church into their busy schedules. Moreover, many people who volunteer for church are not wealthy, either. They sacrifice themselves for Lord. Hence, the time for worship service and meetings becomes important, and Lord is pleased with the work.
Jesus observed not only a rich people as the one Lord blessed, but also people's sinfulness to change money, which is the proof of Lord's blessing, to the idol worship. Jesus rather pointed out rich people's hypocrisy or haughtiness than admired their religious diligence. Of course, some Jesus' followers were rich. Joseph of Arimathea, who donated his tomb to Jesus, was wealthy. In the first century church, there were many rich people, so the disciples used their houses as churches, and were engaged in missionary work with their support. However, those rich people knew the eternal lives could not buy with money, and wealth on the earth was unreliable. There were many poor people in the first century church, too. They did not envy rich people even though they were poor. James 2:5 says, "Listen to me, dear brothers: God has chosen poor people to be rich in faith, and the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs, for that is the gift God has promised to all those who love him." The poor people believed those God's words, and were proud of being rich in their faith even though they were poor financially. They were proud of having treasure in heaven even though they did not have one on the earth. The reason the disciples were surprised by Jesus' words repeatedly was for they did not sufficiently understand the true meaning of Jesus' words: rich people are poor ones before God. We tend to be fooled by things we can see. With Jesus, we hope to consider spiritual treasure, which cannot be seen, and to be rich in the true meaning.
Who Can Be Saved
After I read until here, I had the last question from today's scripture. It was the same question the disciples had: "Who in the world can be saved?" If Jesus would tell you to sell your all estate just like he did to the rich man, could you do so? Even though you are not rich, you are attached to your estate. Maybe you can sell only a portion of your estate, but not all of it. Furthermore, since we have "knowledge" and "logic" of that "we are responsible to support our lives, and God does not order such things to us," we might not think of that even as a conditional problem.
How can we, such stubborn and unfaithful people, be saved? The answer is "Without God, it is utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible." Saving is done by God's power. God surely requires our faith. As a matter of fact, true faith is to admit not possessing either any power or value to be saved, so relying on God's power. As the definition: "Christians are ones who cannot survive without Christ," it is to hang on Christ like "My God, my Savior Jesus, I cannot survive without you." The more powerless we are, the stronger God's power works on us. If thinking in a person's aspect only, and if trying to be saved by a person's power only, it is just like a camel goes though an eye of the needle; you are utterly impossible to be saved. However, if thinking in God's aspect, and if being saved by God's power, everybody has chance to be saved.
When Jesus told, "Without God, it is utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible," he "looked at" his disciples. Yes. They were the testimonies of being saved by God's power. Unless with almighty God, hurrying Peter and the sons of thunder James and John brothers were not saved. They were looked at by Jesus, and replied his calling. As we learned in the Chapter 2, Jesus looked at Levi: Matthew, sitting at his tax collection booth, and called him. Jesus "looked at" that rich man, too. In the same manner, Jesus looks at us with genuine love. Let us not avoid Jesus' gaze, but find the God's message: "It is all right not be able to do that. I can do everything," and leave ourselves to this Jesus.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you listened to our question: "Who in the world can be saved?", and answered us, "It is not the matter of who is saved, but who saves." As "what I have to do," and "what other people do," we always think of something whose subject is a person. As the result, we make ourselves the center of the universe, and compare ourselves with other people. We forget "God does for me." Lord, please forgive our sins, and bring us back to the faith of "You save us," and "You are my life" once more. Please help us to use what we learned this morning in our everyday lives. We pray in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.