Mark 10 is an interesting chapter. It contains some very important teaching of Jesus on topics that seem to be unrelated, but when looking more closely, I believe that they all fit together.
First, when questioned about the legality of divorce Jesus teaches on the purpose of marriage. He makes a startling statement when he revealed that the allowance for divorce written by Moses was given because of “the hardness of your heart”. Jesus went on to teach that God created marriage and in doing so only God has the power and authority to change it. So what is the purpose of marriage? If God made it, why did He make it and can we ever be fulfilled in it if we live outside of it’s divine purpose? The sad reality is that, because of our hard hearts we have perverted marriage by making it about us and for us rather than from God and for the glory of God. Whether it be divorce, polygamy, same-sex marriage or any other man-made addition or subtraction, anything outside of the divine purpose for marriage is a perversion and must be dealt with.
Just after Jesus’ teaching on marriage a group of people begin bringing children to Jesus so that He can hold them, pray for them and bless them. The problem was that the disciples intercepted these people and were sending them away, believing that Jesus was not to be bothered with dealing with their children. Mark writes that when Jesus saw what was happening that He “was greatly displeased” and rebuked the disciples. Just as He had earlier taught about the purpose of marriage, He now teaches on the purpose of children. Marriage reveals Jesus’ love for the church and children reveal our need for dependence upon God. Jesus tells the disciples “whoever does not received the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” We have perverted childhood, we have made it a race to make them like us rather than realizing that children are teaching us to keep our hearts like theirs. Are our children becoming like us or are our hearts remaining like our children’s? I believe it’s an important question, because only those who receive the Kingdom of God like a child enter into it, only those that come in awe and wonder, dependence and trust, hope and hunger. How do we follow Jesus today, like children in need or adults in charge?
Finally, as Jesus is leaving this place a man runs to him and bows down asking how to receive eternal life. Jesus tells him to keep the commandments, the man announces that he has kept them from his youth. Mark then writes that Jesus “looked on him and loved him”. Jesus told the man that he lacked only one thing, that he needed to go sell all his possessions, give to the poor and then take up his cross and follow Jesus. The man lacked the cross, selling his possessions was simply the way to take his cross and begin to follow, it was Jesus asking the man to relinquish what he trusted in and depended upon so that he could now trust in and depend upon Jesus. The man went away sad because his riches were great, I believe this means that his love for his riches was great. Jesus said that anyone that wants to gain life must lose his current life, the man’s life was in his riches and he was not willing to trade them for the cross, he wanted eternal life but only in addition to his current life, not in exchange for it. This man had done what many of us do, he had perverted his money, he had become dependent upon it and fallen in love with it not understanding that it was a gift from God and for the use of God. The truth is that money is a good thing, but the love of money is an evil. God is our Provider and our Provision, He gives and takes away and so our trust must be in Him, not in the gift or we will end up choosing the gift over Him at the point when we are asked to choose Him alone.
Marriage, children and money are three essential gifts in this life. They are all from God and find their purpose in God. Our calling and our opportunity is to find pleasure in God’s purposes, to not accept a lesser thing or take on another lover, but to walk in God’s purpose, receive God’s love and display God’s glory by trusting Him alone and loving Him with all of our lives.