SERMON TITLE: Jesus, who can be saved?
TEXT: Mark 10:17-31 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 9-19-21
You can watch the sermon here.
You can find the sermon notes here.
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I always want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshipping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main campus — the one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too.
Each week — in the gospel of Mark — we’re seeing people ask Jesus all kinds of different questions. And their questions are what we’re focusing on — because — we’ve all got questions, don't we? Questions about life, about spiritual things, about relationships, and so on. And the questions — we see people asking Jesus in Mark’s gospel — are questions we’re still asking today.
So let’s turn to our passage for today. If you have your Bible please turn with me to Mark chapter 10. We’ll be looking at verses 17-31. And the question Jesus will be asked this week is a question we should all be interested in hearing his answer to. What’s the question? Jesus, who can be saved?
Here are the words found in Mark chapter 10. Beginning in verse 17.
“And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”” (Mark 10:17-31 ESV)
In preparing for this sermon, I heard a pastor tell a story that happened to a friend of his. His friend was driving and there was an older driver in the car in front of him. And — somehow — this man — in his 70s — lightly bumped into a guy riding his bike. Obviously — not a good thing — but nothing that was going to send the bicyclist to the hospital.
But here’s when things got crazy. The guy — who was on the bike — starts slamming his fists on the hood of the car. Talk about some road rage, right? Well that’s not all. He walks over to the driver’s side door, opens it, and starts throwing punches at this 70 year old man. Just beating on him and beating on him and beating on him.
Now — remember — the pastor’s friend is the guy witnessing all of this. His young kid is in the backseat — by the way. So imagine that you’re him — you’re in the car and this unbelievable scene unfolds before you and your kid’s in the back seat watching you. So what do you do?
How many of you would get out of your car and try to intervene? OK. What if the guy throwing punches was a big guy — someone who obviously worked out a lot — someone who — after a quick analysis in your head — was going to easily kick your tail? Who’s getting out of the car now?
Well the pastor’s friend did get out. And he tried to wrestle the man — who’s still throwing punches — away from the older man. And the bicyclist is just putting up a fight, he wants to get back to the old man, and — according to the story — the guy intervening did the only thing he knew to do. He threw one punch — just one punch. And it connected. And the guy dropped to the ground — knocked out cold.
Now — when the police arrived — they asked him, “How many punches did you throw?” And he told them one. And they said they knew he was telling the truth because the street cameras caught the whole thing — I guess they wanted to hear that it really only took one punch to knock the guy out. What a crazy story, right?
So back to us. Some of us think we’d get out of our car — I mean — you never really know unless you have the opportunity. But — if you were to get out of your car to intervene — it’s going to cost you something, isn’t it? It could cost you a punch to the face — or worse. It could cost you a lawsuit — a guy with this kind of rage is definitely going to try and sue you. There’s going to be a cost.
But what about the cost if you do nothing — if you just sit in your car and watch this guy beat up the older man? There’s the cost of embarrassment — someone’s going to ask you why you didn’t do anything — you know your kid is going to blab about you not doing anything. There’s the cost of questioning yourself — why didn’t I intervene? A cost comes with doing something and a cost comes with doing nothing.
Now — here in Mark — we find the cost of salvation — and there’s a twofold cost. There’s the price our salvation cost Jesus and there’s the price that our salvation costs us. And that’s what we’re going to look at today. In asking, “Jesus, who can be saved” — we’re given an answer that’s all about the cost of salvation.
And one cost to our salvation is giving up the idea that we can save ourselves. Let’s go back to verse 17.
“And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. ” (Mark 10:17-22 ESV)
Now — let’s remember the context for this encounter between Jesus, the young man, and the disciples. Not too long ago — the disciples had been arguing over who would be the greatest among them — you remember that? They were trying to put themselves in a position of power in Jesus’ kingdom. And their desire — to be powerful — caused them to look down on others who were doing ministry on behalf of Jesus and their desire for power even caused them to push away children who were wanting to come to Jesus.
But — now — finally someone with power is approaching Jesus — he’s known as the “rich, young, ruler” for a reason. So imagine how this guy — approaching Jesus — would’ve made the disciples feel. After all of the needy folks, the children, the sick, and so on...finally someone with power and money and authority is interested in following Jesus. It’s gonna be a great day!
And — it’s important for us to recognize this young man’s power and wealth and authority — because knowing this about him — it should shock us that he even approaches Jesus but — even more shocking is that — as he gets close — he bows down before Jesus. This isn’t a man who’s used to bowing down before others — he’s someone used to others bowing down before him. So — before we get too far into his story — notice that he sees Jesus as someone deserving his respect in a way that nearly everyone else in his life isn’t worthy of.
He bows before Jesus and begins the conversation with a typical greeting of the time — “Good teacher.” And then he gets right to the point. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The emphasis is on “I” — “what must I” and “do” — “what must I do…” He believes that his salvation is in his hands. And it’s pretty obvious that this is his view — given that — in just a moment — he’s going to claim to have kept all of the 10 Commandments perfectly! So — for this man — salvation is something man does — it’s not something that God does.
And Jesus responds to his question with a question of his own — “Why do you call me good — only God is good.” Essentially, Jesus is saying, “Your bowing down before me — is it being done out of politeness or flattery or are you bowing before me because you believe that I am the Messiah?” Jesus is wanting this man to look internally — to his heart — to his motivation — to discover what he’s trusting in for his salvation.
Jesus says, “No one is good except God alone.” Meaning, “Call me good — but do so only if you believe that I am God.” And Jesus is also saying, “Don’t forget, young man, that only God is good.” Which means who isn’t good? The young man. And in order to help him discover this — Jesus asks him about his success in keeping God’s commandments.
Now a few things about the commandments that Jesus mentions. First, they all come from the second half of the 10 Commandments — the half that focus on our relationship with people. The first four commandments focus on our relationship with God — and the last six point us to our relationship with other people.
A second observation about the commandments. Jesus begins with the sixth commandment — do not murder — and then continues with the seventh, eighth, and ninth commandments. He then mentions “do not defraud” — not one of the original ten — but sort of a repeat of “do not steal” — being that he’s a rich young man in power — defrauding — or stealing — from others would be something easy for him to do. And — then — Jesus jumps back to commandment number five — honor your mother and father. Why end with the fifth commandment?
Now I can’t say with certainty — but earlier in Mark — we saw Jesus get on to some people who justified not honoring their mother and father — not taking care of their physical needs — by saying, “What I would have used to care for my mom and dad has been given to God.” And Jesus told them this was a wicked and evil thing they were doing. And it might be that this young man has been doing something similar. Maybe he’s justified not caring for his parents — not honoring them — and this is why Jesus ends with the commandment about honoring your father and mother.
But our final observation is that Jesus doesn’t even mention the tenth commandment — do not covet. Yet — this is what Jesus will end up revealing is the man’s actual problem. (George Knight, Exploring Mark: A Devotional Commentary (Hagerstown: Review and Herald, 2004), 189.)
But how does the young man respond to Jesus’ questions about keeping God’s commandments? He says, “I’ve kept them all!” And — in doing so — he reveals that he’s missed Jesus’ earlier point that only God is good. This young man believes that he’s good too. And — though he might not outright say it — ultimately he believes, “God and me — that’s who’s good.”
And Jesus responds with words that sound very radical to our ears. Maybe his words sound demanding to you — a bit over the top — even scary. But — notice that Jesus speaks these words — to the rich young man — because he loves him. Jesus loves this man and his love compels him to say these words that sound extreme to our ears.
“You lack one thing — there’s one thing for you to do and then you’ll be good. Go and sell everything you own — give the money to the poor — and come follow me.” Jesus has changed the direction of their conversation so that it reveals the heart of this young man. We’re seeing revealed what he really worships — what has a grip on his affections and desires — what gives meaning to his life. And how does he respond?
“The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.” (Mark 10:22 MSG)
The man walks away. This was the last thing he expected to be his cost for following Jesus — for inheriting eternal life. He never expected that salvation begins by recognizing that we’re not good on our own — that only God is good. And this is where salvation begins for us. We have to admit that only God is good and that we are not.
We’re now in verse 23. “And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”” (Mark 10:23-27 ESV)
As the man walks away, Jesus looks directly at his disciples and says, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23a (NLT)) And to make sure his disciples are getting his point — Jesus quickly follows with, “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.” (Mark 10:24a-25 (MSG))
Here’s how one Bible translation records the interaction. ““Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing...Then who has any chance at all?” they asked. Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”” (Mark 10:23, 26-27 MSG)
So that’s their response — the disciples couldn’t believe what Jesus was telling them. Makes me wonder how we’re all responding to what Jesus has said.
How are you — right now — responding to Jesus’ words? The disciples are amazed by Jesus’ words — they’re exceedingly astonished by his words — as twice Jesus emphasizes how difficult — in fact — it’s impossible on our own to enter the kingdom of God — especially those who have wealth. And we’re wealthy and — even if you’re not — we all live in a culture that assumes it’s easy to enter the kingdom of God. Heaven — our culture says — is our default destination — not a difficult place to enter. And this is what many of us believe. But Jesus says the exact opposite. Heaven — or the Kingdom of God — it isn’t easy to enter — Jesus says it’s not even possible to enter on our own.
But — in being amazed and astonished by his words — the disciples ask our question: “Jesus, then who can be saved?” And do you hear his answer? “With man it’s impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
Now — we’ve stuck our theological toes in the waters of predestination and man’s free will in previous sermons — but here’s what I want us to notice from our text. Here the disciples find themselves in the perfect scenario to ask Jesus to clarify predestination and man’s free will.
And how do the disciples respond to all of this?
Why is it so common for us to read this story and think, “Well, I’m sure glad this isn’t a universal command — you know — I’m sure glad I don’t have to sell everything and give all of the money away.” Why is that our default response? Why is that the question we’re most concerned with — “what’s Jesus’ definition of rich and wealthy?” — instead of being amazed and astonished by Jesus’ words about salvation?
“Jesus, who can be saved?” “On your own, it’s impossible. Why? Because none of you are good. But look at all of the good things I’ve done — all of the things you’ve said to do — look — I’m doing it. None of that makes you good — it’s not what you do that makes you good. But here’s some Good News! With God — even though you all are not good — even though you’ve all disobeyed and broken the commandments — way more than you realize — with God salvation is possible.” And this should amaze us.
And now — we ask — how has God made salvation possible?
“Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”” (Mark 10:28-31 ESV)
How did God make salvation possible? The answer is what we call the gospel. In love, God sent his Son — Jesus — to do what we’ve all failed to do. What have we failed to do? We’ve all failed to be good. We’ve failed to obey the commandments out of our love for God. To live perfectly, graciously, self-sacrificially, to treat others with kindness and love, to be faithful, and much more. Yet — many of us — just like the rich young man — in our pride say, “Look at how great I’m doing — look at how good I am” — while in reality — like the young man — we’ve deceived ourselves into believing in our own goodness — believing that we’re able to save ourselves.
But if — as Jesus says — salvation is impossible for us — if we really do contribute nothing to our salvation — then our salvation is a gift given to us — it’s something we haven’t earned. It’s a gift that someone else has paid the price for. And Jesus is the One who paid the price of our salvation and it cost him everything. Thus, we shouldn’t be surprised that following Jesus will cost us everything. For he has every right — and the authority — to look at us — in love — and tell us, “Look at what I’ve done — in love — for you. Now, there’s one thing you lack. You need to give up what you’re holding on to and follow me.” This is what it means to both receive and respond to God’s grace revealed to us in the gospel.
For as someone has said, “The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ…[for] when Christ calls a man [to salvation], he bids him come and die.” (Deitrich Bonhoeffer) And — that right there — letting go of and dying to the things we want to hold on to — is what scares us. But — as someone else has said — “You’ll find that the [some of the] things you let go of, while following Jesus, were the things that were going to destroy you in the end.” (Francis Chan)
Earlier we read, “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing...” (Mark 10:21a ESV)
Jesus knows that this guy's wealth and power is going to destroy him in the end — eternally destroy him. Thus — in love for him — Jesus tells the young man to give it all up. But he can’t — he won’t give it up. For him — following Jesus isn’t worth the cost.
And — yes — what Jesus says to the man is specific for him — “let go of your wealth.” But — right now — Jesus is looking at you. And he loves you. And I can’t help but think that he’s saying to many of us, “You lack one thing…” What’s the one thing Jesus is saying you need to let go of in order to follow him? And — for those of us following Jesus — what’s the one thing you’re still holding on to — what’s holding you back from following Jesus more faithfully?
And — again — I know how hard this question is for us. Do you want to know why this question is so hard for us? A study — from a few years ago — gives us some insight. Pew Research asked an open-ended question to find out what gives us Americans the most meaning to our lives. Here’s how we responded.
So — guess what? We find ourselves in a conflict — and it’s a brawler kind of conflict — just like that bicyclist and the old man.
Why? Because the One in whom we have faith is telling us that the cost of our salvation — based on the price he paid — means that his place is above what our culture says are the primary ways in which we find purpose and meaning for life. Thus we find ourselves in a battle for what’s at the top of our list as to what gives meaning to our lives and Jesus says it’s him or futility. Him or nothing. He’s saying to us, “I’m either at the top of your list or — be warned — you’re going to end up walking away just like the young man.”
And — it’s no coincidence — that nearly 2,000 years later — the three things our culture finds the most meaning in — family, career, and money — are the three specific things mentioned in this account between Jesus, the rich young man, and the disciples. The young man has money and a career that’s given him power and wealth. And — in his conversation with the disciples — Jesus specifically mentions family as something that following him might cost us. All three things that our culture says gives our lives purpose and meaning are found in our text.
But here’s the twist — the problem isn’t with wealth or careers or family. The problem is when we allow them to come between us and Jesus’ call to follow him. And — though following him has specific nuances for each of us — what's common for all of us — is that nothing is too costly when compared to the price Jesus paid for our salvation. We bring nothing to the table to bargain with anyway — that’s what it means for salvation to be impossible for us to achieve. We bring nothing to the table of salvation — and we’re given everything. And — in response — the call to following Jesus is a call to give up everything.
Jim Elliot (These and more missionary stories can be found at https://www.christiantoday.com/article/6-inspiring-christian-missionaries-who-gave-up-everything-for-christ/85936.htm) — obeyed the costly call of following Jesus when he — and four of his missionary partners — gave their lives as they took the gospel to one of the most violent known people groups on the earth in the 1950s. All five men were killed by the very people they went to share the gospel with — leaving behind their families. Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” A few years after their deaths — Jim’s wife — Elisabeth — and another woman — returned to the same people group and lived among them and shared the gospel to them. What was the result of this costly discipleship? Many in the tribe came to faith in Christ.
Mary Slessor — at the age of 28 — moved to Nigeria in 1876. She lived among a people group that believed in superstitions and — in the area where she lived — missionaries had previously been killed. During her life she saved hundreds of children who were abandoned due to local superstitions and started a hospital to provide medical care for the people. She followed Christ — though it cost her much — she never married, had serious bouts with malaria and other diseases, and left behind her family in Scotland — yet she followed Jesus in Africa until she died at the age of 67. Following Jesus cost her much.
Or take CT Studd. He was a famous cricket player in England who — after his conversion — gave up his sport to follow Jesus’s call to go to China, India, and Central Africa in order to share the gospel. As he neared death, he wrote a letter listing things that were giving him joy in his final days. What gave him joy as he neared his death? He wrote, “That I joyfully acted as Christ told that rich young man to act. And that I deliberately — at the call of God — gave up my life for this work [of proclaiming the gospel]...to the unevangelized world.”
Jim Elliot, Mary Slessor, and CT Studd experienced the promise that Jesus speaks of in our verses. “No one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29b-30 ESV)
As someone has said — “Following Jesus may involve great personal cost, but it always results in great eternal gain.” (Daniel Akin) Pastor John Piper has said, “There is no cost you can pay in following Jesus that won’t be made up a thousandfold in the resurrection.” Jim Elliot, Mary Slessor, and CT Studd understood this and they experienced Jesus’ promise both — in this life — and in the eternal life to come. They experienced not only the cost of their salvation — that Christ paid — but the reward of their salvation in their faithful obedience.
And the question for us is this. Will we? Will you experience Jesus’ promise? Will we joyfully let go and open our hands and say, “Jesus, even the one thing I lack I entrust to you.” Will we get out of the comfort of our car as we see Satan, sin, death, and Hell throwing punches and destroying people all around us — will we get out of our comfort and follow Jesus? Even if it means we might get punched in the face? Or that we sell everything we own and give away all of the money? Or leave for a foreign land to share the gospel with those who’ve yet to hear it?
How impossible does all of that sound? Impossible, right! Well, good news. For us, this kind of obedience is impossible — it’s impossible for us to faithfully follow Jesus on our own just like it’s impossible for us to save ourselves. But — with God — all things are possible.
“Jesus, who can be saved?” “The cost is too high for you to pay,” Jesus says. “So I’ve paid the price for your salvation. And — having received my gift — there’s now a cost for you. Follow me.” “But what will following you cost me, Jesus?” “Follow me.” “What will you ask me to give up?” “Follow me.” “Jesus, even following you sounds impossible.” “I know,” he says. “But don’t worry. I’ll be with you every step of the way. And with me — all things are possible. Follow me.” Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, how amazing it is that — for you — the impossible is possible. We can’t save ourselves on our own — it’s impossible. We can’t obey your commandments on our own — it’s impossible. We are not good on our own — being good is impossible for us.
Yet in your love for us — and because you are good — you sent your Son to live the good and obedient life we’ve failed to live — in our place. To pay the price for our sin and salvation on the cross. And to defeat death and Hell in his resurrection so that we — through faith in Christ — might experience the impossible made possible — salvation.
Spirit of God, help us all to see and confess the “one thing that we still lack.” It may be something we’re holding on to that’s keeping us from trusting in Christ alone for our salvation or it may be something we’re holding on to that’s keeping us from being obedient as we follow Jesus. Either way we need your help — for even seeing what we’re holding on to — is something impossible for us to do on our own. We need your help. So help us — Father, Son, and Spirit — to be amazed and exceedingly astonished that — though salvation is impossible for us — for you — and with you — all things are possible. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
May you go trusting that — with God — all things are possible. Your salvation is possible and faithfully following Jesus is possible — because God is with you. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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