In this chapter we have Christ's dispute on divorce, his blessing the little ones, the rich young ruler, true and false riches, a prediction of his sufferings, greatness in his kingdom, and the cure of blind Bartimaeus. Hear now the word of Almighty God from the Holy Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, starting at verse one. 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. And the Pharisees came to him and asked him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife, tempting him? And he answered and said unto them, what did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, for the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. So then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house, his disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he saith unto them, whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, commit adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband and be married to another, she commit adultery. And they brought young children to him. that he should touch them. And his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw 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. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them and blessed them. 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? And Jesus said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good, but one, that is God. Now knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor. And thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up thy cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, "'How hardly shall they that have riches "'enter into the kingdom of God?' "'And the disciples were astonished at his words. "'But Jesus answereth again and saith unto them, "'Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches "'to enter into 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 into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, with men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, lo, we have left all and have followed thee. 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 gospels, but he shall receive an hundredfold 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. But many that are first shall be last, and the last first. And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them, and they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the 12 and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying, 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. 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. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, We would that thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, what would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, grant unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, you know not what ye ask. Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? And be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. 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 all shall ye be baptized. But to sit 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. And when the 10 heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. And Jesus called them to him and saith unto them, you know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you, but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister. and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all. For even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. And they came to Jericho and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 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. 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. 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. And he casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. Thus far the reading of God's holy word from the gospel of Mark chapter 10. May the Lord bless us in the reading and hearing of his word and now in consideration of it. Much of this we have covered previously. especially if you'll consider our exposition of Matthew chapters 19 and 20, the substance is virtually the same. I'll point out a few distinct parts in this passage. Verses 1 through 12, Christ's dispute with the Pharisees over divorce. They said in verse 4, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement. Now in Matthew 19 verse 7 they say Moses commanded. Why did Moses command this? So they also added to the commanding language the suffering language. A commandment is do this. The language of suffering is you may do this. I concede this to you. Now our Lord, interestingly enough, in Matthew 19 verse eight, he uses the language of suffering or permitting you to do this, though their question in Matthew is command. So apparently they had referred to the sufferance or permission of this law as well as to the commandment. But notice verse 12. Our Lord adds to this discussion, not merely the divorcing of a man of his wife, But if a woman shall put away her husband, this is not envisioned in Deuteronomy 24, 1-4, the passage under question. This is not recorded in Matthew 19, verses 1-12. But it is a logical extension, is it not? If a man does not have the right to put away his wife, except it be for fornication, nor does a woman have the right to put away her husband, except for the cause of fornication. In other words, despite the objection of some foolish scholars who don't understand how to reason, if one thing may be said of the man in a marriage such as divorce, the rupturing of the covenant, then it equally applies to the woman. If he can't divorce for whatever reason, she can't divorce for whatever reason. Both are true. The putting away in this manner is an unwarranted divorce. It's not saying if the woman shall put away her husband for the cause of fornication. No, this is just an unwarrantable divorce, not permitted by God's law. And she be married to another. She committed adultery. Now they are called marriages in form. Notice he says, be married to another. But what is the substance of the act? Though it's formally marriage, what is it? Well, it's adultery. The couplings, contrary to God's law, are adulterous. Verses 13 through 16, Christ blesses the little ones. Jesus saw the disciples trying to stiff arm these little ones and the people bringing them, and he was much displeased, we're told. This word means to be angry, to be indignant. The blind zeal of the disciples angered Christ. Now can you imagine? Jesus is busy. He's got all kinds of people flocking around him. What kind of time does he have for little babies in arms? What a waste of time, they thought. Jesus has more important things to do. Well, he doesn't believe that. He doesn't agree with them. In fact, he's very disgusted and angered by their action. Their zeal was ignorant. It had no foundation in the word of God. He tells them as much. The kingdom of God is theirs. I am the king of the kingdom. Of course, they're mine. Bring them to me, in other words. And notice Mark adds in verse 16 that Jesus blessed them. He invoked a blessing of God upon the children of believers. Hmm, does that sound familiar? Is there something about that in the Bible where Jesus receives and blesses the children of believers? Well, of course there is. The Christian faith is one of blessing the children of believers, not turning them away, of receiving them into the bosom of Christ himself. How much less? We can just say it's church. Should children be brought to Christ? Yes. And if so, also to the church, you see. You can't shut people out of the church that Christ says are part of it, can you? And this is what Baptists do. Let's shut out the kids. They don't belong in the church. Jesus says, no, they're mine. They're part of my kingdom. And they say, nah-ah. No, we've got to keep them out. Incorrect. The Christian faith is one where our Lord Jesus Christ invokes a blessing upon our children, not turning them away, receiving them into his bosom and blessing them, not barring the door against them. Let us rejoice in the goodness of our Savior Jesus Christ. You know, in the Old Testament, God said, you circumcise your boys, right? And I'll be God to them. Did God come down in the flesh and pick up their boys and bless them? No! We have a privilege far beyond them. Christ showed up and showed in the flesh His blessing of our children. Verses 17-22, Christ and the rich young ruler and the means to heaven. It is of interest that in the list of commandments, verse 19 adds this, defraud not The Geneva Bible notes, neither by force, nor deceit, nor any other means at all. Now let me ask you a question. What is Jesus quoting in this passage? Look there, verse 18. Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments. Which commandments is he talking about? Do not commit adultery. Where do we find that? Second table of law, the seventh commandment, do not kill, where's that? Sixth commandment, do not steal, where's that? Eighth, do not bear false witness, where's that? Defraud not, where's that? It's not in there, is it? It's not in the Ten Commandments. But notice, right after it he also says, honor thy father and thy mother, the fifth commandment. Defraud not is not in the Ten Commandments, but you may logically deduce it from one of the Ten Commandments, which is thou shalt not steal. Defraud not adds stealing to lying, and the two come together to defraud other people. The commandments of the Decalogue, in other words, include those not explicitly mentioned, but what you may reasonably deduce from them. Well, I'm free from breaking the law of God. I just defrauded somebody. I didn't steal. I didn't bear false witness. No, you did two of the sins at once. Oh, but it doesn't say I'm not supposed to defraud. Yes, it does. Everything that you may reasonably conclude from the Ten Commandments is part of the Ten Commandments. Some people don't believe that, they are mistaken. Notice verse 21, it says that Jesus, beholding this young man, loved him. And this describes why he said what he said. What he said doesn't sound very loving. To modern ears, taking up your cross to go be crucified doesn't sound very loving. nor for him to say, well, you lack something. Oh, if you love people, you never tell them they lack anything. You never tell them to go take up their cross and deny themselves. No, you wouldn't say that sort of thing, but Jesus would. And he actually loved him. So what he said was an act of love. Now notice, what are the two things that keep many people out of the kingdom of God? Well, one is, I'm a good person. I believe that I am a good person. So if I'm a good person, why do I need Jesus again? Then there's another. I want to serve my riches, my wealth. The love of money, the trusting in riches, and the trusting in yourself. These are both forms of trusting in creatures. Both of them exclude from the kingdom of God. And both of them our Lord intends to strip this man away from these things. He's teaching him, don't trust in yourself. Then he says, don't trust in your riches. You're lawless and sinful, don't trust in yourself. And you should give up all of your goods and come follow me. Don't trust in your riches. You see, he's trying to strip him of these errors. Christ then teaches concerning true and false riches with this context. Verses 23 through 31. Our Lord says that it is hard for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. This is added from Matthew's account. Let us not trust in riches, the Proverbs tells us. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? It's a good question. Can you look at something that doesn't exist? For riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Anyone who trusts in riches, what are they trusting in? Nothing, something that flies away, does them no good. We ought to be satisfied with God. Hold everything else very loosely. Paul says, if you're married, be as if you were not married. If you buy, as if you did not own. If you have possessions, as if you did not have them. Notice verse 29, our Lord again includes himself and the gospel's sake. He binds them together. We saw this last week. The neo-orthodox, the new orthodox, the liberals, they say that you can have Jesus without his doctrines. No, you can't. He says, my sake and the gospel sake, both me personally and me in scripture, the deity and the doctrine, Christ's person and his propositions, God and his gospel. These two God binds them together. You can't have God without his truth. But notice also, with all the blessings that come for following the Lord Jesus Christ, he says you will have persecutions, verse 30. He adds this from Matthew. Though you are blessed and prosperous in this world and that which is to come, it is not without a share of trials and tribulations coming into the kingdom. It's not all roses and kittens and beautiful things, and you'll have your own ranch and wealth and private jet. God promises no such thing with persecutions, he says. Christ then notices his disciples and tells them, puts them on notice of his sufferings and death and speaks of the greatness of his kingdom. Verse 34 adds a detail that when Christ is betrayed, they shall spit upon him. An additional humiliation not recorded in Matthew 20, verse 19. Notice verse 35. In the account that we have in Matthew 20, it's the Zebedee's mom comes. But Mark says, they themselves were there. And this is usual in the Bible. If you send a messenger to speak on your behalf, it's you speaking through that person. That's why Jesus said, if you don't receive me, you don't receive him who sent me. And if you receive me, you receive him who sent me. So here, Zebedee's wife, here she comes speaking on behalf of her sons. But here it says, they came and spoke. They said these words. Her words were their words. Master, verse 35, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we desire. You know the word master doesn't fit with that, right? Master, do whatever I want. Is that how a slave talks to his master, to his great one, to his rabbi, to his teacher? No. A pretty broad and open request. Christ encourages us to pray. Does he say, just come and say whatever you want, whatever you like, just come and ask for it. Is that what he says? Not my will, but thine be done. They're saying, not thy will, mine be done. Whatever I want, give me. the glory of Christ verse 37 is called his kingdom in Matthew 20 verse 21 then in verses 46 through 52 we have the cure of Bartimaeus Now in the Hebrew of that day, sometimes called Syriac or Aramaean, the word Bar means son. So if you read that Simon Bar-Jonah, that means Simon the son of Jonah. We would say Johnson. Bar-Jonah is Johnson, John's son. So here you have it, Bartimaeus, the son of who? Timaeus. Now in Matthew's gospel, he has two blind men. In Mark, he selects one of them, whose name was Bartimaeus. This one is given with additional details that they were begging. This man was begging on the side of the road. He could not provide for himself. He needed people to show mercy to him. And this shows us very clearly the gospel, does it not? Blind beggars. You cannot do for yourself. You cannot even see. You need Christ to do what? Give you eyes to see. Open your eyes. We are beggars for daily bread, for life and salvation. When we pray, give us this day our daily bread. We're taught that this means that God, of His free gift, would give us a competent portion. Not because we deserve it, but because God gives freely. Notice verse 50. It tells us that he cast away his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. This detail is not recorded in Matthew 20. When Christ calls, we must go immediately. We must cast all things away that would hinder us. That's what he's doing. Cast it all away. Hebrews 12 verse 1 says this. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Come then to Christ, lay aside the weights, the sins that so easily beset us, come to him. And notice the response of the Savior. Thy faith hath made thee whole, verse 52. Thy faith, this could be translated, hath saved thee. Faith saves. Why? Because man is strong in his will? Powerful in his resolutions? No, of course not. Faith saves because God by it shows us you have no power. You have nothing to offer. All you do is believe, and that not even of yourselves, that is the gift of God. All you do is take an empty hand and receive a gift that I offer to you. Faith saves. It is the principle, the queen, and the mother of all graces. It empties man of all of his notions of works and merit. Faith is that by which we inherit eternal life, by which we are justified, by which we are saved, by which we please God, and by which our blindness is cured. Faith, which looks to Christ, saves. Faith, which looks to creatures, damns. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Be made whole, be saved from sin, from death, from blindness, from the worm that never dies, and the fire that is never quenched. And thus far the exposition of Mark chapter 10.